Monotonous Beach

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For this week’s exhibition, #20, three works were featured, with the very basic underlying theme of summer, or more specifically the negative connotations of the beach. This began with James Choucino’s endless soundscape ‘Beach Holiday’ which explores the word ‘beached’ and the different meanings it can convey. The more you listen to the robotic voice saying ‘beached’ over and over again, the more I’m reminded of Jon Rafman’s video work ‘Oh the Humanity’, blobs of figures being crushed together in a wave pool. When listening to Choucino’s work, rather than beached wales, I think of beached humans, slowly melting into the sand on a distant beach somewhere. Leading on from this was Campbell Mcconnell’s video work ‘Deck Chair’, featuring the artist repeatedly attempting to sit in a chair. The repetition and tediousness of both of these works is so evocative of the various activities that middle class people take part in whilst at the beach; most commonly sitting in the sun, on a chair, attempting to tan, fully aware of the fact that the tan will be gone in a few months’ time. The final work ties this whole, pointless experience together; a pastel drawing by Galina Munroe simply titled ‘MR CRAB’.

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​​Curated by Bob Bicknell-Knight