Oliver Braid @ Intermedia

Despite the playful nature of its titular reference to Pokémon, Oliver Braid’s latest exhibition, Snorlax Beanbag, is an almost antisocial affair. Visitors are confronted by an awkward arrangement of freestanding scenery, positioned across the room in such a way that splits up groups and encourages solo observation. Braid’s works are scattered across these, a series of decorative illustrations, as well as two sequin-encrusted sculptures from previous works. The man himself is nestled behind the scenery at his laptop. 

Also on show are two films produced in response to this installation, by self-styled YouTube phenomenon Paul Kindersley, whose 169 uploads exhibit a range of irreducibly trivial material. One film features Kindersley throwing up a series of gang signs. Another sees the naked artist carefully painting his body red and gold. 

Snorlax Beanbag follows Braid’s decision to abandon the rational, scientific methodology used in the creation of his previous works. What’s presented is a mildly bewildering collection of pieces across different media, whose relationships can only be speculated upon, and further access to which is denied both by a lack of information and the stark surroundings they’re presented in. 

Of course, scientific rationale does not enjoy an easy relationship with the creative process. In an age of endless reference and distraction, much creative association is, at best, loose and subjective. Snorlax Beanbag demonstrates this well, but is this not just a grand voicing of the obvious? 

Possibly, but as Kindersley’s films highlight, this is essentially an exhibition about Oliver Braid. The response element within the two films is pleasingly oblique. The films highlight the potential operation of in-jokes, and create channels around Braid. In this way Kindersley's input is an effective - albeit depressing - rumination on the competition-based climate practicing visual artists now find themselves in. [Jean-Xavier Boucherat]