It's fun to go with a fellow art critic to an exhibition. One can go on and on about little details such as framing, whereas others would think you should let it go and enjoy the experience instead of ruining it.
So J. and I were strolling through the exhibition of the Berlin-based, Nigerian artist Akinbode Akinbiyi at Gropius Bau. And we were scrutinising the frames. The photographs were framed tightly in dark wood. A little too tight, we thought, closing off the photograph instead of opening it up. Can frames suffocate the art work?
The framing pleased us more when its color changed into grey. Some photographs were shown as big prints attached to the wall with clips. We liked that. It had something spontaneous and loose, which fitted with the atmosphere of the photographs. There was a feeling of freedom transmitted by the photographs, which might have to do not so much with their content but with the wandering photographer who took them.
"I wonder as I wander" is the title of a short documentary film about Akinbiyi by Emeka Okereke. While wandering, Akinbiyi photographs his subjects from the back or from the side, but never frontal, so it seems. You would think that creates a distance but the effect is intimate. Akinbiyi's photographs are poetic and both J. and I agreed that the additional poetry on the wall was unnecessary.
There were beautiful benches in the exhibition that refer to the beach bench without being one. We noticed that nobody used the benches to sit, maybe because the photographs on the wall needed close viewing. The benches did complement the photographs with their beachy atmosphere. But we were wondering about the coloured triangles on the walls. They looked a bit random and designery.
In the last room we discovered the best way to present the photographs, now shown in a passe-partout and attached with small transparent corners. This presentation has a more archival touch to it but it also evokes a sense of materiality and care.
A final thought we had: Why is it that with the display of photography there is always this need to use each wall? What about hanging just one or two photographs in a room? Just an idea...