Tuesday, 28 February 2012

Exhibition Review - David Cotterrell: Monsters of the Id

David Cotterrell’s work uses video and audio technology to portray his journey in Afghanistan. From the artist’s journeys in Afghanistan, "Monsters of the Id" shows a different view of cinema and different medias. Cotterrell has presented a series of work that experiments with a range of new technologies. The exhibition captures the feeling and emotion of a civilian observer within a military environment.



When you enter the gallery, visitors are taken to a landscape that shows both the physical and the virtual. The piece is called "Observer Effect" and it shows a projected image of a haunting Afghani landscape. While watching, bodies appear and walk towards the viewer. It is almost as if the bodies in the video are watching us; as if our roles are reversed before our eyes.
Next, a mountain display made of chalk that filled the room. On the display there seemed to be movement, almost like there were insects crawling up and down the mountain cliffs. However, we were soon to find out that the movement was being made by projector which portrayed the soldiers seen in the "Observer Effect".

I really like the way Cotterrell's exhibition makes every viewer interact with the pieces, so it seems as if they are really there. It was exciting and new to see a different portrayal of photography; through the use of the visual and audio. I think this is definitely something for me to think about in future photographic projects, because photography doesn't always have to be a photo on the wall.

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