Why Grow Up?

Connor Muskett (aka Mindwanders) is a local photographer whose work I'm always impressed with. It isn't about grabbing a cool image and sharing with the world. He’s much more artistic than that. He deliberately creates the image he has in his head, and makes it happen through a combination of staging and photoshop. It's awesome.

So when he got in touch recently to tell me about a one-day group show he was organising, I couldn't be more excited. I suspected it would be out of the ordinary — and I wasn’t disappointed. The venue was a grimy underground car park known either for its state of dilapidation or its graffiti and skateboarding, depending on who you ask.

So on a warm July afternoon, I pried open a fire-door leading to a distinctly piss smelling stair well, and made my way down to one of the best wee art shows I’ve ever seen.

Aberdeen can be a very strait-laced city. Our population leans very much small-c conservative, and anything out of the ordinary can be looked down on with a fair amount of disdain. And yet, many of the people who turned up to this show were from all walks of life. Workaday folk happy to intermingle with graffiti artists and street photographers and be part of something a little bit different.

That's the thing about a show like this. Take away the free wine and the gallery small talk, and what's left is people who make things, showing that work to anyone willing to climb a stinking stairwell to see it. Connor's pulled off something Aberdeen doesn't get nearly enough of: art without pretence, staged somewhere that's normally ignored.

I can't wait to see what he's got planned next. If it's more of this then great, but I suspect he'll be pushing the boundries even further. POST will be there to make sure you know about it.