I loved being in this room, wandering through the installation. It felt like a kid's den and everywhere were drawings, gestures and bits of things you half recognised and had to place. The tent-like structure has drawings on the inside and is completely handmade, It is really calming, maybe a bit like being in the womb.
The title translates as waters-times and the gallery text speaks about the link between water, seas and the river Avon which runs past the gallery. I'm not sure I would have quite got this from the installation alone. The 'fishing' net speaks of craft and interiors rather than the elements and something with a very specific role. It looks to be made from canvas/calico strips. The sheets hung also seem to be very interior and home-like. I think it is the materials and colour which detract from the water/sea/river connotations. Perhaps it is more an imagined, storybook waterscape than one relating to anything 'real'. The small objects scattered around the installation bring you back to the shoreline though, with driftwood and claws as well as silt.
I was less of a fan of the map paintings. They were quite awkward and didn't seem free or a pleasure to make but quite cramped and frustrated.
The last room on the Pulfer show is gorgeous, it is full of these little sketchings and makings which really seemed to show the sense of humour and personality of the artist. It's the sort of room which deserves a second and third look. Contemporary work is mixed in with work the artist made as a child. perhaps because of this, none of the work was precious and it had a particular beaten up, mangled, handmade sort of aesthetic. Tactile and thoughtful.
Patrick Staff, The Foundation.
I thoroughly enjoyed this, it was everything an artist's film should be. I was intrigued and compelled to watch the whole thing (and just a little bit more so I could watch the choreography again..) At times I was confused and was always unsure of what was coming next. It kept me in, made me smile and is beautifully shot and edited.
The film is split into two - one section shot in LA at the Tom of Finland Foundation. This section is a rough documentary, shorter clips, some footage shot on a mobile phone and everything feels quite messy. The other section was shot at Spike, with sets, beautiful panning shots, lighting and choreography. It is much more polished and pulls out meaning from the documentary footage.
The whole film is very much about sexual identity and gender but it is also very male, I certainly felt 'other'. This is something Staff picks up on a little bit in his very eloquent interview in the gallery guide. Staff realised he was easily accepted at the foundation because they saw him as a gay male, the film is about perceptions, identifying and this feeling of being either outside or included.
It's certainly a show I would like to go back and look at again - partly because I missed seeing Staff's sculptural sets, which were around the corner - but also because both the shows seemed quite layered. I think they will stand up to a second viewing. Both shows are at Spike Island until the 20th September.
