Stephan Dillemuth at 3236RLS
Recently I've been making a concerted effort to visit art spaces in
somewhat untraditional places. I say 'untraditional' but they're now becoming
more commonplace as real estate in London becomes a total joke. In my quest to
understand how the public can effectively engage with contemporary art,
galleries located in shopping centres and similarly very public spaces are of
great interest. More often than not, they are located in areas without a strong
art scene. With gentrification in full force, art communities are moving to new
pockets of the city all the time, but if we're being optimistic about it, this
means that new audiences are being given the opportunity to experience
contemporary art. Is this the case for Catford's Le Bourgeois? I can't be
sure...
Installation view: Srephan Dillemuth, Diskodekorationen: From Another Century, Le Bourgeois, London. 4 October - 3 November 2019. Image courtesy of the artist at societyofcontrol.com
Catford has seen some
unprecedented (or am I being naive again?) development recently, including a
nearby dive pub being turned into a glitzy, almost trippy, gastropub, and the
old shopping strip being transformed into a cinema and street food establishment.
Anyone who has spent any time in Catford will understand that this is
incredibly weird, but anyway when these changes occur, the new art scene is
never far behind. Le Bourgeois is set up in a former restaurant of the same
name, and some of the original features remain intact. This is where my
fascination comes in - strip back the gloss of the moneybags galleries and
what's left? A real passion for the art, if it comes across right, and this has
been done really well at Le Bourgeois with the work of German artist Stephan
Dillemuth.
Installation view: Srephan Dillemuth, Diskodekorationen: From Another Century, Le Bourgeois, London. 4 October - 3 November 2019. Image courtesy of the artist at societyofcontrol.com
The show is heavily inspired by
the artist's time in Chicago, and his immersion in its house music scene. Something
I'm desperate to write about is the allure of neon, and the strip lighting in
the middle of the room gives off a real seedy vibe, or at least one resembling
a bar. The purple and yellow hues can be seen from outside which will either
entice passers-by or repel them further, depending on how their head is
feeling... Perhaps unsurprisingly, the show's title translates as 'Disco Decorations',
and for some reason this is really pleasing to me. The idea of depicting house
music through visual means is a beautiful concept; I love the idea of a memento
mori for how music makes you feel. At a time where we're experiencing new
things, with shorter attention spans and less money than past generations,
electronic sounds have the potential to have profound effects on our psyche and
moods.
Installation view: Srephan Dillemuth, Diskodekorationen: From Another Century, Le Bourgeois, London. 4 October - 3 November 2019. Image courtesy of the artist at societyofcontrol.com
Synaesthesia is a big part of
music genres like house, and the work engages different senses. The fact that
the artist visited Chicago for a short time, as opposed to being fully immersed
in the city, gives his viewpoint a different edge, as well as the fact that most
works are from 1988/1989, with some small alterations made to the plinth works
this year, a series called 'Disko'. They are comprised of plexiglas, wood,
mylar, lighters, candles, sugar cubes and chicken bones, and being located in
the middle of the room they provide some grounding to an otherwise busy
exhibition.
Within said busy environment, once the viewer’s eyes have
acclimatised to the neon the centrepiece is 2017’s ‘Parallaxis Disconiensis:
Clown or Clone?’, which is a plaster mask of the artist’s face on a
self-driving pedestal. With an old-school AM/FM handheld radio attached to its
face (a model which my dad owns and still uses) blaring out house music, the
sculptural work is an assault on two senses as it drives itself around the
space, navigating and narrowly missing its audience and other works. Now that
sound is added to the experience, the space between music and visual cultures is
bridged… this is it! This is how it’s done; there aren’t many artists that fuse
music and art seamlessly and bring them together successfully. I truly loved
this exhibition and hope that passers-by in Catford are lured into this tiny
world where south London meets Chicago via Germany.
Check out the audio that comes with the exhibition here.
