1 Second Revolution: GENERATION's Paul Carter retrospective

Opening in Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop this month, in perhaps the most poignant exhibition in the GENERATION programme, is Icaro Menippus [x2], an exhibition of the late sculptor Paul Carter. The show is based on Icaro Menippus, his solo exhibition in Cardiff’s Chapter Gallery from 2002, and will feature three works, being shown together for the first time north of the border, entitled Moses’ Basket, Daedalus and 13.

Says Kate Gray, Collective director, Carter’s partner and the steering force behind this exhibition, “From my point of view I just wanted to have a collection of works that Paul had decided to show together in the past. It wasn’t ever supposed to be a retrospective curated by me; it was more like a re-presentation of a show that he had put together himself.”

Storing large scale sculptural work is notoriously difficult, so while Carter’s studio is still as he left it, many of the individual pieces ceased to exist physically as soon as the shows they were constructed for ended. The works themselves are being rebuilt by sculpture students as part of a practical internship at ESW.

Moses’ Basket was previously shown in the Fruitmarket, as part of Carter’s Edge of Darkness show in 2003. Gray describes is as “a propositional sculpture, a hobbyist’s proposition of how you could fly up to investigate the stratosphere.” A large helium balloon containing a sort of air suit, the piece is perhaps autobiographical, perhaps universal, deliberately impractical to deliver the proposal of quest, investigation, of testing the parameters of the physical world and human possibility.

Daedalus Gray describes more as a speculation. “He was also very interested in speculative narratives, science fiction, or Heart of Darkness, those kinds of narratives about seeking, questing.” She continues, “Daedalus, in a way, takes its starting point from a speculative narrative around escape.”

“There’s a slightly tragi-comic element, that there is a kind of tragedy within all these different works but there is a real sense of hope as well" – kate gray 

That starting point is, specifically, Silent Running, an environmentally-themed 70s sci-fi where they are trying to export the organic nature of Earth to another planet. Daedalus itself is a sort of allotment-cum-raft, haphazardly constructed from wooden pallets tied to plastic barrels topped with turf and a vegetable patch. It is a touching work, speaking of hope and also futility, and the blind optimism of humanity. It delivers a stark message beneath its potting shed exterior; Daedalus, whose genius for invention led to the death of his son – human hubris will undermine even our highest ingenuity. Says Gray, “There’s a slightly tragi-comic element, that there is a kind of tragedy within all these different works but there is a real sense of hope as well. This character believes himself to be capable of saving or exploring or travelling, or whatever it is.”

The third piece, 13, is the darkest of the collection. Says Gray, “Most of the work is quite dark, but this third piece is a darker proposition, in that it is a room that you can only see into through what seem to be gunshots that have been fired from inside. The holes the gunshots have made in the wall appear to be in the shape of either Christ, or Che Guevara, this kind of revolutionary or idealised character. When you look through, you can see there’s a kind of handmade weapon that’s gone off. You imagine that there might be someone dead lying in that room, that they have maybe orchestrated this scenario and the last thing that they did actually became this miracle. The gunshots made this vision, like finding Jesus’ face in a tomato; those kinds of things that are really prevalent in looking for hope." It may be a tough and confronting work to redisplay, but Gray is insistent that the exhibition remain true to his vision. "He chose those three works to go together in the past so we are remaking those works, essentially.”

Carter’s influence as an artist and teacher on the Edinburgh artistic community, and the Scottish art scene more generally, was vast. Gray confirms, “My feeling, and the feeling that most of our peers who are showing in GENERATION have, is that of course Paul should be in GENERATION. Paul was absolutely there during that time and made a massive contribution to the art world during that time, and there should be a place for that. I think it’s important that people can see it and maybe see how it has played a part in what has happened over that time and what is happening now.”

Gray is highly aware of the difficulties of her position, acting as spokesperson and interpreter. She says, “It’s quite a lot of pressure speaking for someone who isn’t here to tell me if I’ve got it wrong or right. But hopefully I have been involved enough over the years to know what I am saying.”

Carter’s role as tutor at Edinburgh College of Art additionally led him to be key in forming countless artistic careers – talk to anyone who studied in the Sculpture department in the late 90s and early 2000s, and they will have a story of an inspirational figure who displayed a genuine interest in students’ work, treating each one as a peer with whom to discuss ideas, rather than a pupil upon whom to bestow superior knowledge. The seeds he planted in various minds can be directly credited with the development of thought, artworks and careers today.

Gray explains that that influence went both ways. “That was an important thing to Paul as well. Teaching was an important aspect, as he understood the role. He was very interested in what everyone had to say, and possibly more interested in people struggling to find ways to feel that they were making meaningful work right now, than those who had found a way to do it and were just doing it." That beginning point at which all is in doubt is arguably the most creatively fertile, even if that isn't obvious to the person crippled by questions of what they're going to do. Gray elaborates, "I think it’s trying to encompass the sense of possibility next to the darkness of what struggling to do anything is like as well; trying to hold those two things at the same time. That’s what a lot of us are doing a lot of the time, but making that really tangible and visible.”

This idea of the struggle for meaning in darkness is one that runs throughout Carter’s work. Says Gray, “I think he was really interested in the idea of a quest, and that there might be a real answer to things. We exist at a time where we have transitioned from everyone being told there was an answer and what it was and they held true to that; whereas now, there is a multifaceted nature to everything, and multiple answers as well I suppose, and the sort of lack of clear belief. I think he was very drawn to the idea that there might be a clear belief structure that you might have, but that the rigorous scientific aspect of the way he would think about it would never allow for it. I think he was really interested and genuinely struggled with that idea of belief and ultimate truths.”

The positioning of the show within the new Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop is crucial to his legacy – Carter was a board member there, and part of the group that pushed for the ambitious expansion which is now so close to reaching its completion. That the pieces are now being remade in this state of the art facility that he helped envision has a bittersweet poetry to it. Says Gray, “It seems really appropriate. It feels very much like he had an impact in his time teaching and that’s fed through lots of different people.” It is incredibly fitting that that mentorship will now extend to a new generation of artists.