Darren Edwards's collapsible installation was debuted on the coast of Canada in 2008. Pic © Darren Edwards
Exhibition preview: Our Infinite Day Trip, Grey Area Gallery, Brighton, January 24 – February 8 2009 (open Thurs-Sun)
Visitors to Our Infinite Day Trip, Darren Edwards’s portrayals of a hinterland evoking time and space, had to dodge wild bears and cougars to view two temporary coastline installations at the project’s initial manifestation on a remote island off the Canadian west coast last year.
UK viewers have less feral obstacles to encounter in order to observe the Arts Council-backed pursuits of this London-born artist, but his works with the natural landscape are only filling Grey Area’s gallery in a brief sojourn, exhibiting paintings, film, photography and a 12ft portable sculpture built of “extreme condition tent technology.”
"We will be happy here" has origins in the discovery of Italy centuries ago. Pic © Darren Edwards
A collapsible temporary dwelling, Vehicle of Infinite Arrival is a nomadic vessel which can be unpacked and unpitched in any location.
The second work the Canadians had to fend off beasts to witness is called Hic Manebimus Optime, and was suspended amid the island’s forested shoreline.
Its title comes from Aeneas’s oft-repeated quote upon finding Italy, a military mantra asserting chin-up resolve against potential slings and arrows which Edwards loosely translates as “we will be happy here.”
Original artwork by Edwards also features as he returns to the UK. Pic © Darren Edwards
He credits movement, stasis, a pioneering spirit and “the desire to get back to nature and inhabit the great outdoors” as forming the backbone of the work and, returning home, will be hoping to provide a tangible taste of his experiences for his fellow Brightonians.
Darren Edwards will be giving a talk at the gallery on January 31 at 7.30pm.
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