Within the realms of social research, to be unobtrusive is to remove the presence of the researcher's physicality from the context of their experiment. The observed subject forms part of an experiment to which it is excluded of awareness, an uninterrupted natural state. In order to maintain this, methods of silence, hidden intentions and covert actions need to be taken. Any communication between the two parties causes an immediate and irreparable diversion in the experiment and as such, its outcome.
Bent Hammer’s film ‘Kitchen Stories’ (2003) interweaves this research methodology with a sensitive reflection upon the relationship of two elderly individuals; one a researcher named Folke from Sweden’s Home Efficiency Institute, the other a single, cantankerous man named Isak. Sent to research the efficiency of Isak’s kitchen layout in relation to his daily habits and with specific orders not to engage with his subject, Folke sits in an umpire’s high chair and observes the activity below.
Folke's intrusion into the physical environment of Isak's kitchen is inconspicuous to say the least and his presence raises a tension only to be resolved when they open up a line of communication. As another disgruntled researcher proclaims, “We sit up there on our pedestals and think we understand everything. How can we think we can understand anything about people, simply by observing them?”.
In the exhibition itself, you will not engage with the of experience the works in the method through which the artists would normally intend. Placed within sealed cubes in the gallery space, the works will be co-opted into a larger installation. The works will be observed through the glaring lens of a series of CCTV cameras and monitors, the viewer placed on the outside looking in. Frustrated, excluded or voyeuristic-ally enthralled, the experience is still a physical one, only via the apparatus of an unobtrusive measure.
The 'sealed' exhibition included work by Adrian Lee, Adam Dix, Ismail Erbil, Martin Fletcher Systems House, Jamie Taylor, Patrick Michalopoulos and Faye Peacock. Curated by Mark Selby.
