SARAH MAYHEW treks around Oxford to find some surprising art installations.

It’s a busy old month on the Oxford arts circuit this month, and adding yet further strings to Oxford’s arty bow is construct/ deconstruct, a multi-venue exhibition showing out-of-town artists’ work, and giving Artweeks a run for its money.

Curated by Oxford-based artist/curator partnership Launch, construct/deconstruct is the title of three art installations by artists Neil Ayling, Miguel Santos, and Charlotte Squire, and takes place in spaces across Oxford until Sunday.

Positioning the works in public places such as the Westgate Centre, Oxford Castle grounds, and in an empty shop space on the High Street, Launch is committed to fusing artistic talent with the community. This is interesting, accessible art that penetrates public space, not art that’s hidden behind heavy oak doors, or hung high in Georgian living rooms.

As Star Trek’s Captain Picard once said: “They invade our space, and we fall back. They assimilate countless worlds, and we fall back. Not again. Not this time. The line must be drawn here!”

Emily Alexander of Launch said: “While, with Artweeks, it’s great to know that there’s so much creative activity taking place behind closed doors in Oxfordshire, we were keen to exhibit work with a different aesthetic.”

And so, Launch is making the most of the increasing number of empty spaces in the city centre and at the same time enhancing the city’s appearance.

Alexander continued: “Our independence from Artweeks means that as well as showcasing emerging talent from within Oxfordshire, we can broaden the diversity of exhibitions in Oxford by attracting the talents of early and mid-career artists from further afield, in turn raising the standard of work on display.”

The artists in construct/deconstruct were selected due to their shared interest in the construction, and deconstruction of space. While approaching the subject from different perspectives, each installation transforms deflated, deconstructed unoccupied space into positive, stimulating space.

Peek through the window of 105 High Street, an empty shop previously occupied by Glass House, and you’ll find Charlotte Squire’s intriguing work, Strange Fruit. A playful piece with serious undertones, it explores the evolution of British social and functional needs. Through a carefully crafted hybrid of found objects and purchased cast-offs Squire explores ideas of worth and reclaimation.

She said: “The absurdity of a separate life of objects leads me to construct forms in which those relationships both operate and evolve to become animate.”

Illuminating the interior of another empty shop opposite the entrance to Sainsbury’s in the Westgate Centre you will find the installation, 10 overdrafts and 10 lights by artist and academic, Miguel Santos.

Consisting of a swarm of malfunctioning fluorescent light bulbs that occupy a commercial void, this arresting work explores the faults and mistakes made in the thwarted development of carefully contrived process.

Calling into question the relationship between image and architecture, Neil Ayling’s work was inspired by, and can be found in the Oxford Castle complex. Cold, ‘street’, and masculine, Ayling’s phallic symbol of a sculpture, seems at once out of place and at the same time in-keeping where it stands in position, proudly bursting through the lawn before the fortifications.

Through his practice Ayling selects and fragments the visual elements that surround him. He identifies and draws parallels between temporary structures, graffiti, and the permanence of architecture.

This is an interesting exhibition, and it seems that Launch are an interesting bunch set to bring exciting surprises to unexpected places in and around Oxford for some time to come. Just as Picard said: “Let’s make sure that history never forgets the name... Enterprise.”

Equally, I hope Oxford never forgets the name… Launch!

THE FACTS: * THE exhibition runs until Sunday * Neil Ayling is showing in the grounds of the Oxford Castle site * Miguel Santos is showing in an empty shop unit in the Westgate Centre (formally Tchibo – opposite the entrance to Sainsbury’s) * Charlotte Squire is showing in an empty shop unit at 105 High Street (formally The Glass House – opposite Brasenose College) * launchcollaborative@yahoo.co.uk l launchcollaborative.co.uk * Opening Times: 10am-5pm Monday–Saturday, 12-5pm Sunday * All works are available to view for free.