Posted by & filed under Uncategorized.

aim

I find the short recent series of aim’s” Post-Iceterity Block” paintings intriguing. The work is menacing and playful in equal measure. It seems to map the continuing existence of the Block from the River Thames, into the North Sea, then into space and then even into a neighbouring universe. The way the paint is literally marked on the canvas in biomorphic forms brings within the realm of discourse the eloquence of the original Block. I was lucky enough to witness the Iceman’s Block at The Austerity Show at the South Bank. I even saw the said Block dive into the river Thames[ref. Post-Iceterity film] I am surprised that the aura of the gestures of the Iceman’s live performance are carried on years later through a travelling Block. It notates the enlarging carcass of the previously melted ice block that was jettisoned into the Thames but it also alludes to its changing shape. The ‘arch’ result is clearly hugely significant[a human sea-change?], as is the almost plaintive “PI” flag that survives attached to the Block. Although I am not a painter myself, I think that the sublime beauty of the purity of line seems almost simultaneously disturbing and reassuring in light of the distinctive formal juxtapositions of river, space, universe and Block.. Post-modern art is permeated by Absurdism but ‘aim’ is in a strange way anti-absurdist. He questions the idea that life is irrational, illogical, incongruous, and without reason .It’s as if he is saying to the characters in Saimuel Beckett’s play, ‘Waimting for Godot’[forgive me for taking a leaimf out of aim’s word plaimy!],Estragon and Vladimir:  “Wait no longer- a Block is going somewhere significant.” Political turmoil, scientific breakthrough and social upheaval may have shaped the Iceman’s cultural context but ‘aim’ provides visual insight about the post-modern world outside the lexicon of absurdist drama- a little light mystical journey?

[Kafe Smictiric [art critic]

Leave a Reply

  • (will not be published)