黑料不打烊

鈥淪he sees the shadows鈥� she even counts the tree-trunks along a promenade by the shadows, but sees nothing of the shape of things.鈥�

In 1886, a 22-year-old woman in Lyon saw the world around her for the first time. Objects instantly recognisable by touch were hard to distinguish with her new sight, and shadows appeared more concrete than solid forms. Her doctors described the sudden strangeness of familiar environments, and her singular experience of the world as a newly sighted person.

In his 1932 book Space and Sight, Marius Von Senden collated the patient鈥檚 experiences alongside testimonies of similar cases dating from 1020 to the present. These captivating accounts, which later inspired writers including Maggie Nelson and Annie Dillard, express how something familiar can show a previously unacknowledged beauty when seen in a new way.

She sees the shadows is a group exhibition of works from the David Roberts Collection that resonate with the ideas found in Space and Sight. Each artist has reconceived day-to-day objects and materials in unexpected ways 鈥� a bench, plug socket, grate, section of railing or broom 鈥� and invites viewers to see alternative qualities and narratives therein.

Some artists have used precious materials to confer value to unremarkable commonplace objects. Susan Collis鈥� paint-splattered broom is inlaid with mother-of-pearl; Lea Cetera鈥檚 disposable coffee cup is cast in ceramic; Tatsuya Kimata鈥檚 generic plug socket is carved from white marble; Kris Martin鈥檚 wall screw is solid gold; Gavin Turk鈥檚 cardboard box is cast in bronze; and Rachel Kneebone鈥檚 eggbox is filled with delicate porcelain. Meticulous tromp l鈥檕eil studies of grimy undistinguished patches of a city street, including puddles, broken tiles and railings, focus attention onto the unnoticed fabric of daily life.

Other subtle modifications to objects can subvert their use: wooden bannister rails jointed into an endless loop, public benches where the seat is elevated beyond reach, notebooks opened to face the wall so their contents is entirely obscured, a single black leather glove behind a glass frame, a wind chime pitched to an atonal scale.

Stories and ideologies infiltrate the private sphere through different media channels. Isa Genzken鈥檚 Weltempf盲nger (World Receiver) points to the domestic radio鈥檚 influential role in both propaganda and resistance. Rodney Graham鈥檚 couple reading a comic magazine in bed enact a popular sketch in Alfred Hitchcock鈥檚 1938 film The Lady Vanishes. Theaster Gates places a charged 1970鈥檚 journal article 鈥楾he Black Bourgeoisie鈥� in the seat of a piano stool. Harry Gruyaert鈥檚 TV Shots capture the constant news stories and dramas of 1970s colour television sets. Neil Beloufa carves a constellation of floating cats into compressed wood and power sockets, the ubiquitous trope of online videos and memes streamed into contemporary homes.

鈥淚 Was So Entranced Seeing That I Did Not Think About The Sight鈥�. David Birkin鈥檚 title directly quotes deaf-blind activist Helen Keller, describing her experience at the top of the newly built Empire State Building in 1932. Birkin exposed a sheet of gelatin silver photographic paper to sunlight at the same location, embossed with a braille transcription of the quote.

Each of the works in a collection, like the testimonies compiled by Von Senden, speak of personal experiences and moments. She sees the shadows is accompanied by a new publication with responses to the project from writers Orit Gat, Claire Potter and Sally O鈥橰eilly and artists David Birkin, Jason Dodge, Marine Hugonnier, Marlie Mul, Magali Reus and Douglas White.