Dressed / Undressed Two chairs, facing different ways. One is dull grey and plastic. The other is crafted wood, but natural. On the wooden chair there is a rock set in a field. Seven white figures stand around it. Two of them appear to be walking towards the rock. A sheep grazes nearby. On the rock is an old card from an old game. It asks an old question. The question is: What does "capitulate" mean? The answer is: To surrender. The people seem to be pondering upon the question, and the answer. Who's asking the question? Who's giving the answer? The sheep continues to quietly graze, seemingy disinterested. On the back of the chair is the word UNDRESSED. It's written in old Scrabble tiles. The letters are displayed in a broken-up, slightly chaotic fashion. The chair has a shelf at the back. It had once been a church chair. There's an old King James Bible in the shelf. It has an old book mark in it. Could be relevant, a clue. The grey plastic chair. It's altogether different. Everything's in its place. The main feature is a brick. The word DRESSED is displayed along the back. The letters are formal, regimented, linear. The brick is another shade of grey. It stands like a monument. On the top of the brick are eight grey figures. They stand in straight rows, all looking forward. There is nowhere else for them to go. And no surrender. The brick stands on a rectangular piece of sandpaper. The brick is another shade of grey. One solitary grey figure stands in the foreground. He holds a suitcase. Is he representative of potential freedom? Is he representative of control? The word DRESSED appears again. A row of formal, regimented, linear, tomb-shaped tiles. The two chairs stand in stark contrast to each other. One is 'dressed'. One is 'undressed'. Photos taken at the Subjects To Be Destroyed?! Contemporary Art Show of work by the Thurrock Arts group, held at High House Production Park Barns, Purfleet, as part of the Thurrock Art Trail and the Essex Summer of Art, 31 May to 2 June 2013. And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it. Exodus 20:25 KJV If you make an altar of stones for me, do not build it with dressed stones, for you will defile it if you use a tool on it. Exodus 20:25 NIV If you use stones to make my Altar, don’t use dressed stones. If you use a chisel on the stones you’ll profane the Altar. Exodus 20:25 The Message But if you decide to build an altar out of stones for Me, use only natural stones, not hand-cut stones, because any attempt to shape them with your tools will desecrate the altar. Exodus 20:25 The Voice

Tim Harrold, 30/07/2013

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