Glasgow-based collaborators Beagles & Ramsay are embedded in the city’s contemporary art scene but have always had an eye for the offbeat, the humorous and the spectacle. Their ambitious transformation of Gallery 1 reimagines the space as an upscale fashion store, not unlike some of those which used to populate this part of town before high street shopping went into decline. The brand, NHOTB & RAD (New Heads on the Block and Rope-A-Dope, the pair’s alter egos), presents three collections: a couture line on a fractured catwalk led by a two-metre high sculptural ballgown; a ready-to-wear office collection and a hybrid sportswear line.
The attention to detail is immaculate, with branded labels, bags and lanyards, rails and displays. Populating the space are more than 80 wooden figures made from flat-pack office furniture and reclaimed retail displays, each one unique. Their digitised avatars appear in several films which seem to suggest the whole environment could also be the set for an immersive video game. There is no interpretation other than a welcome to the store.
The size of the space means that not only is this dimly lit environment immersive, the artists are able to create different moods within it. If the area nearest the entrance is slick and ordered, by the time we reach the back this is falling apart: figures are broken or collapsed, lolling on the furniture or hanging out menacingly in groups. It’s as if the anonymous drones of the consumer society have discovered their own rage against the machine.
It’s a major show by the duo who have worked together since 1996 (the same year GoMA was founded). Now both teach in Scottish art schools – John Beagles at Edinburgh College of Art, Graham Ramsay on Glasgow’s MFA programme – passing on their expertise to the next generation of artists, but clearly they have not lost their playful, subversive edge.
Nor their incisive seriousness. By blurring the boundaries between fashion and art, they draw attention to the fact that we are all consumers of both. They also point up disparities in wealth: high fashion co-opts ideas from the streets, then sells them back to ordinary consumers at prices few can afford. Yet, they do this in a way which suggests resistance is not only possible, but fruitful.
