Lisson Gallery announces its third solo exhibition of work by Christine Borland.
In this series of new works, Christine Borland continues to relate the History of
Medicine to contemporary medical practice, with a particular interest in its
interface with the public. Combining new techniques and new technology used
in Medical education with ancient crafts technologies like porcelain manufacture,
she proposes far-reaching ethical questions for us to consider both in terms of
the ‘progress’ of our society and on an intimate and timeless personal level.
Both the fragmented ceramic piece, Conservatory and her on-going series of
photographs which include smashed watermelons - The Velocity of Drops
recognise the beauty inherent in destruction, while serving as reminders of the
enduring qualities of even the most vulnerable of objects, the human form. On
this occasion the photographs are set in the dramatic location of a 19th Century
stately home, Mount Stuart on the Isle of Bute in Scotland. During World War 1,
the Bute family initiated the use of their home as a Naval Hospital. For 3 years it
treated casualties from the infamous sea battles of the Great War, while the
family continued to reside there. The titles of the rooms where the watermelons
are located indicate their transformation during this time – the Library into an X-
Ray Room, the Master Bedroom into the Dispensary, the Conservatory into the
Operating Theatre etc.
Read moreThe fragments of Conservatory, reminiscent of small pieces of weathered
porcelain collected on the beach, are full of pathos while remaining collectable
and desirable, despite the destruction of the original whole – a complete human
skeleton.
The installation Simulated Patient is based on role-play situations where medical
students, through role-play with actors, practice dealing with a range of difficult
scenarios. In this case any all of these involve breaking bad news to patients. The
presentation of this work deflects the viewer’s voyeurism by concentrating on
the ‘use of silence’ in the consultations. The viewer finds her/himself empathising
with difficult position of the doctor as well as the tragic circumstances of the
patient. Experiencing each unfolding scenario under these controlled
circumstances, allows us the opportunity to confront our own ‘worst case’
scenarios.
In Home Testing, Borland presents a more sculpturally formal series of games
whereby we are informed of a series of probability statistics and invited to use
the custom-made dice, receptacles and games tables to put them to the test.
Statistics and risks relating to our health as interpreted by the press, are
conveyed to us daily. The statistics in Home Testing are all related to pregnancy
and present a scenario that anyone expecting a baby faces upon stepping into
the medical arena. Recent developments in genetics have meant an increased
knowledge of risk and a subsequent range of choices and dilemmas, which are
likely to widen and escalate in the future. This work is an attempt at
empowerment by providing simple, hands-on means to translate baffling statistics
into something personal.
Born in Glasgow in 1965, Christine Borland has exhibited extensively in Europe
and the U.S. in numerous group and solo shows including Art Gallery of
Toronto; Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee, Scotland; De Appel,
Amsterdam; Art Gallery of York University, Toronto; Contemporary Arts
Museum, Houston, and Dunkers Kulturhus, Sweden.
The artist would like to extend special thanks to CRAFT, Centre de Recherche
des Arts du Fey et de la Terre, Limoges, France, The Mount Stuart Trust, Isle of
Bute, Scotland, the staff of Communication Skills and their students in the Faculty
of Medicine, Glasgow University, Scotland.
