Tina O’Connell and Neal White. As proposed by Antony Hudek of Objectif Exhibitions, Antwerp.

The exhibition forms part of a programme in which leading curators are asked to selected artists for the Royal College of Art Dyson Gallery. Parts of the exhibition were based on works Deep Freezer, an installation originally installed in Antwerp, which you can read about here.

Key elements of the installation were constructed utilising tinned samples of bitumen – the residue left from oil production, and a material central to O’Connell’s work for a number of years. In particular the moulds and forms used to create ‘Deep Freezer’ and that were originally exhibited in Antwerp are re-shown as an unfolding series of further experiments. These include events such as drop pieces that explore how bitumen’s material state pushes our own perceptions of time in relation to form.

A materials-test experiment led by O’Connell with research chemists at Reading University is documented as the effects of liquid nitrogen shatter and freeze a sample of bitumen, which then thaws slowly. As with other works, these event-based works link the perceptual limits of our own sensibility, with larger scale hyper-events – such as environmental change (Morton).

Further elements of the installation from Antwerp included seismic data drawn from the world’s largest global sensor that monitors nuclear explosions through seismic activity. This data obtained by the research collective ‘Office of Experiments’ from the UK Atomics Weapons Establishment; AWE Blacknest, is made audible as this Seismic data is translated to resonant frequencies by programmer, artist and composer Anna Troisi. Part of OoE’s work with artist Rob Smith and Anna Troisi, this project examined the potential of a global scale sculptural network.

Entombed Archaeological Objects’ – is a readymade work taken from the aftermath of London Riots in Brixton 2011, that links a philosophy of social practice or ‘the incidental’ with artistic artefacts, readymades etc. Central to the practices of the artists, O’Connell and White make reference to the legacy of John Latham, whose own artworks link together time with ‘incidental’ practice. As a philosophy that was also part of APG (Artist Placement Group), incidental events and the value given to found materials embodies a critical link between artistic and critical social engagements.

The discussion about the legacy of ‘incidental practice’ was further developed through an ‘Incidental Meeting’ on March 18th, organised with Barbara Steveni and addressing questions of ‘unfinished business’. This meeting led to the formation of the Incidental Unit, currently still operating from Flat Time House, London.

An additional visit to Flat Time House with Neal White, Henry Meyrick-Hughes and Antony Davis in April further extended the opportunity for students to engage with these ideas.