John Goto: Mosaic

On 6 May 2010, Sky News went High Definition. Unfortunately, the majority of the population didn’t. Focusing on this same contrast of sophisticated versus quotidian images, Mosaic at the Edinburgh Printmakers sidesteps the pitfalls of a highly politicised context to focus upon issues of media imagery, censorship and audience reception.

Replacing crisp HD photos, these pixellated images anchor us in a moment, never losing sight of the personal tragedies of war in favour of political position. Censorship itself abounds, as John Goto transforms the unsanctioned snapshots into harmonious abstracts, unrecognisable versions of the originals.

Circumnavigation is also solicited, as the pieces cannot be viewed simultaneously. Even the mural-scale ‘Mosaic 7’ forces a sequential viewing, and throughout the exhibition an apprehension of the next image grows.

Provokingly, two works deny us their originals, and while this engenders curiosity within the viewer, one feels the harmony and duality of the works is unbalanced by the restricted access. No longer physical metaphors for our handling of media images, they become problematic, and perhaps one example of this would have sufficed.

We assume the camera never lies, but the simple, profound ideas expressed here challenges our willing reception of media images. After all, news footage is only ever what a cameraman has access to, and cannot be taken at face value.

When restricted, the vacuum is filled by unmediated, rough, pixellated images – and so it should be. After all, a high definition image of a fence cannot tell us what is inside.