Shaun Doyle & Mally Mallinson
King Tat, 2005, (entrance), 'King Tat', John Hansard Gallery, Southampton.
King Tat, 2005, (corridor)
King Tat, 2005, (antechamber detail)
King Tat, 2005, (antechamber detail)
King Tat, 2005, (burial chamber detail)
King Tat, 2005, (burial chamber and exit)
photo credits: Steve Shrimpton
"Doyle and Mallinson have transformed the Hansard galleries into a gigantic reliquary containing an installation that is equal parts solemn and humorous, and imbued with barely concealed social commentary.
The artists found inspiration for the tomb of King Tat in a recreation of Tutankhamen's tomb exhibited at the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley in 1924. Doyle and Mallinson's installation retains the stagey feel of the 1924 original, and begins with a corridor clad with woodchip wallpaper that ushers the viewer towards an antechamber. One wall of this chamber has been cleaved away - as if visited by the ghost of Gordon Matta-Clark - revealing a dank and dusty room filled with junk and clutter that is more Bargain Hunt than Pharaoh's tomb..."more>>
Peter Bonnell, ArtSway
Published in 'an Reviews Unedited'