Seventeenth Exhibition

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Ring of Gold is a video installation by British artist, Kathryn Faulkner, capturing the very moment during the Summer Market Day at Golden Lane Estate on 6 June 2009.

Despite the inclement weather, many of the residents laid out their tables with a wide variety of goods to sell. During the day, Faulkner invited all stall holders and residents to participate with her Ring of Gold idea. Working her way around the balcony, the artist moved along the row taking hundreds of photographs of the tables and the people behind them, building a sequence of portraits that eventually form this short film.

It is interesting to note what each table contains – in some ways the contents can be seen as an alternative self-portrait, by revealing what the owner doesn’t consider worth keeping anymore. If we think that these objects are the excess from someone’s life they become pointers towards their personality and hint at their life style to some extent. Even the way the table is organized is psychologically telling.

There are books for sale on over half the tables. What makes us decide to get rid of books – lack of space and affection or simply to make room for new reading experiences? On the other hand why do we hold on to some books forever? What makes a book important enough to live with it in our personal space? Will we reread it many years later or simply keep it as a talisman or memory jogger?

Faulkner extends her Bibliography idea by capturing how and why people live with books on Golden Lane Estate as one of the Super Estate Projects. By engaging with as many residents as possible, Faulkner will showcase in February 2010 new works alongside her unique pin-hole photographs capturing individual’s reading experience and alluding to the absorbing nature of reading.

16 Jul – 7 Aug 2009

Ring of Gold from EXHIBIT Gallery on Vimeo.