Ghost Rider/No Fun – Cedar Lewisohn 2014
Vauxhall Bridge Road. 19.24. Slight drizzle in the air. I breathe in the night. The dual-carriageway is busy as usual, cars, trucks, lights. And of course, a slipstream of cyclists. I grip hard on the leather like tape wrapped around my ZipContour SL carbon handlebars. The airfoil top is not only fast, but it fits my hand perfectly and elegantly hides my brake and shifter cables. Within what feels like seconds I’ve crossed the river Thames and I’m at the intersection of Vauxhall Junction. The Terry Ferrell designed M16 building to my left. Epinephrine, victims and carbohydrates flow through my body like electricity. My heart rate around 135bpm. I’m 100 percent in the zone.
At Oval station and Kennington Road I notice a Shand skinnymilinky. Its sublime hand built Reynolds 853 steel frame with peppermint blue finish sparkles like a diamond in the twilight. Elegance and functionality on Stans Iron Cross wheels. The bike is a modern miracle surrounded by a sea of mediocrity on the London roads. I see this bike most evenings around this time on my commute home, and it always gives me a warm feeling of joy. I spend a split second admiring the elegance of the tube welding. Then for some reason, I don’t know why, I take a look at the rider. She’s wearing black and white leggings with reflective stripes. They cling to her legs as she leans forward on the drop handlebars, waiting for the light to turn green.
The light changes and her Lycra clad derriere eases nicely onto the brown B17 Titanium and leather Brookes saddle. The seat has clearly moulded over time to suit her anatomy. I imagine running my hand over those chromed springs and copper rivets. The Shand speeds off down Camberwell New Road. In an instant I’m reminded of the grainy black and white images from Hans Bellmer’s Study for George Bataille’s Histoire de l’oeil. Black stockings. Womens bare legs, bent revealingly over peddle bikes.
I snap back to reality and reach the junction of Camberwell Green and Walworth Road. On my left, behind Heras fencing I see about half an acre’s worth of rubble, where Jono’s Pool Hall used to be. The Shand is in front of me about ten bikes down. I weave past two no.36 double decker buses, a black Mercedes Benz, a White Volkswagen Transporter and Red Rover 200. I edge to the lights, past the other cyclists. Most of them are on off the shelf road bikes. There is a guy dressed in black on a Norco Valence and a woman, also dressed in black on a Specialized. I notice a dude on a racing green Brompton with lights on his helmet, rucksack and back chassi. He reminds me of a Christmas tree.
19.36. The traffic lights are red. The Shand and I make eye contact. I attempt an awkward smile. But its dark and I don’t think she sees me. The traffic light turns yellow. Then, to my surprise she leans over and whispers softly in my ear.
“I’m not your fucking bike porn fantasy…”
Her accent is neutral, English, but with no sense of a regional tone. She’s either from London, or has been here a while. The traffic lights turn green. I cross over Camberwell Green onto Church Street. Within minutes I pass Lucas Gardens and Camberwell College of Arts. I stop at the zebra crossing just before Southampton Way. The Shand is already there. A couple of student types cross the road, One pushing a vintage Claude Butler fixie by his side. The drizzle in the air has gone now, leaving a cold but refreshing autumn breeze. The road is still wet. It reflects the city from the ground upward, as if a dirty film of crude oil had been thinly spread over it. My Gatorskin Continental tires provide the perfect, subtle, yet durable response to this extra moisture. The Shand leans over to me again.
“Follow me”.
She sprints off along Peckham Road. As I cycle behind her I notice how toned and firm her hips are from behind. That Gluteus Maximus is clearly being given a good daily workout. Her knee joints are also supple and responsive. Through the Lycra I can see the contours of some impressive calf tissue; I imagine her Tibial bones are strong yet slender. Her Calcaneal tendon must be a perfect specimen.
We traverse onto Bellenden Road.
I’ve always had a strong love, some might say infatuation, with the reassuringly repetitive metallic clicking sound of a well oiled chain smoothly rotating. These days I prefer a compact crank set, which means 36 teeth on the small chain ring and 50 on the larger. The sound is just as sweat.
A quick spin down Elm Grove and we are on Rye Lane. Past the cinema and into the ground floor of a multi-storey car park. “Where the fuck is she taking me”. I think to myself, its 19.45. The car park is a temple to concrete. A Brutalist non-space. We could be anywhere on earth right now. As we reach the 5th floor the setting becomes more and more deserted. I notice the painted yellow lines on the floor and square pillars. I also notice the CCTV cameras. There is something charged about being in this huge, enclosed space on our own. The rough texture of the dark grey concrete and the muted strip lighting. It’s perfect somehow. The young woman on the Shand bike beckons me to toward her.
“Look” She says. “Isn’t it beautiful?”
I look out at the view, across the London skyline at night. All the big hitters are there, illuminated and resplendent. I look back into the car park. “Yes it is”. I think to myself.
20.10. Heart rate 137bpm.
No. of Cyclists Killed in London by year
1993-18
1994-15
1995-15
1996-20
1997-12
1998-12
1999-10
2000-14
2001-21
2002-20
2003-19
2004-8
2005-21
2006-19
2007-15
2008-15
2009-13
2010-10
2011-16
2012-14
2013-14
No. of Cyclists seriously injured in London by year
1993-485
1994-480
1995-521
1996-571
1997-560
1998-596
1999-469
2000-399
2001-434
2002-387
2003-414
2004-332
2005-351
2006-373
2007-446
2008-436
2009-420
2010-457
2011-555
2012-657
2013-475
NO FUN II
7 – 29 NOVEMBER 2014
GUEST CURATED BY SEAN CUMMINS
SEAN CUMMINS / JO MITCHELL / MARK PEARSON
NO FUN II IS AN INSTALLATION OF WORK BY 3 ARTISTS WHO DISLOCATE STRATEGIES TAKEN FROM GRAPHIC DESIGN. THEY ARE INTERESTED IN ITS WIDER CULTURAL CONTEXT OR SUB-CULTURAL REFERENCES AND ENJOY SUBVERTING ITS COMMUNICATIVE POSSIBILITIES THROUGH FRUSTRATION, REPETITION AND CONFRONTATION.
NO FUN II WILL PRESENT PAINTINGS, TAPESTRIES AND ENLARGED PHOTOCOPIED IMAGERY, BECOMING AN IMMERSIVE, OVERWHELMING AND COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT OF GRAPHIC IMAGERY. THEY INTEND THIS INSTALLATION TO BE A CREATIVE EXAGGERATION OF THE LANGUAGE AND PROPERTIES OF GRAPHIC DESIGN, USING ITS CONVENTIONS AS A VEHICLE FOR ENHANCING THE ABERRANT URGES AND INTENTIONS OF THE ARTISTS THEMSELVES.
ON THE SURFACE MOST GRAPHIC DESIGN WILL SUGGEST EXPRESSIVE POSSIBILITIES THAT ARE OPEN ENDED … BUT DESIGN BEING DESIGN… IT IS ULTIMATELY LOCKED INTO THE FUNCTIONAL AND RATIONAL OBJECTIVES OF COMMUNICATING AND ADVERTISING. NO FUN II READILY EMPLOYS METHODOLOGIES OF GRAPHIC DESIGN BUT THEIR OUTPUT IS JOYOUS, HUMOROUS AND A LITTLE BIT FREAKY WHICH ULTIMATELY DOES MEAN FUN.
SEAN CUMMINS PLACES BOLD GRAPHIC SHAPES ONTO PAINTERLY GROUNDS. THE WORK DISORIENTATES AND FRUSTRATES THE VIEWER INTO QUESTIONING WHAT IT IS THEY ARE LOOKING AT: PAINT SPILL, GOTHS KISSING OR ALIEN LIFE? SEAN CUMMINS WAS BORN IN 1959. HE STUDIED AT MANCHESTER POLYTECHNIC, AND GOLDSMITHS COLLEGE. RECENT EXHIBITIONS HAVE INCLUDED THE POTATO EATERS DISCOVER COLD FUSION, BONINGTON GALLERY AND THORESBY THURSDAY, ONE THORESBY STREET IN NOTTINGHAM; NO FUN, ENCLAVE, AND MARBLED REAMS, LIMONCELLO, IN LONDON; PILE, SURFACE GALLERY, NOTTINGHAM/CHAPTER ARTS CENTRE, CARDIFF. PREVIOUS PROJECTS HAVE BEEN SHOWN IN USA, AUSTRIA, HUNGARY, ITALY, POLAND, SOUTH KOREA AND SOUTH AFRICA.
JO MITCHELL CREATES LARGE-SCALE WALL-PAINTINGS AND HANGINGS THAT INCORPORATE FRAGMENTED TEXTS AND MOTIFS TAKEN FROM UNDERGROUND SUBCULTURES. HER WORK IS A CONSTANT RECLAMATION AND RE-CONTEXTUALISATION OF THE EMOTIVE, PSYCHOLOGICAL AND SEXUALIZED POWER THEY IMBUE. JO MITCHELL WAS BORN IN NORTHAMPTON IN 1965 AND LIVES AND WORKS IN LONDON. SHE STUDIED FINE ART AT CENTRAL ST MARTINS AND GRADUATED FROM GOLDSMITHS WITH HER MA IN 1999. SINCE THEN SHE HAS EXHIBITED EXTENSIVELY AT HOME AND ABROAD – WORKING FREQUENTLY IN BERLIN AND WITH SPACES IN ATHENS AND ISTANBUL. SHE HAS MADE AMBITIOUS WALL-PAINTINGS/ HANGINGS FOR EAST INTERNATIONAL 2004, ART SHEFFIELD 2005, TEMPLE GAR GALLERY, DUBLIN 2012 AND MOST RECENTLY IN NO FUN AT ENCLAVE, DEPTFORD.
MARK PEARSON MAKES GIANT PHOTOCOPIED TAPESTRIES, CRASS PAINTINGS AND COLLAGES CONTAINING LOW GRADE IMAGERY AND EXAGGERATED PERSPECTIVAL EFFECTS SUBTITLED WITH BOMBASTIC STRAPLINES. MARK PEARSON WAS BORN IN 1966 IN WAKEFIELD, WEST YORKSHIRE, UK. HE STUDIED AT CHELSEA COLLEGE OF ART AND GOLDSMITHS COLLEGE, LONDON. EXHIBITIONS INCLUDE ‘I AM THE FLY’ AT GALERIE REINHARD HAUFF, STUTTGART (SOLO) AND ‘VENTRILOQUIST’ AT TIMOTHY TAYLOR GALLERY, LONDON. PEARSON’S WORK IS CONTAINED IN NUMEROUS PRIVATE COLLECTIONS INCLUDING THE SAATCHI COLLECTION AND THE LUDWIG FORUM, AACHEN.
This event was part of the Attic programme, an Arts Concil funded project, run by Candice Jacobs from 2013-2014 and Rebecca Ounstead from 2014-2015.
Category
Exhibition