A Slight Nausea: An Interior
Weekends in January 2014
Curator: Anna Gritz
South London Gallery, Clore Auditorium
Chapter I - 4 & 5 January Prologue - Winter Light
Chapter II - 18 & 19 January Middle - Darkroom
Chapter III - 11 & 12 January Beginning - Lighter
Chapter IV - 25 & 26 January End - Smoking Room (Southwark Council Permitting)
A new live work by Becky Beasley which explores the limits of the live event as an interior, evolving subtly over the four weekends of January. The project developed out of conversations about Carlo Mollino’s essay on the history of interiors and social life, Utopia & Setting (1949), as a way of thinking about the interior in relation to the live event space at the South London Gallery. Visitors are invited to spend time in a designed décor which follows Beasley’s interest in the relationship between literary images and interiors. The décor includes a new linoleum floor-work and lighting design which will change each weekend, producing a subtle variance in mood, intended to both highlight and, at times, uplift the low English winter light. As a possible Winter mood enhancer, visitors are encouraged to spend extended time in the space. During the final weekend visitors will be able to smoke freely inside the space*. Reading matter, including an idiosyncratic bibliography of cuttings from the artists archive and a specially reprinted version of the essay, Utopia & Setting by Carlo Mollino - the first English translation of which the artist initiated in 2012 in collaboration with ArtReview - will be available for visitors. Weekend newspapers will be also available.
Carlo Mollino (1905-1973) was an influential Italian polymath, best known as an architect and designer. Significant architectural projects include the Societa Ippica Torinese (1936–9), the Camera di Commercio (completed in 1972) and the rebuilding of the Teatro Regio (1967–73), all in Turin. He wrote, Message from the Darkroom (1949), the first history of photography to be published in Italy.
