User:Nazarenocrea/Suns neither rise nor set

Suns Neither Rise Nor Set brings together work by Vanessa Billy, Richard Rigg, Kim Rugg, Nina Beier & Marie Lund, Richard Hughes and The Atlas Group / Walid Raad. Using everyday objects, archival materials and collage techniques, these works call into question the processes through which reality and illusion are constructed in visual communication and perception, helping us visualise the oscillating line between fact and fiction.

Vanessa Billy’s Suns neither rise nor set (2008), from which the exhibition takes its title, alludes to the fact that everyday events, such as the rising and setting of the sun, are human constructs rather than universal truths; just one part of a system of symbols and narratives that supports our understanding of the world. In collapsing an established fiction, Billy’s mode of address is formal yet poetic, differing from the more discursive approach of The Atlas Group, whose archival documents of Lebanon's recent history are also of questionable authenticity.

As well as deconstructing old fictions, The Atlas Group also claim new ones, as do Kim Rugg and Richard Rigg. Rugg does so by reconfiguring the language and formal conventions of a newspaper, casting doubt upon the role of journalism in our interpretation of events. Whereas Rigg has created an exacting, but flawed, replica of his own desk as a playful proposition. Resting atop the original, it recalls the impossibility of such a reflection. In different ways, each of the artists in this exhibition question or deconstruct weighty or complex notions, such as time (Richard Hughes) or declarations of protest (Nina Beier & Marie Lund). In doing so, they demonstrate a remarkable lightness of touch, tending to pose more questions than they seek to answer, thereby bringing to light the uncertainties that pervade the production and reception of knowledge.