SCRAMBLED, MOT, London
1st - 29th August, 2003
Simona Brinkmann, Maria Fusco, Melanie Stidolph
'Take three eggs, making sure that they are fresh and not out of date. Gently crack each egg on the side of the bowl and empty the shell's contents into the bowl. Take a fork or whisk and beat the eggs until they take on a uniform yellow consistency. Add a drop of milk and beat some more. Add a drop of milk and beat some more. Next, put a small know of butter into a small saucepan and melt over a low heat. When the butter is frothing pour in your egg mixture and stir with a wooden spoon, making sure that the egg does not stick to the bottom. Take the pan off the heat just before the egg becomes too solid, as it will continue to cook even off the heat. Salt and pepper to taste and serve on hot buttered toast.
MOT has chosen three artists who through the mediums of text, photography and video installation, re-present information and embody it with fresh codes, just waiting to be cracked.
....Melanie Stidolph studied under the tutorage of Jeff Wall at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Stidolph's time in Canada culminated in a solo exhibition at Kamloops Art Gallery where she showed a series of photographs called Shallows. These works were extremely important to Stidolph, exploring themes of women in art, places of presentation and visual and physical distortions created when photographing subjects in water. On returning to London Stidolph exhibited at Five Years and set up an exhibition space within her home, Fremantle. For SCRAMBLED, Melanie will be showing one print, denying her the unifying structure of a series. Over the last couple of years Stidolph has aimed to distance herself from the preconceived illustration of her initial concepts and has instead let the camera act as a distilling device, capturing moments that she herself may have missed. The image for the show is one such rescued instance that is only visible through the lens, distorted reality, fresh with new meaning.
The the ogre placed the hen on the table and shouted "Lay", whereupon the hen laid a golden egg. Another roared the ogre, and another golden egg was laid. Again and again, in a voice of thunder, the ogre shouted "Lay".'
Chris Hammond, Director, MOT