The word “Index” as a noun, can suggest a list of items with their corresponding reference, and as a verb to record or link the value of items. In semiotics, Indexicality is described by Charles Sanders Pierce where a sign (index) refers through factual connection to its object. Carol A. Jones in Artforum (Nov 2021) “Indexicality is experienced as the assertive voice of energized material itself…”
For her show at Brockley Gardens, Lees has developed an ambitious new addition to the cast-plaster works series "Tablets” (2011-ongoing). These works comprise beachcombed findings from riverbanks and various beaches from around the world.
Lees kept various objects from the River Thames that were rejected for being too large for the previous Tablet works, deciding to produce "Tablet LXXXI" her largest cast-plaster work to date. The various bones, pottery and glass are embedded in a form reminiscent of ancient artefacts used as forms of documentation from historical narratives.
There is a particular interest, for Lees in how civilisations form and end around an ever-changing relationship between what is valued and what is discarded.
Accompanying “Tablet LXXXI” is a text by Tom Gidley. The text is to be read as an opportunity to provide an alternative departure point in considering the artwork rather than a straightforward interpretation.
Photography by Reinis Lismanis
Brockley Gardens
Open by appointment