UCL Discovery

Abstract

Gary Woodley works with spatial concerns. Often given a gallery to fill he explores the entrance and exterior before alighting on a solution for the main area. His Impingements, as the title of this series of works implies, encroach (even drive in to) the building. They are determined by the very space itself, through Woodley's initial meticulous measurements. These dimensions have their own twists brought about by the characteristics which are part of the building; the cornice, doorway, window frames, remnants of an earlier use, necessities of the current usage. The 21st century, 20th century, 19th century, 18th century (and earlier) building peculiarities and requirements mean that the artist is never confronted by the apocryphal white cube. And yet the Impingement often begins with a series of sketches in just such an ideal shape. This is, of course, before the artist modifies, within his laptop, each 3-D plan of the space that he is working on. Only by plotting his carefully gathered dimensions can Woodley begin in earnest his exploration of the possibilities and work out what volumetric shape he will use to (re)apply within the space. Often the volume, shape, is slightly off kilter in that the main axis has been rotated but this in no way alters each dimensions' relationship to the others. In all of Gary Woodley's Impingements it is a inherently fixed and a completely mathematically correct geometric imposition. Recently Gary Woodley has been working with topology again. Topology which is concerned with "geometrical facts that do not even involve the concepts of straight line or plane but only the continuous connectedness between the points of a figure (form) …. a figure made of a material that can be distorted as much as we please but that cannot be torn or cemented."* This has meant that the artist has shifted towards curves (ellipsoids etc). For each new site Woodley enters the data and works out how he will introduce the mathematical figures as a visual intervention. Often, in the final Impingement, there is not one viewpoint where the work can be seen in its entirety but nevertheless the work feels complete and has a sense of rightness. For it is a work only for that given space. It is a one-off. A designer solution for one particular client. A haute couture made to measure, yet only worn for as long at the exhibition lasts. * Quote from D Hilbert & S Cohn-Vossen Geometry and the Imagination