As Self’s introduction suggests, “the Ballardian had become common-place” (29). As he said to Self, “The outward appearance is so calm, but even here in suburbia there are strange currents … we saw it during the World Cup” (25), a four-year cycle visible and audible as I submit this review, since I live some seven miles from Shepperton and a stone’s throw from the bears in the Bentall Centre, the real-life inspiration for Kingdom Come. Ballard saw football in particular as “a catalyst for rejecting the norm” (25). Moreover, in time for this year’s World Cup, Self picks up on the “elective collective psychopathology” (25) that Ballard explores in later texts such as his final novel, Kingdom Come (2006). Will Self’s astute essay in the exhibition catalogue introduces many of Ballard’s themes, from the “dialectic of social control and breakdown” (25) to Ballard’s “intuitive grasp of the choreography of mediatized reality” (28). I will be dipping into the exhibition catalogue along the way, not just because it cost a staggering £65 and I want my money’s worth but because, as I was told by a gallery assistant, it can be seen as a continuation of the exhibition itself. What follows is an engagement with the exhibition on my own terms, then, and not any kind of comprehensive overview. In his autobiography, Miracles of Life (2008), Ballard recalled his many hours spent haunting London’s gallery spaces, particularly the National Gallery, where he was able to recalibrate the Renaissance portraits into his own imaginary museum of surrealist masterpieces due to “the absence of explanatory matter” in the form of wall captions (155). Visitors to the Gagosian could do just this, forging their own narrative from the materials on display. As Ballard wrote in a 2001 author’s note to The Atrocity Exhibition, “simply turn the pages until a paragraph catches your eye” (vi). Seemingly taking its formal cue from The Atrocity Exhibition (1970), Ballard’s collection of “condensed novels,” rather than from Crash (1973), the gallery left visitors free to engage with the exhibits in any manner they saw fit. Yet it was difficult to apply this level of close attentiveness to the material in the Gagosian exhibition, which included the canvases of Pop Art and Surrealism, sculpture, screenprint, video projection, installation, and even a mechanical pig. Ballard’s oeuvre itself, encouraged me to see, not just look at, the scenes around me. My immediate sense of dislocation was amplified by the gallery attendant’s suggestion that I should pay attention to Roger Hiorns’s Untitled (2007), consisting of 235 clear contact lenses scattered on the floor in front of Paul Delvaux’s Le canapé bleu (1967): from trying to take in too much, I was directed to something I might otherwise have missed. The exhibits range across four rooms and the lobby without thematic organization or conventional labeling, and navigating the space became only slightly easier with a copy of the exhibition plan. On entering the Gagosian Gallery, my first feeling was one of disorientation. Curated by Mark Francis and Kay Pallister. Ballard.” Exhibit at Gagosian Gallery, Britannia St., London. “It would be awesome if I could get a scholarship in wrestling” says Robison.Joanne Murray An Imaginary Museum: Ballard at the Gagosia Reason Robison is looking forward after this season of wrestling to continue on in high school and maybe even one day for collage. But the challenge is what reason loves so much about wrestling. After wrestling people in his weight class he found it fun and challenging. But then later on he discovered it was not as bad as it seemed. Robison felt when he started like he was scared. Robison in his last tournament placed 1st after wrestling 3 opponents. Tournament wrestling is where you find out how good you are for your weight class in our region then our state. Tournament wrestling is a big part of wrestling for Robison. Wrestling with his family later convinced him to join wrestling. Trying to wrestle with them whenever and wherever he could. Robison has taken after his father and his brothers in wrestling. Robison love to do tournaments because of that challenge that he likes so much. “I love skating and wrestling because of the challenge and having to learn new tricks and moves on both of those sports” says Robison. He goes skating at skate parks on saturdays wherever he can find one. Robison is also interested in is skateboarding. Reason started wrestling for a team in Jr. Often trying to wrestle with his brother or his dad. Reason has been wrestling since he was little. Robison has been on Varsity ever since he started in Jr. Sophomore Reason Robison is on the Varsity wrestling team this year.
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