Paul Carter - I2XU

Suburban Guerilla' is the kind of document Rick from The Young Ones might have put together if he was a real person.

Article by Jay Shukla | 16 Apr 2006

In this new solo show Paul Carter explores his 'interest in the ideas of Kabbalah Nostra', forming mystical iconographies from elements of pop music culture and constructing an agenda for a tongue-in-cheek social revolution using his familiar lo-fi, DIY aesthetic. Adorning the walls of the gallery we find posters which transpose the lyrics of bands such as Interpol and Arcade Fire into pseudo mythic/religious milieus, instilling them with a faux-profundity – a perverse amplification of the instinct which drives kids to tippex Radiohead lyrics onto their school bags. Elsewhere, in Last Night I Dreamt Somebody Loved Me Carter inscribes the letters LNIDSLM into a row of speaker cabinets using neon lights, whilst a smoke machine splutters pathetically in the corner of the room. The most interesting element of the show is Carter's new book entitled 'Suburban Guerilla'; a handbook for grassroots revolutionary action which is at once both witty and witless – the kind of document Rick from The Young Ones might have put together if he was a real person. Alongside suggestions for 'identifying revolutionary centres' and a step by step guide to deposing the monarchy we find instructions on how to build a 'Heaven Search Bubble' out of polythene. Rock and Roll. [Jay Shukla]

Embassy Gallery, Edinburgh until April 2, free.