Visualise a kind of living sculpture, half human half metal and picture the scene... Two people walk into a gallery, naked, and are taped to a sculpture for three hours as spectators come and for an East End art opening, the opening of "Flesh Reality" at the Point Zero Project Space, Dalston, London. How do you think you would feel? Uncomfortable? Intimate? Scared? Aroused?
The exhibition explores the idea of the body and our relationship with it, as the Point Zero Collective themselves sate, "We try to make sense of reality largely through our physical existence, the body. Yet, though our psyche resides in flesh, it can never be in complete control of this mysterious vehicle, with its perpetual transformation of tissues and cells; viruses and bacteria...attempts to map the body reveal that the matter closest to us can also be the most foreign."
As I walk around the Point Zero Project Space with painter, photographer and sculptor Konrad Wryebek, a member of the Point Zero Collective and one of the artists taking part in the show we discuss his sculpture, YYBKSLAVE, which was central to the performance.
Konrad explains that the sculpture was "activated" during the performance thus completing the work. The interaction between the performers and the angular metal "deconstructed pentagram" that sits in front of us was a one off event that opened the exhibition. That being only the beginning, the sculpture and the other, varied, works that sit around it make up the show, which runs until the 8th June.
"Flesh Reality" was put together by curator Eiko Honda and the Point Zero Collective and features some very well known artists, Sarah Lucas and Hans Bellmer to name two and some less well such as video artist Matthew Miles and Konrad himself.
Often when a combination of established and up and coming artists are shown together the most famous artist is kind of showboated in a trophy-like fashion with the up and coming work given less prominence. Here the work sits together, each piece playing an equal part to the whole.
As the collective says, "Our main aim is to put on powerful shows that create dialogues between established artists and emerging talents. We hope current show Flesh Reality succeeds in that, with incredible works by the likes of Sarah Lucas, Erwin Wurm and Hans Bellmer alongside those of break-through artists such as Matthew Miles, Whitney McVeigh and Matthew Killick."
This show despite containing work from a mixture of eras, in a range of media from a wide range of artists the show is united and all the work echoes the intended theme.
Point Zero aim to put on two further shows this year at the Point Zero Project Space. Both with, for now, secret curatorial collaborators, working along the same principle, a themed exhibition featuring well established and up and coming artists working in with a range of media. If this show is anything to go by, I for one, very much look forward to seeing what they do next.
Flesh Reality runs until 8th June 2013 at Point Zero Project Space, Unit G1b2, Stamford Works
Gillett Street, N16 8JH
Opening Hours: Weds- Sat 12:00-19:00
Artists featured in the show are: Sarah Lucas, John Isaacs, Konrad Wyrebek, Erwin Wurm, Matthew Miles, Laurie Simons, Whitney McVeigh, Tatsumi Hijikata, Kiki Smith, Matthew Killick, Hans Bellmer, Jiří Kolář.