Geiger explores the theme of wonderment coming up against danger; and of the human urge to systemise and control natural phenomenon (including our own natures). The work references the history of radioactivity, a phenomenon which epitomises how a fascination with seductive effects can mask even mortal dangers. The installation shares some of these themes with the videotape Common Knowledge (1989).
In the installation the response of fluorescent materials to ultraviolet light is used as an analogy for a 'hidden' radiation which can only be registered with special apparatus. In 1907 Hans Geiger presented the first apparatus for measuring radioactive decay - the 'Geiger' counter - and gradually by this means the relative dangers of different levels of radioactivity could be gauged. With increased understanding radioactivity underwent a swift transformation: the wonder-ray fit for parlour demonstrations, the glow-in-the-dark paint for watch faces were recognised as a pernicious carcinogen.
In a subliminal reference to the Curies' work with pitchblende the work juxtaposes silvery metal and fascinating light effects with strong-smelling bitumen. A tarred gantry leads to a tarred fascia housing three video monitors. To each side of the gantry silver coloured grids are installed at floor and ceiling level, with a network of 250 vertical nylon threads joining their interstices. The loose end of each thread bears a large fishhook.
Over a number of days these pre-installed threads/hooks are used to draw a matrix of glowing cords from two musical backpacks. The participants wearing these are guided carefully into the network of threads by a supervisor. The slow, painstaking process is analogous to the introduction of fuel rods into a nuclear reactor. By means of plucked strings the backpacks produce a systemised 'music' which also traces the functioning of the unit, in a manner not unlike the blips and beeps of modern technical apparatus.
The main video sequence for the installation shows a naked male figure in a metal cell. The figure is isolated either to make it safe in the light of some supremely penetrative threat, or to prevent its already contaminated nature from infecting others. The man is mercilessly framed by the boundary of the screen - as nature and the feminine were framed by the Renaissance perspective grid. His hands are held open to indicate an absent book; he obsessively washes; he drinks from a metal container via a clear tube. On screens to either side of the cell one hand beckons, another gives a 'halt' gesture.
Funding & exhibition details
Common Knowledge was produced through a Video Artist's Bursary funded by The Arts Council of Great Britain in association with Sheffield City Polytechnic and the Mappin Art Gallery, Sheffield.
The work was sponsored by John H. Blakey and O. Mustad & Son Ltd.
Performers: Tahera Aziz, Mark Purcell, Andrew Stones
Voices: Mandy Burton, Cerys Hogg, Shirley MacWilliam, Mark Purcell, Nicola Smith Andrew Stones
Production assistants: Mark Purcell, Kathleen Stones, Frances Hegarty, Kiaran Saunders
Edit Facilities: Sheffield Independent Film Ltd.
Mappin curator: Mike Tooby. SCP liaison: Steve Hawley. SCP technical: Ron Hawksworth
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