Nick Crowe – Getting On
It’s about slow-acting guilt. We wander along as part of a Sunday afternoon pub – gallery stroll and decide to drop in at the Chisenhale because Steve was taught by Nick Crowe. It had been billed as “a meditation on youth and age in contemporary Britain” (or something like that) in Time Out but past that, and the fact that we’ve generally had good luck at the Chisenhale, we knew nothing.
The show consisted of the quietish sound of Deutsche Gramophon popular classics and a bunch of mobility scooters. I note to myself that these are called Granny Scooters in my world and I feel a brief pang of guilt.
We’re encouraged to get on a scooter and have a ride. We do. It’s not really like bumper cars, although all the scooters are occupied and moving. No-one in there is over 40. Mostly people avoid bumping into each other. We’re laughing: it’d be funny to ride one of these around under ordinary circumstances, never mind in a proper art gallery. It’s fun but the show feels very slight and I’m not sure that it says anything about youth and age in contemporary Britain.
Later, I’m thinking about how “Getting On” was supposedly about youth and age and how I was riding around and laughing when a Granny Scooter is a life necessity for some people (not all of whom can afford it). And I feel a bit guilty. And I feel a bit guilty about not remembering to call them mobility scooters. And I’m thinking about what it’s like to rely on one.
Oh! Sly.