When hearing the term, "off the wall", most will think of something bizarre or erratic. The origin of the term is rooted in the game of baseball and to be more precise, it is when a ball ricochets off a wall and then rebounds and bounces about erratically.

The Bermuda Art Centre's current exhibition is entitled "Off The Wall".

It is a juried members' exhibition. I suppose the theme was intended to encourage the membership to think beyond that what they usually do and then create something unusual, but then again, possibly the intention was to emphasise the three-dimensional.

That being the case, the work would then be away from the walls and out in the gallery. Possibly the leadership intended both concepts or wished to leave it open ended.

To be truthful, the show is hardly "off the wall" in the sense that it is bizarre. It is hardly that.

Also, only about a third of the show is three-dimensional and, therefore, literally off the wall. Indeed the bulk of the show is very firmly hanging on the wall, what little there is of it. This exhibition is very spare with lots of empty wall space.

There are only 36 works in the entire show.

I am certain that the organisers hoped for more unusual responses from the artists.

In the end, that did not happen and the organisers were forced to hang a fairly typical exhibition. I am uncertain just what the leadership should do to ensure a more unusual exhibition but I would certainly encourage them to keep on trying.

I will certainly do what I can as reviewer to prod the artists to extend themselves beyond what they have so far accomplished.

By that I do not mean that the artists should go out of their way to be bizarre but I hope that they might set themselves something that is beyond their ordinary way of working, be it new media, a different format, a different palette or possibly a new and different subject.

Possibly the most unusual work in the exhibition is Kok Won Lee's "154 Bowels", which is a floor piece, but I think I have already seen it in another exhibition.

That is true of some other works in the show as well. Considering this, Joyce Joell Hayden's "Corporate Big Man" is the most original new work in the show. It is really an unusual man's suit made of supermarket brown paper bags and then painted with acrylic paints. Another unusual work is Lynn Morrell's "Stuck on the Horns of Dilemma".

This is a papier m?ch? sculpture that shows a demon-like creature that appears to be stuck on two pointed appendages. This is unusual in that Ms Morrell is best known for her quilted wall hangings although she does occasionally make use of papier m?ch? in making three-dimensional objects.

Although not so unusual, Helle Pukk's ceramic contributions are notable for their craftsmanship, beauty and inspiration from nature.

Suzie Lowe's "Agnus" was exhibited about a month ago in the BSoA, nevertheless, good work is always worth seeing again. This work is an abstracted figurative piece in ceramic, but one could be deceived, as it surely looks like it is made of bronze.

Diedre Furtardo's banana leaf and palm cloth creations are much more than the typical banana leaf doll.

These are fierce beings entitled "Rain", "Thunder" and "Lightning".

They are suspended from the ceiling by chains, but since they can hardly weigh all that much, the chains seem heavy-handed.

Surely they could have been hung by plastic fishing line, then they would appear to be flying about, not just suspended.

Nea Willets' "Cat's Dinner" is a low relief of a fish, hence the dinner aspect. In that sense it is somewhat amusing, but hardly to the poor fish.

Carolyn Boatman is new in the art circuit and I understand that her spring-like collage is, for her also, a new technique.

Lexi Tibbetts is another newcomer in the art scene.

Apparently she is a young artist who is still trying her "artistic wings". Because of this, the four works that she has submitted to the show, are varied in style.

It is as if she is attempting to find her own artistic identity. This is not unusual with young artists, but eventually, if they persist, they find what they are seeking, namely their own artistic voice or identity. While visiting the show, look for her painting, "It's Not All Black & White".

It is a checkerboard piece but with coloured drips from paint brushes suspended above the main painting. I hope that she keeps on experimenting with new approaches. She is already well on her way. Jason Harris' paintings are something more then just paintings.

We usually think of paintings as being relatively flat, but he builds up the surface of the picture plain so that it becomes a relief, which he then paints. "Starry Night" is the most successful of his contributions.

There is a tendency for this method to appear as decorative and therefore a little trite, but no method is intrinsically decorative or trite; all depends on how it is handled.

"Starry Night" is successful in that the surface quality is consistent and moreover its matte quality is appealing.