Steven Gregory

Description

Groups are seldom benign, whether massed people, flocks of birds or herds of animals - there is always an element of unease and unpredictability about them. As with his very successful series, Bag Men 1993, which were featured in Sculpture at Goodwood 1, this parade of anthropomorphic cameras gives rise to feelings of revulsion, horror and humour. The cameras on vultures' legs tell us that they prey on their victims - such images surely inhabit the nightmares of most members of the glitterati. The menacing stance of these creatures, their undeniably black patina giving character to their black souls, is intensified by their group presence. Hunting in a pack, they survive, but ultimately this is the survival of the fittest as they seemingly jostle for position to get the best shot.

Gregory collected ancient stills cameras and a movie camera, finding them in antique markets and second-hand shops, and used them to create different characters within this group. Their individuality is emphasised in different ways: the bellows in one, the placing of the camera vertically or horizontally in others. After all, we are all unique. The smallest of these dark beings sneaks to the fore to gain a better view, the extended claw of one towards the rear menaces both his colleagues and their prey. The glistening eyes of the lenses, their penetrating collective eye, serve to emphasise their intent, and are a subtle but essential touch in this assembly.

Is this a severe case of media bashing? Possibly. More likely a wry look at a phenomenon of the late twentieth century, a marked sign of our times.