This is the first survey exhibition by Jon Thomson and Alison Craighead in the UK, bringing together a range of new and recent works.Interested in how information about the world is filtered through the prism of the world wide web, and other forms of information technology, Thomson & Craighead play with this data to create poetic, compelling works that ask fundamental questions about what it is to be human.
Encompassing small-scale quotidian encounters, as well as works that point up the smallness of humankind in the vastness of the universe, there is a lyricism and lightness of touch that enables the artists to address major political and social themes from unexpected angles.
This use of found footage, both visual and textual, is a common thread that links many of Thomson & Craighead’s diverse projects. Commandeering the words and pictures that float so freely on the internet, they acknowledge the various artistic and literary traditions that this collage-like activity places them in. Owing as much to the 20th century practice of the readymade, as to the visual poetry of the Oulipo writers, Thomson & Craighead recognise their sources as being an ephemeral products of the moment, but transform them into enduring timeless works.
Of the works brought together for this exhibition, the one that most directly references this mixing up of time is The Time Machine in Alphabetical Order. Using a complete version of the 1960s film, Thomson & Craighead have re-edited it so that every utterance is placed in alphabetical, rather than narrative sequence. Referencing the ‘constrained editing technique’ explored and developed by Oulipo writers, this representation of HG Wells seminal story explores not only this artful means of assemblage, but also demonstrates an approach to film-making that draws entirely on pre-existing material.
These methods of reuse and recycling allow the artists to engage in a form of oblique story telling – one where meaning is implied rather than explained and ideas percolate more slowly. Throughout, there is a mapping out of temporal and spatial parameters, testing the boundaries of the knowable world.
For more information on this exhibit visit: http://www.carrollfletcher.com
