Supercollider. Tyson has made an impressive new body of work born of his on-going fascination with complex scientific concepts. The exhibition title, Supercollider, is derived from the slang name for the CERN particle accelerator in Geneva.
Keith Tyson is emerging as one of the most interesting artists
working today. For his solo show at the South London Gallery,
Tyson has made an impressive new body of work born of his
on-going fascination with complex scientific concepts. The
exhibition title, Supercollider, is derived from the slang name for
the CERN particle accelerator in Geneva.
Tyson is an avid collector of information, nourished by a daily diet
of texts and conversations about this scientific theory or that
philosophical argument. Talking with the artist almost inevitably
turns at one moment or another to his latest line of enquiry, but it
isn't a simple pursuit of knowledge which drives him. It is rather a
desire to experiment, to use information to create extraordinary
drawings, objects and systems which express something about our
very existence. The works in Supercollider are visual
manifestations of the artist's unique way of navigating the
information-rich world we inhabit.
Image: Supercollider, Studio Wall Drawing, July 2001
Courtesy the artist and Anthony Reynolds Gallery
A giant glass sphere, two metres in diameter, gradually, almost
imperceptibly changes colour, from blue to violet to red and back
again as its heat sensitive surface reacts to heating and cooling
elements inside, competing to impact on the pea-sized central core
from which the work takes its name, A Tiny Bubble of
Complexity. Field of Heaven Long Shot Magnet is a motorised
model which makes real pieces of planets and meteorites, including
a chunk of the moon, rotate around each other in an orbital
arrangement which would never occur naturally.
In Tyson's world, probability provides an endless source of
inspiration. A Night in a Billion is an enormous, twelve-part
drawing of stars. There are 460,000,000 ways of putting the twelve
parts together, the chances of setting up the same configuration
more than once being over a billion to one. The odds of being able
to play Random Tangler no.1 the same way twice are comparably
small, as this giant, beautifully crafted board game relies on
mathematical knots and systems to ensure there are endlessly
different ways to proceed.
The South London Gallery is known for its striking, high-ceiling
exhibition space. With three sculptures occupying the central area
and the walls covered with studio drawings, some of which are so
huge yet intricate that visitors will have to climb a ladder in order to
view them, Supercollider promises to make impressive use of the
space.
Keith Tyson's room in the Italian Pavilion at the recent Venice
Biennale received critical acclaim and he has a growing reputation
in mainland Europe and America with two solo shows coming up in
2002. In 1999 he had a solo exhibition at Delfina, where he
exhibited some of the results of his 'Artmachine Iterations', he was
included in The British Art Show 5 and in Century City at Tate
Modern. He is also one of the four artists representing Britain in
the Sao Paolo Biennale in March 2002. An expanded version of the
artist's South London Gallery exhibition will be shown at the
Kunsthalle Zurich in April 2002.
Supercollider launches the exhibition programme at the South
London Gallery under the new directorship of Margot Heller. The
exhibition has been made possible by the generous sponsorship of
Bloomberg and additional funding from the Henry Moore
Foundation.
Bloomberg have also made it possible for the gallery to host an
ambitious education programme in conjunction with the show. As
well as an extensive programme of events for schools, there will be
a free activity sheet for young visitors to the exhibition designed by
the artist David Austin, free talks at the gallery and two family days
out during National Science Week on Saturdays 9th and 16th
March. These will include a coach trip from the South London
Gallery to the Science Museum, with practical workshops and
activities at both venues.
An artist's book is being produced to accompany the exhibition,
priced £5.00
THE SLG NEWSPAPER
Full details will be included in the SLG newspaper, the first issue of
which will be published in January 2002. Due to be published six
times a year, each copy will feature a special pull-out section
devised by the artist(s) currently exhibiting at the gallery. The
16-page pull-out section of the first issue is by Keith Tyson. The
newspaper is produced in an edition of 30,000 copies distributed to
libraries, shops and art schools near the South London Gallery, to
people on the SLG's mailing list, and to people living within ten
minute's walk of the gallery.
TALKS AT SLG
Thursday 7 February, 7pm
Dr Suhail Malik, Course leader in Postgraduate Critical Studies at
Goldsmiths, will give a talk at the gallery about the exhibition.
Thursday 7 March, 7pm
Keith Tyson will give a talk at the gallery about his work.
TALK AT TATE MODERN
Friday 1 February, 6.30pm
Keith Tyson will be 'in conversation' with Jeremy Miller in the
Starr Auditorium, Tate Modern.Tickets £6/£3 concessions, on 020
7887 8888.
South London Gallery
65 PECKHAM ROAD - LONDON - SE5 8UH
Admission is free
Opening times : Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday Ilam to 6pm. Thursday Ilam to 7pm. Saturday and Sunday 2pm to 6pm. Closed Monday.