THREE ONLINE EXHIBITIONS, 2011–2012
1/ Gracia Haby & Louise Jennison
Our boat was the lightest feather
2011–2012
Online exhibition for SOLV, the Netherlands
Friday 1st of July 2011 – Sunday 1st of January 2012
Publicly from Friday 15th of July, 2011
The animal features in our work made together in collaboration and otherwise. It is prominent in its feature and easily detectable, the centre of our paper stage. Hard to miss, over here and over there, the animal runs up hills, scales rooftops, and passes through a scene new or more familiar. It is present, always. For us, the animal is there to question our very behaviour, those moral principles one governs the self by, and to explore the relationship with the natural world.
The animal is our protagonist. It is the main character. Gliding through a scene it is too large to be contained within or perhaps too manmade to call home, that it has a tail or feathers or furred muzzle is not solely why its form appears. It is what the animal, our principal on aforementioned paper stage lit by moon or sun above, is doing that is where our interest lays. It is the physical act they are caught in, that is our focus. It is that they do not always fit in with their surrounds, even though sometimes, sometimes they are hard to see. It is what we relate to, in part, the act of looking for shelter or safe lodgings, running home or travelling far. It could be you. You, shown this time with a tail, but still very much you. They illustrate our traits, and our longings, those things common to us all.
The animal also illustrates our relationship and fascination with the natural world. The birds, in Louise’s drawings in particular, are depicted on the page with space for you to determine their landscapes, nest, or habitat. They are portraits with room for you to decide the setting. Defined by our environment, by where we dwell, these birds are shown on but a faint pencil line of a branch, if that.
The drawings and collages in this exhibition, Our Boat was the Lightest Feather, feature chiefly in the recent zines: The interloper; Looking and almost never finding; It was quite a wilderness; That in the moon did glitter.
We strive to create beautiful images, but beauty underpinned by certain sadness, a lack of fit.
(The title of this exhibition, Our boat was the lightest feather, we have borrowed from a sentence in Edgar Allan Poe’s A Descent into the Maelström.)
Our Boat was the Lightest Feather is no longer available to view online.
SOLV.nl is the premier law firm in The Netherlands that is fully dedicated to technology, media and communications: TMC.
2/ Gracia Haby
The curious crossing of the Greylag goose
2011
Postcard collage
Exhibited online, and as part of the Picture This postcard exhibition, University of Sussex, UK
January 10, 1957
Dear you,
Awoken early. The sound of large feet padding about on balcony below my rooms overlooking watery expanse upon watery expanse. Venice, expect water. Expect many things. But, should you be lucky, as I was, peep out from behind curtain of a morning and you may see the curious crossing of the greylag goose by gondola. Perched as though anxious not to topple watercraft steered by human aid, it looks most inelegant yet charming. A sight to behold! A sight most magical to start day! Where they were bound, I’ve no idea. Dozing back to sleep, I fancied the Swiss Alps.
Yours in feathers and webbing,
X
“I found it hard to stick to just one! Several of my favourites are among the highly commended postcards, but I also really loved the greylag goose in his gondola, in Gracia Haby’s entry. The back of the postcard looks so conventional but is charming in its surrealism and whimsy! The front is just such a beautiful image, despite the cross expression on the goose’s face (understandable given the difficulty of keeping his balance). It is memorable and makes me smile, so that’s the one I’d choose.”
Picture This is no longer available to view online.
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REELATED POST,
THE CURIOUS CROSSING OF THE GREYLAG GOOSE
3/ Gracia Haby
One more voyage and then I am done
2011
Louise Jennison
With the help of a black-capped screech owl’s feathers
2011
A collective project showcasing an ongoing selection of coffin artworks by the finest illustrators and artists from around the globe, curated by Thereza Rowe, Lesley Barnes, and Abi Daker
We were invited to contribute a coffin apiece to The Happy Journey Collective online exhibition. The Happy Journey Collective is sadly no longer available to view online.
