JUMP
Clea van der Grijn
Perspective and Vision in Cléa van der Grijn’s Jump No definition of art can be based upon an examination of artworks, just as no definition of reality can be found where we would naturally look to define a thing, at its instance of manifestation in the world. Arthur C. Danto makes this observation in relation to Andy Warhol’s Brillo boxes, noting that, “since any definition of art must compass the Brillo boxes, it is plain that no such definition can be based upon an examination of artworks” (Danto 1981: vii). The paradoxical challenge of deflecting the gaze of the viewer from the artwork through the artwork itself is central to the task of the artist, and Cléa van der Grijn’s immersive exhibition Jump explores this challenge, deflecting the viewer’s gaze away from anything preconceived and definable, taking them by surprise and causing them to be present at the moment of discernment in the process of its becoming, a process in which the viewer is made complicit without prior consent. A moment, of course, while implicitly being of time, is unquantifiable in terms of linear time. Jump is van der Grijn’s latest work, an installation made up of neon, paintings, and an ambitious film work directed by van der Grijn and created with collaborators Joseph P. Hunt, Michael Cummins and Ciaran Carty, and on view at the Mermaid Arts Centre (1st October to 3 November), Linenhall Arts Centre, Mayo (24th November to 5th January), Courthouse Gallery and Studios, Clare (18th January to 23rd February), Solomon Gallery, Dublin (8th – 30th March) and the Hamilton Gallery Sligo (12th April – 11th May). A beautiful giant pod in the shape of a bento box, located in the same space as the paintings, holds the experience of the film while in turn being held by the paintings and holding them in its orbit. The outside is a smooth surface of lacquered poplar plywood, and the shape, inspired by traditional Japanese lunch containers, is both formal and fluid; simple, stylish and practical. A countdown clock invites the viewer to enter the cave-like space and the experience is shared with a small group of people. The blackout and curved space create a total focus on the moving image and sound at the interior, while elements of the soundtrack bleed out into the gallery space, resonating with other elements of the exhibition. The way the different elements of the exhibition relate is as important as any individual element. The pod holds the experience of the film that is central to the work at the centre of the work. It is not separate: although in a space of its own, it is held by the paintings that surround it on the walls. With the paintings, depicting separate parts of the body which can typically be seen through the eyes, as well as parts of the body that can’t, including the eyes themselves, the viewer remains ‘up in the air’, unable to form a complete picture of any(thing) in particular. The pod in contrast provides an immersive experience, and the viewer feels close to, held by, and ultimately in the grip of the film; they cannot look away. This creates a strong sense of the move from known to unknown and unknowable; of going inside, away from materiality, away from what we can know in an overlying sense and into that pool of what is more, both to reality and to ourselves, including what is unconscious. The pod holds the experience of the film in such a way that it offers the same potential experience to the viewer wherever they may be viewing it. The importance of this can be understood relative, not just to the recurring themes of van der Grijn’s work, but also to the way these themes relate and what is left unexpressed, undefined; the spaces in-between. Themes of time, space, perspective, memory and perception (the elements we use to construct our experience in the world) have previously been central to van der Grijn’s work, along with the question of where this construction occurs, some’where’ in-between: Reconstructing Memory, Liminal Spaces, Origen, Chance, Moment(ous) are some examples. With Jump, these