Gasworks is hosting throwers, the first UK solo exhibition by Johannesburg-based artist, Nolan Oswald Dennis. The exhibition includes a monumental mural, intricate diagrams, 3D printed rocks and archival images. It is a collection of complex and very detailed works which do not immediately yield their meaning, but rather offer different ways of understanding the past, present and future. They bring together grand sweeps and arcs with snippets and fragments of scientific and technical data as they explore and interweave social and political history with geology and cosmology. Stones – from small rocks being thrown by individuals to earth shattering asteroids – are presented as a means to disrupt and change the course of history.
Central to the works is the notion of black people breaking free from a white colonial hegemony which organises and defines the world and whose version of history is presented as the objective truth. further notes for a planet (24-dash), for example, offers many different descriptions or versions of the world which can be linked in many different ways. It’s a graphic statement that there is no one single version of history or reality, but rather many, and no single path from the past to the present, or – by implication – the present to the future. There are ideas about human agency and acts of rebellion, that people can act upon the world to change it, and not simply surrender to a predetermined future. But there are also ideas about destructive events beyond human control where the outcome is uncertain although includes the possibility of rebirth.
The 3D printer slowly creating small rocks is a rather hypnotic and reflective process which, at first sight, provides a break from the other, more complex, works. But there is a story here too. The rocks are displayed on shelves and seem to symbolise the ways in which colonial powers amassed and exploited the natural resources of the lands they colonised. But the piece also suggests that colonised people can take back control of the land and build a “Black Earth Library”.
This is not an exhibition which you can take in with a quick visit. These are challenging, multi-layered and multi-faceted works which can both fascinate and confuse as they present the viewer with many paths to follow, ideas to reflect upon. and plenty of food for thought.
throwers runs until 22 June in Gasworks, 155 Vauxhall Street, SE11 5RH. Entry is free. For further information about opening hours go to www.gasworks.org.uk
