Kid like: Action and Reaction
Words by Emilia Sogaard and Georgie Lawrence
Speaking to Georgie about her collaborative artwork, with Tom Gibson, “Kid like” which is being exhibited at “The Grand Finale”, it was interesting to hear her describe the spontaneity of the piece and their interests in unchoreographed movement and analysis of bodily interactions and reactions. This led us to speaking about the curated movement of visitors through art exhibitions and the honesty of curators in dictating paths around and to artworks. Georgie is an art student in Glasglow who is into abstract, idea-based art as well as performance-based art.
Georgie: Performance art is really interesting, because from looking at how people observe and consume art, performance art is strongest in terms of reaction. It is how you would get the strongest reaction from an audience as it interacts most deeply on an emotional level.
“The Grand Finale” opened last Wednesday at the Norman Rea Gallery to live jazz music welcoming visitors, public and students alike, to experience the artworks which explore our experiences of daydreaming and thinking of alternatives to reality, the transcendence of the mundane and the exploration of how art itself can be seen as a construction of the imagination. I asked Georgie more about the short film and her and Tom’s creation process which documents how bodies can mindlessly interact with each other.
“Kid like”, Georgie Lawrence and Tom Gibson, Norman Rea Gallery.
Georgie: We actually went out thinking we were going to film one of Tom’s other projects – but it just so turned out that the conditions for that weren’t right as it was weather reliant. At the time I didn’t know that Tom had set the camera and the lights up and had set the film to run. So, the result of the film is very much in time and was a reaction to each other and play - it documents very mindless movement.
Georgie spoke about how her and Tom are both intrigued in the intertwining of art and life and how the two intersect. “Kid like” was not choreographed at all, yet Georgie talks about how when watching it again you can understand what the title is trying to get at and you can feel this injection of fun in the film which starts out with quite a serious sequence of movements.
Georgie: I think it’s interesting to be able to analyse your own movements and reactions to another body, because when he’s turning one way my instinct was to mirror his body – not to do the exact same. When we were both watching it again that was quite funny. It became a sort of game, just by not knowing what was going on.
Georgie: We knew the theme of the exhibition, but because our piece is so unchoreographed and was not pre-planned – it (could be described as) a reaction against it. I’ve been looking at the Fluxus movement in my work and reactions against given boundaries of art interests me a lot. There is this idea that art is something which comes from the imagination and can be almost formulated from what is going on in your mind. (But) this piece definitely speaks to the idea that art can also be the complete opposite of that. It can be (instead) reactionary, rather than the product of a grand mindscape.
I then asked her about if she thought her own movements in this short film, which explores action and reaction, were effected by not knowing that the camera was filming. Georgie responded by explain how both her and Tom are looking at curated and non-curated movements; questioning what’s more interesting and intriguing to an audience?
This idea of unconscious movement and interaction of bodies navigating a shared space is also applicable to exhibition spaces which we then discussed, talking also about how the scientific studies which track visitor’s experiences of an exhibition are extremely revealing. For example, the use of 3D googles to determine a visitor’s path completed at the Studiolo Del Duca in Italy, called “Exploring Visitors’ Visual Behaviour Using Eye-Tracking: The Case of the “Studiolo Del Duca”.
We then spoke about Georgie and Tom’s other artworks.
Georgie: I’ve been mapping people going around exhibition spaces and the directions that people tend to go in. It seems like a boring thing to do, but I think there’s something weird about seeing people in everyday situations. Tom has curated some exhibitions and he’s been filming them by putting a go-pro on the ceiling. One of them was a performance piece and as it was being filmed you could see people walking around it. It was interesting to see who was standing where and watching and which way people would go around the performance. It’s also funny that people are nervous to interact with the art – people choose to go the other way.
We spoke about the caution with which visitors move around gallery spaces. Although many galleries are supposedly concerned with the accessibility of their sites, they still remain intimidating spaces.
Installation view of “Kid like”, Norman Rea Gallery, 2024.
The Norman Rea Gallery gives students the opportunity to see a collection of artworks free of charge at every exhibition and this is the second time that Georgie has exhibited her work at the student-led gallery. We spoke about the importance of accessibility and creating unintimidating places for the interaction with art.
Georgie: The more people you can get looking at art the better, there is not necessarily a need to critically engage with it but if we increase the amount of people looking and interacting with it then more people will be able to get something from it. In a space like the Norman Rea Gallery which is very open, and you have other thigs going on (music etc.), it encourages people to move through the space. What can we give to the general public who wouldn’t necessarily come to an art gallery, or might not even be interested in art at all? Is there a way to relate to them or in some way surprise them?
We spoke about how both of us; studying art and art history are naturally interested in art – but to take a step back and consider those who aren’t immediately attracted and drawn into art galleries is very important.
Georgie: I think a white cube gallery is a very intimidating space and I think in curating exhibitions, Tom as well, is interested in these spaces which are not traditional. They are spaces which people wouldn’t normally find art or find themselves in – challenging what is normal to walk into (as an art gallery). What we were talking about earlier, walking into a white gallery space it feels like you should be doing a certain thing and there is pressure to not touch, perhaps even interact with the objects. I think the more you can make it a relaxed space the better.
Georgie: I am quite interested in this study we were talking about – with the goggles – I wonder if they did it within different environments? In a white cube gallery, it is so easy to look at something and quickly move on, but if it is in a relaxed sociable space, you might be encouraged to just have a chat with people who are also looking at it or react to it in a different way or perhaps react more honestly, if there is for example surrounding noise, you don’t feel you are being listened to.
Installation view of “Kid like”, Norman Rea Gallery, 2024.
While discussing this idea of having an honest reaction to artworks we spoke about our own experiences and realised the important role of the gallery setting. To go see “Kid like” and all the artworks which have been curated as part of “The Grand Finale”, head to the Norman Rea Gallery before the 23rd of March 2024!
