It is exciting to discover that the holographic gene may be hereditary. My old friend Martin Richardson's daughter Lizzie has begun to incorporate holography into her own art practice, which also includes performance and darkroom activities. Earlier this year I went to see a show at South London's Vibe Gallery which included a small sculptural piece of hers, incorporating a Denisyuk hologram, and today I went to Central Saint Martin's immense new building at King's Cross to see her degree show work.
Lizzie, AKA Apple Tart, her nom de burlesque, has created an installation called 'Holographic Cabaret: The Late Night Shop' with the atmosphere of a small carnival sideshow which you enter through velvet curtains under a sign announcing STAGE DOOR. Inside are four full colour digital holograms facing each other across the confined interior space, her fellow cabaret performers engaging with each other and the spectators from within their virtual domains. I thought it a very effective use of holography in an unusual context and, while Apple Tart is a rare example of someone who had grown up surrounded by holograms for her entire life, her decision to use the medium herself makes perfect sense. A distinct strand of her father Martin's work with pulse lasers always had the feel of performance about it so , whether or not his daughter is consciously following in his footsteps, I can see a kind of theatrical dynasty emerging here.
Apple Tart also appears in a video work by her fellow student, Piotr Krzymowski which, though not usually a fan of video, I found mesmerising. She kindly gave me a guided tour of her fellow students' work, pointing out some of her more interesting contemporaries. As both performer and visual artist I look forward to seeing more of the multi-talented Apple Tart.
