a spirit of philosophical enquiry
The Islanders: An Introduction was the latest instalment in Scottish artist Charles Avery's epic project which began in 2004. For the first time, the whole project thus far was brought together including several new works. Avery has created texts, drawings, installations and sculptures which describe the topology and cosmology of an imaginary island, whose every feature embodies a philosophical proposition, problem or solution. Imbued with a formal beauty, humour, and a spirit of philosophical enquiry, these vivid and intricate works invite the viewer to recreate the Island in their own minds, and to use it as an arena for exploring philosophical conundrums and paradoxes.
Frieze Review
@ The Guardian
Ridables and Unridables
It is often a source of confusion to visitors as to why the Ridables and Unridables are thus named, for ostensibly it is the Unridables who appear better adapted to supporting the weight of a person, given their much greater stature; it is not their physique but rather their temperament that would not support being ridden.
If you try to milk a Ridable you will lose your arm. To describe them as ridable is misleading for there is a great deal of whispering to be done before one can even get near such an animal, let alone hope to get on its back.
- Charles Avery.
' Avery was thrown out of Central St Martins after just six months, and the 35-year-old has spent the ensuing decade creating an imaginary island. Some have praised The Islanders, with its made-up maps, sketches of imaginary creatures and explorer's "notes", as a return to storytelling in art and a witty dissection of utopian tropes, while others dismiss his life's work as twee whimsy or sci-fi geekiness. Either way, it's hard to fault the dedication of the one-time Isle of Mull resident.'
@THE INDEPENDENT
The Islanders: An Introduction was the latest instalment in Scottish artist Charles Avery's epic project which began in 2004. For the first time, the whole project thus far was brought together including several new works. Avery has created texts, drawings, installations and sculptures which describe the topology and cosmology of an imaginary island, whose every feature embodies a philosophical proposition, problem or solution. Imbued with a formal beauty, humour, and a spirit of philosophical enquiry, these vivid and intricate works invite the viewer to recreate the Island in their own minds, and to use it as an arena for exploring philosophical conundrums and paradoxes.
Frieze Review
@ The Guardian
Ridables and Unridables
It is often a source of confusion to visitors as to why the Ridables and Unridables are thus named, for ostensibly it is the Unridables who appear better adapted to supporting the weight of a person, given their much greater stature; it is not their physique but rather their temperament that would not support being ridden.
If you try to milk a Ridable you will lose your arm. To describe them as ridable is misleading for there is a great deal of whispering to be done before one can even get near such an animal, let alone hope to get on its back.
- Charles Avery.
' Avery was thrown out of Central St Martins after just six months, and the 35-year-old has spent the ensuing decade creating an imaginary island. Some have praised The Islanders, with its made-up maps, sketches of imaginary creatures and explorer's "notes", as a return to storytelling in art and a witty dissection of utopian tropes, while others dismiss his life's work as twee whimsy or sci-fi geekiness. Either way, it's hard to fault the dedication of the one-time Isle of Mull resident.'
@THE INDEPENDENT
