Exhibitions at Flat Time House 2013/4

Most exhibitions steer us the visitors past the exhibits  giving information about each object. Such information directs our thinking and subconsciously we leave having come to the conclusions the curator wanted us to. 

Exhibitions at FTHo are different. Visitors engage in self-directed learning.


 exhibition on now....... click here for details  www.flattimeho.org.uk

remaking and redefining the book

in the front room at Flat Time House

made by John Latham

John Latham's altered books are unreadable but understandable. He saw the book as an event in the present moment. Books are usually read over a period of time by turning the pages and looking at the contents on those pages. Latham saw the book as a symbol of language and thought. He rejected formal learning and the practice of dividing knowledge up into academic subjects.

But do books stimulate independent thought? Do readers just swallow what they read or have they 

got questioning minds? Isn't it just easier to go along with the status quo? Are we consumers or thinkers?

to see what is on now at Flat Time House click here:  www.flattimeho.org.uk  

anti poetry event know structure

with Danny Hayward and Robbie Ellen
Antiknow event at FTHo 12 December 2013 www.flattimeho.org.uk

The process of antiknow is undefined and formless. I arrived at the anti poetry event without expectations but wondering if the audience would be encouraged to participate. When I am listening to spoken word (be it radio or performance) I am constantly asking myself  what does this mean and am I understanding this

But is meaning and understanding possible in Antiknow? Perhaps lots of different meanings can be extracted from this anti poetry event and everyone has a different understanding of it . There is no right answer even if there was a question.

the wall in the front room of FTHo

displays some of John Latham's book objects

So do I even try to understand or just let the sound of the words flow over me and be in the moment. I so want to understand but not be told. Is there a limit to knowledge? Is unlearning necessary?

To begin with we sat and listened to sounds and words which formed a prelude to various text extracts which I didn't recognize although one sounded as though it could have been from Animal Farm. This was followed by conditions for membership to the party and a list of what do we want....two wants stood out for me:
we want every commodity's price to reflect the social outlay that went into it 
we want a maximum wage
The whole event seemed to me to be a questioning of the status quo and what passes for normality or reality.....

 and so where is Flat Time House?

from Rye Lane Peckham head up Choumert Road that leads on 

to Bellenden Road......

and look out for this delightful cafe on the way....

 
  

EYE MUSIC FOR DANCING

Bob Cobbing's work is about the sound of words. He has abstracted language through the physicality of sound. His work involved using a photocopier and is said to be a sort of dance in that words have a physical shape and they move as sound when read aloud in performance hence the title of this exhibition 'Eye Music for Dancing'.

Three artists  Anna Barham, Julika Gittner and Heather Phillipson  have used Cobbing's work as a starting point for this exhibition and looked at his methods of working to help them in the way they constructed this exhibition.

Having heard some of Cobbing's sound poems read aloud recently I am really looking forward to this.

www.flattimeho.org.uk