Mondegreen Ekphrasis

Mondegreen Ekphrasis

 Curated by Ashleigh McDougall

Mondegreen Ekphrasis was an exhibition at The Collection, Lincoln from 15 April  until 12 May, 2013. I featured work from students and staff from MA fine art and MA design and was curated by Ashleigh McDougall form Ma Contemporary Curatorial Practice.

Mondegreen Ekphrasis from Amir Ghazi-Noory

Just as a pebble thrown into a pond produces a series of expanding rings, ripples of inspiration have emanated from great works of art throughout history. Taking this idea as a premise, MA Fine Art and MA Design students from The University of Lincoln have been brought together in this exhibition by MA Contemporary Curatorial Practice student Ashleigh McDougall.

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The word “mondegreen,” from which the show takes part of its title, was coined by author Sylvia Wright in 1954. While listening to the ballad The Bonny Earl O’Moray as a child, Wright misheard the words “laid him on the green” as “Lady Mondegreen.” In her adult life, she referred to misinterpretations that give new meaning as “mondegreens,” and the invented word has recently been incorporated into the dictionary.

The concepts of artistic collaboration and the appropriation of images and ideas are explored in the exhibition, which will grow and evolve each week. This will show the process of ekphrasis, a Greek term that has come to mean the description of one work of art through the creation of another.

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A new piece by lecturer Andrew Bracey acts as the starting point in the centre of the gallery. By the end of the exhibition, the works of three groups of artists and designers will be placed around this central piece. Artists and designers in each group will have taken inspiration from a piece that was created in the group before, creating individual chains of artworks linked together in something like a visual game of “Chinese Whispers.”

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Mondegreen Ekphrasis features the work of Shahira Allen, Andrew Bracey, Lewis Gaukrodger, Amir Ghazi-Noory, Diane E. Hall, Victoria Hall, Linda Hollaway, Laura Johnson, Chutatib Promgul, Gemma Rabionet, Jessica Rawlings, Duncan Rowland, Carlos Ruiz Brussain, and Miranda Jingyan Zhang.

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