Mistranslations

The Lost Souls and Strangers Service Station, School Lane
16th-26th June 2010

Reviewed by Sebastian Gahan

They say that a photograph is worth a thousand words but can it ever be said that a word is worth a thousand photographs? Possibly so, but Mistranslations, showing for a limited time at the epically named Lost Soul and Strangers Service Station next to the Bluecoat, is a collection of pieces that is mostly more concerned with words than actual physical images. In that we have the reason why it takes just that bit longer to do the rounds in the small space that my fellow lost souls and I shared for the opening night.

Whilst I usually look at images on whatever medium is in use and use my eyes to gauge a vision, with Mistranslations I was looking at the pieces as if reading a book in most cases, and in my opinion, this type of thing should happen more often. This shouldn't be too surprising when you discover that its creator, Nathan Jones, is a poet seeking to develop the word from merely being on the page to being an artwork in itself. The reason why I enjoyed Mistranslations was not merely the fact it was a bit different - although I do appreciate the effort made to be so - but the fact that people who quite possibly rarely read a book in full were standing in front of the pieces and reading them like a book and taking an interest in the art in the process.

This being art, and essentially without a definition, the link between the pieces was the use of poetry, and its interpretations and mistranslations, and it was a welcome link between the disparate nature of the mediums of the pieces themselves, which can often confuse the casual art fan. The best pieces to this reviewers mind were the bigger pieces that placed the word in a size it doesn't normally encounter. For instance, the digital prints 'Museum' and 'Our Generous Imagination', and giclée print 'To Be Obscure' are all good examples of what this exhibition has to offer. Of course, all the pieces are worth a longer than usual look too!

Mistranslations is only on for a short time, so head down to see it before it's all too late!

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