Tom Jeffreys checks out the inaugural show at the newly relocated Arts Gallery, where art and design collide with enchanting results.
I always felt sorry for the old lady who lived in a shoe. She had no bread or money – just too many children, broth and a penchant for disciplinary violence. The poor old dame. If only she'd had a shoebox to live in like the one currently on display at The Arts Gallery – she'd have been bloody delighted, I'd wager.
As part of London Design Festival, studioXAG have transformed the recently relocated University of the Arts London gallery into what they describe as "a fantastical shoebox house". This doesn't really come close to encapsulating the diverse splendours to be found inside – it's a small show, but packed with little adventures, details, wit and elegance.
The entrance to the cardboard shoebox house is guarded by twin doggies – concrete creatures created by emerging contemporary artist Alex Hoda – and then it's over the welcome mat and into the parlour. And what a decorous riot of invention it is. There's a stately cardboard fireplace and a dining room table constructed out of a giant matchbox. On the floor lie several massive matches whilst the table-top is covered in sundry delicious delights. There's cardboard cakes – all layered and delicate – cardboard Jammy Dodgers, and toffees wrapped up in brown paper.
All of these are served on an amazing array of art/design crockery and cutlery. I love Reiko Kaneko's work: white bone china cups with 24 carat gold lip-prints and spillages (plus two 'cracked' plates mounted on the wall behind). But then I've always loved Reiko's work, and it's also cool to come across so many other witty and inventive artists and designers in one small space.
There's carpet-covered 'Triffid' stools, oversized ceramic knives, antlers made of wood and chrome handlebars and a saddle, and a wonderful cabinet made by Elisa Strozyk. The front panel consists of undulating folds of material, which on closer inspection turns out to be wood. It's strange to see a 'hard' material employed with all the gentle flow of textiles, and symptomatic of the exhibition's attempts to mislead the eye.
In the same way, I really like Robert Dawson's willow pattern wall-mounted plate. The pattern has been skewed and printed on at a distorted angle – it's like Holbein's famous use of anamorphosis in The Ambassadors. Ditto, Emi Miyashita's tiny little drawing. A man perches upon a high chair, next to an egg box – the eggs are wobbly white, and nippled. Visitors are encouraged to examine the work using a nearby magnifying glass – peering close in, you're prodded in the eye with cheeky delight.
Possibly the highlight though is David Clarke's wonderful silver work. There's a solidity about his craft that is somehow reassuring – it's elegant but unflashy, practical, solid, real. And yet... almost every object is completely pointless. The more functional they appear the less use you could possibly make of them. Here is someone who delights in the technicalities of his craft, and the possibilities for irony that begin to emerge.
The same might be said of the show as a whole. There's a passion for making, a passion for the hand-made, but also a child-like love of trickery. Two giant articulated cardboard hands loom threateningly overhead – we are in a dolls' house, remember. I am but a puppet; I am the puppet-master.
Hands On - Designs Brought to Life is at the Arts Gallery until 29th October 2010.
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