Like a Log presents a new body of work by Mitchell Donaldson that continues his examination of the relationship between the material and immaterial. The title might be a misnomer. Though the objects presented may be considered sleeping, this sleep is restless, waking even. Through a collage process that both dissolves and assembles physical and conceptual objects, these works present a subtle materiality. Not formless but loosely formed and transforming. These shapeshifting arrangements suggest a movement beyond the finitude of embodied experience. For Donaldson, bodies are not reducible to inert matter. Nor is the immaterial – consciousness, meaning, spirit – considered removed from the material realm. Exploring the interrelation of these categories Like a Log expresses a desire to “know” the particular psychic realities of non-human bodies.
With words by Alexander Kucharski.
This exhibition will coinside with the launch of ‘A Year’s Worth of Laundry’ – an anthology of essays and exhibitions to mark our first year of operations.