Topophobia

David Ferrando Giraut Road Movie (Perpetuum Mobile) 2008

Anne Eggebert • Matthias Einhoff • David Ferrando Giraut • Polly Gould • Marja Helander •Uta Kogelsberger • Almut Rink • Abigail Reynolds • Emily Speed • Louise K Wilson

13 January - 19 February 2012
Private View: Friday 13 January 2011 6 - 9 pm

The fear of place and the manifestation of this in contemporary art is the territory for TOPOPHOBIA. As an anxiety disorder, this phobia is understood as an irrational dread of certain places or situations, yet, considered as a cultural phenomenon topophobia connects us to the existential human question of how each of us finds our place in the world. The exhibition and related publication take a look at the representation of place and space as threatened or threatening.

TOPOPHOBIA is a group show featuring the work of ten UK and international artists.

David Ferrando Giraut Road Movie (Perpetuum Mobile) 2008
The range of media and approaches is wide. Anne Eggebert makes detailed drawings derived from images on Google Earth; Matthias Einhoff uses high-end corporate video techniques to make a spectacle of an urban wasteland; David Ferrando Giraut creates a state of anxiety with his filmic pan of the aftermath of a car accident; Polly Gould constructs distorted topographical watercolours reflected in the surface of a globe; Marja Helander depicts herself out of place between her two cultures of contemporary Finland and Sami nomadic heritage; Uta Kogelsberger reveals uncanny night visions of urban and desert America in her photographs; Almut Rink appropriates the 3D software used by architects to take the viewer on an imaginary journey in a virtual space; Abigail Reynolds exposes disjointed time and place in her use of old book illustrations in collages and assemblage. Emily Speed houses her body in a fortress made from shutters; and Louise K Wilson uses sound derived from her work at a previously top secret Cold War testing site.

TOPOPHOBIA considers the technologies of perception that shape our understanding of place; technologies that extend the body beyond the usual limits of its senses, yet, these techniques of visual representation lead paradoxically to a sensation of disappearance. TOPOPHOBIA is about fear of place, but in equal measure, it is an exploration of the anxiety generated by encounters with these technologies of disappearance.

TOPOPHOBIA is a touring show with Danielle Arnaud as the originating venue. The show tours to Bluecoat, Liverpool 3 March to 22 April 2012 and Spacex, Exeter 12 May to 7 July 2012. Both touring venues will feature specially commissioned new works from participating artists.

A publication including colour plates of the artists’ works, a short fiction by Leslie Forbes, essays by Dr Caterina Albano, Thomas D Trummer and Eggebert-and-Gould, accompanies the exhibition. The book is distributed by John Rule www.johnrule.co.uk
Conceived and curated by Eggebert-and-Gould
Funded by the Arts Council and National Lottery

For more information and images please contact Danielle Arnaud at: danielle@daniellearnaud.com