Have you ever felt that you aren't appreciated enough?

Do you feel that you aren't given enough attention, sympathy? Love even? Do you find yourself lost in the everyday banalities of modern life? Would you like all the attention to be focused on you for once?

Well fear not, as the Office for the Dissemination of Sympathy (ODS) is here to help.

The mobile office space is based at OVADA as part of the Gift exhibition, a show featuring the work of 12 artists from The Ideas Exchange.

This artwork experience provides sympathy free of charge to those who are in need.

The ODS was founded' by interdisciplinary artist Ann Rapstoff, who represents the company on this occasion, and who is formally dressed in typical office wear, with the unusual addition of a Miss World-style sash.

Well, I had my turn at some sympathy and it was a very unusual and amusing experience.

Ann, the representative', asked me to complete a questionnaire stating which type of sympathy I would prefer.

I chose sympathy just because you deserve it', although there were three other equally compelling options.

Among the treatments' of sympathetic gestures I received were a kiss on the hand (executed complete with pearly pink lipstick), a personal round of applause, a spotlight held over me, and I was sung to - ("You are my sunshine...").

I was also sprinkled with tiny stars and given a boiled sweet at the end, as though I was a child at the doctor's.

It was a comical experience but also genuinely nice to be the focal point of such attention. The artist got out of character not once, and nattered about her superiors at the office'.

I was given a Sympathy Certificate Award at the end to prove that I had attended a sympathy dissemination session.

This really made me chuckle, and the artist was very believable as an obedient office worker. The rest of the exhibition was interesting too, featuring films and various paintings and drawings.

On a more traditional note, I went along to the opening of Tastes Like Paint, an exhibition at Lolapoloza gallery, featuring the work of four painters.

I loved Jennifer Brown's amusing Duchess of Whateverthef, a subtle play on trashy celeb culture.

The portrait of a well-to-do lady is executed in oils and has a historical Holbein-esque feel to it, yet she is pulling seductively at her gloves whilst wearing red Wayfarer sunglasses and an Alexander McQueen skull scarf, a sly nod to the socialites that take up endless column space in the tabloids.

Another highlight was Angus Wolf's large canvas orange suspended on blue, an abstract piece in bright ice-cream colours that looks good enough to eat.

The paintings would also have been the perfect base for my Action Men and various toy cars I played with religiously as a little girl (yes, I was a total tomboy)!

Two other small shows worth mentioning are Julian Dourado's lino prints at Age Concern@183.

The prints are reminiscent of Eastern European folk art, and sit nicely with the second-hand books and relaxed café culture. Another unexpected find this week was an artwork by Helen Statham at Oxford Central Library titled The Gift where a number of books are resting on a wall, and you are encouraged to take them away, contribute to them, and then give them back.

What a lot to see in one week. There was even more, but I'm saving that for next time. So at the end of a hectic week, if you'll excuse me I might have to go back for some more sympathy.. just because I deserve it!

4:01pm Thursday 17th April 2008

Print

Email this