Things that Tumble Twice at Tenderpixel Gallery

Things that Tumble Twice takes over both sides of Tenderpixel’s viewing space, each side imperfectly reflecting the other. The works sit easily alongside, almost creating a lounge scene; they mimic one another even in the juxtaposition of their materials and in their various stages of precarious mortality. Steel is placed next to delicate mimosas, yet the fragility of both is evident. It is in their impending end that they are linked.

Ian Law’s Infirm Abroath is constructed from a mixed-media couch, resting upon a pile of magazines with a limited edition book on the seat. Perhaps the idea of a limited existence and perishability is in the sense that there seems to be an object missing. It’s as though someone was in the midst of reading the book, but had to move, somehow leaving the space incomplete.

In Mimesis, Olivier Castel’s mimosa flowers are strategically scattered throughout the gallery, almost acting as a guide. There is something whimsical about their very presence alongside the blank background of the gallery, the mismatched building blocks of the florist buckets that hold them and the fact that they will not last. They are unlikely to live through the run of the exhibition: will their continual fading reflect on their finite presence? Or will they be replaced? Which still emphasises a lack of permanence in how easily replaceable they are. This contrasts with the steel blades of Mickey Mouse Cartoons and the images they reflect. Here, the partial nature of the piece is in that the steel acts as a reflection, yet what function it serves when there is nothing to reflect is not clear.

Florian Roithmayr uses concrete castes and, interestingly, it’s the casting moulds rather than the objects created that are exhibited. This questions what message is heard in the silence, what is written between the lines and what is of greater importance: what is formed, or what forms them.

The title of the show brings to mind imperfection, but also perseverance and resilience. This is reflected in each piece, from the multi-gazing eyes of Olivier Castel’s Mokumokuren Mimosa to the repetition rubber casts in Florian Roithmayr’z Endstart. Yet there’s an inconsistency and lack of fluidity in this exhibition that makes it, for the most part, aloof and inaccessible.

Yassine Senghor
Photos: Erol Birsen

Things that Tumble Twice is at Tenderpixel Gallery until 6th May 2015, for further information visit here.