Coming over all ‘Yorkshire’
Peter Randall Page Sculpture at YSP, photo by :mrMark: on flickr
At the risk of sounding Yorkshire-centric, I highly recommend a visit to two exhibitions – one called “Code: Craft”, a display of stunning visual digital art at the Millennium Galleries in Sheffield, and the other, an exhibition of the equally stunning sculpture and drawings of Peter Randall Page at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park.
On the surface, the two exhibitions appear completely different. Code: Craft displays the art of writing computer code. Peter Randall Pages’ work is all about the handcrafting of natural materials. Code: Craft is “virtual”, with panels of constantly changing light and colour projected onto walls. Peter Randall Pages creates sculptures of organic forms – seeds, cones, larvae — made of ancient limestone and granite, and exuding weight and corporeality. Code: Craft is seemingly about the future and the possibilities of using IT in ever more creative ways – intimations where we are going. Peter Randall Page’s forms suggest primitive organisms going back millennia which evoke a sense of deep recognition, a reminder of where we have come from
While futuristic in appearance, the artworks in Code: Craft draw on artistic traditions, such as Chinese ink painting, and are inspired by natural forms and patterns. Utilising computer fractals, an infinite variety of complex patterns are created, endlessly repeating worlds within worlds, sense of the building blocks of life being formed. Patterns which are predictable in that they are being laid out according to underlying rules, but unpredictable in that the overall design will never be repeated. Fractals are approximated in nature in the formation of clouds, snowflakes and certain vegetables such as broccoli and cauliflower.
Peter Randall Page is also fascinated with geometry and symmetry, the mathematical principles which govern the incredible patterns and forms found in the natural world. The decoration on his giant seedheads are based on the principles of spiral phyllotaxis, the design found in plant forms such as pine cones, sunflower seed heads and pineapples. Although made of inert rock, there is a sense of aliveness within the material. It is as if the surface of the rock is a membrane, and a sense that the bulging shapes are being pushed out from within – life in the process of forming.
Both exhibitions therefore turn out to be connected, both involving an exploration of emergence and the natural principles of design that drive life and growth. And it’s off to the shop to purchase a cauliflower and a pineapple for research purposes.
This article creates a link which accurately describes the same recognition and familiarity found in viewing both exhibitions – especially if seen in close proximity to one another. Why the word ‘reassurance’ comes to mind – I’m not sure if that implies ’safe’ art – suggests what Alison points out, that the work is related to our own underlying code, innate to our own natural system within.
Both worth visiting. Both lift the spirits.
(Were the pineapple and cauliflower researched/consumed in the sake of art? Try Romanesco Cauliflower – even more spirals!!
I was ‘comforted’ to see a connection too – between the Peter Randall-Page pieces at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park – but with the work of Epstein, Gaudier-Brzeska and Gill at the Wild Thing exhibition at the RA. It was to do with method, an extraordinary attention to detail and obsessive endeavour for accuracy in conveying ideas in a material form. And again it all had to do with maths and patterns. Grids and graphs drawn out for scaling up and getting proportions right and of looking deeply and intensely.
It is ‘reassuring’ in the best possible way, because it connects all artists, the best and the beginners, all engaging in lots of little acts, which added together amount to craftsmanship, artistry, ability and ’stunningness’.
(Enjoyed your Yorkshireness, but have to take issue – I don’t believe rock is inert!)
You make a very interesting point Jennifer. People often ponder on the outputs and ‘is it art?’ One easy way to address the issue is to say ‘tell me about the process that lead to the output’ and if you can see that obsessive endeavour, the likelihood is it is art. The room with the sketchbooks and maquettes at the Peter Randall-Page exhibition is awe inspiring.
As for rock not being inert, I now have a wonderful image of it moving round your studio during the night!
Hi Jennifer
Like Paul, I am intrigued by your statement that rock is not inert! You are saying that it is responsive in some way…. Do you mean that literally or from an artistic sense? I would love to hear more!