Week 1 - KCAW visit

A breathtaking collection started off my visit to KCAW, I was at Notting Dale Campus, in awe at the spectacle the Beakers place space presented. In the space of half an hour, I saw a work of Jeff Koons and a Hirst, though Kimsooja’s work was the most powerful. A Hyundai truck was parked in the middle of the space, carrying 2 tons of what looked like bedsheets/colourful fabrics. A truck that carried two tonnes of emigrating fabric, echoing the trip that my parents took when I was two. Scratches on the paintwork of the truck, became forms of expressive mark-making, symptoms of the journey the truck made. A reminder to myself of the marks that are left on my parents after the 3877-mile trip they took and how they still exist with those marks. After the deeply personal/poetic experience that Notting Dale Campus presented, I decided to head somewhere more lighthearted.

 After a read through the KCAW booklet and a check to see where was still open, I arrived at Japan House. They were exhibiting work about traditional methods of fabric-making and paper, something I have tried to replicate in my practice (washi-paper). I was again left in awe at the intricacy of the process, the calibre of work that was included in the KCAW is nothing like I’ve seen before.

My experience of artwork at this current stage is based upon the south London scene, most shows are not curated as effectively as this but also no south London based art festivals I have experienced have been as coherent as this. Though, I only managed to go to two spaces (as most spaces closed) both of the spaces had artworks that were accessible but also potent, something I do not usually interact with at BA level, becoming the new standard of work/exhibitions that I will compare other works/shows against.