Lesley Halliwell: Time And Time Again
Touchstones, Rochdale
Saturday 2 February to Sunday 11 May 2008
In this new exhibition, Lesley Halliwell resurrects the 1970s children’s favourite, the Spirograph, creating ragged, dizzy, psychedelic and beautifully pointless pen drawings. Halliwell transforms the ready-made format of the Spirograph and everyday biro pens into large-scale colourful works which gently hover between a playfulness that we all recognise and a sophistication that comes from her focused and obsessive application.
Over the years the work has become less about the nostalgia for the Spirograph itself and more about the application of (the same) marks on paper; emphasised in Hallliwell’s recording of the time taken to make each piece. This celebration of process is like a long distance walk, not only labour intensive but also tedious, banal and uncomfortable. Ironically the toy, with its origin in play, fun and games, has been subverted into an instrument of mental and physical torment due to the repetitive nature of using the Spirograph.
Time And Time Again is part of the ‘I ♥ 70s’ season of exhibitions at Touchstones Rochdale.
The exhibition runs from Saturday 2 February to Sunday 11 May 2008. Admission is free.
Saturday 2 February to Sunday 11 May 2008
In this new exhibition, Lesley Halliwell resurrects the 1970s children’s favourite, the Spirograph, creating ragged, dizzy, psychedelic and beautifully pointless pen drawings. Halliwell transforms the ready-made format of the Spirograph and everyday biro pens into large-scale colourful works which gently hover between a playfulness that we all recognise and a sophistication that comes from her focused and obsessive application.
Over the years the work has become less about the nostalgia for the Spirograph itself and more about the application of (the same) marks on paper; emphasised in Hallliwell’s recording of the time taken to make each piece. This celebration of process is like a long distance walk, not only labour intensive but also tedious, banal and uncomfortable. Ironically the toy, with its origin in play, fun and games, has been subverted into an instrument of mental and physical torment due to the repetitive nature of using the Spirograph.
Time And Time Again is part of the ‘I ♥ 70s’ season of exhibitions at Touchstones Rochdale.
The exhibition runs from Saturday 2 February to Sunday 11 May 2008. Admission is free.
Labels: Halliwell
posted by Tim Machin at
15:49
