Benedict Radcliffe’s Modern Japanese Classic

[poprock]

One of the best sculptures I’ve seen in years is suddenly getting a lot of press attention. It’s all over the web this week because it’s being exhibited outside the Paul Smith gallery in London.

My first reaction was an angry one: Why didn’t anyone give a shit last year when it was exhibited right here in Glasgow’s Merchant City?

Then I realised that it’s probably just because the Paul Smith gallery have a good press agent working for them.

Anyhow, link.

[LesMTS]

That's cool as fuck!

That's pretty impressive, I hadn't heard of it before reading that link. Whereabout was it exhibited in Glasgow - was it at the GOMA?

[Jaemi]

^^ I'm fairly certain it was outside Metropolitan.

I was coming into this thread to mention that it had been displayed last year..

[poprock]

GOMA? Pfft.

It sat in Brunswick Street outside the Brunswick Hotel for a month, whilst they had an exhibition of Benedict’s stuff inside the bar. Benedict works at Stand, a design company here in the city.

Anyhow, I guess my point (if I have one) is that here in Glasgow we just tend to get on with the process of making and experiencing art. It’s ingrained into the daily life of a lot of folk here, to one degree or another. In London it’s something to shout about and make a big fuss.

You could argue that your experience of art in Glasgow is such due to your profession though. I dunno, I'm not really arty enough to know though, maybe I'm missing stuff all the time.

[Jaemi]

I spotted a ned trying to steal the wheels off it.

[poprock]

Originally Posted by Vonnie

You could argue that your experience of art in Glasgow is such due to your profession though. I dunno, I'm not really arty enough to know though, maybe I'm missing stuff all the time.

You could argue that, and I’d argue right back to the contrary, but I think that’s a discussion for another thread/time.

Because of my background I have a pretty good grounding in contemporary art and the scene in most of the UK’s major cities, and I feel that Glasgow has one of the best integrations between daily life and ‘the arts’ of any place I’ve been. Basically, I’d argue that art in all it’s myriad forms is more accepted by yer average joe here in Glasgow than it is around the rest of the UK. A lot of the London scene is still stuck firmly up it’s own arse with the notion that art is somehow elite and superior and therefore not for everybody; ergo worth shouting about, PRing to death, and so on.

But … aye, I like Benedict’s car. I’m glad it’s suddenly become cool.

[Hammer]

That is amazing. The engadget pics make it look like it's an autocad image that's been placed into a photo (which I presume is the intended effect when you see in real life).

I hope he does some more peices like that.

Originally Posted by poprock

You could argue that, and I’d argue right back to the contrary, but I think that’s a discussion for another thread/time.

Because of my background I have a pretty good grounding in contemporary art and the scene in most of the UK’s major cities, and I feel that Glasgow has one of the best integrations between daily life and ‘the arts’ of any place I’ve been. Basically, I’d argue that art in all it’s myriad forms is more accepted by yer average joe here in Glasgow than it is around the rest of the UK. A lot of the London scene is still stuck firmly up it’s own arse with the notion that art is somehow elite and superior and therefore not for everybody; ergo worth shouting about, PRing to death, and so on.

But … aye, I like Benedict’s car. I’m glad it’s suddenly become cool.

Ah - I picked you up wrong, I thought you meant that art existed commonly within the city (as in on the streets rather than within galleries). Apologies.

[The Continental]

Tronmobile

[poprock]

Originally Posted by Hammer

That is amazing. The engadget pics make it look like it's an autocad image that's been placed into a photo (which I presume is the intended effect when you see in real life).

I hope he does some more peices like that.

He had done quite a lot of work with that process (crafting an outline in steel and having it dipped/coated in coloured plastic), but the car is by far the most ambitious and most successful. Most of the others were cycles.

You’ve got the wrong end of the stick with the way it works as an image though—in photographs, yes, it looks like a wireframe image. It even manages to look unreal—as though it’s a line drawing pasted on top of a street photo. In reality though, it’s a heavy, solid object. There’s none of the ‘fake’ or ‘unfinished’ look about it at all. If anything it’s the opposite—a hyper-real drawing, or a way of sketching in three dimensions.

I find it almost magical the way it suddenly becomes unbelievable or fake-looking when you try to take its photograph.

[lirazel]

Originally Posted by poprock

There’s none of the ‘fake’ or ‘unfinished’ look about it at all. If anything it’s the opposite—a hyper-real drawing

curious, are you (or he) referencing baudrillard in this sense?

[djtoast]

(^^^ Hammer) I'd guess that it wouldn't look like that so much in real life due to the changing perspectives and shifting relative to background you'd see as you moved. Particularly, the up and down motion as you walk wouldn't resemble typical animation.

But yup, it's a great idea and putting it on a road rather than a gallery floor is a huge part of that perhaps.

Seems like a very deliberate choice of car but I can't quite decide why that might be.

(I hate replying to a tab I opened way previously)

[poprock]

Originally Posted by lirazel

curious, are you (or he) referencing baudrillard in this sense?

I guess I am, I think of it as part of Baudrillard’s language that was widely accepted enough make it into everyday speech.

I wouldn’t presume to put words or meanings into an artist’s mouth though, can’t speak for Benedict or what he means by his work.