Exhibiting at Collective with his first solo show in Scotland, artist Simon Martin presented a new body of work, including his film Louis Ghost Chair and new photographic works, some of which have been made in collaboration with National Museums Scotland.
The iconic object at the heart of Simon Martin's seventeen-minute film Louis Ghost Chair, is the classic design of the Louis XV armchair. The film considers the chair's contemporary afterlife in the form of Philippe Starck's updated 'Louis Ghost Chair'. From antique period-piece to modern-day style accessory, the chair's transition from wood to plastic, from artisan workshop to high-tech assembly line is illuminated with commentary by a female actor.
Simon Martin’s practice examines the cultural significance of art and artefacts and our relationship to them, and encompasses painting, sculpture and moving image. To this end, Simon displayed a new body of photographic works alongside Louis Ghost Chair. The works created specifically for Collective featured a series of African headrests selected from the photographic archive of National Museums Scotland’s ethnographic collection. These photographic works further illuminate issues of the representation and framing of objects developed in the film work.
Simon Martin in conversation with Kate Gray, 30 June 2012
Simon Martin discussed his new film work Louis Ghost Chair, and the two new photographic commissions shown alongside it at Collective, with Collective's Director Kate Gray. The conversation was followed by an audience Q&A.
Read the Louis Ghost Chair publication here
This is an archived programme entry.
