Exhibition
SPECTACLE OF ERROR, by Justin Westover - The Outside World
In SPECTACLE OF ERROR, British photographer Justin Westover takes us on a journey through his adopted hometown of Paris and the desolate countryside of northern Europe. Drawing upon theorist Guy Debord's notions of the dérive (drift), formulated in Paris half a century earlier, Westover has constructed a psychogeographical map of ephemeral landmarks on a journey without itinerary or destination. In the 50's the Situationists attempted to disrupt perceived notions of geography and territory by 'drifting' through Paris allowing themselves to be infiltrated and led by the subtler, more notional characteristics and subliminal codes embedded within the urban environment, thus eschewing Authority-given cartographic references. Debord talks of a Situationist experiment in 1955, wandering through the German countryside with only a map of London to guide them. Starting at a decidedly unglamorous entrance marker in the east of Paris, the photographs demonstrate an attempt to scratch away at the famously pristine Hausmannian veneer of Paris. Within the city itself, the photographs depict personal landmarks used in the construction of a subjective map for a navigation that operates independently to the prevailing patterns of circulation. The physical structure of the city becomes less important than the subjective emotional mark it leaves on its populace. Insubstantial tears in the urban fabric, significant perhaps only to the photographer who sees them on a daily basis; fleeting passages of reflected light, visible only seasonally, are all captured and assembled into a larger overall testimony. Graffiti recurs amongst those metropolitan 'landmarks'. This habitual omnipresent symbol of urban territoriality has spilled out of the city and infected the countryside. Colourful ʻtagsʼ floating disembodied, divorced of meaning and in displaced isolation. Following these territorial pissings out of the city one witnesses the reciprocal erosion of town and country, the city rhizomically expanding and colonizing that which was previously pastoral. Westoverʼs images hauntingly capture the eternal search for signs in both our inner and outer landscapes, beguiling the viewer on a desolate yet graceful journey via places as diverse as Misery and Paradise. Justin Westover (b. 1970) is a British Photographer. Westoverʼs work has appeared in many leading international fashion, style and music magazines including Dazed & Confused, Another Magazine, Rolling Stone, Esquire, GQ, The Independent on Saturday and Guardian Weekend. Westover has also collaborated with numerous contemporary artists such as: Marina Abramovic, Paul McCarthy, Paul Noble, Sam Taylor-Wood, Mat Collishaw, Jane & Louise Wilson, Philippe Bradshaw, Adam Chodzko, Cerith Wyn Evans and Jake & Dinos Chapman. Justin Westover currently lives and works in Paris, France
