The original article In The Naughty Chair can be found on @Mooley’s website, Minx and Her Mind.
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Last Thursday I ventured out with my friend Adam [ed. that's me!] to see the preview of Doug Fosters in the Naughty Chair.
The last time I saw Doug’s art work was at the Old Vic tunnels Hells Half Acre exhibition where he produced my favorite piece in the entire show called Herod’s Gate.
This was a video wall with the ever moving flames as seen in the picture. It was reflected in a pool of oil & had an interesting sounds played over the top. I was unable to pull myself away for quite some time & was less excited when I saw the much smaller just video version playing at Rathbone Place but it was again nice to view it once more.
We arrived quite early but still hit a small crowd waiting to go in to the small glass fronted building. As we walked in you could see a large iron box with peepholes in. Which on closer inspection was a video box showing a naked man and a woman in what looked like a tank. The women giving air to the man crouched at the bottom of the tank. Two peep holes one high and one low letting you see the action from differing perspectives. I loved this more than Adam and had a long discussion on the relationship the two people might have had.
The next piece was my favorite of the evening although I found it difficult to pick one as I liked most of what was on show but this was very cleverly done.
She was so real I was waiting for her to blink
Who thought two photographs, some clever lighting and some mirrors could create the brilliance that was the piece you can see above. Looking like something you may find in a hospital to hang up x rays Foster has used symmetry and mirrors to create a beautiful 3D effect. Once you put your face up to the mirrored pyramid in the middle she becomes real and so very lifelike before your eyes. So real I was waiting for her to blink.
Moving through to the next room picking & up a glass of complementary wine on the way I found myself in a dark room with a glass ceiling. In front of me was the Naughty Chair. A Chair made from scaffolding poles with brown leather straps attached at the forehead, legs, wrists amongst other places. It could look to some like a torture device with the video wall in front showing a film of water moving. Almost like water torture without the drip drip drip or maybe a homemade electric chair. To me it looked like a thing of pleasure I would want to give myself too. I sat in it although not strapped in. It was strangely comfortable & I longed to be able to sit in it naked. Maybe something to think about when my son moves out.
The Naughty Chair
When moving around the corner we found a strange apparatus on the wall. Something that would look at home in a Sci Fi movie.
It was a three part cushion with what can only be described as plumbing around it. It looked creepy and I stood for a moment wondering what its purpose could be. It also had heart monitor pads attached & looked like an experimental table from an alien spaceship.
The video screen to our left showed many of these tables with naked people lying in them attached to the machine. Steam was seen coming from the pipes. The people seemed to be motionless and not breathing their eyes closed maybe sleeping. We saw them rotate round one at a time until we came to an empty table.
This one I presumed was waiting for me.
Doug Fosters Naughty Chair
I have decided not to show the video I took. As it is definitely worth going to see it for yourself & I wouldn’t want to spoil it.
We moved on up the stairs. By this time it was packed and difficult to see some of the exhibits. There’s a film of the gentleman passing himself in the corridor this was interesting but somehow i wanted more.In the next room there sits a iron box with a video screen at the bottom. Featuring four images of forever changing landscapes. This is completely mesmerising. It looked like a beautiful melting pot. I found myself watching other people looking at the video. It seemed like no one wanted to leave it and all who passed could but stand and stare.
What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.
Why not go stand and stare at Doug Fosters The Naughty Chair. Its a great way to spend a few hours.
You can find out more here:
www.lazinc.com
WWW.DOUGFOSTER.NET
It’s on from 21st January to 17th February, Tuesdays to Saturdays, 11am-7pm at 11 Rathbone Place, London,W1T 1HR.
I first visited The Old Vic Tunnels last October to see an art exhibition based around Dante’s Inferno. The dark, dank and cavernous arches beneath Waterloo Station were a perfect location to exhibit art depicting the Nine Circles of Hell, adding an atmosphere that would otherwise have been lost in more conventional surroundings. It’s an amazing space in which to experience art of all kinds, and one of the key factors in our decision to see the London Contemporary Orchestra on Friday.
