Urban Art Association

Oliver Jeffers | Measuring Land and Sea | Lazarides Rathbone, by LAZARIDES on Nov 27, 2015 14:13:07 GMT 1, Measuring Land and Sea continues Oliver Jeffers' investigation into the philosophical impasse at which art and science often find themselves: one is by nature subjective while the other is defined by the pursuit of objectivity. Both express two very human characteristics: feeling and reasoning.

Combining classical landscape and seascape painting with technical measurements, the artist presents the viewer with two modes of representation, one artistic and one scientific. Rather than increase our understanding, this combination makes things less clear by providing superfluous distraction whilst highlighting the boundaries of perceived knowledge. Thus, Jeffers points to two underlying obstacles of human cognition, the tendency to overthink and the inability to fully comprehend.

In his landscapes, Jeffers complicates each scene by inserting additional, yet unnecessary information. Atop serene terrains, he has carefully measured and marked the angles of the gradients that occur in the image. Despite being inherently factual, this information is extraneous, and with it Jeffers mirrors the muddying effect of the human inclination to overcomplicate.

Conversely, his seascapes comment on the limits of human capacity for comprehension. In these paintings Jeffers has superimposed numbers that mark the depth of the ocean in fathoms, a now obsolete system for measuring depth. As his various depictions of ocean swell suggest, the surface of the sea is not flat but in constant motion, forever changing. Moreover, what lies beneath the surface is a notoriously uncharted frontier; these paintings speak to the futility of trying to measure—with potentially inadequate means—the immeasurable vastness of our universe.

The exhibition is open until 23rd December, gallery opening hours are 11am to 7pm, Wednesday to Saturday.

Measuring Land and Sea continues Oliver Jeffers' investigation into the philosophical impasse at which art and science often find themselves: one is by nature subjective while the other is defined by the pursuit of objectivity. Both express two very human characteristics: feeling and reasoning.

Combining classical landscape and seascape painting with technical measurements, the artist presents the viewer with two modes of representation, one artistic and one scientific. Rather than increase our understanding, this combination makes things less clear by providing superfluous distraction whilst highlighting the boundaries of perceived knowledge. Thus, Jeffers points to two underlying obstacles of human cognition, the tendency to overthink and the inability to fully comprehend.

In his landscapes, Jeffers complicates each scene by inserting additional, yet unnecessary information. Atop serene terrains, he has carefully measured and marked the angles of the gradients that occur in the image. Despite being inherently factual, this information is extraneous, and with it Jeffers mirrors the muddying effect of the human inclination to overcomplicate.

Conversely, his seascapes comment on the limits of human capacity for comprehension. In these paintings Jeffers has superimposed numbers that mark the depth of the ocean in fathoms, a now obsolete system for measuring depth. As his various depictions of ocean swell suggest, the surface of the sea is not flat but in constant motion, forever changing. Moreover, what lies beneath the surface is a notoriously uncharted frontier; these paintings speak to the futility of trying to measure—with potentially inadequate means—the immeasurable vastness of our universe.

The exhibition is open until 23rd December, gallery opening hours are 11am to 7pm, Wednesday to Saturday.