The Covid Diaries 48: Sir John Soane’s Museum incl. Langlands & Bell

A visit to the Sir John Soane’s Museum to see the exhibition Langlands & Bell: Degrees of Truth. In which the staff make all the difference in a space that is not made for distancing.

After Pitzhanger, the Salterton Arts Review visits Sir John Soane’s Museum

This is not my first visit to Sir John Soane’s Museum, but two factors made me want to come back at this time. The first was my recent visit to Pitzhanger Manor, Sir John Soane’s former country house. The second was curiosity about their temporary exhibition, Langlands & Bell: Degrees of Truth. More on this below.

I described the museum’s history and collections in my last post in 2018. Not much has changed since then of course, except the need to allow for social distancing in museum settings. Sir John Soane’s Museum seems like one of the least likely venues for effective Covid measures, and yet it actually works quite well. They have figured out a one-way route through the space, which can’t have been an easy task. The staff are very clear on enforcing maximum capacities per room. And entry is by timed ticket with reduced capacity. I am very impressed by how safe and secure it all felt. The staff were also extremely cheerful, friendly and knowledgeable, so I didn’t feel as if I was missing out on anything by coming at this time.

Comparisons With Pitzhanger Manor

It was only a couple of months ago that I was at Pitzhanger Manor in Ealing, so it’s still fresh in my memory. It was interesting, therefore, to compare the two and think about what it tells us. Firstly, I think some of the things I learned about Regency architecture and decoration have been cemented. The bright colours and faux-wood panelling of Pitzhanger, for example, find their echo in Lincoln’s Inn Fields. Even down to some of the wall colours used, which we remembered seeing in both. And hearing a guide discuss ‘Turner yellow’ as a pigment reminded me of Turner’s place-setting at the imaginary dinner party at Pitzhanger.

The second interesting comparison was the incorporation of contemporary art into the spaces. At Pitzhanger the contemporary art is almost onsite – hanging in the separate gallery rather than the manor itself. At the Museum it has been incorporated right into the permanent collection, popping up in unexpected places. But in both instances it tells us something about how historic sites continue to make their relevance felt. The juxtaposition between old and new creates a dialogue, and helps us to remember that not all of our concerns and preoccupations are new and unknown. But more on this below when I describe the exhibition itself.

Langlands & Bell: Degrees of Truth

So then, what’s this exhibition all about? Well, maybe a bit of background is useful to start with. Ben Langlands and Nikki Bell are a very well-established artistic duo (like Gilbert and George only more YBA). Their themes include the relationship between art/architecture and how we live and interact. This is the tie-in with Sir John Soane’s museum, and the works on display are then a mix of specifically-commissioned and older pieces.

Motifs, Repetitions and Dialogues

There are a few recurring motifs which make it easier to spot the works amongst Soane’s collection. The most noticeable one is chairs. I don’t know if they chose this because historic homes tend to have chairs lined up but not for use anyway, but L&B chairs recur in several rooms throughout the museum. You can see a couple of images above and below. One series had architectural models in the seat, ranging from ancient/historic buildings to Zaha Hadid. Another series were plays on love-seats, interlocking in different configurations. Another motif was flight paths – devoid of their geographies but sometimes recognisable anyway. And finally there were architectural models/drawings ‘in conversation’. Three buildings representing primary shapes, for example, or buildings which speak to surveillance and control.

The connection to John Soane here is fairly slight but interesting. It’s mainly in the way that we think about architecture and its impact on our lives. The forms of buildings can be just as important as their function in determining how we use them, and therefore how we interact with our environment. One building which seems to spark something in Langlands & Bell’s work is the ‘Panopticon‘, the prison designed by Jeremy Bentham to allow prisoners to be watched without knowing whether or not they are observed. This certainly speaks to today’s society where we are under more and more surveillance, both in our physical and digital lives. Soane’s architecture is nothing like Bentham’s controlling prison tower, but what the exhibition does it make viewers more mindful of the effect of design, forms and flows on human experience.

And Some Quirky Works Too!

There are several separate, often older, works in the exhibition which do not fit into these motifs. Even the older ones fit very nicely into the context of the Sir John Soane’s Museum, however. Labels for the exhibition works are not always present/easy to spot, so some I just thought were permanent fixtures. There was a Burnt Madonna from 1985 in the basement which fit right in. And in the kitchen there is a table with a glass panel, displaying various found objects. I knew the table was part of the exhibition, but thought it was a reference to the mummified whippet on the wall. Turns out no, the whippet is theirs too, picked up in 1982 from a London market stall.

Another work which could be incongruous is 2003’s The House of Osama Bin Laden. This work was first shown at the Imperial War Museum and shortlisted for the Turner Prize in 2004. It is normally an interactive computer animation where you can explore Bin Laden’s compound. In 2020, however, it has become a video of a museum employee exploring the animation: can’t have everyone touching a joystick these days. It was interesting to see, but easy to miss when it’s just a screen rather than something you can interact with.

Final Thoughts on Sir John Soane’s Museum and Langlands & Bell

Personally, I think Langlands & Bell: Degrees of Truth works best when new works play off the Soane collection. As an introduction to or exploration of the artists’ work, it is less successful. What makes it quite fun – contemporary art popping up in the middle of a plethora of classical/historical works – also makes it hard to keep track of what you’ve seen and form an overall impression. I know which works I liked and which were ok, but I could do with a bigger Langlands & Bell exhibition some time to really get to know them.

On its own merits: 3.5/5
Langlands & Bell: Degrees of Truth: 3.5/5
Implementing Covid measures: 4.5/5

Langlands & Bell: Degrees of Truth until 3 January 2021 [subject to change, check museum website for details]