Cultural Orienteering Part 1
Our task - Go around London and discover certain galleries that were given to us on a list
The first gallery our group went to was SLG
Oscar Murillo : If i was to draw a line, this journey started approximately 400km north of the equator.
Fot those who haven't been to this exhibition yet, try to, its really something. 
The moment i walked in, i thought to myself "What a dump" and "What is this?". This was because everything was scattered about, pieces were stuck on the walls with tape?! Very poorly exhibited...or was it. I knew i had not fully understand the concept so i went to read the description of the show outside. First looks can be rather deceiving. 
there was some sort of edible substance in these plastic bags, then sculptures of them on the tables. It seemed that the substance had been transformed into another form using machinery.
The most putting off thing was that it has a stench and that flies were hovering them, not expected in a gallery, however i guess this does create a cultural atmosphere in where the artist did his research
This is Interesting!!!
The paintings on the floor, they have been folded and placed there on purpose, and for sale, and people can walk on them .
Murillo wanted paintings to become denser, dirtier and further degraded as people walk over them throughout the course of the exhibition. Weird huh?
The paintings were worth 400 pounds each! On the floor, folded, ready for purchase.
Personally i didn't walk over them, i felt somehow disrespectful towards the artist even if he encouraged it. My peers felt differently.
Contrast in texture, The raised floor level was smooth, clean
The lower level was covered with food bits, dirt, pretty much scraps from his workings. I found the texture incredibly interesting to walk on. It was a piece of art itself in that manner.
Lucky Dip
If we had simply walked in and left afterwards, we would not have fully understood Murillo's concept through this piece, for those who visit art galleries, ask the people there about the work, it only leads to better understanding.This part of the show, located on the next floor up was called "Lucky Dip"
Murillo devised a lottery, each ticket is silk-screened printed.
Tickets are worked on by Murillo using oil paint.
Each ticket has its own individual number, name of buyer, style, colours and is signed on the reverse by the artist.
The tickets, they represent hope, luck, fortune and much more. When Murillo sells the ticket, and puts it up, he has this sense of ownership over someone. How would it feel holding onto someone's hopes and dreams?
What's amazing is that the tickets are not cheap. Each ticket is worth 2,500 pounds.
We asked the staff who worked there how much has he sold, he said 60. I calculated, it is around 150,00 pounds!!
That's not the best part, he has done this is the span of 3 weeks.
50,000 pounds - each week
7,142.86 pounds - each day
297 pounds - each hour
5 pounds - each minute
If my calculations are correct and this is right then OH MY GOODNESS!!
Each ticket has a uniqueness to it. Not only does the name of the buyer help with that but the colours are never the same. Numbers are written into the oil paint.
This is his space in which he deals with the tickets, he comes in on the weekends to work on them.
Its nice to see what it was like the last time he was here, it brings a sense of him into the work 24-7.
Holding onto faith of other people is rare. The possibility of winning a huge sum of money or loosing what you spent to purchase the ticket is always a gamble.
I was mostly amazed on how much money Murillo made in such a short period of time. Being an artist is financially difficult which was why he inspired me through this project.
Not that I'm going to concentrate on projects that will make me money.
Be quick though, it ends 7:30pm on the 18th October.
Thank you for reading
Eugene Lee
:)
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