A Cautious Paralysis

A Cautious Paralysis

Andrew McLeod’s A Cautious Paralysis is a meticulously detailed white-on-black schematic drawing that belongs to a series of works that combine precise architectural drawings with dream-like scenes from the artist’s imagination. Seen from a distance, the work shows a sprawling mass of interconnected rooms with furniture and people occupying the domestic spaces. On closer inspection, this is not a conventional depiction of a real space. Detailed analysis reveals some surprises. The image comprises repeating elements, including rooms, furniture, cars and trees, and on a micro level, text, both hand-written and typed. The sometimes incomplete texts are statements about art making that are at once earnest and cynical — “I often find myself thinking of the work as a document of thought and time”, “while you are spending the always exorbitant amount of time making and researching the work and then there’s the materials the reason there are so few artists” and “F… the romance the main ingredient in making art is a f…ing stinking s… load of money”. Grey smudges on the otherwise pristine surface of the work are, on closer look, depictions of smoke from a number of small fires illustrated within the image. A Cautious Paralysis is a portrayal of domestic space as infinite and chaotic. McLeod’s highly detailed and painstakingly rendered architectural drawings suggest unsettled consumerist desires associated with domestic interiors and aspirations, while highlighting as well the time-intensive nature of the artistic process.