A male aquaintance said I really ought to see this exhibition as “it was all cloth”, so I went. Although cloth is used extensively, the main thrust ofthe exhibition was about childhood, but more Brothers Grimm than the Water Babies. My personal title for this exhibition would be The Ultimate Installation Show . The floor of one of the large galleries was covered with vermillion silk, which from time to time undulated revealing hazy images below; it appeared to come towards you menacingly and I involuntarily moved back a pace. Another gallery floor was filled with large, mainly amorphous shapes in a pretty pink and white silk, which inflated and deflated irregularly. One depicted an enormous mouth with chunky teeth, and I did wonder how the silk, which had been seamed, had been made airtight.
A mountain of translucent plastic shopping bags, each filled with a soft toy was a free standing exhibit; colourful but? A group of stuffed birds and animals were suspended on individual small platforms, each having soft toy appendages; for example a hawk had been given the head of a pink and white furry Disney-like bunny.
In another gallery, against a wall were a group of small images each contained by a black metal frame on black poles, the whole series being apparently grouped casually. This idea of closely grouping small images was also used in a large circular hanging. And so you went on until the last gallery which contained more amorphous padded cloth shapes ,some vaguely reminiscent of body parts which flopped about from time to time; a large baggy dark brown shape dragged itself round the gallerys outer rim, which seemed humourous to me; or was it the relief in realising it wasn’t a Jabberwock after all!
All in all a bizarre experience, but imprinted on the memory. There was immense imagination in the construction and presentation of exhibits which maybe illustrates the scary images of childhood, but not an exhibition for children. And where did all those heaps of used[?] toys come from? Not to mention the stuffed birds and animals.
And where does the one bondage wall fit in ?