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Tim Brennan:
English Anxieties
7 July - 29 August 2009 |
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Brennan: English Anxieties explores the archive
of Mass Observation (MO). Founded in 1937 by Tom Harrisson,
Charles Madge and Humphrey Jennings, MO used a team of
trained observers and volunteer writers to gather information
concerning everyday life in Britain. Though considered
progressive in giving a voice to ordinary people, for
some, MO was perceived as an intrusion based on concealed
methods of recording social behaviour.
English Anxieties’ second theme
revolves around the work of the Ashington Miners, whose
exhibition Unprofessional Painting was shown in London
during the 1940s. Here, Brennan presents
MO archival material in the form of a dismantled artist’s
book, whose pages consist of assemblages or still life
tableaux evoking Modernist forms. |
Brennan’s encounter with the MO
archive combines an artist’s book, vinyl drawings,
original archival material and the re-working of a fascinating
account by British explorer and archaeologist T.C. Lethbridge
of a concealed enemy presence in Cambridgeshire. Taking
descriptions and drawings made by Lethbridge as a starting
point, Brennan represents this data in
the form of large, colourful maps inspired by the Isotype
graphical system developed in the 1930s.
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Tim Brennan has exhibited widely both in Britain and
internationally over the last twenty years, and has been
the subject of several books. His approach incorporates
academic disciplines such as history, architecture and
geography, resulting in exhibitions, performances, writings
and publications. An artist’s book accompanies English
Anxieties, co-published by Photoworks and Ffotogallery,
and is available from the Gallery Shop.
Commissioned by Ffotogallery and Photoworks,
in association with the Mass Observation Archive
at the University of Sussex and the
European Centre for Photographic Research at
the University of Wales, Newport. Funded
by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation,
Arts Council England and Arts
Council Wales.
Images:
Top: Tom Harrisson feigning fear of The Blitz, 1940. Mass
Observation Archive, University of Sussex
Middle three: Mass Observation Archive
Bottom: Plan of Hasling Field and Harlton, Cambridgeshire
(detail)
All images © Tim Brennan 2009
Hidden
Country
Photographs of the Free Wales Army
1966-68
7 July - 29 August 2009 |
Formed
in the early 60s, the Free Wales Army (FWA) looked to
establish an independent Welsh republic. The group made
its presence felt through public demonstrations, rallies,
industrial sabotage and extensive media coverage, and
was aligned with national separatist movements such as
Sinn Fein and Free Basque.
Hidden Country draws on the contents
of the court files for the Crown Prosecution case against
members of the FWA in 1969, which concluded on the eve
of the Investiture of the Prince of Wales. The material
ranges from police photography to scenes of FWA manoeuvres
staged for journalists and film-makers. The exhibition
features new prints digitally scanned from the originals,
now badly deteriorated, and held at the National Library
of Wales, Aberystwyth.
Hidden Country reflects on the status
of images as document or fiction in the service of State
surveillance and propaganda. In doing so, the exhibition
draws attention to forms of nationalism and the conditions
that bring it into existence and the roles of photography
within this. It is a fascinating insight into a largely
forgotten moment in British political and paramilitary
history. |
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Hidden
Country is a John Hansard Gallery
exhibition curated by Russell Roberts, Reader
in Photography at the European Centre for Photographic
Research, University of Wales, Newport. Organised
in collaboration with the National Library of
Wales, Aberystwyth.
Images:
Top: Denis Coslett, taken from the Dyfed Powys Constabulary
court files, 1966-68.
Bottom: Vivian George Davies, taken by Dyfed Powys Constabulary
of Free Wales Army Manoeuvres, 1968.
Courtesy of the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth
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Filmed Discussion
John Hansard Gallery Director Stephen Foster in conversation with Tim Brennan.
Video produced by Zemedia, Southampton.
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