private view 22 September 6.30 - 9

The rain steamed up from the tarmac clouding in a fine mist through the beam of the headlights. Fred fumbled with the dial on the stereo until he recognised a station playing an old Kraftwerk track, Hall of Mirrors, from the album Trans Europe Express. He smiled at the coincidence of what seemed to be a soundtrack to his particular predicament as he drove through the empty streets of Essen. Glancing in the rear view mirror he glimpsed a large banner stretching across the road advertising an exhibition. It read, CASPER DAVID FRIEDRICH, but in reverse,

which seemed perfectly normal to him.

Fred found himself starring at two fuel dials, one indicating the tank to be empty while the other full. He blinked and recalled that in another book by a different author, he had been told by two psychologists that he had competition between the two hemispheres of his brain, “It is as if one hemisphere of your brain is perceiving the world as reflected in a mirror.” He had a sudden urge to see the exhibition and reversed the car along the road to contemplate the banner. While reversing along the empty street, Fred realised that he had been driving on the wrong side of the road and therefore in the wrong direction. The car came to a standstill under the banner and while he could not view the text, Fred knew that the exhibition was over and the works would be crated up and on their way to some other destination.

Fred suddenly felt very small and insignificant.

This is Chapter 1 of AN EXHIBITION IN 3 CHAPTERS, in which three artists where asked to present a single work as a solo exhibition, author a small publication and initiate the loan of a Library collection to be housed at MOT. Chapter 1 is by Matthew Thompson and there will be subsequent chapters by Stephen Willats ( 4 November – 9 December) and Amanda Beech (16 December – 27 January). This exhibition also sees the launch of GONER, a specially commissioned hybrid table by Tom Ellis, designed to delineate the boundary between gallery and office, engaging with MOT International’s philosophy of merging practices. Exhibition space and office, become one interchangeable environment.

An Exhibition in Three Chapters is curated by Chris Hammond.