Bik Van Der Pol @ CCA

Subdued and with a small turnout for a CCA opening at the dawn of the art school term, perhaps the GSA freshers were put off by the exhibition's distinctly cynical and somewhat mature tagline It isn't what it used to be and will never be again. It's a shame they missed it though. However much it may catch in the throat, Bik Van der Pol might just be onto something.

Contrasting the theatrical, fantastical elements of both Stage Fright and The Last Days of Jack Shepherd, Dutch couple Liesbeth Bik and Jos Van der Pol refreshingly, unflinchingly look the viewer in the eye and tell them that they are living in a digitally obsessed, internet-centric, pseudo intellectual culture which prohibits and stultifies rather than incites real action. The work mimics the DIY aesthetic synonymous with the Glasgow art scene. In Past Imperfect computer print-outs plaster the walls. Spanning information from Beelzebub to IKEA they reference the onslaught of anonymous, unmediated, regurgitated information constantly circulating online. More than a few cutting truisms expound from its pages including "to present yourself as a cruel and cynical man of mystery continues to be an attractive notion", describing just about every male remotely affiliated with the art world.

Pieces include Loompanics, a collection of books investigating the tension between freedom of speech and responsibility, Past Imperfect, a research project exploring the impact of radical events upon the course of art history and The Disappearance Piece, a faux self-help book.

You might have to do some digging, like a wild Google goose chase generating false leads, but there’s insight to be gained here and a few hilarious, intriguing and bizarre snippets of information buried in amongst it all. [Amy Birchard]