‘Distance Made Good'
by Jen Southern and Jen Hamilton.

Folly Gallery, Lancaster
18th September – 22nd October 2004

Reviewed by Kate Dobson

‘Distance Made Good' is a collaborative installation produced by Jen Southern and Jen Hamilton. It is a complex work, requiring much explanation, but in summary is based on a set of 34 walks taken by the artists with people who live or work in Morecambe and Lancaster. These walks were recorded using a global positioning system (GPS) device, creating co-ordinates which become a drawing of the route taken when connected. The installation itself consists of 13 double-sided boards. The first side apparent to the audience is awash with matchsticks, which are placed according to the co-ordinates of the walks taken, and appears as a very traditional fine art exhibit. Side 2 joins the dots of the co-ordinates with thread, a different colour for each person's route. These threads are anchored at the starting point of the walk with a small sandbag (made of locally donated fabric), and loops of thread collect at the end of each route, suggesting the possibility of longer and more explorative walks. This second side is much more suggestive of homeliness and women, and is much less formal.

This is a difficult exhibition to review, mainly because I'm not hugely interested in the main premise of routes and maps and the GPS system, and also because it's so complex I feel a bit confused about which bit to focus on. Normally with installations, the supporting material is just that, support, but here I felt that the installation itself was the supporting material. I was also quite disappointed with the visual presentation of this work. It has a very pronounced unfinished feel, which didn't really appeal to me. Side 2, I thought, was most interesting, especially in contrast with the traditional abstract imagery of side 1. The trouble with this exhibition is that it is more conceptually interesting than visually. I kind of believe that the physical object we call art should have some autonomy and not be fully reliant on its explanation, and this exhibition falls down in this respect.

Talking to the artists really helped me to engage with the work, but the passer-by will not have that privilege. Never mind, I can almost forgive ‘Distance Made Good' anything for its refusal to worship the technology it's based on – providing co-ordinates is all the GPS system is required to do. Hurrah – well rounded New Media!!!

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‘Switches and other works'
by Stephen Monger

Folly Gallery, Lancaster
11th September – 15th October 2004

Reviewed by Kate Dobson

‘Switches and other works' is another confusing and complex series of works. The exhibition consists of a series of photographs. The artist, Stephen Monger, has made models of various uninteresting parts of galleries (for example fire alarms, sockets and so on), and taken photographs of them. At first glance, I hated these images; I thought they were yet another set of works in the grand tradition of exhibiting rubbish and found objects, which has been done to death. However, once I looked at the images and realised that they were models, I looked again.

The series is confusing because it is unclear which part of the photos are the arty bit. Are the models the art, or the photographs in the models, or the photographs themselves? And what is the message? Is a model of a T box art, and if so, why isn't the actual T box art? So I guess that's kind of interesting. I certainly felt I had more to say about this exhibition. The only downside is that I can't decide whether it's intelligent or pretentious, and whether this indecision is itself a part of the exhibition…

I left ‘Switches' feeling like I hadn't really got it – a very irritating feeling which doesn't really do justice to the work. It's pretty good really.