The Thousands

Christmas is a time for over-eating, over-drinking and of course family (issues). It’s not a time for art. Well, it’s not a time for art exhibitions. Most galleries shut for a few weeks over Christmas, if not the whole of January. So plant yourself on the couch, let your folks load you up with six courses of Xmas whatevers and get yourself Errand Workshop – CACSA’s slimline Louise Haselton publication. Or as fancy people call it, a ‘monograph’.

I went to a lot of art shows this year. Errand Workshop was easily one of the best. I’ve been idly following Haselton’s work for a few years, dipping in and out, yet to be converted. Well I’m a born-again for Errand Workshop. Instead of looking awkward or strained, Haselton’s creative combinations of materials were effortlessly energetic. A delicate pair of lines drawn by plastic straws emerged from the soft pink lip of a conch shell. Yellow, black and pink straws made comical shapes above wooden tiki cups that balanced on rows of corks.

The monograph includes a colour picture of each and every work in the exhibition, organised according to the spatial logic of the gallery. On top of that you get an essay and an interview with the artist. All for ten bucks – Christmas barrrrgaaaaiin.