The Upcoming
  • Cinema & Tv
    • Movie reviews
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Show reviews
  • Music
    • Live music
  • Food & Drinks
    • News & Features
    • Restaurant & bar reviews
    • Interviews & Recipes
  • Theatre
  • Art
  • Travel & Lifestyle
  • Literature
  • Fashion & Beauty
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Competitions
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

CultureArt

No One Lives Here at the Royal College of Art

No One Lives Here at the Royal College of Art | Exhibition review
10 March 2013
Victoria Sanz-Henry
Avatar
Victoria Sanz-Henry
10 March 2013

Ten international graduate artists, sixteen pieces of artwork, one intention: to display the powerfully coadjuvant relationship between digital media and social functionality in the multi-faceted world we live in.

On entering the Royal College of Art, the gallery space is striking, resembling a movie set – a white chasm scattered with varying installations, making the space itself a quasi-life form. A wall of interaction is created by constant use of lights and audio, forcing you to look deeper into the pieces, building focus and intrigue.

Strike (2010), a video clip by German artist Hito Steyerl, depicts a blank-faced woman hitting a plasma screen with a mallet and chisel. A perfect example of the style and attitude of the exhibition, it is a bemusing and charming pretension to the rest of the show.

‘Nice seats and projection’ People’s passion, lifestyle, beautiful wine, gigantic glass towers, all surrounded by water (2013, video 2011) follows – a bizarre 4D auditory onslaught. Brainchild of French artist Neil Beloufa, the piece features projected screens within a Pyrex box. Clingfilm covered rigging is attached to a bicycle seat and printed images of Ray-Ban sunglasses. Filmed interviews with peppy Vancouver natives and a background noise of running water play on the projectors, some of which have been twisted – a metaphor for the twisted perceptions of society. The clean-cut, talking people juxtapose with the mish-mashed disposition of the metal framework, alluding to the smoke-screen that digital input can create.

Raphael Hefti provides the most visually pleasing offering: large upright glass mirrors coated in a UV protected chemical glaze, resulting in a beautiful iridescent sheen. The mirrors act as a display tool for the viewer and for the other works within the gallery – a non-computerized selflessness.

American, Shana Moulton, offers a video surreally depicting a woman’s attempts to rid herself of restless leg syndrome. Some imaginative imagery is created with kaleidoscope camerawork, making more interesting what would otherwise be an obvious comment on media pressure towards beauty and the body.

g is the most sardonic piece: a Macbook with a steel faceted ball pressing on the letter G in an endless list. A clear interpretation of the world’s genuflect bow to the digital age, it is an unabashedly absurd gesture that completely encapsulates the point of the show.

Between clips of dead dogs, political unrest, and up-skirt camera shots, this collection provides a varied range of the detriments and benefits of digital saturation, through contemporary and prospective eyes.

★★★★★

Victoria Sanz-Henry

No One Lives Here is at the Royal College of Art until March 24th 2013. For further information visit the exhibition’s website here.

g Jake Strange (2008)
Nice seats and projection Neil Beloufa (2013)
Restless leg saga Shana Moulton (2012)
Related Itemsreview

More in Art

Africa Fashion at the V&A

★★★★★
Jessica Wall
Read More

Edvard Munch: Masterpieces from Bergen

★★★★★
James White
Read More

Summer Exhibition 2022 at the Royal Academy of Arts

★★★★★
Mersa Auda
Read More

Penny Goring: Penny World at ICA

★★★★★
Mersa Auda
Read More

Metamorphosis and flow: Orlanda Broom debuts powerful abstract show Shapeshifters at Grove Square Galleries

The editorial unit
Read More

Feminine Power: The Divine to the Demonic at the British Museum

★★★★★
Jessica Wall
Read More

Cornelia Parker at Tate Britain

★★★★★
James White
Read More

Our Time on Earth at the Barbican

★★★★★
Jessica Wall
Read More

Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirror Rooms at Tate Modern

★★★★★
Cristiana Ferrauti
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap
  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • The Rollings Stones give Glasto a run for its money at BST Festival in Hyde Park
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • Africa Fashion at the V&A
    ★★★★★
    Art
  • Beauty and the Beast: The Musical at London Palladium
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • “He used to spit at the audience, roll on the ground, he did, in fact, hump that plastic dog – he was the original punk rocker”: Baz Luhrman, Tom Hanks, Austin Butler, Olivia DeJonge and Alton Mason on Elvis
    Cinema & Tv
  • The Princess
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Eric Ravilious: Drawn to War
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Beauty and the Beast: The Musical at London Palladium
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • The Terminal List
    ★★★★★
    amazon
  • Baymax!
    ★★★★★
    disney
  • St Vincent at the Hammersmith Apollo
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • Beauty and the Beast: The Musical at London Palladium
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • St Vincent at the Hammersmith Apollo
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • Netflix Walking Tour: From Bridgerton to The Crown, a free walking tour through the filming locations
    Cinema & Tv
  • Africa Fashion at the V&A
    ★★★★★
    Art
  • Minions: The Rise of Gru
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Support us
  • What, when, why
With the support from:
International driving license

Copyright © 2011-2020 FL Media

The Joy Formidable at Roundhouse | Live review
Norman Parkinson’s Century of Style at the National Theatre | Exhibition review