Moving through space is an
act of infinite complexity. We do it constantly, yet often
without a real sense of awareness. Sarah Rossiter is interested
in responses to the particulars of specific places. In
the case of this exhibition, her site is the idyllic Mills
campus. It’s a place filled with implied histories.
Over time, ivy has grown over the walls, obscuring an evolution
of use and perhaps neglect.
In her photographs and video, Rossiter
points us to things we might overlook and elements in
the landscape and architecture that, through a shift
in scale and lighting, take on heightened senses of mood
and implication. Less concerned with practical use than
richness of atmosphere, Rossiter slows down our perception
of where we are by separating elements from their environment.
A façade ornament resembles something altogether
different – a pool, an audio speaker, an over-designed
drain.
Making use of the Mills Museum’s
distinct architecture, Rossiter’s video projection
brings the outside in. Filmed on the brick staircase
at the back of the building, a site that once served
as the entrance and a long discontinued train stop, the
piece depicts figures passing through a reflecting pool
to pass from one place to another. Are we moving from
the past to the present or future? Rossiter’s intervention
transforms that act of movement into a dance with elements
of play and transcendence. |
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