Sandra Smith : Gallery 2
GALLERY 2
June 18 - July 9
Previous lives of rooms in the Playhouse (the arts centre in which Context Galleries is sited) range from them acting as dormitories to laboratories. Many rooms in the building have original features still visible. In contrast, Gallery 2 of the Context Gallery has evolved into being a blank canvas. Most of the old features blend into the surroundings and go unnoticed, due to the changing role of the space over time.
I intend to work with the exhibition space as a material. I have worked on this theme previously, where the space in which I am exhibiting has become the focal point of the piece produced.
Since late 2004, I have been documenting Gallery 2, recording the Context’s Gallery 2 exhibition space during different exhibitions, recording the various arrangements of the room while it has been installed with different projects. This material allows the viewer to see the features of the space in different contexts. Fittings of the room, power sockets, all may generally go unnoticed. But among them are the energy supplies of the space. Even these, in different lighting effects, occasionally appear to be giving light.
Sandra Smith is the winner, with her proposal for this project, of the Context Galleries & NWIFHE Commissioned Artwork Award 2004.