David Cotterrell: Monsters Of The Id

Monster of the id at the John Hansard gallery part of the university of Southampton is on til march 2012. When i went to see the exhibition I was lucky enough to hear David Cotterrell talk about his work and walk around the gallery just with my fellow students and spend alot of time looking at the work which was a great opportunity.

   As far as exhibitions go I've never been to one where the works on show are effected so much by the factor of human presence. As you walk into the gallery on your left you are faced with a large projection and if you stand there for long enough human figures start to appear on the projection, this is done by sensors taken from the XBOX Kinect David later told us. This first piece effects the second one around the corner where you can see tiny figures walking across what look like mountains, and the more people by the first piece of work the more tiny people walk across these white mountains made of chalk. The final photo shows a room which you come into which is set up like a army room where they would be able to control these flying drones.
   This exhibition is based around David Cotterrells trip to Afghanistan where he went not as a journalist photographer but was put with the medical part of the army to allow him to take photos and then the second time he went he went alone to explore Afghanistan without a constant military presence. His experiences from these trips and the thoughts he had about the country either political or cultural are manifested in this show.