EMILY GODDEN & AUDIT CHAOS: HENRI CHOPIN - DANS L'ESSEX

Upon entering the exhibition only the context hungry will notice the lack of any blurb or titles to accompany the pieces. It seems to be assumed that the viewer will be westernised and read the exhibition from left to right, thus enabling them to see a few paragraphs about the exhibition stuck on the wall with the increasingly used vinyl lettering that contemporary art galleries seem adorned with today.

Chopin was a leading artist in France in the fifties with work incorporating concrete and sound poetry. Yet the exhibition was quiet, not just because I was on my own – but Chopin’s sound works weren’t present. The only energy in the room existed in the inherent power of Chopin’s use of language, exploiting the typographic possibilities of letterforms on a typewriter, Chopin exposes the beginnings of the mechanical reproduction of language.

The true purpose of poetry is to be read aloud – to be experienced – to heard, understanding is optional – participating essential. There was a potent lack of passion as Chopin’s tightly worked typewritten pieces are restricted by museum-like clinical vitrines and formed around an artificial environment.