(re)collect

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This exhibition (re)collect,  Leeds Met  Gallery from January to February 2006, brought together previous work and two new commissions in a stunning collection by  Jonathan Shaw.

The first commission, Victoria Gardens saw Shaw take his methods one step further, by observing and selecting subjects over a period of time, then choreographing and photographing them together, condensing the passage of days into a single constructed image. Standing an impressive 2 meters high by 9 meters long, the resulting image corresponds directly to the scale of the track that the camera ran on. In the second commission, Corn Xchange, Shaw explores our understanding of spectatorship and the self image. A video camera was mounted on a pedestal and installed in the Corn Exchange, Leeds, with shoppers captured as they passed and interacted with the camera, creating a sense of watching and being watched. For the exhibition, several hours of footage are edited down into a 15 minute interactive projection, which the viewer is able to scroll through at will. Since control over the digital projection lies with the spectator, the piece allows them to be both casual observer, director and voyeur, determining which aspects of the projection are played, paused and bypassed.

Exploring the contrasting landscapes of claustrophobic and contemplatative environments, produced in both natural and artificial light, Crash 7 combines, moments which expand the boundaries representing the human body in time, space and motion. Reproduced directly onto plexi-glass and placed on the gallery windows, the spectator will be able to view the piece from either inside or out. Earlier works on show include New Street and the expansive Gallery 13.