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Had he heard it, this anecdote would probably have pleased Antony Gormley, who has created a self-consciously interactive exhibition themed around the human body. Looking at these statues is an experience rather than a passive viewing he claims; the viewer’s imagination is as important a location for the statue as the physical space it occupies. But is it wise to take seriously the claims of a man who casts thirty (or so) copies of his own stark naked body and then displays them throughout the city? Judging by this exhibition, the answer is a resounding yes and no.
The intention to provoke subjective reactions and make them part of the art is clear in each installation. Blind Light is a glass-panelled, 8.5 x 10 metre room full of vapour and white fluorescence which, combined, make seeing your own outstretched arm virtually impossible. Gormley waxes lyrical about the “cloud of unknowing” and walking around in this fog has been touted as a mystical experience. But in terms of mysticism this is really on a par with the Bubble Works at Chessington. That said, whilst not particularly spiritual, Blind Light is great fun – the plash of water underfoot punctuates the giggles and apologies as people narrowly avoid bumping into one another. But the best bit is when you come out and see London’s fashion elite manically patting their humidity stricken hair back into place. Maybe this particular effect is why Gormley uses the phrase “resonating chamber”?
yet more naked Gormleys, contorted into painful looking positions, make the room look like the scene of some sort of horrible Karma Sutra accident.
The rest of the exhibition has been less advertised but is generally more successful in achieving the artist’s stated aims. Amongst these is Drawn, in which yet more naked Gormleys make an appearance. This time they are contorted into painful looking positions, making the room look like the scene of some sort of horrible Karma Sutra accident. Then there is the vast 27 ton steel structure called Space Station, which wouldn’t look stylistically out of place on the York campus. But my favourite pieces by far are from Matrices and Expansions. Here stainless steel cocoons provide the outline for empty spaces in the shape of human bodies. The best of these suspended figures capture the potential gracefulness of the human body, whilst others are almost comical, and there is an inherent irreverence in the upside down crucifixion scene.
Despite the amusement arcade feel of the headline event, there is much of interest here. Even if the Hayward’s long queues are too daunting, stay on the lookout for London’s most exhibitionist mannequins – all of which can be seen free of charge.
Blind Light is at the Hayward Gallery until 19 August.
