A review of 'Abandoned'

In ‘Abandoned’, collaborators Annemarie Schoene and Tina Carr present the viewer with photographs depicting scenes fixed on the cusp of inexorable deterioration. Their subjects are the homes and households of rural Wales that have been left abandoned in the wake of social and economic change. Either through death or through the relocation of their former inhabitants these houses have become physical manifestations of small stages in history, opening up like the houses unearthed in Pompeii. Whereas the sites of Pompeii were preserved by natural disaster these have been preserved by neglect. Everything is found in situ; nothing changed.

The best example of this is ‘Parlour’ in which we are presented with two armchairs beside a fireplace. The scene is cosy. Despite the fact the room has remained untouched for some time it seems as if someone will enter with a tray of tea and biscuits. It is only through the title of the exhibition that we are reminded of the state in which this scene exists.

The second piece I encounter is entitled ‘Televisions’ with the Welsh, setiau teledu, written alongside. Though it is difficult to judge the dimensions of the room you still feel cramped as you pick though the clutter. An oblique ray of light thickened by cobwebs and dust draws out two television sets and a cabinet housing a procession of vases and miscellaneous crockery. In the foreground two disused sets stare stolidly into space as the mottled green wallpaper resonates with the ivy. Of all the photographs this features ensuing decay as a conspicuous event. With the exception of ‘Rats’ the other pieces could involve human subjects within the scene without obvious incongruity.

‘Rats’ is so called because of the two curled up rat carcasses on a windowsill. By some natural process they have been preserved. That the window is flanked by broken agricultural tools underlines the demise of the traditional agrarian way. The rats appear transfigured in the painted light of the window that, with its central cross begins to resemble an altar - piece. In their own explanation of the work the artists make a comparison between these pieces and the illuminations found in the Book of Hours, a religious diary that listed the required texts for the day. These books included illustrations that were drawn direct from nature. These illuminations and photos both indicate closer attention paid to our surroundings.

Due to the great detail in these photographs viewers will find themselves discerning new elements on further acquaintance. While standing at ‘Rats’ I heard a few viewers overjoyed to spot the toad sitting close to the window frame. The appearance of an air freshener at the end of a shelf of mugs and plates serves to remind us how relatively recently these photos have been taken.

Despite a prevailing undertone of melancholy, a subtle levity plays through these scenes: the pagoda – shaped shed wreathed with tree blossoms, the bull’s horns dwarfing the cooker below and the half – sunken piano keys of C.Bechstein’s upright each hint at the characters of the previous occupants. The gaudy collection of ornaments, attentively arranged, look out across the parlour and engender residual warmth.

In this exhibition the artists have drawn our attention to such subjects that would otherwise pass unnoticed. These photos grant respite in a world where inertia is viewed with suspicion.