3
November
- 10 December 2006
For
their second solo show in the gallery, Heather and
Ivan Morison continue in their attempt to survey the
earth by collecting images, sounds and stories and
rebuilding the familiar into a series of adventures
that blend Natural History and Science Fiction. Their work mixes fact and fiction,
constructs narratives through different
personas, takes us to Transylvania, China, Ecuador,
New Zealand and Wales to investigate myths, roses,
mushrooms and woods and invites us to contemplate
the pleasures and passions of their endeavours.
Starmaker, a medium format slide show of images,
entangles the realms of natural and cultural history
and science fiction so that we can appreciate the
oddities of both. Featuring dioramas from the
American Museum of Natural History, rose farming in
Ecuador and the coastline of the UK, the projection
is accompanied by field recordings and electronic
sounds sampled from sci-fi movies.
In
Crystal Worlds, the artists re-invent beehives
into modernist sculpture. By combining form,
texture, colour and scent (from cedar wood) the
standard bee-keeping trays are transformed into
monolithic, surreal columns that might or not belong
to our world.
Earthwalker is a series of photographs onto
which the artists draw architectural-like
structures, referring geometry, kites, fungi growth
or extra-terrestrial invasion. Like purposeful
doodles, the drawings imbue the images with humour,
fantasy or threat.
In
2006 Heather & Ivan Morisons' work was included in
the British Art Show 6, a Hayward Gallery
touring exhibition; Starry Messenger, Compton
Verney; Spectator T, Sheffield. They are
currently working with Situations, University of the
West of England, on a new arts and ecology residency
programme. The artists have been selected to
represent Wales at the Venice Biennale of Art 2007,
together with Richard Deacon and Merlin James.
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