The Gloaming @ Transmission Gallery

Rarely is an art exhibition so unsettling. A tree branch fastened to mechanical objects of indiscernible origin flails out at the darkness. Backed into a corner it seems to be protecting itself from the onlookers that gather. Like the victim of prolonged abuse, it's distrustful of everyone.

Robbie Thomson, a recent graduate from GSA, has installed seven of his jittery pathos-machines in the downstairs gallery in Transmission as part of the ongoing series of ‘Project Shows’, week long exhibitions developed as a platform for young artists to try out new work in a gallery setting. Each a kinetic sculpture that alludes to industry, nature and something quite miserably human, they appear out of the darkness as they jerk into life.

The soundtrack is a somewhat predictable hum, typically invoked by artists who want to create an eerie atmosphere and might be termed ‘soundscape’ or something equally nonspecific. Only here it seems perfectly fitting, choreographed with the movements of the miserable contraptions. One in particular has a branch at one end and what looks like a putrid sheep head at the other and while the branch rotates the head sways back and forth as if deranged, maddened by its own horrific existence. They make me think of rural isolation and dredged river beds. One might want to reassure them, to let them know that it will be all right. Only that would be a lie, it’s not going to be all right, and they are clearly f***ed.