Cornford & Cross, Childhoods End, 2000, Digital Video Still
Catherine Elwes, Paul's Story, 2003, Digital Video Still
OUT OF CONFLICT
Catherine Elwes
Cornford & Cross
8 May - 20 June 2004
Participate
Out of Conflict is an exhibition that juxtaposes the work of Catherine Elwes and Cornford & Cross in a dialogue on issues of militarism and conflict - after the event. Childhood’s End by Cornford & Cross centres on the projected image of the English landscape, which was filmed from a jet fighter as the pilot drew the Anarchy symbol with vapour trails in the sky. In the exhibition a small monitor shows the face of the pilot as a counterpoint to the vertiginous image of the flight. The irony of drawing the Anarchy symbol with an institutionalised vehicle of destruction complements deeper questions around the fascination of war machinery.
Catherine Elwes’ SCARS combines two works in an ongoing series of WAR STORIES. Paul’s Story takes as its starting point a video of the scar above a WW2 SAS parachutist’s eye. Paul Robineau, speaking in French, tells how the wound was made and healed. The translation forms a series of six panels in the shape of the Cross of Lorraine, the emblem of both the resistance and the Free French in England. Paul’s Story is complemented by The Six Lives of Erich Ackermann a work based on the photographs taken by a German bomber pilot who survived eight crashes. The text, drawn from his diaries is spoken in German and English by his son Uwe. These intimate accounts of conflict flank the strongly visual and conceptual installation of ‘Childhood’s End’. Together these works evoke the personal cost, political complexities and the perennial sensory appeal of war.
Catalogue
A full colour illustrated catalogue with texts by Rosemary Betterton and Rachel Garfield & John Timberlake accompanies the exhibition and is available from the gallery.
ISBN: 0-9543930-3-1
Drop in filming days for service & ex-service personnel
Sunday 23 May 2004 11am – 5pm Sunday 6 June 2004 11am - 5pm
All service and ex-service personnel are invited to participate in a video and oral history project which offers you the opportunity to contribute your story. Video artist Victoria Melody will be recording stories all day, come to the gallery at the above times to take part. FREE
Gallery Talk Saturday 12 June 2004 2pm
Join an informal tour of the exhibition Out of Conflict with ArtSway Director Marks Segal and the artists Catherine Elwes and David Cross. FREE
The project is funded by Arts Council England with additional support from Camberwell School of Art and Design, The London Institute and MITES. Childhood's End is a Film and Video Umbrella Commission.
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