Roger Hiorns (IKON)

On 23rd February, I went to view the exhibition of Roger Hiorns at the IKON gallery in Birmingham. There were two halls full of his diverse style of work, from growing copper sulphate on brain matter to pulverising sophisticated machinery into dust. Roger Hiorns is a Birmingham artist whose working methods are a blend of the movable and immovable while exploring material and form. I found myself most interested in the idea of his work offering a different way of seeing. 

Before visiting any of the galleries, I had researched into the artists that were present at each location. The IKON during this time was exhibiting Roger Hiorns work, which I feel was most suitable for this idea of "challenging the ordinary" because from my experience that's what his work portrays. 

Hiorns addresses the social problems of Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (VCJD), is a lethal human neurodegenerative condition that emerged in the 90's. VCJD is linked to the consumption of meat that is contaminated with the agent of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, also known as the mad cow disease. The artist stated that his intentions were to make visible the disease that the government and media are making invisible to the public. 

Untitled, 2015

This piece was placed nearest to the entrance, exhibition, I found myself most interested in it because I had done previous research on the other artist pieces that had used this copper sulphate, such as the Untitled, 2011. In that piece, this crystallised blue form is grown on a BMW car engine. This piece best reminded me of the famous 'Seizure' he produced in 2008 and had been moved to Yorkshire in 2013. However, this most recent piece of the use of copper sulphate is instead grown with brain matter on the hardboard. 

The brain matter doesn't seem to be visible, however, it was stated on the information provided next to the piece. Compared to other pieces I have studied this brain matter seems to have done little influence to the copper sulphate. I believe this is an example of the artist exploring materials and forms. This invisibility of the brain matter in the crystals conveys the point that Hiorns believes we are presently under invisible threat to the Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). However, during my visit I believe the actual focus of this piece was this crystallised, unusual material (copper sulphate), it created a shiny, yet fragile complexion. Whilst I was viewing it, I felt worried that even the air I breathed would break these crystals. I believed that he was trying to state that the most beautiful things are usual the most fragile, this might have been influenced by my personal interest in the fragile ecosystems, such as the rainforest being destroyed. 

Untitled, 2015


I found this piece located on the same wall next to the previous piece. I found this piece less interesting from a textual point of view. However, once I was informed that it was created from brain matter by itself, I found it intriguing. Without knowing I believed it was a faded wash of tea. The brain matter was blended with gesso. Hiorn's adventure in the use of brain matter is apparently from the interest from the "mad cow disease" that contaminated humans during the 1990's. Whilst I was viewing this piece I had a suspicion that this was the reason, because of my own knowledge of this disease. 

Calder studio and its surrounding fields, 2008 

This piece was located away from the to other pieces, however, I felt like there was a relationship between them. It being the use of brain matter again. Within this piece, the artist decided to combine brain matter with metal, I feel like the brain matter was most visible within this piece any of the previous pieces, I had viewed. From my interpretation of this piece, I believe that the brain matter is underneath the metal and has been revealed through what seems to be the method of welding, resulting in the brain matter to become burnt. 

I had researched into what was meant by the title "Calder studio and its surrounding fields", before visiting the gallery. I had found that "Calder", was actually Alexander Calder. An American sculptor who is mostly known for his moving sculptures made of suspended shapes that move with the kinetic energy of air or touch, these are known as the mobile. With knowing this information, I was able to fully understand this piece I was viewing at the gallery. I can see the link between the mobile sculptures and the drawing in the metal.

A retrospective view of the pathway, 2010-2015

Magnets

It was placed in the centre of the first hall. One human doll was laid on the floor and the other was hanging. I had originally thought that it was laid out like this by the artist, however, was later informed that they both were originally hanging from ropes which are supported by magnets. The magnets slowly sink by the weight and influence of gravity, resulting in the human dolls to fall to the ground. I had found out that this piece, would only be used in this exhibition because of the reason that they become more and more damaged everytime they fall. 









I find his unique nature of presenting new ways of seeing things interesting. This piece being an example of the relationship between the movable and immovable. This piece and others, such as the copper sulphate piece has made me interested in exploring unusual materials that have a have their own unpredictable and uncontrollable nature. 

Untitled, 2014

This installation is a collection of abandoned plastic and metal items that are hung from the ceiling near the floor. Most of them containing soap detergent that mixes with oxygen feed through pipes from a compressor to form a foam. This is continuously produced. The sound of the compressor really emphasised this production of foam. The foam expands and grows away from the sources until it falls to the ground, creating a slimy, foamless residue on the ground. This installation is an example of a material that naturally develops, with little influence from the artist. 

At this exhibition, an interview with the artist was displayed on a monitor next to this installation. I found this quote most inspiring, "You always have to think about materials and objects in terms of being malleable – you have to cut them off from what their established use is, to directly interfere with their world-ness. It becomes a process of human empowerment to re-use and re-propose the power of objects simply left lying in the street." 

Military jet engine

This is one example of the engines used within Hiorn's work. From my research, I had already understood that this engine would be encountered by a naked male youth. At first, I contemplated if the individual was real. I found the combination of these two objects to be unique, this is mostly down to the fact that from past galleries the artists rarely use real naked people. The exhibition made little evidence of a naked youth being used, however, the informants used photography to show the visitors, what it would look like with both the fire and naked youth. From the wall information, one object that I had missed off was "antidepressants", I later found out that they are inside the engine. I found this challenging the ordinary because my first thought was for them to be inside the youth or in the fire, not in the engine. 

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/dec/09/
roger-hiorns-review-ikon-gallery-birmingham

X- ray machine

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The artist also uses naked youth on other items, such as the X-ray machine that was placed next to the jet engine. I've seen these items before, however, I find myself feeling like I haven't due to this one new object being combined with it, the naked youth. Furthermore, I feel like the nature of the x-ray being placed on its side being unusual. 

Adapted Freezer 

I found the most unusual object in the exhibition to be a freezer that had been altered to have a hole in the top that was large enough for a single hand. I couldn't understand the meaning behind the object, looking solely on the exterior and interior. However, I feel that this piece wasn't meant to be looked at, instead felt. Placing my hand through the hole into the fridge surprisingly made me feel a chill down my back. Whilst I did this I wondered how long my hand would take to freeze. 

A retrospective view of the pathway, 2016

Before visiting this exhibition, I had struggled thinking of things I could make people do that was weird to the public. After viewing this video, I had felt inspired to do something similar. This video that took place in June 2016, documented Hiorn’s major project involving the choir of St Phillips Cathedral Birmingham. Hiorns had the choir singing Evensong whilst lying on their backs on the floor in the body of the church, instead of standing in front of the altar. I found this even more out of the ordinary by the unorganised placement of the individuals. I believe this was because I naturally see a church as being a formal, organised location, so it felt almost wrong to see this occurring. Before hearing the choir singing, I believed they were dead or not real, due to them being horizontal, not vertical.  

https://artlogic-res.cloudinary.com/w_1000,h_800,c_limit,f_auto,fl_lossy/
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This is the interview the Ikon did of the artist, Roger Hiorns. He discusses most of the work displayed at the Ikon exhibition, as well as others off site such as 'A retrospective view of the pathway', 'Buried Passenger Aircraft' and 'Seizure'.