This was a particular exhibition experience because I had
some of my own work on display and for sale during the associated zine fair,
The Critical Hits Zine Fair.
I was struck, upon entering the space, by how much the
gallery had been completely adapted from the last time I saw it for the working-class
photography exhibition in late 2024. It succinctly illustrated the power of
creative curatorship and how you can transform a space to compliment and
amplify the works it is displaying at any given time.
The Weird Hope Engines exhibition embraced the culture of
tabletop roleplaying games to explore play as a site of projection, simulation,
communal mythmaking, distorted temporality, and alternate possibility. The first exhibition of its kind, it
highlighted the practices of innovative designers, artists, and writers in the
field of independent game design, and brings their work into dialogue with
fellow-travellers in the field of critical art practice.
There were multiple
interactive spaces throughout the gallery, all with different opportunities to
play and create. This gave the exhibition multi generational appeal. It also went
some way to dismantling the wall between art and viewer usually felt so heavily
in gallery space. This said, one of the volunteers there did comment that folks
still seemed reluctant to move the beanbags placed around the space. Pushing this
really appeals to me and I will look to how I can expand on audience participation
in my installation work.
Maybe it was coloured by the success of my work selling at
the zine fair, but I really enjoyed this exhibition. It felt intimate, thoughtful
and playful.
Leave a Reply