TELLING TALES
1.What is your immediate feeling on entering the gallery and seeing the works?
The exhibition was split into three sections. The first section was called FOREST GLADE and in it were displayed objects inspired by fantasy and nature that evoked the spirit of fairytales.
My first impression was one of refreshment. I had come from the hubbub and commotion of London and then the busy imposing V and A and walked into a space that felt calming.
There was a background of printed gauze screens for each section in this area and the dappled lighting was very dramatic. There were gauze screens with patterns that looked like ink blown with straws but nevertheless were distinctive as branches and were very striking.
There was a light and airy feel to the space like outside inside.
The sound effects of twittering birds, and the crackling twigs of someone walking in the undergrowth were familiar sounds of being in the forest.
Faced with objects out of context to their environment and function, they seem eccentric and impractical. Only the rich and eccentric would have them in their home.
There was also a clean IKEA like feeling; no clutter; uncosy.
The second section was called ENCHANTED CASTLE. "This was a palatial pile where grandfather clocks chime. Rococo scroll wallpaper provide the perfect backdrop to a muddle of extravagant objects; the trappings of high social status, which subvert the lavishness of late victorian design." (Telling Tales, Gareth Williams 2009, page 61.)
This was a visual excess; not relaxed and again not cosy. The big mirrors that warped the items in the room as if they were tarnished were eerie. There was an insincerity about the splendour, as if the items were there for show rather than to be enjoyed. There were familiar objects but made cold and uncomfortable.
The last section was HEAVEN AND HELL. It was dark and gloomy. It felt awkward. It felt like staring into a psychopaths dungeon. There was the feel of a horror movie. All feelings of splendour had gone, even though the objects displayed could still be described as lavish such as the taxidermical lion oozing gold, the mole slippers and the fox leaking gold maggots from its ears.
There was disorientation from moving shadows and menacing music. A burst of red colour that flooded the ceilings at intervals suggested blood.
2.Choose a piece from each section and list the feelings and response that the works generate in you and why.
a. Bathboat by Wieki Somers.
This was a small wooden boat whose function had been turned inside out in that it was designed to keep water in not out. It had taps and was instantly recognisable as a bath as well as a boat. In this respect it looked less surreal and more humorous. It was beautifully crafted and its natural wood finish connected with the trees in the forest, giving it a feel of fantasy and fiction. It was set on the sort of blocks used to stabilise boats and this reminded me of victorian bath legs. It was a beautiful piece.
b. Robber Baron table,2006
The table base is in the form of a black factory building; glowering, industrial, nineteenth century northern England. From each of the four corners arise large chimneys that billow golden clouds that form the table surface. This represents pollution. The golden globular form reminds me of fat globules; more specifically like cholesterol deposits in an artery. To me, this is quite a fitting representation of the damage caused by Western industrialisation.
c. Moulded Mole slippers, 2004. Niels van Eijk and Miriam van der Lubbe
These are slippers made from discarded moleskins. At first they look both elegant and comfortable, a cross between a pair of winklepickers and something you would find worn by a pixie in a forest. Close up however you are more aware of the feet and the snout. They start to look ugly and not something I would like to wear.
3. Notice the display of the objects, their relationship to each other and their lighting. How these evoke feelings of drama, interest and tension.
Forest Glade:
The panels create drama and act as a good divider between the objects in this area. As the panels are made of gauze, they are floaty in appearance and still give the area a feeling of being light and airy; a vast open space. Had these panels been made of solid material they would have become enclosing.
The objects were placed between these panels with plenty of space between them so they could be viewed clearly. There was no clutter to distract the mind. There was a minimal feel; calming and relaxed. It was enjoyable. The lighting was dappled and evoked the feeling of a forest of myths and fairytales.
The objects all appeared minimalist. Even Boontje's Fig Leaf wardrobe with its intricate hand painted copper leaves had enough space around it to appear minimalist. They were beautifully crafted. Although the objects were all different in design, and all had their own individual meaning, this alone connected them, and their surreal ecleptic element unified them.
The enchanted castle:
This was more cluttered. There was more dark furniture. There was black red and gold and a lavish feel. It was not relaxed or cosy, more cold and uncomfortable; there for show, not to be enjoyed. Mirrored walls gave the impression of a glittering world full of insecurity. The rococo wallpaper was a fitting backdrop to extravagant objects.
Heaven and Hell:
This was disorientating. The music was menacing. The lighting created moving shadows, and bursts of red colour flooding the ceilings at intervals suggested blood. This gave a dark dungeon like feel. Objects were displayed within rooms which were viewed through slits in the wall. It was like staring into a psychopath's workshop. It was cold and eerie. It summoned up feelings of death judgement and anxiety.
4.How might the exhibits inspire your table theatre?
Obviously the objects in the exhibition were much bigger than those I will be collecting to bring to college, and the exhibit space also much bigger, so to equate the two collections is difficult.
I liked that the objects all related to each other in some eclectic way without being the same. Each had their own independent story; something I may like to bring foward into my collection.
I shall not use lighting or sound. I found the objects cold and not loved. My objects will be the opposite. I want to draw and develop them, so I want to like what I choose to collect.
There was no happiness in the exhibition for me. There was beautiful crafting in the exhibition but this is not important or relevant to my collection. It felt staged or set up. I want my objects to come about in a more random, natural way, as often, ideas develop from mistakes; things happening away from control.
5.Take notice of the titles of the exhibits and choose two to analyse and discuss in under 300 words.
Sensory Deprivation Skull, 2007, Joep Van Lieshout. This is a large model of a skull. Entry can be gained into the skull via doors at the back. There is enough space inside for two people to sit on a sheepskin rug. I assumed that this was a parody of a floatation tank; a space where you can relax free from stimuli. Both Gareth Williams (Brochure for Telling Tales,2009. page 106) and Helen Brown (Review: V and A's Telling Tales show gives furniture a fairy tale twist. Guardian.co.uk) talk of the skull inviting you to get inside your own head; a pun about psychoanalysis which leads to mention of Freud who is also famous for his interest in eroticism and associating this with a private space for two and a sheepskin rug. I was thinking in more simple terms that a lack of senses is akin to an empty skull.
Storm Chair, 2000. Stephen Richards. By comparison this is a beautifully simple title. The chair puts you in mind of a storm both from the flimsy sticks its made from that could have been washed up on a beach after a storm and the way they are put together as if destroyed in a storm. The title is integral to this exhibit.
6. Wich designers or pieces particularly caught your imagination and/or inspire you?
I think I have already covered this as I have only chosen to write about the works that particularly interested me. My favourite was the Bathboat.
Bibliography:
Brown, Helen.(2009) Review: V and A's Telling Tales show gives furniture a fairytale twist. [Internet] Available from
Dorment, Richard.(2009) Art Review: Telling Tales: Fantasy and Fear in Contemporary Design, review.[Internet] Available from
Wiles, William.(2009) iconeye: icon magazine online: Review: Telling Tales. [Internet] Available from
Williams, Gareth.(2009) Brochure: Telling Tales: Fantasy and fear in contemporary design. London: V and A.
