The Curatorial Backlogs #8 : Extinction Beckons
Artist : Mike Nelson
Show : Extinction Beckons
Location : Hayward Gallery : London, England
Date Seen: 14 April 2023
Price: Varies, About £15
Run Time: 22 Feb 2023 - 7 may 2023
Sponsors:
Henry Moore Foundation
Kingston School of Art, Kingston University
Extinction Beckons Exhibition Supporters Group : 303 Gallery in New York, Neugerriemschneider in Berlin, Rennie Collection in Vancouver, and other anonymous donors
Arts Council England
Lottery Funded
Curators:
Head Exhibition Curator : Yung Ma
Assistant Curator : Katie Guggenhein
Curatorial Assistant : Anusha Mistry
“My intent has always been to make immersive works. They should have a narrative, a spatial aspect, but also a psychological effect on the sense: you’re seeing and feeling one thing whilst your brain is trying to override this and tell you something else”
– Mike Nelson
Nelsons immersive installations creates a setting that touches on uncanny sensation between real world and fictional ones. This exhibition brings together previous works by Nelson over the past 30 years which have been reimagined and reconfigured for the spaces of the Hayward Gallery. The exhibition seeks to explore ideas of ambiguity, disaster and societal decay through the disorderly,eerie and haunting atmospheres created. The exhibition extends throughout the entirety of the Hayward Gallery - spread across three floors and utilizing the spaces in a variety of ways to work within the architecture of the pre-exisitng space as best as possible whilst creating fictional worlds. There are three primary sections of the exhibition - I, Imposter (2011), Tools that see (the possessions of a thief) 1986 - 2005 (2016 - ongoing), and Studio Appartus (2014)
I, Imposter (2011) Various Materials
Room 1 : The opening room to the show. This room in the exhibition is like walking through a storage room with lumber and other various materials on corridors of shelving. There are some installed windows which emit a red light throughout the space. This lighting transports the viewer into an alternate universe by creating an eerie and uncanny sensation. The viewer feels as if they are walking through a space not originally meant for them and is now left abandoned - this is a feeling that is common throughout the exhibition.
Room 2 : This is the next section of the exhibition. It appears as a large wooden box structure in the center of the largest room in the gallery. From the outside it looks like an extremely large wooden shipping crate. Upon entering the space as directed by exhibition staff, the viewer is greeted by various rooms and doors leading to abandoned spaces. The spaces can often be accessed from multiple doors creating different dizzying perspectives. There are a variety of doors with varying weights and decorations leading you to different abandoned settings. Several of the spaces are entirely enclosed on all sides, top and bottom. This creates the sensation of stale air in some areas (combatted in some of them with fans blowing - yet these fans fit seamlessly into the spaces and do not distract at all). Many of the walls within the structure are broken, having holes in them to create an essence of being run-down, and forgotten. The viewer has options of doors to open and makes choices as if in their own build your own adventure story. It is easy to get lost in the space, but at the same time you are following a path specifically laid out for the viewer to bring them from the beginning to the end. Whilst in the space, the viewer has no idea what is going on outside of it, and those outside have no idea what's going on inside. The last door of the exhibition feels like any other exhibition, except upon opening it the viewer is brought back to the reality of the Hayward Gallery space.
Triple Bluff Canyon (the Woodshed)/ Room 3 of I, Imposter: The Darkroom. This piece combines two pieces by playing the darkroom within the woodshed located in the mass of sand before the viewer. Before you even enter the space, this is an impressive feat. It is an isolated structure consumed by sand dunes littered with old ripped apart tires that Nelson collected along M25. Upon entering the space, following a small hallway to a small-medium sized room (the darkroom) you are met with darkness paired with the same red lighting from the first room. The red lighting here is significant as it is meant to be a darkroom and red lighting wont impact the development of images. The essence of the space is a doomsday darkroom. The viewer is invited to explore, but not touch the materials on display - it is an abandoned space of an artist exploring the world after society’s collapse. There are many trinkets to be explored in the space - not being able to move things around is almost painful as there is so much to explore - whilst visiting one guest muttered to a friend “god it’s very tempting to touch, isn't it?” Not fully noticeable at first, is a slight high pitch static sound being emitted into the space from an old television on the counter. The more time spent in the small room, the more unbearable the sound becomes. The space even has a specific smell to it - that of rubber tires - enveloping the viewer through yet another sense.
After exiting the sand dune the viewer is led to a space that feels much more classic gallery as it contains a selection of industrial themed sculptures created by Nelson over the years. This room gives a break from the immersive rooms Nelson created. Following this the viewer is led down stairs
Downstairs the viewer comes to the last section of the show, Studio Apparatus. This piece takes up the split level gallery space on the same floor as the first rooms. This space is filled with metal and wood grid like structures with cement casts of masks hanging throughout the structure. Because this piece is not solid and can be seen through as it is more grid than it is solid, the space feels more open and leads from one aspect of it to another. Coming to the end of the space the viewer is met with a full life size recreation of Nelson’s personal studio.
Notes:
The main introductory text and exit texts exist in the classic wall text format. However, the texts which accompany each piece are shown not as simple wall texts but as papers tacked to bulletin boards throughout the exhibition. The papers may be ripped along the edges indicating wear and tear. The texts could be easily overlooked, typed in maybe a size 12 or 14 size font like a normal writing piece that has been printed out. While outside of the traditional method of showcasing information to the viewer, this methodology works for this exhibition. The stylistic choice lends itself to maintain the essence of abandoned, forgotten spaces throughout the various pieces.
Some of the spaces within I, Imposter are not accessible. The gallery attempts a solution to this aspect by providing a video walk through of the exhibition to those that ask. Unfortunately, that solution does not create the same experience as seeing it for yourself first hand within the spaces.
There are several instances where Nelson utilized the architecture and permanent structures within the gallery itself, altering them to emphasize the deserted impact of the spaces. For instance, the placement of Untitled (Public Sculpture for a Redundant Space) and Amnesiac Beach Fire are both located underneath separated staircases. These works mirror each other and hint outward the discussion of people without a home/without anywhere to go so they find coverage where they can, often in small corners of spaces. They mimic outdoor areas where homeless populations may gather to seek shelter from the weather.
Another instance of Nelson using permanent features in the museum is his transformation of the elevator (which isn’t to be accessed by guests). This is located in the space with the sculptures. He adds a wooden door and doorframe that is scratched up and pairs it with danger signage that actually belongs to the gallery. This maintains a semblance of dishevelment even whilst the rest of the works in the space act more traditional in their set up.
The brutalist architecture of the Hayward Gallery compliments Nelsons exhibition.
After exiting the exhibition, the viewer can enter the gift shop. In the gift shop the viewer is met with a selection of items that mirror aspects of the show. Books and items that reference brutalist architecture, and abandoned spaces as well as consumer objects produced for this show are for sale that reference the exhibition - the classic postcards, show book, but also things like metal toolboxes that emit similar feelings.
The edges of the metal grid structure of Studio Apparatus have all been grinded to be smooth and not sharp. This was clearly done with consideration to the viewer as the viewer can get very close to the structure, and if the edges were sharp it could easily hurt someone. It is a small detail, but one that must have taken a considerable amount of time.
Mike Nelson Works
I, Imposter
The Sculptures
Studio Apparatus
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