It takes a lot to change the world, of this there is no doubt. Over time, we have seen myriad situations that were awash with revolutionary potential but have amounted to little; a spurious example of this being protests during the G20 summit. The oft-cited adage that “the revolution will not be televised”, whilst lacking in true bite due to overuse, still rings true – it is taking place in our bedrooms, in our libraries, anywhere where we have access to the internet. Bringing this into the arena of arts, the internet is permitting us to consume art as we haven’t been able to do so previously.
Tether, an art gallery on Huntingdon Street, Nottingham, have been using the power of the internet within a project called Tethervision – it’s a series of videos which allow them to expand upon their premises and upon exhibitions taking place there. The project is still in its relative infancy – there are currently only eight videos on the site – but the current work demonstrates neatly the potential of this project.
One of the most impressive videos currently on Tethervision is an interview with Anthony Peskine, whose exhibition ‘Who do you think you are?’ in March last year was a playful satire on the manipulation of hope and aspiration in contemporary society. Rather than just stay within the limits of a generic art interview (“What influences you? What are your processes? Are you frustrated too?”), the flow is largely dictated by Peskine. Set to a backdrop his piece ‘Foule’ [Crowd], a cartoon depiction of hundreds of homogenic, suited, moustachioed men – with far too much resemblance to Hervé’s Thomson and Thompson for it to be purely coincidental – Peskine cuts an awkward figure as he offers his insights into the notion of revolution.
“There’s no individuality in crowds,” he says, before adding that, “people want to change the world, but they don’t know what they want it to change to.” Peskine goes on to discuss revolution, individuality and the ‘Thomson twins’ both with relation to ‘Foule’ as well as his other works.
Other videos include a piece with Ban Hagari and a discussion of his work and the Israeli art scene and a fascinating discussion with Joanne Lee and Duncan Higgins about art, education, and art education. With many universities now offering fine art courses, they discuss how this change of context for art education from traditional art schools is having an impact upon prospective artists.
The beauty of many of the videos is that they stand alone as discussions of concepts rather than being intrinsically linked to previous exhibitions; whilst knowledge of Peskine’s work would help situate his ideas with the context of his work, his philosophising about issues surrounding identity are captivating. Tethervision is representative of the power of the internet being harnessed to alter the way in which art can be consumed; no longer is this process restricted to the gallery’s premises. The project is allowing an enhanced experience of exhibitions taking place at Tether, and permitting a greater interactivity between artist and audience.
Tether will be launching tethervision.co.uk in the not too distant future, but in the meantime their videos can be found at www.youtube.com/tethervision
Alexander Britton
Tags: tether, tethervision
