Tales of the Electric Forest
13-May-2009
MA graduate Lucy Harvey showcases new work from her ceramics and metalwork residency on urban myth in London this May.
Lucy Harvey is a conceptual metalsmith and artist from Manchester, UK. Since graduating from her MA in Jewellery, Silversmithing & Related Products in 2008 she has developed a new body of work exploring the anxieties behind urban mythology during an artist residency at Blessed Thomas Holford College, Altrincham.
The new collection, titled The Backstreet Dentist and Other Stories, sees the introduction of ceramic multiples to her metal artefacts and body sculptures. Posing with the authority of the found object these manufactured elements explore the sinister connotations of the crafted object and our anxieties regarding the outsider.
She says,
“The Backstreet Dentist was inspired by Victorian ghost stories of anthropomorphic demons terrorising urban cityscapes and modern, supposed esoteric, hoaxes. Do these tales collectively exorcise our fears or is their purpose solely the medium of the unknown outsider? Perhaps we are more fearful of the unfamiliar source of such a fabrication rather than the monster lurking in the alleyway.”
Tom Adriani writes
“As humans have migrated into cityscapes, we have brought with us a vast array of age-old mythical creatures and many new ones have risen up from the pavement. Such beings have found refuge in such places as dark dingy alleyways, abandoned factories, derelict houses, attics, cellars, sewers, train stations, underground tube lines... anywhere out of reach of the city's lights.
These fantastical city dwelling figures and their stories, clearly continue to absorb and fascinate mass consciousness, for they are continually rearing their heads in modern cinema, theatre, literature and art. Recent examples of such tales can be found in the form of Murakami's monstrous rat-like 'Inklings' in his novel; 'Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World'. The comedy series, the Mighty Boosh, created the hideous 'Crackfox' and David Lynch made a dreadlocked back-alley witch in his film 'Mulholland Drive'. All of these tales explore figures that appear to have undergone some form of physical mutation or drastic mental change rendering them abnormal and monstrous.
With the idea that mythological symbolism has a reality underlying any rhetorical or fictional use, the exhibition's ultimate purpose is to offer an illustration of the fears and aspirations of the early 21st century and compare them to those of bygone days. Fifteen artists have scoured the dark corners of the city and their own consciousness, creating and appropriating tales of the city.”
Lucy is exhibiting alongside 14 other artists in the atmospheric surroundings of St Pancras Crypt, London, from the 22nd to the 30th May 2009. Tales of the Electric Forest will be held at St Pancras Crypt Gallery, Duke Road, London, NW1 2BA. The Crypt Gallery is below Saint Pancras Church and is opposite Euston station. Opening hours are 11am - 6:30pm. For further information please visit Crypt Gallery and Lucy Harvey Blogspot
The Backstreet Dentist and Other Stories Publication
Lucy is releasing a limited edition, 20 page publication to accompany her new work on urban mythology which will be showcased at St Pancras Crypt, London, this May.
The catalogue documents the uncanniness of the human form and crafted object, including images of a new series of strange metal and ceramic dental devices and body sculptures which speak of Victorian ghost stories and modern, supposed esoteric, hoaxes. Lucy took inspiration from her local cityscape in Manchester and brought a new element of performance art to her practice, capturing enigmatic glimpses of unsettling anthropomorphic forms on film.
Lucy says,
“We reflect ourselves in objects for reassurance and protection, escapism and discovery. The terrifying and fearful narratives we invent allow us to feel some sort of control over the world around us and the three dimensional form acts as palpable evidence of these real and imagined tales. I use craft processes as a vehicle to speak of the absent, the uncanny and the melancholy. Assuming the role of a fraudulent anthropologist, I manipulate the pre-existing to create enigmatic artefacts which toy with our longing to believe in the fantastic. Subverting the authority of environment and the associative power of collection allow me to confuse and construct, evoking a conflict of animistic fears and desires. Does urban mythology collectively exorcise our fears or is their purpose solely the medium of the unknown outsider? Perhaps we are more fearful of the unfamiliar source of such a fabrication rather than the monster lurking in the alleyway.”
The Backstreet Dentist and Other Stories is a 20-page A5 portrait publication. Colour printed on 170gsm silk art paper. Price: £5 + p&p. For further information and purchasing available at Lucys Blogspot