Corpus Callosum
Corpus Callosum: David Beattie and Karl Burke
9 January – 1 February 2009
Studio 1.1, 57a Redchurch St., London E2 7DJ
Kultureflash's review of the show
I falter at the edge, the trick of the eye light fading unnoticed suddenly in the dark. Liminal fabric waving in the window, the breeze casting seas sounds from out place. Through the doorway light blinks off, then on, shadowing the angles and negative corners. A body steps through, is speaking:
“…rom the assumed beginning. The corpus callosum is instead the longitudinal strand of white matter, the knot that ties the independent halves of our brain. But if it is the subtle go-between, the humble questioner, between our ever-now right and calculating left sides, its very transitory nature is surely more defining than either hemisphere might impo…,” before fading.
Dublin-based artists David Beattie and Karl Burke together present their first exhibition in London at Studio 1.1. Open-ended and playful, their lo-fi sculptures and installations are material meditations on the phenomena we take for granted. Their careful constructions act as a mirror, an attentive plane on which we can become aware of our own movement and sensation. The artists share a passion for natural philosophy, a wide-eyed experimentation that predates the scientific method, seeking to re-know our surroundings and address the possibilities inherent in experiences of the present.
Curated by Chris Fite-Wassilak
David Beattie (born 1979, N. Ireland) is an artist currently based in Dublin, Ireland. Recent exhibitions include Futureworld, Mermaid Arts Centre, Bray (2008), The Important Thing Is That Tomorrow Is Not The Same As Yesterday, Pallas Contemporary Projects, Dublin (2007), and Sculpture at Kells, Kilkenny (2007). Recent curating projects include Lighthouse, London (co-curated with Chris Fite-Wassilak) and Homemade, Dublin, as part of House Projects (2007).
Karl Burke is an interdisciplinary artist and active musician based in Dublin whose practice includes sculpture, sound, installation works, photography and film. Winner of the 2007 Irish Emerging Visual Artist Award, recent exhibitions include ‘Spaces’, Wexford Arts Centre, Wexford (2008), Common Place, Dublin (2007), and Gallery For One, Dublin (2006).
Chris Fite-Wassilak (born 1981, USA) is a writer, freelance critic and curator. He is the former editor of Dublin-based collaborative comic This Way Up, and a regular contributor to Frieze, Circa Contemporary Irish Art, and Artforum.com. Curatorial projects include Lighthouse, a caravan cinema parked in Truman Brewery co-curated with David Beattie in June 2007 as part of the wider House Projects set of exhibitions, as well as ‘Quiet Revolution’ a group show in association with Hayward Touring opening in Milton Keynes Gallery in July 2009.
Images from the exhibition:
David Beattie, Resonator, 2008
Karl Burke, In an effort to, (video still),2009
David Beattie, Tape Song, 2009
Karl Burke, Untitled (excerpt), installation shot, 2009
