By the book

Dropped in on the Polytek exhibition opening. It's a collaboration between MA graduates from Central St Martins London and local Exeter graffiti artists. Here are some thoughts....

Still containing evidence of its former life as the Polytek plastics factory, this semi-derelict space is now used as a book sorting and distribution centre by the Bookcyle charity. Much of the work shown here draws on the manufacturing equipment and plastics stock left behind, as well as on the piles and piles of donated books.

It’s a lesson in the challenges as well as the rewards of curating non-gallery spaces. How to give your work a voice among so many competing demands for attention. The space alone is almost too impressive – with cathedral-like proportions and layers of debris and decay telling their own fascinating story.

Not surprisingly, some artists have taken refuge in the smaller mezzanine office spaces. But it’s those who wrestle with the wide open spaces who have the most to gain – or to lose. Graffiti looks commonplace in such an environment and fails to engage. By contrast, Warren Garland’s Wallpapered Machine re-makes part of the building’s industrial heritage into a kind of inside-out domestic interior. It succeeds in creating a surprising object out of an already fascinating one.

Most successful, however, was a collaboration between Josh Baum and Gabo Guzzo. Delineating a small area of the massive floor space with little more than a circle of chairs, they created a focal point for the building and its piles of rejected books: a bizarre library with its own esoteric rules and reading materials.

Interpretation is difficult: finding out who made what, what’s actually the art, what’s actually just the interesting backdrop. Frustrating, yes, but also refreshing. I enjoyed being able to explore without being told what to think. Giving this show room to breathe also gives it the chance to hang together as a whole, despite its slightly fragmented and disparate nature.

Polytek, Water Lane, St Thomas, Exeter. Until 13 September. http://www.thelazysusan.net/