One to One

CALLUM MORTON
One to One, 2011
Polystyrene, epoxy resin, steel, sand, wood, synthetic polymer paint, light, CD, audio unit
256 x 335 x 132 cm

I first got introduced to the art of blogging when Jessie and I were in first year of art school in 2006. As part of our assessment we were required to post an image and a short review or summary on an exhibition or artwork that we had come across weekly. I really enjoyed the rigour of research that was built in this practice of seeking out an artwork/exhibition that inspired us and discussing it with our peers. 

Which is what brings me to this installation shot of Callum Morton's One to One as part of his 2012 exhibition The Insides. This exhibition title is fitting for the kind of work that it held and particularly for the feature piece One to One pictured above. The titles suggest intimacy, but what kind of intimacy? And at what cost? 

This haunting image of a disused fireplace where the burnt wood, coals and ashes have been removed long ago leaving behind an empty fire rack and the burn marks and smokey residue on the back wall of a highly fabricated manmade fireplace. This burnt interior is framed by a wooden slab and white sandstone bricks both of which are crisp and unscathed. 

This bleak but strangely beautiful image carries a powerful message of internalised pain, violence, abuse and entrapment. Using only a few materials, classic design, simple process and by changing the way the viewers enters the space the work is experiential and creeps up on the viewer. The simple crisp build of the 1960s fireplace is oddly familiar and its simplicity draws the viewers eye to the vocal point of the piece; the fireplace. The fireplace has been cleared out after a fire has burnt-out, leaving behind only violent smoke markings in black and red ochre on the back wall. These wisps of black and red remind me of blood and bruising from too many lashings. The markings are strangely beautiful and intriguing. And like the fire that has long since extinguished it's completely captivating and even though I know I shouldn't look directly into the fire I can't help but stare.