Jeremy Deller takes us on a tour through the industrial
revolution and its effect on British culture in the modern day. This exhibition
is a sensory explosion, with a jukebox blasting industrial songs to videos of
workers in mills. All of these sounds and videos are immersed into a classic
gallery of paintings, photographs and drawings. The exhibition also shows
industrial revolution artefacts that are randomly placed within the gallery
room, one even being discreetly placed in the highest top corner of the
gallery.
The whole experience of Jeremy Deller the artist taking us
on a tour of all aspects of the industrial revolution is a confusing experience
to start with, but once you begin to follow the trail of art round the room you
start to connect the puzzle of what consolidates all of this sensory media. I
feel Jeremy has decided to place all of these different mediums, in a sometimes-confusing
juxtaposition. Its not until you begin to absorb the pieces that you realise
its all connected like a large timeline.
Two pieces within the gallery that caught my eye were
photographs of female workers in 1865 in the iron works. Cold images with a
physical tiredness is evident. These women are nameless with no obvious indication
of gender.
The other piece is a portrait paintings of workers from
Hirwaun and Treforest in 1835. These paintings are elegantly framed with an
almost childlike approach; all paintings have subject names and occupations
attached. Both set of images are visually similar with the subject presented
stood in the centre of the image.
You cant help but feel the social differences between the
sexes in the industrial revolution, and the fact that we still know the names
of these male workers in 2014, has a lot to say for the cultural differences
between the sexes during the revolution.
The exhibition is a guided tour of how our working class
lives have been inherited. This is communicated with multi media for all our
senses. It’s an eye-opening dive into the industrial revolution that creates
the connection between our towns, social and working practices. You can’t help
but feel your past and its impact on how we live today.
Before the revolution life was lived by the seasons and the
sun in the sky, but once the large cities became engorged with workers, living
by the schedule of the factories operating hours. This way of existing is our
past, present and most certainly our future.
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