Bromley Art Society Bringing Artists Together since 1947

I can’t recall writing about nothing before but on a recent visit to the Shirn Gallery in Frankfurt, I saw an exhibition entitled “Nichts” (”nothing” in German). In all fairness, it did exactly what it said on the tin. Even in the catalogue there was no pretence that there would be anything to see - the catalogue being a blank piece of paper bearing a few words of explanation viz. “Stillness, emptiness, silence - the pause, the gap, the omission is increasingly important in today’s society of images... Post minimalists and Neoconceptualists are now transforming the experience of emptiness in poetic installations...”.

Oh yeah?

My friend and I were handed headsets to help us to appreciate the eagerly awaited masterpieces. We entered a large room entirely painted white with nothing on the walls bar little labels bearing a number and the name of the “artist”. When we pressed the relevant key on the handset we were treated to an explanation of the blank wall before us. We heard, “a snowflake fell on my white canvas and it melted...” or, and this was my special favourite, “Put sock on right foot. Put sock on left foot. Take off left sock and turn inside out. Put on right foot...” and so on, ad nauseam.

It seemed “artists” were invited from all over the world to contribute “nothing”.The real no-brainer was the statement that “many of the works are on loan from museums and renowned private collections in Europe and the U.S.” The transportation costs must have been immense and the insurance risk could easily have sent Lloyd’s of London into total meltdown.

In my opinion the most memorable “nothing” was the customary blank space in front of which a ghetto blaster emitted very rude noises which, for me, summed up the show. They were blowing raspberries at the punters who had laid out good Euros to see nothing. The words “The Emperor’s New Clothes” kept coming to mind. The only comfort I could draw from the experience was the fact that, having just had my hall painted white, I am now the proud owner of several masterpieces! Or maybe I’m missing something? I’d like fellow BAS members to enlighten me.

Jill Reardon