By Sana Rose, Contributor 
'Plane' by Gervase.
IN 1913 when French artist, Marcel Duchamp, took a bicycle wheel and attached it to a stool, he opened the door for the found object to find a place in art. His oeuvre, which later expanded to include everyday objects such as a bottle rack and a snow shovel, provoked aesthetic thought as to what art is and can be.
Duchamp at the time, made no effort to conceal the objects' original context as prefabricated items. In fact the banality of the objects was the point of his explorations. Later, artists would take their cue from Duchamp and recontextualise the found object.
An effort at recontextualising a banal object and deepening audience participation is 'The Old Bag Show' currently running at the Grosvenor Galleries. The show is the brainchild of artist Natalie Butler that coincided with the artist's birthday party. No ordinary birthday party, guests were invited to bring works consisting of customised patty bags instead of gifts. The invitation encouraged anyone to "Come and make an exhibition of yourself" and on February 1, various persons turned up with their modified patty bags.
Ms. Butler who consigned to herself the roles of both artist and curator, organised the works into an exhibition.
The show has a few implications that generally form the core of Butler's artistic philosophy that of the definition of the art object versus the art experience and their relationship to the viewer. Firstly, the show utilises patty bags, the found object and displaces, to some degree, its initial purpose and use. But why use patty bags? Butler responds, "The choice of patty bags came from the idea of everyone having a common material or starting point (democratic material). The bag is familiar, readily available and has no real monetary value. It is important as a cultural symbol however, when married with the patty the cheap, quick-fix meal. The patty bag is a functional object that is incredibly versatile and easily manipulated."
So Butler has taken a cheap mass-produced fast food package, dispensable and common and made it the core of an idea. The artists have used the bag as canvas and drawing paper and in some cases have totally disguised it. While some artists have not removed the bag from its context as vessel (including its original use), others have recontextualised and reinterpreted as an aesthetic object to create sculptures, paintings and even a small floor installation.
The show also creates an equal and open ground for artists and non-artists alike, demystifying to some extent, the creative process and the label 'artist'. For persons normally ascribed to the role of viewer, they are given the chance to participate in the art-making process as artists.
As Ms. Butler states "Everyone in this show is equal. There is no differentiation made between artist and non-artist, young or old. Only the first names of exhibitors have been included, allowing us to focus on the work rather than on who made it. Everyone started with the same material the bag being the common denominator. How people have used their bag represents their individual creativity."
Thirdly, Ms. Butler as the author of the idea gives up total control of the creative process and includes other artists whose works she sees only when they are submitted to the gallery. While she makes her own contributions as artist, she also becomes the curator of the show deciding how and where to mount the works.
Ms. Butler has tried to create as even a ground as possible for the participants by setting very few limitations. The participants present their own personalised interpretations of a patty bag, which awakens collage, assemblage and painterly sensibilities. The bag functions as both two-dimensional and three-dimensional object in its flat folded state it is drawing or painting support and when crumpled, filled or attached to heavy backing material it becomes a free-standing entity.
The found object is not unknown to our art scene. It is in fact a common element in, among others, many National Gallery shows. The difference here is Butler's insistence on a wider and deeper level of audience participation, which has amounted to role swapping, as the viewers have become artists and vice versa, narrowing the gap between the viewer and art.
A playful, unassuming exhibition, "The Old Bag Show" does not assert its underlying ideas of aesthetics and authorship. Instead, these ideas are disguised beneath the framework of the party, the open invitation for works and even beneath the banality of the patty bag. We may take it a little more seriously because the show has been confined to the gallery setting but if we consider geography we may wonder, "What if the works were displayed in a patty shop? Would the exhibition be any less valid as an art show?
For Ms. Butler, one major concern is the "need for creative communication". How do the participants themselves see the patty bag? The artists have communicated their own creative intuitive responses to this common object while at the same time extending its life, which would otherwise be shortened when the patty is finished. It would be interesting to see such a show displayed in a public place where an even wider audience apart from the occasional or regular gallery visitor, would have access to these objects.
The communicative value of the show would then be heightened or at least be able to be examined. We are assured, however, that Ms. Butler's efforts at widening the artistic experience to merge both the artist's and audience's ideas and responses will continue as she muses, "A simple, fun project has raised (for me) some serious issues. I really need to get outside of the gallery to grow. Anyone coming with me?"
The exhibition continues until March 12.
