Liverpool artwork of the week 2011-04. ‘Abstractio a Prestituto Cursu’, (Deviation from the Plan), 2010 by Doug Jones in ‘Lares et Penates’ at Ceri Hand Gallery 14 January – 19 March 2011.
One part of this fascinating and amusing installation is the quilt on the bed.
Abstractio a Prestituto Cursu, (Deviation from the Plan), 2010, is an intricate quilt the landlady made for the guest’s room, which incorporates an embroidered outline of an architectural plan and three Latin sentences: Argumentum ad crumenam (An appeal based on wealth), Argumentum ad absurdum (An appeal based on absurdity), Argumentum ad Captandum (An appeal based on popular passions).
The architectural map is a pastiche of different buildings – a prison, a museum, a shopping centre – and aptly reflects on the rules and regulations played out in public and private domains.
The use of Latin, a fading language, is a recurring motif in Jones’ work, which serves to remind us of the power of language, education, wealth and class in shaping, defining and controlling us.
Doug Jones: Lares et Penates
at Ceri Hand Gallery
14 January –Â 19 March 2011
For his second solo show at the Ceri Hand Gallery, Doug Jones has constructed four rooms inspired by a British Bed and Breakfast; the reception, the breakfast room, the guest’s bedroom and the private ‘back room’ of the female proprietor.