Alban Low - Scrunchy Shed

The first day of February and London shivers in the grip of winter, an appropriate time for us to launch the Dwell Exhibition and to be thankful for our dwellings; retreats from the freezing sleet, wind and rain.

A big thank you to the artists who have sent in their 'nets' to be part of the Dwell Book and the Dwell Exhibition. We have 30 nets to present, taking us through February and into March 2015.
We will make good use of the experiences from 'Cardboard City' as we release each paper sculpture onto the streets of the city.

Alban Low

We are excited to start The Dwell Exhibition with Alban's 'Scrunchy Shed'

Alban is the founder member and driving force behind Collect Connect so it is fitting that his 'net' opens the show.
Alban is an artist with huge amounts of energy and generosity, setting up
exhibitions around the capital, the country and the world and inviting people to join in.
He is a film maker, book publisher, magnet artist, postcard artist, and works with musicians to create album covers and much much more.
On a personal note I have known Alban since we studied together at Hounslow Borough College on an Art and Design Foundation Course some 25 years ago.  Alban has always brought conceptual intelligence and technical quality to his art practice and these twin tenets continue to serve him excellently in his ever evolving work as an artist.

Scrunchy Shed

'Scrunchy Shed', seen here at Dark House Walk, defies the usual planar quality of a net. Alban instructs the maker to 'scrunch' the shed which results in the rectangular shed becoming deformed, twisted and creased-making the overall sculpture appear aged and weathered. One can imagine the shed standing through many icy winters and baking summers. The textured quality of the net is further enhanced by the detailed black and white drawing on the surface of the paper.
'Scrunchy Shed' reminds me of allotments and of gardens, of scruffy, dark spaces filled with spiders and old gardening tools, spools of twine and dust from the earth.

In today's post we can see Scrunchy Shed on the North Bank of the Thames just beyond London Bridge on the grounds of the Old Billingsgate Market. Perhaps in years gone by sheds stood here by the Thames as part of the great fish market that was  Billinsgate Market.




Dark House Walk

Tomorrow we will be hearing from the man himself as Alban exhibits the second Dwell Net.

Don't forget to have a look at the next Collect Connect project, 'The Art of Caring' exhibition at The Rose Theatre in Kingston-upon-Thames. The theme is Caring/Care and it is FREE to enter.

To buy the Dwell Book for £6 then follow this LINK.

DR