The thoughtful collaborations of British pranksters Tim Noble and Sue Webster are on view in this eclectic survey exhibition at P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center.
The first gallery is dominated by "Forever", a Las Vegas style sign composed of flashing strobes, and neon blues spelling out its title in a tawdry and transient manner. In the words of Noble "It contradicts itself; forever is a long time, nothing lasts forever." Noble's comment leads directly to the "New Barbarians". A sculptural double self portrait which depicts the artists as our Neanderthal ancestors walking hand in hand with expressions of dumb-struck awe and hopeful anticipation. On either side of this brightly lit gallery are two dark doorways each containing a dim foreshadowing of what is to come. To the left: "Real Life is Rubbish", comprised of two piles of garbage. A spot light projects a shadow silhouette of the artists sitting back to back staring off in a parallel solitude. To the right: "Dirty White Trash (with Gulls)" is comprised of six months worth of the artists' garbage and some dead sea gulls thrown in for good measure. This double self portrait shows the artists at leisure partaking in some wine and a casual smoke.
Diverted by money, property and prestige it is easy to avert our gaze from the vapid bankruptcy and wasted by products of the consumer cultural dream. In a post radicalized world of ambivalence where consumption and oblivion seem the order of the day Tim Noble and Sue Webster's collaborations "literally" shine a light upon the untouchable residue of conspicuous consumption. With an unpretentious touch of desperate glamour and self deprecating humor they have transformed the gaze upon heaps of trash and side show ephemera generating a playful and contemplative allegorical space in which to consider the consequences of our choices and a hopeful humorous glimmer of the future.
Exhibition Information
P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center
22-25 Jackson Ave
Long Island City, NY 11101.
Phone: 718.784.2084
Email: mail@ps1.org
Website: http://www.ps1.org
Hours and Admission
Noon to 6:00 p.m. Thursday through Monday
Tim Noble and Sue Webster exhibition currently on view at P.S.1 through Friday, February 6th.
Review written for the Gay
City News, New York City
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Photographs Courtesy of the PS1
Forever 2001
509 lamps, holders, daisy washers, ice white turbo reflector caps, steel frame,
painted aluminum, electric blue neon, hot-pink neon, transformer, electronic
sequencer
230 x 119 x 20.5 in
Courtesy of William and Maria Bell
Real Life Is Rubbish
2002
Mixed media
Variable dimensions
Courtesy of David Teiger
Dirty White Trash (with Gulls)
1998
Garbage, seagulls, light-projector
Variable dimensions
Courtesy of the Dakis Joannou Collection Foundation, Athens
New Barbarians 1997-1999
Fiberglass, translucent resin
137 x 68.7 x 79 in
Private Collection, New York
Courtesy of Modern Art, London
$ 2001
204 ice white turbo reflector caps, lamp holders, daisy washers, lacquered
brass, electronic sequencer
(3 channel shimmer effect)
72 x 48 x 10 in
Collection Mark Fletcher and Tobias Meyer, New York
