Polly Gould   Architecture for an Extinct Planet
Polly Gould, Architecture for an Extinct Planet, 2019

Polly Gould   The Crystal Chain: habit/refuge  2019  Working drawing  


Private view: Friday 21 February  6 - 9pm
22 February - 25 April 2020
Extended: 17 - 19 September  2-6pm  by appointment only (face masks mandatory)

For Polly Gould’s second solo exhibition at the gallery, the artist presents a series of works in paper, glass and sound, representing visionary fantasies and utopian manifestos in art and architecture. The works revisit some historic visions of the future in order to engage with contemporary debates on our survival. References include a late nineteenth century science fiction pamphlet Utopia; Or, the History of an Extinct Planet Psychometrically Explained (1884) by Alfred Denton Cridge, Glass Architecture (1914) and The Gray Cloth with Ten Percent White: A Ladies’ Novel (1914) by architectural critic Paul Scheerbart and the publication of utopian designs titled Alpine Architecture (1917) by German architect Bruno Taut.

In 1919-1920, after being deeply affected by the misery of the First World War, Taut began The Crystal Chain Letters as a correspondence between a small group of artists and architects whose aim was to discuss and imagine how the future might be shaped through ‘paper architecture’; speculative works that were not intended to be built. They envisaged an ideal society on the alpine mountain tops housed in an architecture built entirely of coloured glass. If the edifice of modernist architecture was based upon the three pillars of the innovation of new materials - glass, concrete and steel - then this exhibition wonders what pillars our current period requires to build hope for the future.

The piece from which the show’s title is drawn, Architecture for an Extinct Planet: Birds of Paradise, is an architectural maquette in coloured glass, copper and solder, partially constructed out of magic lantern glass slides illustrated with exotic birds. The series Zoological Garden is also in coloured glass and lantern slides of zoo animals in captivity. The Crystal Chain: habit/refuge is figured as a tent/dress wearable shelter in paper and fabric for multiple inhabitants/wearers. In a human-scale model of the Mont Blanc alpine range, contemporary alpine huts and refuges are imagined as dwellings for those becoming refugees in a changing climate. Manifesto for an Architecture of Atmospheres uses sound installation with voice to explore the relation between the built environment and the collective political voice. It asks the audience to repeat in call and response a sequence of phrases, including ‘Concrete is no more concrete than air.’

The exhibition will be accompanied by an essay by Rachel Tyler.

Polly Gould works across media with an interest in fictions and histories, collections and archives, exploration and ecology. Gould has shown work in the British Library, and various Botanic Gardens and Natural History Museums. She also shows in gallery spaces internationally. Gould studied Fine Art at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, London, and Fine Art and Theory residencies at the Jan van Eyck Academy, Maastricht, The Netherlands, and has a PhD in Art and Architecture from the Bartlett School of Architecture, London. She has also been Post-doctoral Research Fellow in Design-led Architectural Research, Newcastle University. Gould co-curated, with Anne Eggebert, the touring exhibition TOPOPHOBIA: Fear of Place in Contemporary Art in 2012. She has a forthcoming monograph titled Antarctica, Art and Archive published by Bloomsbury.

Credits

Manifesto for an Architecture of Atmospheres  2020  In collaboration with Pedro Novo



'The audio piece for headphones (it should be heard over headphones for full effect) consists of individual and group recordings of the Manifesto for an Architecture of Atmospheres. These recordings are sequentially positioned at different locations in a virtual space, which was computationally modelled as the Vienna Musikverein concert hall. This is auditory virtual reality: to evoke in the listener an auditory space that is independent of the space where the listener is actually located.

This contrasts with the active reverberation system that was installed in one of the gallery's rooms where spontaneous noises made by the visitors, such as noise from steps or voices, are electronically processed and returned to the room (through loudspeakers) in real time such as to give the impression that the room has been enlarged. This is augmented reality: to evoke in the listener an enhanced or transformed version of the acoustics of the room where the listener is actually located.

The continuum from real reality, to augmented reality to virtual reality encompasses a wide range of possibilities to create aural atmospheres.'

- Pedro Novo


With the voices of Claudia Schnitzer Novo, Clem Crosby, Danny Agasee, David Schnitzer Novo, Eliot Mabaku, Emile Huckle, Emilio Agasee, Indira Lemouchi, Karyma Ellis, Lillan Lemouchi, Natalie Huckle, Pedro Novo, Polly Gould, Rose Huckle.

With many thanks to all who helped fabricate: Dan McGiff, Indira Lemouchi, Laetitia Dehauteur, Latifa Kapadia, Leora Haga, Lillan Lemouchi, Nabhaan Rizwan, Paola Montealegre, Sarah Callis, Shahana Minhas, Tatiana Flury.

Polly Gould, Architecture for an Extinct Planet, 2020, installation view

Polly Gould  Architecture for an Extinct Planet  2020  Installation view   Danielle Arnaud
Installation view by Oskar Proctor  

Polly Gould, Zoological Garden: Wolf, 2020

Polly Gould  Zoological Garden: Wolf  2020  Coloured glass, magic lantern slides, copper tape and solder  33 x 33cm
Installation view by Oskar Proctor  

Polly Gould, Zoological Garden: Polar Bear and Zoological Garden: Antelope, 2020

Polly Gould  Zoological Garden: Wolf and Zoological Garden: Antelope  2020  Coloured glass, magic lantern slides, copper tape and solder  33 x 33cm each
Installation view by Oskar Proctor  

Polly Gould, Architecture for an Extinct Planet, 2020, installation view

Polly Gould  Architecture for an Extinct Planet  2020  Installation view   Danielle Arnaud
Installation view by Oskar Proctor

Polly Gould, Paper Architecture: Eiger, 2020

Polly Gould  Paper Architecture: Eiger  2020  Inkjet print on paper, thread  30x42cm
Installation view by Oskar Proctor  

Polly Gould, Paper Architecture: Dent du Geant, 2020

Polly Gould  Paper Architecture: Dent du Géant  2020  Inkjet print on paper, thread  30x42cm
Installation view by Oskar Proctor  

Polly Gould, Paper Architecture: Aiguille du Dru

Polly Gould  Paper Architecture: Aiguille du Dru  2020  Inkjet print on paper, thread  30x42cm
Installation view by Oskar Proctor  

Polly Gould, Paper Architecture: Mont Blanc, 2020

Polly Gould  Paper Architecture: Mont Blanc  2020  Inkjet print on paper, thread  30x42cm
Installation view by Oskar Proctor  

Polly Gould, Architecture for an Extinct Planet, 2020

LEFT: Polly Gould  Architecture for an Extinct Planet: Birds of Paradise   2017  Coloured glass, magic lantern slides, copper tape and solder  27 x 30 x 53cm
RIGHT: Polly Gould  Architecture for an Extinct Planet: Sea Creatures   2020  Coloured glass, magic lantern slides, copper tape and solder  27 x 30 x 33cm
Installation view by Oskar Proctor  

Polly Gould, Architecture for an Extinct Planet: Sea Creatures, 2020

Polly Gould  Architecture for an Extinct Planet: Sea Creatures   2020  Coloured glass, magic lantern slides, copper tape and solder  27 x 30 x 33cm
Installation view by Oskar Proctor  

Polly Gould, Architecture for an Extinct Planet: Sea Creatures, 2020

Polly Gould  Architecture for an Extinct Planet: Sea Creatures   (detail)  2020  Coloured glass, magic lantern slides, copper tape and solder  27 x 30 x 33cm
Installation view by Oskar Proctor  

Polly Gould, Architecture for an Extinct Planet: Birds of Paradise, 2020

Polly Gould  Architecture for an Extinct Planet: Birds of Paradise   (detail)  2017  Coloured glass, magic lantern slides, copper tape and solder  27 x 30 x 53cm
Installation view by Oskar Proctor  

Polly Gould, Architecture for an Extinct Planet, 2020

Polly Gould  Architecture for an Extinct Planet  2020  Installation view   Danielle Arnaud
Installation view by Oskar Proctor

Polly Gould, Architecture for an Extinct Planet, 2020

Polly Gould  Architecture for an Extinct Planet  2020  Installation view   Danielle Arnaud
Installation view by Oskar Proctor

Polly Gould, The Crystal Chain: habit/refuge, 2020

Polly Gould  The Crystal Chain: habit/refuge  2020  Paper, inkjet print, watercolour, thread, mannequins   Dimensions variable
Installation view by Oskar Proctor

Polly Gould, The Crystal Chain: habit/refuge, 2020

Polly Gould  The Crystal Chain: habit/refuge  2020  Paper, inkjet print, watercolour, thread, mannequins   Dimensions variable
Installation view by Oskar Proctor

Polly Gould, The Crystal Chain: habit/refuge, 2020

Polly Gould  The Crystal Chain: habit/refuge  2020  Paper, inkjet print, watercolour, thread, mannequins   Dimensions variable
Installation view by Oskar Proctor

Polly Gould, Manifesto for an Architecture of Atmospheres, 2020

Polly Gould  Manifesto for an Architecture of Atmospheres  2020  Sound, wood, organdie cotton, geodesic hubs   Dimensions variable
Installation view by Oskar Proctor

Polly Gould, Manifesto for an Architecture of Atmospheres, 2020

Polly Gould  Manifesto for an Architecture of Atmospheres  2020  Sound, wood, organdie cotton, geodesic hubs   Dimensions variable
Installation view by Oskar Proctor

Polly Gould, Manifesto for an Architecture of Atmospheres, 2020

Polly Gould  Manifesto for an Architecture of Atmospheres  2020  Sound, wood, organdie cotton, geodesic hubs   Dimensions variable
Installation view by Oskar Proctor

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