Sam Holden
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Blackboard
(Mixed-media installation. 2009)








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‘For many of us the gallery space still gives off negative vibrations when we wander in. Aesthetics are turned into a kind of socio-elitism – the gallery space is exclusive.
What it contains is, without initiation, well nigh incomprehensible – art is difficult.  Exclusive audience, rare objects difficult to comprehend - here we have a social, financial and intellectual snobbery which models our social habits at large. Never was a space, designed to accommodate the prejudices and enhance the self-image of the upper middle classes, so efficiently codified’. Brian O’Doherty, Inside the White Cube

On setting foot within a contemporary gallery environment we tacitly sign an agreement, confirming our role as submissive viewer, consumer and guest.   Our privileges are limited; we may view, but not record; enquire, inwardly and quietly; we can loiter, ponderously, not vacantly; we may talk, again quietly (about the art), but we cannot touch. There is nothing we can add physically, beyond our mere presence, to the work that is on show unless explicitly requested to do so by the artist. By interfering with or altering the art-object we might mutate the artist’s intended message, aesthetic or conceptual, which would not only signal disrespect toward the artist and gallery staff but also brand us as philistinic.

By covering the interior of an empty gallery or exhibition space with blackboard paint and scattering pieces of chalk and blackboard wipers throughout it’s interior, the gallery space is turned into a three-dimensional blackboard; subsequently becoming the art-object within the gallery space. The blackboard plays a similar role in the classroom as the art-object does within the gallery; it’s used to impart knowledge and explore ideas and cannot be interfered with unless permission is granted by a figure of authority. With no instructional guidelines or artist’s statement accompanying the installation, each visitor’s experience is shaped entirely by their own behavioural code, something that, from person to person, will alter dramatically depending on a variety of constantly changing factors; the proximity of other visitors, personal experiences of museums and gallery spaces, their perception of the role of the viewer, their relationship to the art-object and their opinions on its creation, maintenance and value.

The installation subsequently evolves, with each visitor having the potential to alter the art-object/gallery space. Whether drawing, creating, erasing, curating, rearranging or invigilating each viewer takes on, consciously or otherwise, an active role in the installations existence, deciding what is appropriate for the gallery space that they temporarily inhabit. What begins its life as an empty black space develops, through constant audience involvement, into an experiential tapestry, with each modification allowing an insight into our collective relationship with the codified gallery environment.

Sam Holden © 2009