Eight Days A Week 2000 : BASEMENT VI: Basement 6. - 28. October 2000
Sian Hughes, Susan Leask, Margaretha Schöning With guest artists Rosy Beyelschmidt, Christiane Brams

 

BASEMENT VI : LIVERPOOL AND COLOGNE ARTISTS WORK TOGETHER IN SUBTERRANEAN ENVIRONMENT

The labyrinthine journey of basement (above) and its three resident artists continues along its path of exploration. From its base in the cellars of a Georgian terrace shadowed by Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral, it weaves a meandering path through a succession of brick rooms and ante-rooms, collecting stories and artists en route. Artists from Liverpool, Cologne, Belfast and New York have left their mark on its stone floors, in its bare brick walls and into its recesses, adding to the history and character of this unique showing space.

As basement embarks on journey No 6 the three resident artists, Sfan Hughes, Susan Leask and Margaretha Schoning, share their laboratory once again with artists from other countries. Rosy Beyelschmidt and Christiane Brams swap the banks of the Rhine for the banks of the Mersey for two weeks and embark on their own particular journeys with those of the resident three. Whilst the coffee filters through, extra layers of clothing are added, tool boxes are dug out and the adventure begins. Descending the stairs the visitors join the residents on a voyage of discovery, weaving their way through the warren to find their own brick and stone hutch in whicl i to experiment and explore. Various materials are tried and tested, some will be discarded whilst others are destined to remain. Pa :)er is folded and folded again, the smell of darkroom chemicals mingles wi:h the pungent smell of hot wax, carpets of dust colour *he floors, lights at all angles enrich the atmospheric mysteries or the stories unfolding.

'Vecognisable fragments of reality combine with seemingly abstract forms in the photographic and video work of Rosy Beyelschmidt. As we search for the object in the work our own encounters with past experiences are triggered and a process of reminiscence and remembrance is started.
Our attention is firmly focused on location through Christiane Brams' use of tracing paper to construct cube-like shapes which allow (day) light to just penetrate the room. These forms reflect the proportions of the space, the grid structure of the window and other architectural details.

Fleeting moments and glimpsed reflections are captured in Margaretha Schoning's glass installations. Evoking and questioning reality, deception and illusion, they allow the viewer to pause and reflect while the outside world casts its changing light, and fragments of the space are mirrored on the surface.
Exploration with the temporary the ephemeral within the assigned 'space fuel the methodical experiments with light and site in Susan Leask's installations, bringing a sense of the present to their formal simplicity.
Colour and light are essential elements in the work of Sian Hughes. Manipulating textiles into three-dimensional structures using perspex, laminates and steel, the works are lit from within to transform the room with abstract images of the basement corridors.

From time to time the five come out of the warren to capture the light and the warmth again on the streets of Liverpool, and more stories are told and retold in the various venues hosting exchange ventures between artists from Liverpool and Cologne. Refuelled, they continue on their journey and five installations grow and emerge, changing basement's interiors once again into another diverse and stimulating experience for the artists and the audience. Meanwhile, nobody notices basement secretly accumulating tiny deposits from journey 6 to add to its eclectic collection.

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