Simon Faithfull:
Recent Findings
27 March – 5 June 2010
Market Square
Preston PR1 2PP
UK
harris.museum [at] preston.gov.uk
Faithfull works predominantly in drawing, video and installation, often using different technologies to record his surroundings. The Harris is thrilled to be hosting the Recent Findings show as it will be the first time these pieces have been exhibited in the UK and includes the newly commissioned projection work, A Murder.
Faithfull commented,
“The exciting thing about Recent Findings is that it brings together many new pieces that I have shown in Germany, France and New York but that haven’t till now been exhibited in the UK.”
Faithfull’s work continually questions, measures and tests his own experience of the world.
These investigations result in fascinating artworks and include his newest piece, the film 0˚00 Navigation (commissioned by Landscape and Arts Network Services), an intriguing and obsessive journey exactly along the Greenwich Meridian from Peace Haven in Hampshire to Cleethorpes in Lincolnshire. A solitary figure is seen using a GPS device to follow the exact line of longitude, negotiating all obstacles encountered – climbing through windows, wading through streams and crawling through hedges.
Another insight into Faithfull’s journeys includes the video-work Aurora Borealis (Unseen), in which a record of the artist’s 2006 trip to the Arctic Circle is seen via the reflections captured in a human eye. The footage records the strange location and scientific equipment witnessed whilst Faithfull waited unsuccessfully to experience the Northern Lights.
Other highlights of the exhibition include the premiere of A Murder, in which the crow images Faithfull regularly sketches on his palm pilot are brought together and displayed as they’ve never been seen before. The crows inhabit the streets and open spaces from cities in the UK, Canada, Spain, and Germany. In each of these places Faithfull feels the society of crows mirrors the individual habits and manners of the people who also populate these cities. Collected together from many points of the globe these drawings will be projected on to the walls of the gallery, presenting an immersive installation and creating an unfeasible murder (flock) of alien creatures. The installation will also reference its setting with the inclusion of a Preston crow.
As part of the launch of the exhibition Faithfull’s installation, Fake Moon, first presented at The Big Chill Festival in 2008, will appear in Preston City Centre from 8pm on Friday 26 and Saturday 27 March. This intriguing piece will bathe visitors to Preston in the fake moonlight of a strange apparition (weather dependent).
Faithfull will also be delivering a talk on Recent Findings at the Harris on Saturday 27 March; 12–1pm. Experience a fascinating insight in to the exhibition from the artist himself as he takes visitors through the process of documenting his intriguing journeys. The event is free but you will need to book, please call 01772 905414.
Harris Museum & Art Gallery, Market Square, Preston PR1 2PP
Opening hours: Monday – Saturday, 10am – 5pm except Tuesday 11am – 5pm.
Tel: 01772 258248
Website: www.harrismuseum.org.uk
Email: harris.museum@preston.gov.uk
