Jackson WebbSoft Lighting
10 December 2005 – 10 January 2006
Artists Talk
19 December 2005, Monday
5:00PM (Sunset and Cocktails)
6:00PM Talk co-hosted by Yason Banal and myself
The Living Room Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of new works by British artist collaboration, Jackson Webb. In their work Jackson Webb are interested in questioning ideas of functionality and object status, often producing sculptures and drawings with a design aesthetic. The way in which these works enter the increasingly grey area between art and design is characteristic of Jackson Webb’s practice, which operates across a range of creative disciplines. Whilst the works may initially appear to be functional, their titles imply a more ambiguous status, and the viewer is often left with an unsettling set of relations.
For their inaugural show at the Living Room Gallery, they present two lamps and a pair of drawings presented on whiteboards. The lamps can be seen as a tongue-in-cheek comment on the concept of ‘illumination’, and the role that criticism might play in the production of meaning. They challenge the idea that art objects are things whose meaning can be revealed through criticism, or which are a physical representation of the ideas ‘behind’ them. When looking at the work Jackson Webb suggest that it is more helpful to ask, ‘what do these objects do?’ rather than ‘what do these objects represent?’
The accompanying drawings are presented on whiteboards, which are commonly associated with education or the clarification of ideas. They are rendered characteristically dysfunctional here, however, and shed little light on matters. Although Jackson Webb began using whiteboards in their collaborative practice as a way of communicating ideas to each other, they have developed into autonomous objects in their own right. The possibility that the images can be wiped away at any point by a viewer is typical of Jackson Webb’s use of non-permanent materials, and their interest in functional or ‘active’ objects.
Mark Jackson and Charlotte Webb live and work in London, and have been collaborating since 2002. Their collaboration aims to challenge the notion of singular artistic output, and to make dialogue an inherent part of the working process. They will be undertaking a collaborative Masters degree program at Chelsea College of Art, London in January 2005. Jackson Webb have exhibited throughout London. Recent exhibitions include The Tower Of Babel, Limehouse Art Foundation, London, 2005; 100 Mothers, Oxford House, London 2005; Nth Art 001, Ols&Co Gallery, London 2005; Studio Voltaire Annual Open, London 2004; Play Dead, Spitz Gallery, London 2004; AIAIA, Shanghai 2004; This Scepter’d Isle, Space Station 65, London 2003; Viva Pablo – Bart Wells Institute, London 2003.
Although the unusually wet weather deprived us of a sunset view, "London Talking", the art talk-slash-critique of the current exhibition of Jackson Webb went on without a hitch last night, December 19, 2005 at 630PM. And for a crappy Monday afternoon in the height of Christmas season traffic, I was rather pleased at the enthusiastic and rather eclectic turnout. The dancer Dona Tumacder-Esteban and her husband David Esteban (of the acid jazz group Sound) arrived fresh from their honeymoon. Ivan, the Chinatown streetwalker made an appearance, as did blogger Watergirl, and the writer Anson Yu of Citiguide and Appetite Magazine, among others. The wine and Finlandia cranberry vodka* flowed throughout the evening and so did the words. The talk, of which the topics ranged from artistic processes, to the importance of collaboration, to the problems of egoism and high production costs in the art world, went on for about an hour and a half without intermission. Jackson Webb return to the UK tomorrow. I hope (nay, I'm sure) we'll see them back in this town again. Stay tuned for the next art talk.
