Sonder
Untitled-2 1
Sonder
07/06/2018 16:04
1
catalogue 1
06/06/2018 10:20
CONTENTS
2
3
catalogue 2-3
06/06/2018 10:20
Sonder
7
Colours of Corfu by Jonathan Beattie
9
Artists
11
Contemporary Art Guest Lecture (CAGL)
123
CAGL Extras: The Incomplete Toby Unofficial Lloyd Autobiography
127
Graduate Studio Northumbria (GSN)
130
Inside the Workshops: Interview with Keith Ellison
132
Exhibitions/Projects 2015-2018
135
Creative Art Writing
171
Critical Art Writing
187
Contacts
197
Thanks
205
4
5
catalogue 4-5
06/06/2018 10:20
SONDER n. the realization that each random passer-by is living a life as vivid and complex as your own, populated with their own ambitions, friends, routines, worries and inherited craziness, an epic story that continues invisibly around you like an anthill sprawling deep underground, with elaborate passageways to thousands of other lives that you’ll never know existed, in which you might appear only once, as an extra sipping coffee in the background, as a blur of traffic passing on the highway, as a lighted window at dusk. - The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows
We know each other here more than the blurred faces we pass in the street. When we see each other in the hallway we say hello, when we sit next to each other in the MacLab we ask each other how we are, and after each studio tutorial, workshop or seminar, when we share how much we have to do in so little time, we find ways to support each other. We are all living our own lives. We have our own interests, our own friends, our own personalities, which make up who we are. However, we have all been lucky enough to have come together for the same reason, to make art and learn through art. Starting out on our individual university experiences, we didn’t know each other, but as our time at Northumbria draws to a close, we can reflect on how much our lives have changed. We are not the same people we were three years ago. Every conversation, every brief hello, every piece of teaching, and every passing face has moulded who we are now. From gallery visits and lectures, to exhibitions and drinks at the Hancock Pub, we became just that little bit closer to one another. Katie Brown on behalf of the Catalogue Team.
6
7
catalogue 6-7
06/06/2018 10:20
COLOURS OF CORFU In memory of Jonathan Beattie (1964-2017)
Twenty-seven paintings of Corfu My past is where you are at the start The future is on a voyage hidden in art The present is drifting between the two In and out of Corfu Twenty-seven colours of Corfu where you are Twenty-seven paintings of Corfu Island near and far
Jonathan Beattie
8
9
catalogue 8-9
06/06/2018 10:20
ARTISTS
10
catalogue 10-11
11
06/06/2018 10:20
SHAMIMA AKHTAR 12
catalogue 12-13
13
06/06/2018 10:20
ZAINAB AL SHABEEB 14
catalogue 14-15
I’ve always looked at life as a progression of perpetual change. A story defined by the spaces between those changes, like breaks between waves. The experiences, accounted for when recalling a life story, are results of these conscious, and many times mandatory, evolutions in life. It’s about finding new paths and new opportunities that can only be discovered when you escape your comfort zone. And here I am, out of my comfort zone. Away from everybody I love. When you accept and welcome change, you separate the fearless from the timid. This is what is going to separate you from those who you love. Temporary. And here it is. The end of the journey.
15
06/06/2018 10:20
SABRIAH AMEEN-ALI 16
catalogue 16-17
An essential part to my creative process; collage exists in my practice in both a playful and serious manner. It allows me to ask the question, just how little can I change an image before it becomes collage? In the bag that holds the images that I have collected over the years, I look over not only the numerous results of time spent cutting and combining elements together, but also the filled sketchbooks that have become unappreciated. All the images and collages that just couldn’t make the cut. Encountering my work, you may see a mixture of whole images and oddly cut images projected and suspended within a dark space. Copies and copies of similar images. You may struggle to see the content clearly. You may look closer. You may think you have recognised an outline of an arm, and what looks like an something from a science fiction film. You may witness a snippet that you don’t realise is just the hidden memory of library books, and odd issues of Dazed and Confused, that are rummaged between printer paper copies of screenshots. Among this, I am making collages.
17
06/06/2018 10:20
MAL AC HI ASRES 18
catalogue 18-19
Materiality is one of the principle aspects of my practice. In my current work I am challenging the material itself, to transform it into more than just a constructing support mechanism. An assumption with geometrics is that everything is strictly commensurable. My body of work is based on simple drawings that contain a combination of random lines which eventually form geometric shapes. Through this exploration, I have progressed towards 3-dimensional sculptures. Architectural elements are delineated across the work, in response to the urban cityscapes and individuals who have influenced me. The work is predominantly made using found materials and revolves around everyday objects, compiling them together to be able to support themselves as sculptures, installation and more.
19
06/06/2018 10:20
GEORGIA BATES 20
catalogue 20-21
“It’s not what you know, it’s who you know” Working collaboratively forms the supporting structures of any artistic practice. Art provides a platform for conversation, for people to be heard, but most importantly listened to. It’s not who’s voice is the loudest, it’s allowing someone else’s voice to rise above your own. If you were an egg, what egg would you be? “An ostrich egg… well it’s the biggest.”
21
06/06/2018 10:20
JON ATHAN BEATTIE 22
catalogue 22-23
23
06/06/2018 10:20
ROBYN BENHAM 24
catalogue 24-25
At the Bar Why do you send promise of air? Only to tie rope around my lungs The second I begin to breathe How I wish I could walk as you Against all reason Against those eyes
25
06/06/2018 10:21
ROSE BIBBY
discard verb: get rid of (someone or something) as no longer useful or desirable. “Hilary bundled up the clothes she had discarded” synonyms: dispose of, throw away, throw out, get rid of, toss out; reject, jettison, scrap, dispense with, cast aside/off, repudiate, abandon, relinquish noun: a thing rejected as no longer useful or desirable. treasure noun: a quantity of precious metals, gems, or other valuable objects. “the ransom was to be paid in diamonds and treasure” synonyms: riches, valuables, jewels, gems, gold, silver, precious metals, money, cash; wealth, fortune plural noun: treasures “she set out to look at the art treasures” synonyms: valuable object, valuable, work of art, objet of virtu, masterpiece “art treasures” verb: keep carefully (a valuable or valued item). “my mother gave me the ring and I’ll treasure it always” synonyms: cherish, hold dear, place great value on, prize, set great store by, value greatly
26
catalogue 26-27
27
06/06/2018 10:21
P H O E B E BO U LTO N
What is the focus point of your practice? Hmmm… I don’t really know what to say apart from just colour and material, and maybe surface and texture. How do you think an audience relates to your work, and is that an important aspect for you? I’ve thought about this, and I’d say like everyone wants someone to be able to relate to their work, otherwise there’d be no point in making it. Well I think a way people can relate is through an association with colour, like colour means something completely different for everyone. I use quite like everyday objects and materials, so people can relate in that way, because it’s household items or cheap inexpensive material. I don’t know if it’s about the everyday, and I don’t know if it’s just from me being a cheap art student, not having much money, but I do think that across the years my work has become more about using inexpensive materials than trying to make it perfect. How do you think your practice has progressed over the past few years? I don’t know, I’m still never happy with my work. I was saying to a friend how funny it is that in first year I did black and white photography, so it was like completely different. I’d say I began to like my work in second year, and to actually do what I wanted to do and not just to impress. I’d say it has always been about surface and colour.
28
catalogue 28-29
29
06/06/2018 10:21
KATIE BROWN
Hours. Absolutely hours it takes me to write absolutely anything. A full A4 page or even just a sentence, To find the words to use, To spell them correctly, To not constantly repeat words by writing and and or the the. I would give anything to just be able to make sense, To see the words properly, To understand their sounds, To know how they’re supposed to look, Instead of writing letters the wrong way around or use the wrong letters completely. Spell check is my best friend, Writing anything is usually a nightmare. I mean, it’s rather ironic isn’t it? A dyslexic writer. A dyslexic artist trying to write. A dyslexic person attempting to be an artist by attempting to write.
30
catalogue 30-31
31
06/06/2018 10:21
E M I LY C A R E L E S S
Replicas acquire an additional ‘layer of identity’, acting as a material, they are reconfigured as objects for circulation. Replicas and originals participate in blurring the distinction between what is ‘fake’ and was is genuine. The late nineteenth century to the present day provides rich material for authenticity, during which time a particular kind of ‘authentic’ culture has emerged, manifesting in all aspects of cultural production. There are pressures on both public and private institutions to publicise their objects as authentic. Visitor’s want to see the ‘real thing’ and expect absolute transparency. The dialogue between an object and information can be broken down. The word ‘constructed’ becomes integral when understanding attributes given to objects. Despite the best efforts and attempts of experts, there will always remain an element of doubt in these objects. Authenticity in contemporary art can be debated with regards to originality. In the most basic sense, work points not to the object of contemplation, but can provide an abstract thought-process behind it. We begin to question, how does art come to be understood as original and authentic in the first place? Is it the image we are interested with or is the image merely a manifesto upon which supplies investigations into thought processes? In order to unpack meaning, we can treat authenticity with anthropological evidence. The system of signs can transcend mere representations and can be read in concert with the cultural ideas that helped shape it. Rather than explanation, the interest comes from how the objects reveal and deceive. Artists various deceptions of authenticity suggest different roles for know in reading these images. The viewer receives no text for the object, no indication of where or why, left without additional elements to aid or confuse the act of viewing plays into the reveal of authentic art. Art authentication is an endlessly fascinating game. With its emphasis on the creative hand of the individual. The replication and copying of an established model is not perceived as an inferior process but has a validity of its own right. They can represent very different approaches to the making of an artwork which possess authentic states.
This text is constructed using extracts taken from: ‘Art and Authenticity’, Alridch. M and Hackforth-Jones. J, 2012. Farnham, Surrey: Lund Humphrie
32
catalogue 32-33
33
06/06/2018 10:21
N I C O L E C O N N O L LY
“If I had a world of my own everything would be nonsense”1 Colourful Nonsense is about transformation. Changing something everyday into something playful, enjoyable and interactive. Each artwork has its own characteristics and personality, which invites audiences to relate and feel a physical connection. Large brushstrokes create movement, while quirky sculptures and synthetic prints emphasise physical space. Colourful Nonsense is inspired by works of fiction, such as Alice in Wonderland, and the endless possibilities created in fictional worlds. I use everyday and modern materials to create my own world. Colour plays an important role within my work. It catches attention and bursts energy onto a range of surfaces. I have a sense of enjoyment and being ‘lost in the moment’ when working with colour. Different marks, squiggly lines, doodles, and quirkiness within my work translate this enjoyment to the audience. Working in colour allows me to create my own palette, almost resembling something magical. Surrealist artist Salvador Dali was described as a mischievous provocateur. I feel his painting ‘Metamorphose de Narcisse’ (1937) connects with my ideas of ‘nonsense.’ He works with colour and watered down paint to create a faded effect known as ‘dream-scape,’ which features heavily in my Colourful Nonsense sculptures.
1 Carroll, L. (2013). Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Dover Publications.
34
catalogue 34-35
35
06/06/2018 10:21
EDY TA CZARNEC KA
What do you focus on in your practice? I don’t want to make art just for art, I like to tackle issues of injustice in my practice and use it to voice the need for positive change. Human rights, environmental issues and animal rights are all influences in my work, as well as social oppression, domestic violence and war. I want my work to make the audience reflect on what is happening around them in the world, and to make them stop and appreciate the life they have and the lives of those close to them. How do you think the audience views your work? I use many different mediums in my practice, it really depends on the piece. Photography, UV paintings, casts, LED lights, my own body, and installation are all experimented with in my practice. I feel my work invites the audience to come in and play with it, to discover and explore in order to answer their own questions which may arise from the work. Audience participation really started to interest me in second year, when I did my first public performance piece. I was a living canvas, almost like a social experiment, interacting with the audience as they threw and drew all over me with paint. It opened my eyes and sparked my love for interactive work. Is there anything else that inspires you creatively? In the past three years I have become interested in activism and I now belong to a global art and activism movement called ‘Nasty Women’. As a Nasty Woman artist, I collaborate with other creatives around the world and organise events such as exhibitions, marches and conferences, with the aim of creating positive change in the world through educative creative expression and community fundraising. Activism has always been a big thing to me, in and outside of my practice and love for art.
36
catalogue 36-37
37
06/06/2018 10:21
B E T H DAV I D S O N 38
catalogue 38-39
In the digital age we live in, technology advances so quickly that much of our most recent history is already obsolete. Originally, a screensaver existed as a program to prevent static images causing permanent damage to a computer’s display, but screensavers have since become totally redundant yet are still a widely used feature of contemporary digital culture. The original necessity of the screensaver has created a genre of hypnotic, mesmerizing graphics that exist purely as the space between on and off. I use the appropriation of screensaver graphics in my work, to create something that is, in its aesthetics, the in-between. Something which acts as a signal you’ve been still too long, while simultaneously inviting you to keep watching. Inactive but waiting.
39
06/06/2018 10:21
AMANDA DODD
The mycorrhizal species of fungi live hidden in the soil most of the time; they are probably best known for their fruiting structures which produce much of the wonderful weirdness depicted in TV and film works such as; Stranger Things (2016) and Avatar (2009). This distinctly fungal organism sprouts massive organic underground networks of floating spores. These spores, and the rotting of organic matter all capture the ‘otherness’ of fungi: neither plants nor animals, often bizarre-looking, and associated with decay. As weird as they may seem to us, fungi are integral to the story of the evolution of our landscapes and climate. Mycorrhizal fungi are less diverse but more pervasive, never seeing the light of day. Their small size allows threads to burrow into the depths of rocks to retrieve essential nutrients. The fungi efficiently deliver soil minerals, in exchange for energizing sugars. This fungi to fungi symbiotic relationship, that works from plant to plant, shapes the biological makeup of nature’s communities as a whole. As a result of this growing body of evidence, many biologists have started using the term ‘wood wide web’ to describe the communications services that fungi provide to plants and other organisms. ‘These fungal networks make communication between plants, including those of different species, faster, and more effective… we don’t think about it because we can usually only see what is above ground. But most of the plants you can see are connected below ground, not directly through their roots but via their mycelial connections.’ 1 This fungal internet exemplifies one of the great lessons of ecology: seemingly separate organisms are often so connected, and depend on each other. Like us with air, we all share the earth and all of its weirdness. The connection between purity of air and the wellness of such an ecosystem is a factor that must be conserved. Air occupies space. As well as having weight. The pollutants present in the surrounding air have a detrimental effect on the above ground fungi ecosystem, in turn affecting the complex network below ground. Without protection and control over the ever increasing pollution of our atmosphere, this co-evolutionary relationship between organic species will cease to exist.
1 Fleming, N. (2014). Plants talk to each other using an internet of fungus. [online] Bbc. co.uk. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/earth/story/20141111-plants-have-a-hidden-
40
catalogue 40-41
41
06/06/2018 10:22
JESS FLETCHER
Light is an element of nature that is fundamental to life on earth. It enables human sight and has made possible the knowledge we have gathered through vision. Light is too often taken for granted, an everyday occurrence that doesn’t require much thought, yet is intrinsic to the function of every living being. ‘Light is one of the most revealing elements in life … It is the most spectacular experience of the senses … But as its powers over the practice of daily living become sufficiently familiar, it is threatened with falling into oblivion. It remains for the artist and the occasional poetical moods of the common man to preserve the access to the wisdom that can be gained from the contemplation of light.’1
1 Morely, S. (2010). The Sublime. London: Whitechapel Gallery.
42
catalogue 42-43
43
06/06/2018 10:22
PA I G E F U L L E R TO N 44
catalogue 44-45
Adjusting to different environments and to numerous cultures within a community is disorientating. My work draws from my personal experience of being born in London and then later moving from Bournemouth to Newcastle. I’ve witnessed the culture shock of being in different parts of the country and the resulting complexities of adapting to these environments. Picking up on how people speak and behave across England, and how communities differ from each other, my work uses sound and moving image to explore communities and their familiarities and differences.
45
06/06/2018 10:23
LUCY GIBBONS 46
catalogue 46-47
I’m inspired by the domestic and the everyday. I experiment with sculptures made from wood, hessian and found imagery. The images used in the sculptures are from magazines and from vintage cookbooks dating back to the 1970’s and 80’s. These are attached onto the sculptures using masking tape and cartridge paper. The materials I use are found around my studio, making them easily accessible, allowing me to work with what I have. I also use photography to explore the everyday. I am drawn to kitchen terms such as ‘chop’ and ‘squeeze’, and the simplicity of these daily tasks which are often overlooked. Through documentation, I pay attention to the details of these actions which allows these everyday tasks to be seen as a performance in themselves. These actions are carried out in private spaces, but by exhibiting them they become public.
47
06/06/2018 10:23
RAC HEL HODGSON 48
catalogue 48-49
Experiment. Materiality. Deconstruction. Image. Context. Camera. Dramatic. Mirror. Screenprinting. Variety. Digital. Film. Limitations. Photographs. Values. Simple. Manipulation. Pixels. Broken. Reflections. Colour. Emphasised. Cyan. Magenta. Yellow. Key. Black. Landscape. Portrait. Rebound. Making. Subject. Classified. Representation. Portrayal. Details. Clarity. Composition. Size. Combinations. Movement. Greyscale. Rasterbator. Computer. Develop. Halftone. Woodcut. Watercolours. Acrylic. Printing. Process. Paper. Acetate. Medium. Design. Difference. Surfaces. Threshold. Posterize. Guidance. Psychic. OP. Perception. Panorama. Abstract. Art. Illusion. Conflicting. Emerge. Depth. Personal. Torking . Masking. Technique. Realistic. Screenshots. Angles. Painting. Printed. Books. Stories. Experience. Sourcing. Poetry. Mix. Mulgrave. Thrushwood. Sandsend. Whitby. Romantic. Consideration. Shooting. Historical. Family. Season. Storytelling. Zoomed. Pixelated. Sharpen. Edges. Choices. Strips. Planning. Filter. Edit. Convert. Frequency. Bitmap. Channels. Mode. Profile. Space. Unsharp. Mask. Photoshop. First. Screen. Emulsion. Water. Exposure. Ultraviolet. Research. Writing. Measurements. Studio. Statement. Smaller. Works. Scale. Enough. Mesh. Usual. Foot. Mock. Methods. Different. Questionable. Focusing. Adventure. Fact. Thought. Individual. Difficult. Explain. Alongside. Particular. Basics. Aspects. Telling. Potential. Technical. Links. Example. Contact. Natural. Standard. Lighting. Direct. Balance. Support. Sentence. Leading. Handwritten. Poets. Events. Timeline. Excitement. Company. Snow. Tweed. Suggestion. Scattered. Imagery. Viewed. Alterations. Increase. Objective. Reproduction. Subjective. Production. Responsive. Seeing. Recognising. Recreating. Reference. Trial. Plans. Formal. Influences. Home. Travelled. Places. Activity. Outcome. Incredibly. Delicacy. Challenge. Flaws. Handling. Benefit. Preparation. Shakespeare. Winter. Poetic. Tale. Without. Burden. Simply. Gentle. Life. Redeems. Peaceful. Quietly. Place. Age. Title. Text. Everything. Alongside. Replication. Repetition. Truthfulness. Inaccuracy. Validity. Capture. Adaptation. Change. Breakdown. Where. Who. When. Specific. Addition. Critical. Thinking. Grid. Columns. Rows. South. Bank. Butter. Bread. Ratio. Layout. Thoroughly. Remaking. Way. Honest. Sophisticated. Setting. Replicated. Generate. Interpretation. Damage. Discarding. Misinterpreted. Removal. Vital. Unrecognisable. Perfect. Moment. Frame. Walking. Choice. Replication. Deliberately. Layers. Exploring. Time. Removed. Something. Each. Possible. Manipulate. Sensitive. Light. Taken. Stands. Relationships. Life. Dreams. Level. Proposed. Installation. Avoid. Interfere. Glare. Reached. Interaction. Friends. Valleys. Grandad. Smile. Deep. Full. Untouched. Beauty. Fixing. Inability.
49
06/06/2018 10:23
JAK HUMES 50
catalogue 50-51
Gender and sexuality are always in conversation in my work. I’m interested in exploring social and material environments that are dominated by them. Ideas surrounding gender and sexuality are determined by a lack of understanding and knowledge towards them. I am interested in exploring the plurality of sexuality and gender as a counterpoint to hyper and toxic masculinity. I use flamboyancy to upset conventions of masculinity, particularly its physical constructions. My work addresses discomforts caused by toxic masculinity, and using sculpture and photography I deconstruct stereotypically masculine objects and themes to create feminised or ‘un-masculine’ forms.
51
06/06/2018 10:23
JEMA JAE
If I were a pixel I would be a blue one. A blue pixel in a no signal screen. Drifting through a never ending ocean of data, Surrounded by a shoreline of disconnection. Driftwood of dead pixels erode away the motherboard, Communicating to the void in an SOS, but never drowning in its ephemeral silence. A cyclic current of electricity transports me through optical cables like the flowing tentacles of a giant jellyfish. Bleaching corals of information into mismanaged clouds, The current embeds me into a line of html code at the bottom of an oceanic trench. I am trapped in the in-between. An artificial vast sky on an endless summers day, Illuminated from no sun; Illuminated only by the phantom power of myself. If I were a pixel I would be a blue one.
I am pulled between the worlds of the physical, the digital, and the imaginary. This combination is behind my needs to create art. I weave an eclectic practice through a variety of mediums, dancing between performance, lens based media, sound, and language. I am here to tell an audience a story. Whether it is a story of movement, like a ballet of blossoms falling from a tree, or a story of words and sound spoken from the mouth of a dream. I am an artist from York, North Yorkshire. My practice is about the moment. I respond to the world around me. Political struggles and personal struggles, each piece of work is a conversation of thought, featuring physical and gestural attempts at decoding one’s identity within the presented scenario.
52
catalogue 52-53
53
06/06/2018 10:23
E D L AW R E N S O N
The Enquiry Office is open Daily in term time from 0845 to 2100 hours. During term time the Pond Street, Heriot House and Dyson House buildings are open from 0830 to 2130 hours on weekdays, and from 0900 to 1200 hours on Saturdays. During vacations the buildings are open 0830 to 1745 hours on Monday to Friday. The buildings are closed on Public Holidays. Halfords House, Leader House and 48 Howard Street are open from 0845 to 1715 hours on weekdays throughtout the year. They are closed on Public Holidays. A security porter is on duty at Pond Street throughout the night from Monday to Friday and at weekends and can be contacted by dialling 79754 after 2200 hours during term time and after 1800 hours during vacations. A commisionaire is on duty in the Enquiries Office on the fifth floor up to 2100 hours term time and receives messages from incoming calls made on 20911. A chargehand porter is resident in the Polytechnic flat and may be contacted by dialling 760826. This procedure should only be used in case of emergency. The Howard Street, Pond Street and Dyson House and Heriot House entrances are manned for security and other purposes by the commissionaire from 0800 to 2130 hours during term time and 0900 and 1800 hours during vacations. The Howard Street entrance is manned on Saturday mornings during term time and vacations from 0900 to 1200 hours. ‘Information for Students’, Sheffield City Polytechnic, 1981
54
catalogue 54-55
55
06/06/2018 10:23
E O I N M AC K AY
‘Cinema is truth at 24 frames per second’ – Jean-Luc Godard I am interested in the concept of life as a performance, in how people subconsciously filter this idea through their own desires, and in how they want to come across to other people. Through the films that I have been producing lately, I hope to reveal a very candid look at the ways in which people act. How people act their job, their personality, their character, and how that can be affected through the situation that I place them into. I focus my attention on getting untrained actors (mostly friends) to perform in my films, as I feel like they are more prone to act unnaturally, and to over act, becoming what they want people to see. Authorship is important to me when I make a film. I am an introverted artist. I will often put my work into the world and say very little about it out loud. This distances me from it. To counteract the idea of me getting lost in the background of the work, I have started to foster a visual style that blends lo-fi production with social documentary. I intersperse this with references to my own taste in films and culture. I echo this in post-production, by leaving in mistakes and small things that allude to the editing process. My films are aware of themselves, and are playful, which reminds the viewer that they aren’t in a situation, but watching a situation. My work is more about the narrative structure and materiality of the film than it is about getting lost in the story.
Le Petit Soldat. (1963). Directed by J. Godard. France
56
catalogue 56-57
57
06/06/2018 10:23
RYA N M AG E E 58
catalogue 58-59
Online culture is a far-reaching and complex mechanism that has emerged within the second half of the twentieth century and has, in the last ten years, become a part of life for billions of people across the world. My work explores social media and the internet, which is now arguably one of biggest cultures in the world. The work I produce explores themes surrounding social connectivity within internet culture, with a distinct focus on memes and trends, and how we as individuals relate, understand and engage with these topics. I alter aspects of digital cultures in specific ways. For example, I modify images to be more flamboyant and gaudy. I’m interested in highlighting and emphasising the absurdity of internet culture. Due to this, my work is often satirical in nature as it addresses and plays with the inherent absurdity of many internet phenomena. It becomes a parody of a parody. My work inherently deals with ideas of interpretation through the use of imagery and ideas that are heavily associated with the internet. Commentaries are formed based on the understanding of the audience and this often exposes a gap between cultures. In using memes and other online based themes, there is often a divide in who understands the work, with people who are more immersed in online culture being the ones that understand the references.
59
06/06/2018 10:23
ADAM MARTIN 60
catalogue 60-61
So, what is my work about? It is about ME. It is about a King. It is about having the will to create what you want and not letting others hinder your production. It is about telling people who I am and how I feel. It is about the struggle of an artist. It is about letting the creation speak for the creator. It is about living through an adopted mentality to portray a sense of false confidence to an audience. It is about an ideology that can be translated from art to life. It is about making an opinion a fact. It is about freedom. It is about giving myself a voice that will speak through my artwork. It is about creating a legacy for others to aspire to when I’m gone. It is about leaving my mark on this place. It is about pushing the boundaries with what I can get away with, to effectively tell my story and for others to remember me. It is about dealing with the daily anxieties that you create to make your life harder. It is about trying to understand an individually structured professional practice. It is about the production created by someone who doesn’t regard themselves as an art school cliché. It is about learning not only about your own art but also yourself through the method of creating. It is about having authorship. It is about depicting an attitude that you have towards the institution and the arts. It is about rebellion towards normality. It is about harnessing the tension between two personalities that will determine the progression of my art work. It is about taking a stand. It is about telling the audience a narrative. It is about people understanding this is MY work. It is about ME. It is about a King.
61
06/06/2018 10:24
P I P PA M C C O L LO M 62
catalogue 62-63
‘Textiles is women’s work. It is decorative. It is craft. It is not art. It is pointless. It is too time-consuming. It is too feminine. It belongs with fashion. It has no value. It is too commercial. In short, it is just not good enough.’ This may be a preconception. In my practice I use embroidery, which is often considered to be a lesser art form and an underdog of the art world, in subversive ways. Text is also a key element of my works. I tend to stick to the 140 character limits of Twitter which is important as I try to reflect fragments of Internet culture, which have become integrated into my daily life. It feels familiar and safe. The text in my work often conveys personal feelings about body image, relationships, general anxiety and dismay towards life. However, I try not to take these subjects too seriously, and so I attempt to use humour in my work to make it more light-hearted and relatable.
63
06/06/2018 10:24
JAMES MITCHELL 64
catalogue 64-65
Like the studio; a room, a garden or a club, space changes undergoing transformation and re-design every time someone different uses it. I enjoy the tension which exists between the original aesthetic of a space, and the one which the artist, designer or promoter brings to it later on. I like to see things evolve on the surface but underlying that everything is still the same. I suppose you might look at a space like a canvas; the paint doesn’t change the canvas, it just sits on top. The image that sits above might be changed or removed and the canvas might be re-used by many different innovators over a long period of time. It’s taken me a while to endure a simple understanding of what it means to be an ‘artist’ and to be honest I still don’t really get it. But that’s fine and I’m ok with that. I consider myself to be an artist in different respects; a producer, a dj, a printer, a painter and so on. Now I understand that the idea of ‘the artist’ is interpreted in many different lights. I’m an ‘ideas man’ (so I’ve been told), but it’s about understanding what I’m doing in a broader context, and how everything makes up the bigger picture. I’ve known for a while that I work intuitively and I’m always brimming with ideas. Being self-critical of your work is something which I’ve always done in excess, but I’m confident that it leads to better decision making, especially when deciding on what goes into a public exhibition; online or in the gallery. The past three years have not only been a chance to develop my art practice but an experience of living away from home and networking with different individuals from all corners of the creative industry; photography, graphic design, club curation and so on. These are paramount to the decisions which I now face moving on in my life.
65
06/06/2018 10:24
RAC HEL MOODY 66
catalogue 66-67
Through my practice I have become interested in the ways in which we communicate, through our mind and body, and through sound. My more specific interests lie in the exploration of what happens when these everyday and conventional forms of communication break down or are somewhat inhibited. What happens when we are denied the ability to connect with others? Is miscommunication just as important as communication? I began by looking at literal forms of reflection and repetition, focusing on reflective materials and repetitive actions. Tinfoil reflects its surroundings, and what interests me is that every time an action is repeated the reflection is somewhat different. My interest in tinfoil also lies in how such a low-fi and basic material can have such great optical, perceptual and associative affects. It led to an unintentional link between my work and sci-fi culture, something unknown became apparent, and I started to ask how we can find ways to communicate in different and unknown ways. My work contains conceptual notions about connection, memory, time and loss. If we had no concept of human communication, would our newly created form of communication be completely pure?
67
06/06/2018 10:24
MEGAN MORRISON 68
catalogue 68-69
How to view ‘A Blurry Line’ See the line. Be confused by the line. Study the line. Walk around the line. Enjoy the line. Appreciate the line. Do not touch the line. I just really like lines.
69
06/06/2018 10:24
CL ARA N ATHAN 70
catalogue 70-71
Throughout art history the representation of women was established by a male dominated society. The vision of an ideal femininity has therefore been resolved around the expectations and pressures of a heterosexual male fantasy. The repetition of a male-generated female form has influenced the definition of femininity, even to this day. To achieve an honest portrayal of what it truly means to be ‘woman’ means we cannot easily ignore this image of femininity, as it is so deeply ingrained into society. By working with video, photography and performance I construct images that mimic the illusion of femininity. This mimicking encourages the viewer to query the validity of comparing the terms ‘feminine’ and ‘woman’ as equal. Mainstream cinema consists of a series of established engrained structures and conventions, such as the use stereotypical gender roles. These cinematic conventions and codes draw the viewer in to a constructed vision of a reality. I often include the apparatus in the videos to demystify the illusion of cinema being a reality. This allows the viewer to question what it is they are being presented with, as they are unable to fall into a trance state. By setting up situations where I take on the role of photographer/videographer and also the object, I am breaking the conventional gender coding found in cinema where women are the object of an external objectifying male gaze. The process of the looped gaze allows female artists to take control of the image they are presenting. To be both object and subject allows women to be self-aware, with the potential to present an honest image of a true self.
71
06/06/2018 10:24
BECKY NORRINGTON 72
catalogue 72-73
Ancient secrets revealed Through Nature’s excavation. Sand dunes retreat, Peat and clay emerge Where history has been preserved. Forests, tracks, footprints… Discovery and experience in landscapes have always been at the core of my practice. The Northumberland coastline has been a significant source of material and inspiration over the past few years. One particular part of this coastline, Low Hauxley, has been an area I have been exploring in depth due to recent archaeological discoveries there. Excavations behind the dunes have revealed traces of our ancestor’s from the Mesolithic period. Human footprints, animal tracks and ancient forests have been preserved in the peat. Knowing of these histories, which for thousands of years have been hidden under our feet, has enriched my experience of these familiar landscapes, adding to them a deeper sense of mystery and curiosity. Walking in these landscapes, collecting its objects, and making work on-site are vital processes in order to understand a place. From these on-site experiences, I make work in the studio which relates to the materiality of the landscape. The materials and objects I’ve collected during my own artistic excavations include animal bones, beaks, fossilised teeth, driftwood, dried seaweed, clay and charcoal. Working with these materials in the studio helps to evoke the place they came from, and helps me to further understand the relationships and conversations between me, as the artist, and the natural world. The forms of these objects, the mystery of their existence and their constant transformation inspires me to depict them as ambiguous forms in landscapes, creating abstract impressions more than a realistic representation. The mysterious nature of the work often feels quite spiritual, as these natural objects become the focus, and capture a certain elemental power. Like a Shaman, I seek to make relations with Nature’s objects and places, creating narratives and understanding the dialogue between the artist and the landscape, Man and Nature.
73
06/06/2018 10:24
REBECC A OVENDEN 74
catalogue 74-75
I’m thinking about place. What is it? Where is it? Who made it? A place can be built, and encountered. Just like one can encounter any architectural space. But can place be represented and recreated, along with the ideals of its creation, using material and form? The remaining traces of post-war architecture within the city are the focal point of my work, specifically their material quality, and the way in which many of these places have been left damaged or in a state of disrepair. The relationship of ideas to the material world in which they exist is something I constantly consider, always noticing any slight disruption to the form and functionality of these modernist structures. Cracked concrete, a broken fluorescent light, iron railings bent out of shape – they speak of the decline of these public spaces, which are no longer a part of the futuristic vision of the city or the utopian ideals in which their construction was rooted. Using industrial materials, and the technicalities of architectural model making, I create sculptural responses to these often forgotten places.
75
06/06/2018 10:24
A N D R E W PA R R 76
catalogue 76-77
Over the duration of this past year, I have built a small-scale amusement park under the name of Vibrantville. This is comprised of several miniature attractions that are the results of the transformation of numerous found objects, ranging from vinyl record players to car steering wheels. Each of these attractions is populated with small paper action figures of individuals who I have photographed. Vibrantville references the play and invention seen in toys such as Lego, where mini-figures are placed within colourful custom-made architectural creations. Its attractions are also well equipped for being presentable both in the daylight and in the dark: they have led lights. Beyond that, there is a line being blurred between fiction and reality, where all of Vibrantville’s attractions are promoted through posters and social media as if they are not only part of an actual park, but have also been touring all over the world. Some of the locations for these imaginary venues have included the United States, Japan, Israel and Spain, and the United Kingdom.
77
06/06/2018 10:24
CRIS PEARSON 78
catalogue 78-79
天空埋葬 (Sky Burial) ‘A Tibetan funeral ritual involving the exposure of a dismembered corpse to sacred vultures.’
79
06/06/2018 10:24
ALEX PHILIP 80
catalogue 80-81
Within my practice, I attempt to explore the significance of truth, power, and knowledge within the current cultural climate. The work is realised through a live silent performance of repetitive procedures, resulting in pointlessly little change to an imagined institutional practice, often bordering on the surreal and resulting in total absurdity. These actions are performed by an anonymous character who, in order to undermine the complexities of language and comprehension, appears to be engaged in a futile attempt to solve a puzzle. In undoing this puzzle, the work positions itself as a critical analysis of the postmodern ideology; not simply accepting preconceived ideas developed from established hierarchies of knowledge. For in a world of fake news, how can you, they or I, know what to believe as a truth? These artworks examine how language is used to develop one’s knowledge, and exposes how it can corrupt, limit, or subvert truth in order to paradoxically conceal what is, in fact, true. This allows for a practice of manipulation through a misunderstanding of what is ultimately significant.
81
06/06/2018 10:24
AMELIA RADLEY 82
catalogue 82-83
Written and visual languages impose order. However, these orders are merely circumstantial. Language is a fragile and illogical construct, and so is bound to its subject by nothing more than cultural contract.
83
06/06/2018 10:24
C HLOE RANDALL 84
catalogue 84-85
Through my practice I examine abstract self-portraiture and its importance and significance in the evolution of the self-portrait, away from realism and figurative depiction; through the exploration of the inner self, identity and the body. My aim is to demonstrate how a piece of work that shows no physical resemblance to the artist conventionally, can in fact be a more accurate representation of them than anything figurative. That an artist can depict themselves in a multitude of ways; through their personality, their passions, their memories or feelings – even through the utilizing of their physical body as a media. Self-portraiture is an artist’s depiction of themselves, but the self is a very complex and profound thing.
85
06/06/2018 10:24
ELLEN RANSON 86
catalogue 86-87
I am interested in how different paintings are granted different levels of prominence and credibility within a gallery. Western gallery and museum spaces have been typically dominated with white male artists’ representations of the female figure. These works decorate both physical spaces and the art historical cannon as embodiments of fears and desires central to the patriarchy. Alongside this, LGBTQ+ and ethnic minorities, their images, which are elevated in history, become distorted through this very narrow perspective. This feeds the viewer stereotyped, disempowered and tokenised images of these ‘others’. Abstract Expressionism is emblematic of these issues, whereby female artists’ of the era were marginalised and disregarded, whilst male artists rose to prominence. This blueprint can be applicable to contemporary patriarchal power structures. Alongside formal explorations, my work aims to perform the arrogance and ego associated with the Abstract Expressionist male painter archetype. How do these historical issues filter into the contemporary gendering of abstract painters? This is the question I ask myself continuously when painting.
87
06/06/2018 10:25
CAROLINE REEVES 88
catalogue 88-89
89
06/06/2018 10:25
SHANNON RICHARDS
Can you just give us a brief outline of your practice, and what you’re exploring at the moment? What are you doing? Erm, the things that are kind of driving the work are stories, so that would be usually like folk tales and then also speculative fiction and things like that. And the sci-fi, kind of on the verge of horror.. more on the verge of horror. I really like the ideas of portals, and those places you can go through into those other dimensions are really interesting to me. And then the frogs. So I’m like the frog person now. People will spot a frog and be like “Shannon I saw a frog!”, and I’m just like “that’s great, erm thank you”. I really love them now, I can’t help it. They’re very abused creatures in books, so if you do something wrong you’re going to get turned into a frog, or a frog will be part of an ingredient for a potion, or it’s going to get thrown off a wall, or turned into a prince. I feel like I want to kind of explore that. I feel that they’re almost transformative. These are creatures that have potential to become something else, and that links back to the whole portal and inter-dimensional aspect. So with the frogs more specifically, what are you wanting to do with them? I have a plan to make a giant frog, bigger than this [gestures to clay frog on desk]. In terms of expenses I can’t make it the way I want to because its almost impossible to make something that big out of clay on the budget I’m on, and with the kiln that we have. Instead I’m working in animation and video. I’m planning on having a huge projected frog. In a way I kind of prefer that, a projection works as the portal in this case, it is a veil you won’t be able to touch. Tell us more about other dimensions, and aspects of speculative realism. Yeah, I feel like I want the work to create an atmosphere of a sort of ‘space in between’, where it’s not quite in limbo. It’s the idea of this unknown, an other place that can give a gut reaction. I don’t really know how to describe it, it’s not scary. It’s like when you think of the outer reaches of space, or when you look at the sky on one of those amazing dark nights, it’s somewhere in between empowering and fearing being insignificant.
90
catalogue 90-91
91
06/06/2018 10:25
C HARLOTTE RIC HARDSON 92
catalogue 92-93
I try to make my work as ambiguous as possible whilst still retaining a loose narrative structure. I want to invoke an emotion from the viewer, to remind the audience of something that may be unique to them. I am influenced by work that does the same for me. I try to portray a world of chaos and unfamiliarity, whilst still retaining some semblance of strong emotion. I try to do this through colour and dramatic lighting. Sometimes I try to do the opposite, to create something desolate. In a way, I am trying to portray the real world, sometimes acknowledging that the world can be confusing and scary and can make us feel alone. Fear is a strong emotion. It may create a sense of unfamiliarity, and it can in turn create a sense of wonder. Sometimes accepting that the world is strange and unusual can be an exciting thing, everything depends on perspective. I want to create an atmosphere through my work and the images that I produce. I want to invite a different array of perspectives and emotions, as that is what the world is: a collection of differing personas and opinions contrasting and clashing with each other. Colour and imagery invites a certain amount of abstract symbolism. Emotions are the driving force behind all of our decisions, conscious or not. Our actions may derive from our goals in life, or be connected to more immediate forms of gratification. I believe the world is an emotionally-driven place, and I think a lot of the time this is undervalued in visual culture. I’m interested in why something reminds us of a certain feeling, and in how this is unique and individual to each of us.
93
06/06/2018 10:25
IAN RODGERS 94
catalogue 94-95
Leaders of the free world. You are the difference. You can make a change, you can be the change, but you can’t have it all. You can only have some of it, until there is nothing left. Anger demands its place. Where do we stand? Where do I stand? It is funny though, you work at something for years, but once you have finished, you have only just begun. So you have to contemplate, if everything in the world was free what would make you rich? Is it a state of mind? Is it a sense of being?
95
06/06/2018 10:25
GRACE ROWE
I create the majority of my work through creative writing and poetry. I write from personal experiences and events which have taken place in my life, as well as experiences that people have told me about, or things that I have seen and heard while eavesdropping. My work explores declining romantic relationships, and how toxicity in these relationships can have an effect on mental health and self-esteem. I like to consider my work as an internal monologue that should not be shared with anyone. I treat my work as a public expression of my subconscious or a diary, as some of the things I say and present in my work I would perhaps not say or express in real life. A lot of my writing is typically self-loathing, but this juxtaposes with other pieces that are filled with anger and rage. I have written poems about everything from heartbreak, abusive and manipulative relationships, to the devastation of losing a long-term friend due to her taking her own life.
. .. . .. 3
96
catalogue 96-97
97
06/06/2018 10:25
DARRYN SHARPE
A repulsive gift, no, in doing so a phobic mechanism If such a vulgar breath was ever taken, it was taken in hypocritical abstinence of a rancid choke. A perpetual discord of harmonious memory,,,,, but she was awake through it all, or so she may profess,,,,, at least I think she was,,,,blllurrrry vision, doubled up with a culpability that even a god could not evoke. What was it that Julia said? I dunno but do I care not to care, I dare not, but I still can’t remember what she said, or rather, what I read. But mine is PINK I said “your problem with that” I doth proclaim. “for it is a gendered colour with a particular instigation” “but not like that of milk” I thought… “hmmmm” But it is with my sincerest apology that I must cast it out and purge, for there is something maternally uncertain on that which is called ‘abjection’. She said “does one write under any other condition than being possessed by abjection” I say “does one CREATE under any other condition than being possessed by abjection” (is that not just the same thing I wonder) “Catharsis” is that what she said or was it what I said? Out with it, out with the horror of being and be honest for once in your fucking life. They will look and they will stare, it’s the nature of such transgressions, but I was weak, a mute protest and the body did not fall beyond its limit. Just another failure. aaaahhhhhhHHHH she said “you’re at the border of your condition as a living being” “I still don’t get it” I said………………………..
98
catalogue 98-99
99
06/06/2018 10:25
LIZZIE SIMPSON 100
catalogue 100-101
My most recent films address gestural mark making and look at how this can be reimagined as a performance. Employing the immediacy of my own body lends itself to a more intuitive way of unmasking movement. My aim is to make films which express my emotions and intuitions, and I am interested in how these can be translated into a physical piece of visual art that engages the viewer. The journey of my artistic practice has not been coherent in the terms of underpinning themes, but rather draws on different cultural contexts, one of which is my Fijian heritage. In this way, a collage of different positions is being created through my practice.
101
06/06/2018 10:25
R O BY N S T E WA R T 102
catalogue 102-103
We exist in a time where technology allows us to frequently record sounds, archive them and then play them back at will. As a result, it is understandable that we can tend to forget that sounds exist because they are always being made. Voices are always voiced, creating sounds is an active force, they do not artlessly occur. So, what is sound? When asked to discuss sound, a listener habitually alternates between the sound’s content, its source or its meaning. Only through focusing our attention on the sonic characteristics of sound itself, and detaching it from its source or cause, can we say we have listened to sound as the object itself, and not as the vehicle for something else. Because we have established that sounds do not just occur, we can therefore deduct that sounds are produced or composed with an intent. Often a composer attaches coded language to the sound, which informs the listener of their intent. For example, if we listen to ‘music’ we expect to hear something pleasant, while with ‘noise’ we expect a disruption of signal. I have created a cacophony of sounds that hint at the sonic characteristics of ‘music’, ‘noise’ and ‘speech’ while remaining undefined to any one of them specifically. Through a disjointed, fragmented composition of sounds, I encourage the listener to take an active role in producing meaning, through the experience of listening. Operating within the individualistic, intangible and unknowable nature of both hearing and perception, I embrace the blurring lines between the listener, composer and producer.
103
06/06/2018 10:25
VA N E S S A S U D D I C K
What’s this? Pick an object Draw or write about the object. Story. Description. Memory. Script. Word association. Instructions. Poem. Song.
Haiku.
Put your responses in the middle of the space. Choose a drawing or text to respond to. Create a written or drawn response.
Object Feels Select an object Move away from other people and explore the objects potential Movement, Texture, Weight… How does it feel on your skin? What can you do without using your hands? How long can you do it? How fast can you do it? How slow can you do it? Roll. Push. Hang. Lift. Rub. Throw. Stamp. Drag. Tap. Blow. Pull. Squish. Chew. Scratch. Pick. Bounce. Rip. Choose something you have discovered Got it? Come together as a group Take turns to individually perform your action to completion… keep it going. Pass the object to someone else - receive a new object. Perform the same movement/sound etc. you just performed through the last object with the new object.
104
catalogue 104-105
105
06/06/2018 10:25
MEGAN SWINNEY 106
catalogue 106-107
I use photography to help document the world around me. I take pictures of the elements of life that people tend to overlook, and I capture obscurities in my day to draw confused viewers in. I am interested in familiar and unfamiliar sights. I aim to capture the calm elements in life, and by excluding people from my images I am left with quiet, serene landscapes. I vary between colourful shots and images with muted colours to portray the mood that was felt at the time of capturing the image. I am intrigued by the fleeting moments throughout our days that are lost to memory, or that our mind chooses to ignore. My work aims to enlighten and preserve a beauty in the mundane.
107
06/06/2018 10:25
KAT SYDDALL
I am for a pleasure That’s clean hot towels on Cold wet skin, That shoots downhill and makes Your stomach spin, A pleasure that’s button Pressing, Hair messing, Morning stretching... A pleasure that makes you feel. I am for a pleasure That’s the first spring flowers And The smell of wild garlic, That’s sand between toes and Illness departed, A pleasure that’s untouched Snow, Full moon glow, Bad dad jokes... A pleasure that makes you Remember. I am for a pleasure That’s catching a lover’s gaze Over Deep red wine, That whispers in your ear and Stimulates your mind, A pleasure that’s lip licking, Dick slipping, Skinny dipping... A pleasure that’s the perfect fit.
108
catalogue 108-109
I am for a pleasure That drives with windows down On Long summer evenings, That’s the cold side of the Pillow on Hot summer nights, A pleasure that’s spontaneous Adventure, Thirst quencher, Warm rain drencher... A pleasure that brings you to Life. I am for a pleasure That sings in the shower when No one is home, That’s crisp, frosty mornings Which Stimulate your bones, A pleasure that’s good hair Days, Clear airways, Sunday morning haze... A pleasure to be felt by all, Like the comfort of climbing into Your own bed The smell of fresh strawberries Or A baby’s head The first sip of coffee and Skies clear blue. I live for a pleasure that is real, That is true.
109
06/06/2018 10:25
SHANNON SYMONDS
doing noun: the activities in which a particular person engages. “the latest doings of television stars” synonyms: performance, performing, carrying out, effecting, execution, implementation, implementing, bringing off, discharge, discharging, achievement, accomplishment, realization, completion, completing action noun: the fact or process of doing something, typically to achieve an aim. “ending child labour will require action on many levels” synonyms: steps, measures, activity, movement, work, working, effort, exertion, operation space noun: a continuous area or expanse which is free, available, or unoccupied. “a table took up much of the space” synonyms: room, expanse, extent, capacity, area, volume, spaciousness, scope, latitude, expansion, margin, leeway, play, clearance movement noun: an act of moving. “a slight movement of the body” synonyms: motion, move, manoeuvre body noun: the physical structure, including the bones, flesh, and organs, of a person or an animal. “it’s important to keep your body in good condition” synonyms: anatomy, figure, frame, form, shape, build, physique, framework, skeleton, bones, flesh and bones explore verb: travel through (an unfamiliar area) in order to learn about it. “he explored the Fontainebleau forest” synonyms: travel over, tour, traverse, range over surface noun: the outside part or uppermost layer of something. “the earth’s surface” synonyms: outside, exterior
110
catalogue 110-111
111
06/06/2018 10:25
ROISIN TASKER 112
catalogue 112-113
My work captures, through photography, the banal and mundane elements of my own personal daily encounters and surroundings. I attempt to convey these in ways that are intriguing and aesthetically appealing to the viewers. My photography predominantly consists of images captured within a specific moment or time frame, documenting ever-changing elements within my own environment such as light and shadow. In presenting the works I’m interested in creating an environment in which a multitude of varied scales of photograph, as well as unconventional placements and position and move the viewer within and around a space.
113
06/06/2018 10:25
C ATHERINE THOMPSON 114
catalogue 114-115
My practice explores boundaries between painting and sculpture, inspired by my interest in heterotopian concepts. Where various realities co-exist within one space, allowing viewers to inhabit the same space as the art and conceptual space. As conventional boundaries dissolve, my work becomes more inviting: revealing hidden details and allowing different interactions as a viewer moves around the spaces the works inhabit. There is also an influence of architecture and monuments. The pieces take on new structural forms that might mimic traditional movements, yet they are more quirky, inventive, and playful through their materials and construction. My works are hybrid forms that hang in the balance between old and new. The materials I use transform into intricate structures that take on precarious forms. The lightweight and flexible qualities of paper make my works seem like they could float away or collapse. At times the paper can support its own weight, and its ripples and marks reveal actions done to it, and at other times it collapses. The work is always gradually changing. I have taken inspiration from artists Katarina Grosse, Robert Rauschenberg and Angela De La Cruz, amongst others. They each alter the boundaries between mediums, creating cross-overs in various ways. These range from small assemblage art to large, site-specific installations. A thesis by Rosalind Krauss titled The Expanded Field of Sculpture (1979), has been pivotal in my research. It has allowed me to consider alternative ways in which to examine objects and how these may be termed, if at all. Though it focuses on the variations of sculpture, similar theories revolve around painting, and these are what I am currently exploring.
115
06/06/2018 10:25
AMELIA WILLOWS 116
catalogue 116-117
I love imperfection. I work with photography and I am passionate about people. I use the camera to express the people around me in the most raw and genuine way that I can. My subjects may be strangers on the street, a friend, or a close loved one. In all cases I want to capture an essence of a person, and a moment in time. The outcomes of my works are largely left to chance. I like to think of the camera as an extension of myself, and for the photographs I produce to be like a glace, a fleeting moment, an evanescent memory.
117
06/06/2018 10:25
EMMA WILSON What do you think makes an experience? Think of a memorable moment; why was it memorable? I can remember the exact moment this photograph was taken. There were four of us stood in a field in the middle of nowhere. It was bitterly cold. I’ve never been on a walk where quite as many things went wrong, but I can tell you with certainty now, it was my favourite walk of all time. There’s something about banding together, the sense of unity that ensues when you don’t really have a clue where you are. It brought us closer, made us laugh and kept us on our toes (apart from when we fell over, which was often). I will think about the events of this walk for years to come, I hope I don’t forget a second of it. These are my experiences. I want to share with you the happiness I felt in these moments, the worries and stresses that melted away. The contentment that a really good day can bring. But I can only give you a photograph, a small snapshot, a fragment of my life.
118
catalogue 118-119
119
06/06/2018 10:25
BETH JUANITA YOUN G 120
catalogue 120-121
fine art noun: creative art, especially visual art whose products are to be appreciated primarily or solely for their imaginative, aesthetic, or intellectual content. “the convergence of popular culture and fine art” craft noun: an activity involving skill in making things by hand. “the craft of cobbling” synonyms: activity, pursuit, occupation, work, line, line of work, profession, job, business, line of business, trade, employment, position, post, situation, career, métier, vocation, calling, skill, field, province, walk of life kitsch noun: art, objects, or design considered to be in poor taste because of excessive garishness or sentimentality, but sometimes appreciated in an ironic or knowing way. “the lava lamp is a bizarre example of sixties kitsch”
What transforms craft into art? This is the primary question that forms my practice. Using predominantly domestic craft materials I examine the effects, qualities and value of craft in contemporary art practice through experimentation of technique and materials, with underlying ideas of interaction and gender. As the materials I use are traditionally domestic, the context surrounding my work is also domestic – I draw inspiration from household items, interaction and the female domestic lifestyle, using them in my work where possible. I am also very interested in ideas of communication and habitation, which is reflected through my practice in my soft sculpture pieces. I chose to make soft sculpture pieces as the idea of ‘kitsch’ and the uncanny plays a role in my work, making something that’s familiar but changing it just enough so something about it confronts the viewer: whether that be colour, scale, texture, material or placement.
121
06/06/2018 10:26
CONTEMPORARY ART
GUEST LECTURE
122
catalogue 122-123
123
06/06/2018 10:26
2017/2018
2016/2017
2015/2016
Iris Priest Jo Coupe Rosie Morris Judy Thomas Katie Cuddon Alex Charrington Ed Carter Flora Whitely Kirsty Hendry Maggie Roberts Taryn Edmonds Susie Green Paul Stewart Laura Bygrave Paul Moss Joy Labinjo Ilana Mitchell John Lawrence Serena Korda Sarah Jury
Caroline Achaintre Mathew Parkin Stuart Tait Toby Lloyd and Andrew Wilson Hardeep Pandahal Dawn Mellor Corin Sworn Brighid Lowe Hannah Sawtell Reuban Henry John Court Kayt Hughes Lauren Gault Toby Paterson Thomas Whittle Katie Schwab Giles Bailey Dennis McNulty Joey Holder Kate Liston Sophie Michael Alice Theobald Luke McCreadie Kathryn Elkin
Laurence Kavanagh Louise Wilson Kate V Robertson Ross Frew Stephen Sutcliffe JĂśrn Ebner Jess Weisner Alice Browne Sue Tompkins Jesse Jones Bedwyr Williams Elinor Morgan Michael Mulvihill Dawn Mellor Rachel Adams Mark Peter Wright Zoe Walker and Neil Bromwich Clunie Reid Katrina Palmer Matthew Jarrett Sarah Munro
The CAGL programme provides students with an insight into the contemporary art world outside of university by giving students the opportunity to hear practicing artists talk about their work and experience. Students are visited by close to seventy artists, curators and creative practitioners over the three years as an undergraduate, each offering a unique and valuable perspective on art practice. Alongside lectures, visiting artists often offer one-on-one tutorials or workshops in smaller groups, which enables students to directly interact and gain a deeper understanding of an artist’s practice in relation to their own.
124
catalogue 124-125
125
06/06/2018 10:26
CAGL Extras: The Incomplete Toby Unofficial Lloyd Autobiography Toby Lloyd met with Vanessa Suddick to discuss social practices and working within the community. Reflecting on his own projects, this text is a generous retrospective on how he approaches working with people and how social structures and activities manifest into a practice.
Andrew1 and I wouldn’t consider ourselves as socially engaged artists necessarily in regards to the artist house project in Leeds. Although some of our works might fit into that bracket. We definitely didn’t see Art House 452 in terms of community arts project, so in terms of; did we feel like we wanted more recognition? not at all. For us it was just a real privilege to be able to live in a different area, in that house and have the time to spend, not just on ourselves, figuring out what we wanted to do and developing our practice with different ways of working. We didn’t run up and down the street telling everyone we’re artists and we didn’t hide the fact we were doing a residency but we treated the situation differently because this is where we lived. We did a lot of volunteering partly because it was a way to meet people and we enjoyed hanging out with them. It was also a good way to find out about the area we’re living in. So, it’s interesting, because I guess I don’t know if we’ve really unpacked everything that happened. A lot of the things that we were doing there, say if we were doing a litter pick or if we went to the working men’s club and just hung out with the people there and had a drink, were those different actions ‘an art’? Is it ‘an art’? Is doing a newspaper article ‘an art’? Or going to a council meeting? I would say that none of those things were art, but as an overarching situation we’re in, we could potentially say, yes. 1 Toby Lloyd and Andrew Wilson work collaboratively as Lloyd & Wilson 2 Artist House 45 is a live/work artist residency instigated by East Street Arts. Lloyd & Wilson were the first artists to live in the house and were in residence for 2 and a half years
126
catalogue 126-127
127
06/06/2018 10:26
You could frame it in a similar way to asking if wrestling is real or fake. In a BBC documentary, Max Crabtree explains that: “For those people who like professional wrestling no explanation’s needed. For those who don’t like it, any explanation would not be acceptable.”3
I guess we both tried to go into the residency without any preconceived conceptions for what would happen. I remember in our interview, East Street Arts asked us, “What would you do if you got the residency?” and we said we won’t tell you. We’d rather get there and then respond appropriately.
Over the course of the residency we developed a series of drawings which we called ‘incomplete diagrams’. These were published in a local newspaper, South Leeds Life, under the title Trajectory of the Everyday. The first one we did was for a publication that came out a month before the 2015 general election.4 A friend of ours who was putting it together asked us to write an essay for it. We saw some of the other people writing essays, and thought there was no way we could write something as good as that, so we decided to play to our strengths. We’re artists; let’s make an artwork to go in there. So, we’d both been doing a lot of reading to figure out what we wanted to say. We got all the quotes out and said “let’s arrange them in like a kind of constellation around some images.” The idea being that someone could read the piece on their own instead of like an essay where there are the beginnings and then the conclusion. Depending on which direction you start, you’re going to get different juxtapositions and new meanings because you’re bringing your own thing to it.
Andrew and I like working together because it was a way of bouncing ideas off each other and creating a dialogue. The incomplete diagrams are created as a conversation between the two of us, and hopefully this process continues when you look at it. We really enjoyed that conversation, of bringing stuff to the table and sharing ideas. This really helped during the residency as we were able to support one another. If you move to a new city to undertake a long term artist residency on your own, you are putting yourself in a vulnerable position. Doing it together and having a strong friendship helped us get through difficulty times, even if it was, at the end of the day going for a drink or watching a film.
Interview with Toby Lloyd by Vanessa Suddick Edited by Ed Lawrenson and Toby Lloyd
I have always thought of art as a way of communicating regardless of what you do. It’s almost like a method. I remember going to a lecture by one of the members of Assemble5 and someone asked him “Are you and artist or an architect?” His response was something along the lines of, “Architecture has to follow certain rules, like will it stand up and not collapse. Art doesn’t have to follow the same rules, so I have more freedom if I call it art.”
3 Max Crabtree, When Wrestling Was Golden: Grapples, Grunts and Grannies (2012) 4 28 Days Journal, http://lloyd-wilson.co.uk/html/incomplete_diagram.html 5 Assemble are the architecture studio that won the Turner Prize in 2015
128
catalogue 128-129
Trajectory was originally published in South Leeds Life.
129
06/06/2018 10:26
GSN The Graduate Studio Northumbria (GSN) is a creative contemporary programme. As a platform for selected Northumbria University graduates, who studied on a course within Arts, Design & Social Sciences, it offers generous open plan studio space for residents to continue developing & furthering their practice. This wonderful opportunity allows full access to Northumbria’s diverse facilities, ultimately enhancing the one or two year residency. Encouraged to independently activate external contacts, GSN provides the perfect base for inviting and meeting new people in the art community, Newcastle and beyond........Through artist led initiatives multiple exciting trajectories within GSN are explored externally in exhibitions, workshops, projects and discussions. GSN is a space for ambition, experimentation and creative development. It values the importance of artistic momentum post graduation and most certainly has one of the best views of Newcastle City Centre!
GSN 2017/18 Residents: Jawbone Jawbone Grace Denton Cameron Craggs
Rebecca Gavigan
Jill Chambers
Collaborative practice Jawbone Jawbone have been based in GSN for two years. They will be showing in Fully Awake at The Royal College Dyson Gallery in September 2018, and are currently shortlisted for the Open Contemporary Young Artist Award 2018 at The Biscuit Factory in Newcastle. In February this year they were in residence at Catalyst Arts in Belfast working with a 25 year archive for an exhibition titled Now Another Procedure Is To Run. They recently participated in ‘MLK1967’ an intervention produced by Jeremy Deller and Wunderbar to mark the fifty year anniversary of Martin Luther King’s final public speech outside of the US. On the 13th November 2017, fifty years to the day, individuals recited parts of the speech around Newcastle. This project was part of Freedom City 2017. www.jawbonejawbone.com Grace Denton recently participated in an exchange between The Newbridge Project in Newcastle & The Royal Standard in Liverpool. The resulting two exhibitions in April 2018 were titled Six of one Half a Dozen of the Other’. In October 2017 Grace curated a screening of artist moving image work titled, Something Good at an Outpost offsite event in Norwich. www.gracedenton.co.uk Cameron Craggs is an independent RTS-Nominated filmmaker developing a slate of self-directed projects including,Theo W.Scotts Kafka-esque melodrama featuring conjoined Twins; an artistic placement in Sicily with CCT and Newcastle based modest fashion-ware brand promo. A.K.A CraggsOnCamera. www.cameroncraggs.co.uk
William Pym Hayley Myers Cat Auburn Donna Launder 130
catalogue 130-131
Rebecca Gavigan has been a GSN resident for two years. An upcoming show at System Gallery in October 2018 will be in collaboration with Northumbria Print Fellow Rebecca Eelbeck. The work presented will be informed by their current investigation into landscape and territories.
Gethin Wyn Jones 131
06/06/2018 10:26
INSIDE THE WORKSHOPS
I really enjoy seeing the final show, without a doubt. Like I say, when everybody passes it means I’m doing my job properly. I do try and push people to pick up on odds and ends too, like if there’s a welding set in there you could use for the sake of an hour. Just try and get everything you can out of it, I’ve learned that. When I came for this job I had a good CV, and
Keith Ellison reflects on his role as a woodwork technician for the Fine Art
I’d worked with young people, I’d trained people, I was a machinist and a
programme.
joiner, and it was all more lines on your CV.’
‘I applied for the job here because the guy who worked here before me had
Interview with Keith Ellison
said “would you not fancy doing this?” At the time, I worked for Rolls Royce
Edited by Pippa McCollom
and I used to train the apprentices so it seemed like a good idea to apply for this job. They wanted somebody fairly quickly so I applied for it. Luckily for me, I had just acquired a few certificates for things such as working with younger people. I had never worked in art before, but I’d worked with people. I was a good ‘people-person’. I feel much more involved with art now, without a doubt. Even though I can’t do anything. Different people come with different ideas, and I can build anything with wood. That’s what we do, and I like the challenge. It’s good in here when you see people come in and they’ve never used a hammer or a saw before, and by the end of the three years basically everything in that room, they’ve done. Every now and again you get challenged, like I say I make everything with wood, and people are told that, so it’s nice when you take on a big project and everything comes together. It’s nice when you see it at the end of the show, and it’s nice when people get a First and you’ve helped with that. So basically with an unusual idea, people will come to me, and then we’ll do that. I’ve had people come in here and I think “I’ll never be able to do that”. Somebody once asked me to make a chess set out of wood. It’s very rare that a job comes in that you get beaten by, but I like the challenge as well as the students. You should see some of the stuff that the first year students have done upstairs.
132
catalogue 132-133
133
06/06/2018 10:26
EXHIBITIONS / PROJECTS
134
catalogue 134-135
135
06/06/2018 10:26
Undoing Internal/External Hemeralopia Humdrum Gallery North Project Space “And one I made earlier...” Mnemonic Interlude Research Lab Fine Art Project Week 2018 The Bunker https:// RED “Ladies and Gentlemen” Art Drive Auction ARTLOGUE Featherstone Castle PARLEY Great Exhibition of the North
136
catalogue 136-137
137
06/06/2018 10:26
SECOND YEAR EXHIBITIONS In the second year of the course, a series of student-led group exhibitions run alongside the thematic seminar programme. They use the MIT Whitechapel Documents of Contemporary Art books, including: Utopias, The Everyday, Appropriation, Ruins, and Participation. The reading and discussion within seminars acts as a catalyst within the exhibitions, for new ideas within individual practices, and as a tool to allow the group to locate their practices collectively. This is largely the first opportunity students have to devise, curate, and show work in an exhibition context, and is an experience which really pushes everyone to think critically about their work in a gallery context, and in relation to professional standards.
Ruins: Undoing Participation: Internal:External Utopias: Hemeralopia The Everyday: Humdrum Appropriation: Them/Us
138
catalogue 138-139
139
06/06/2018 10:26
140
catalogue 140-141
141
06/06/2018 10:26
142
catalogue 142-143
143
06/06/2018 10:26
144
catalogue 144-145
145
06/06/2018 10:26
WHAT IS INTERLUDE? “An intervening period of time; an interval.� Interlude is a student-led platform that hosts screenings, readings and performance workshops. Over the last two years, we have had the pleasure of working with a variety of artists that work within the performance spectrum. Our group has consisted of students from BA and MFA Fine Art, along with students from Drama and Animation. Together, these workshops have provided a middle ground for professionals and students to work as peers. Each artist has brought something new to the table, allowing all participants to bring the teachings and techniques back into their own practices. Interlude would like to thank the following artists for their time and enthusiasm: Sandra Johnston, Liz Pavey, Giles Bailey, Jamie Harper, Nicola Singh, Victoria Grey, Laurel Jay Carpenter and Heather Reid. Interlude has been developed and co-ordinated by Georgia Bates. https://www.facebook.com/Interlude.Northumbria/
Clara Nathan, Georgia Bates, Ed Lawrenson, Edyta Czarnecka and Ashley Dixon, Workshop by Giles Bailey, Photo by Georgia Bates, Northumbria University, 2017.
146
catalogue 146-147
147
06/06/2018 10:26
THE RE-SEARCH LAB The RE-SEARCH LAB presents occasional opportunities, led by PGR students, for individual and group enquiries into making and thinking. These opportunities happen in the form of experimental workshops, critiques and discussions. Open to students across year groups and departments, The RESEARCH LAB promotes curiosity and research-rich experimentation with both materials and ideas. THE RE-SEARCH LAB has been developed and co-ordinated by Sue Spark.
Kat Syddall and Georgia Bates, Workshop by Laurel Jay Carpenter, Photos by Malachi Asres, Northumbria University, 2018.
148
catalogue 148-149
149
06/06/2018 10:26
FINE ART PROJECT WEEK /2017-18 Manifesto 1: Ecologies of Togetherness was a programme of workshops that brought together undergraduate students, PHD artists and Fine Art Lecturers into shared points of action around critical and timely areas of contemporary fine arts practice and wider cultural thinking, re-thinking, and co-thinking humanities. It explored tendencies towards collective and collaborative togetherness, and ecologies of learning generated through a working-withand-through materials and bodies. Workshops: Cellular Relations: Re-Considering the (Cellular) Body (Louise Mackenzie) Working with Galleries (Paul Moss) Crazy in Love: curating as a creative practice (Gayle Meikle) Object Vocabulary (Kat Syddall) Community Organisations, Grassroots set-ups and DIY Programming: Tour and workshop at Star and Shadow Cinema (Adam Phillips) Thinking with Water through Felt (Laura Harrington) Friendship as a Way of Life (James Bell) Public Space (Robyn Benham) Conversations around Film (Clara Nathan) Interlude: Performance in Conversation (Georgia Bates) Social Installation (Vanessa Suddick) Contributors: Louise Mackenzie, PHD Fine Art, Paul Moss, Workplace Gallery , Gayle Meikle, PHD Fine Art , Kat Syddall, BA Fine Art , Adam Phillips, Lecturer Fine Art , Laura Harrington, PHD Fine Art , James Bell, PHD Visual Cultures , Clara Nathan, BA Fine Art, Robyn Benham, BA Fine Art , Georgia Bates, BA Fine Art , Vanessa Suddick, BA Fine Art Fine Art Project Week / 2017-18: Ecologies of Togetherness was devised and co-ordinated by Charles Danby. Poster Image: Jade Booth-Malone and Harvey Waters, Installation view of Meditation, 2018, Northumbria University Fine Art SQ203 Project Space
150
catalogue 150-151
151
06/06/2018 10:26
THE BUNKER The Bunker is a collective formed by Katie Bell, Olivia Chakraborty, Sophie Crocker, Charlie Dimbleby-Meakin and Ed Lawrenson in response to ‘A Seat at the Table’, an exhibition curated by PhD student, Gayle Meikle. Over eight broadcasts, from Gallery North, The Bunker discussed and gathered research on authorship, ownership, locality, pedagogies and friendship, all through the lens of undergraduate fine art students. The group came together with a joint interest in institutional structures and the challenges and opportunities they present to the student body.
TRANSCRIPT FROM THE BUNKER Gayle
Just coming from my own experience as a curator, like the way that I work with artists is like I invite them to do something and we begin a conversation so like that thing y’know like when you guys leave university you’re obviously gunna be...[pause]..do your own practice, do your own stuff with your peers, you’re gunna make stuff happen but ultimately you also wanna engage with like, public institutions-
The Bunker
mhmm
Gayle
[continuing] other curators, erm..councils, y’know like whatever-
Sophie
yeah
Gayle
so like, just having that experience of working with other people I think-
Sophie
[interrupting] yeah, its-
Gayle
[continuing] is of value as well.
Sophie
Yeah, I think this has been a really useful experience like learning how to engage with those institutions or people..erm it’s so [pause] and also…to erm, kind of…learn, I think like learning by doing not just learning by reading or learning by listening, learning by doing so like, the challenges that can be presented by putting on a work. So like, for example the challenge that you’ve had about getting funding for this show, it’s quite good for us to kind of see that
Olivia
yeah, definitely
Sophie
and I think that you can use the gallery as a tool for learning by doing, more about how things happen.
goo.gl/u83zv7
Extract taken from the transcripts of a series of podcasts presented and broadcast live in the exhibition, A Seat at the Table, Gallery North, 2018, curated by Gayle Meikle.
152
catalogue 152-153
153
06/06/2018 10:27
154
catalogue 154-155
155
06/06/2018 10:27
156
catalogue 156-157
157
06/06/2018 10:27
WHAT IS ARTLOGUE? ARTLOGUE is a collective which was created to provide a platform for artists to facilitate workshops / activities / events under an umbrella name. This name promotes non-hierarchical and collaborative experiences between artists, the public, communities and other artists. ARTLOGUE projects have varied considerably, from workshops within Northumbria University, to public community engaged projects outside of the institution. Examples of these projects include; Conny Contemporary Art Festival (July, 2017), ARTLOGUE Workshop and exhibitions: IT’S Series (October, 2017 - January, 2018), HERE’S WHAT’S IT’S Exhibition (January, 2018), The Cable Reel Project (July – November, 2017) and most recently the Stuff We Could Do Together Series (February 2018 – Present). To accompany these workshops / activities / events, an online Facebook group was created. This group allows exploration of art as a social and relational tool. It is a space in which the public are encouraged to discuss their own interests (art or non-art related) with others. As well as this, it is used as a space to share upcoming opportunities for people to get involved with, and includes documentation of previous ARTLOGUE community and socially engaged projects.
ARTLOGUE has been developed and co-ordinated by Vanessa Suddick. www.facebook.com/groups/artlogue
158
catalogue 158-159
159
06/06/2018 10:27
FEATHERSTONE CASTLE RE:CREATION, a weekend residential, challenges how we learn when approached by different environments. Working collectively in workshops that use creative processes and experimentation, the aim of the residential is to share knowledge, research and practice, whilst chipping in and being part of a community. For two years, RE:CREATION has been held at Featherstone Castle in Northumberland, a place that offers great encounters in an historical landscape, that can inspire any artist, at any stage of their career. FRIDAY 14.45 Depart Northumbria 17.00 - 17.30 Orientation and welcome 17.30 - 20.00 Derive 20.00 - 21.00 Evening Meal 21.00 Story telling with Sara Riseborough SATURDAY 07.30 - 9.30 07.30 - 10.15 10.30 - 12.30 12.30 - 14.00 14.00 - 16.00 16.00 - 18.00 19.30 - 21.00 21.00 - 22.30
Breakfast Personal response time Presentations Lunch d.i.n.e activity Workshop with Christine Egan Fowler Burns Supper Evening activities
SUNDAY 07.30 - 9.30 Breakfast 07.30 - 10.15 Personal response time 09.15 - 09.45 Relaxation with Lesley Twomey 10.00 - 11.00 Workshop with Julie Livesey 11.00 - 11.45 Closing session 11.45 - 18.00 Prepare to leave 12.00 Depart 13.00 Arrive at Northumbria RE-CREATION at Featherstone Castle has been developed and co-ordinated by Judy Thomas. 160
catalogue 160-161
161
06/06/2018 10:27
162
catalogue 162-163
163
06/06/2018 10:27
164
catalogue 164-165
165
06/06/2018 10:27
166
catalogue 166-167
167
06/06/2018 10:27
GetNorth2018.com @GetNorth2018 Great Exhibition of the North receives funding from a variety of sources including public and private sector. Visit the website for details. 168
catalogue 168-169
169
06/06/2018 10:27
CREATIVE ART WRITIN G
170
catalogue 170-171
171
06/06/2018 10:27
Notebook Entry #3 Osmotherly. 27-01-18 ‘I am out of breath, I’ve just climbed quickly up the hill. I was adrenaline fuelled and the ascent didn’t really bother me, I felt alive in my eagerness to reach the top. There is a bench at the top of the hill. This is where I am sat now, it gives me a chance to catch my breath – writing this gives me a reason to sit down. I have come alone, there is no one else around me to disturb the stillness of the day. My legs hurt, I’m hot with the exertion. This doesn’t especially bother me, it’s a kind of satisfying reminder of my achievement. It feels nice to pause for a second. I am calm now; my breath has returned to normal and as I sit still the cold is beginning to creep back into my body. I didn’t notice the wind rushing across my hand and up my sleeve - I feel it now. It’s tickling at my neck and sending shivers down my spine. It’s not so bitter that it urges me into motion again, just a gentle reminder that it’s there. As it rustles in the trees behind me, I am becoming more and more aware of its presence, it is like its calling to me, softly trying to get my attention. It is somehow calming.’
Emma Wilson
172
catalogue 172-173
173
06/06/2018 10:27
UN-EARTH
174
catalogue 174-175
The landscape is a surface for our journeys, recording the passage of our existence. Every footprint, could last for seconds or centuries. There are ancient histories beneath our feet, the traces of our ancestors. We are connected to nature, our past and futures intertwine. There is so much of nature in human, so much of human in nature. Breathing, moving, growing, feeding. Healing, transforming, protecting, producing. Art is a language, and nature is a language. The artist creates the dialogue. A crossing of thresholds, senses, elements.
For the artist, a landscape is an outdoor studio scattered with tools, materials, textures. Objects, washed up, buried or abandoned, interest the artist with their mysterious past. We collect them, treasure them. We value them. They become artefacts, relics of our experience. The artist can create new layers to a landscape, portals into another dimension. Responding to the environment and all its energies. Feeding from the histories, cultures, stories of past and present. The artist who works with nature’s material is a Shaman, the art is their ritual.
Becky Norrington
175
06/06/2018 10:27
That upside down - feeling. I’m lying on my bed, Head hanging off the side, Thinking. All the blood in my body rushes to my head, My vision begins to blur, My head starts pounding, My hair hangs down to the ground. Red faced, The pressure builds. I should get up, But I just hang there, Dazed, So unmotivated I can’t lift myself up, And it starts to hurt. My back aches, My head feels heavy, My eyes are red and tired. This feeling doesn’t go away. Stood up straight I still feel the pressure, The tiredness. My world is blurred. I’m the right way up with that upside-down feeling.
176
catalogue 176-177
Katie Brown 177
06/06/2018 10:27
Crunch
Ambleside
Whack Wallop Wham
I thought of you, from time to time, In passing days and nostalgic ways.
Thud Thump Thwack Squelch Squish Splat Croak Crunch.
Reminiscent of previous shared affection, dying to rekindle our out of touch connection. And in Ambleside you were left to hang. Isolated and indifferent. No memory of your warm touch, or captivating smile. Only thoughts of your cold body and lifeless aura.
Shannon Richards
178
catalogue 178-179
Grace Rowe
179
06/06/2018 10:27
My Choice, Your Choice Well I understand it’s my choice. My choice is different to your choice. But your choice sees what my choice sees. Maybe your choice saw it from the wrong angle.
180
catalogue 180-181
What if I turn my choice upside down. Will my choice still be funny. Your choice is laughing and so is mine. My choice feels sick. I think I should put my choice first again.
Are you sure your choice is the right way up? Maybe it fell over and can only see from one view point. I don’t want to interfere it’s your choice.
Your choice still laughs. I understand that’s your choice.
My choice is concerned. Maybe I could help your choice.
It’s also my choice not to laugh back. My choice doesn’t laugh no more.
Together? No.
But that’s your choice. And this is my choice.
Funny your choice laughs at my choice. I laugh too because let’s face it it’s only my choice. My choice is laughable but it is my choice.
Georgia Bates
181
06/06/2018 10:27
THE BISCUIT CORNER I don’t know why
One likes to find where the noise is hiding
I don’t know why
Another searches shuffling for the other
I don’t know why
And I know you thought I’d forget
I don’t quite like outside
The taste, the taste of
The biscuit corner
The biscuit corner
The people outside
But when it becomes lower
The people outside
The way you string together
The people outside
I nearly go to wander
Don’t want to be inside
Outside
The biscuit corner
The biscuit corner
They take different speeds
I don’t know why
They have different speech
I don’t know why
They aren’t like me
I don’t know why
Outside, outside
I don’t feel safe
The biscuit corner
Outside the biscuit corner
Robyn Benham
182
catalogue 182-183
183
06/06/2018 10:27
Three String Canyon Once upon a time, there were four small birds. The four birds came across a canyon with three strings stretching to the other side. Stood by the edge, was an eagle. The eagle turned to the four birds and said, “Each string can only hold the weight of one bird. The strings will snap once you get to the other side.” As the four birds debated what to do, the eagle flew away. After a couple of hours deciding who should be the one left behind, they came to a decision. Three of the birds tiptoed across the canyon strings while the fourth bird stood watching from the edge of the canyon. As his family disappeared into the horizon, he saw the canyon strings snap and fall limp. The fourth bird, now alone, was greeted by the eagle again. “That was very brave of you. You’ve come a long way to be denied the other side.” The eagle said, tucking the bird under his wing. “I shall teach you to fly.”
Ed Lawrenson
Amelia Radley
184
catalogue 184-185
185
06/06/2018 10:27
CRITICAL ART WRITING
186
catalogue 186-187
187
06/06/2018 10:27
The following words form collections of collective writings, on Social Practice, Land Art and Gender Now. Each is compiled from the essays written on the undergraduate programme. The paragraphs may not correlate to one another but they come with their own standpoints and the voices of those contributing individuals.
THE SOCIALLY ENGAGED “Public-orientated mix of performance, social sculpture, architecture, design, theory, theatre, and fun games.” - Saltz, J. (2008). Night at the Museum. New York Mag. Art as an experience through Social Practice is even more important today because of our disconnection with living, due to the surge in technological advances and the infiltration of social media. We are forgetting how to communicate person to person, and person to space, because our dialogue now comes through a screen. Social Practice brings us back to reality, waking us up from our robotic states, opening our eyes to the tragedies and enjoyments of life, like Kaprow said ‘art as life and life as art’. As a practicing artist within higher education I am excited in the term ‘Laboratory exhibitions’, for if art is not an experiment in some form or capacity, has it the energy to engage people on different social and political levels. Exhibitions, for me, are a form of play, investigation and experimentation for both artists and audience. In Ed Carter’s piece ~Flow (2012), he is experimenting with site, space and participation, and the audience are investigating histories, playing and forming questions of their surroundings. Many artists have used re-enactments within their artistic practices. By revisiting past traumatic events, an artist can facilitate a conversation between the past and the present, introducing this to a contemporary audience. These re-enactments can essentially help people to move on from a traumatic event or clarify what actually occurred during the original time in history, correcting false information. There are many reasons as to why an artist may decide to use re-enactment, or why they would choose particular re-enactments to look at as a basis for their work. This could be through personal experience or connection, or histories they are interested in or linked to in some way.
188
catalogue 188-189
189
06/06/2018 10:27
An experience can come from participating or viewing, but in each sense, the individual or group becomes a part of the work in some way. Through the direct use of ‘shock’ artists from Dada and Futurism were able to change the tradition of experiencing performance, to the dilution of shock to ‘uncomfortableness’ by Kaprow to alter the experience of participating. My spectrum for socially engaged art is linear, moving from participatory art to community art, with the level of the partakers’ collaboration being the variable factor determining where socially engaged practice is positioned between the two. Due to confusion with various contradicting terminology, it was difficult to decide if collaboration should be a separate category located between participatory art and community art. However, my definitions for participatory art and community art were the extremes of the categories to provide the poles for my spectrum, and in fact both categories can include the partakers as collaborators. Some participatory art can be approached in collaborative ways and not all community art is fully collaborative. Thus, a spectrum for socially engaged art is necessary, rather than providing categories to fit practices within.
The main advantage of socially engaged art is that it can be used as a catalyst for social change. In theory, if a project undertaken in a community can get a lot of publicity, then the issues being promoted in the work can be noticed and taken more seriously, possibly resulting in solutions that will benefit the community itself. The artist can help their chosen community to represent itself. I think, however, that this can only be an advantage if there is equal communication between the artist and the people involved, so that the communities can decide what the issues are that they want to change instead of the artist making these decisions for them and possibly getting them wrong.
Contributions by Georgia Bates, Katie Brown, Ed Lawrenson, Pippa McCollom and Vanessa Suddick. Edited by Ed Lawrenson
Claire Bishop, when talking about Rirkrit Tiravanija’s work, where he cooks meals for exhibition visitors, debates that the eroding lines between social and institutional spaces can sometimes not be as innocent as they may seem, as it isn’t enough to be completely exempt from the institution it resides. The Playground Project (2016), an archival piece that focuses on the evolution, or maybe revolution of playgrounds throughout the world, and investigates the ideas surrounding play and performative natures of human interaction. The visitors to this exhibition are, for the most part playing, but also learning, and exploring new ways in which to activate spaces within the gallery. Social Practice Art is a changing art form and is altering and moulding itself alongside the social and political changes in society. Socially engaged art, in the most basic sense, is about people. More often, it discusses social issues with the intention to change attitudes or stigma surrounding one particular focused issue. Why have critics felt the necessity to create new terms and continuously define types of socially engaged art? In simple terms, to better understand the approaches and intentions behind socially engaged art and attempt to determine whether an artist’s project is successful or unsuccessful. However, many critics do question this action, since a lot of socially engaged artists see the process equal to or more important than the creation of an art object, sometimes to comment on the capitalist art market. 190
catalogue 190-191
191
06/06/2018 10:27
TERRA In a time before Land Art existed as a notable concept, nature was thought of only as a backdrop or source of inspiration within paintings, and never to be considered as an art medium within its own right. However, for centuries there has been an appreciation of nature and of the tranquillity a landscape holds. We have always sought some comfort from nature that cannot be satisfied in the growing industrial world. Nature has always drawn us to it, touching our souls and influencing each of us. Our view of space has been limited, but with the curiosity and innovative of extraordinary creatives, our scope of how we see things has been widened and are more appreciative of the beauty of the aesthetics. Land Art is often seen as an extension to the first ideas of tranquillity, highlighting nature’s beauty and capturing it in a way that allows an audience to share the experience. From the beginning of the nineteenth century and to this day, Land Art has been about recording natural phenomena, and attempting to convey the sense of awe to a wider audience.
step on a long path towards deconstructing our gendered conceptions of the Earth, as well as the need for a greater appreciation for the landscape when used as a medium. Therefore, forming the opinion of female land artists differ and causes discussion about the way we should look at Land Art by that of both men and women. We see that women are linked to the earth in that of a separate way to men. For example, when we look at the productive and reproductive qualities of women and the environment, the immediate similarities are evident. Because we are seeing progression and innovation of making the world better and more communal for everyone, and that is something that I and many other are striving for. Some may disagree that the fact that art is one of the very few mediums that is able to serve a function and tell a story. The ability to make work that impacts change is something that many artists define as imperative within their practice and with this ever-changing climate turns to impacting current artists.
Contributions by Emma Wilson, Amanda Dodd, and Malachi Asres. Edited by Rebecca Ovenden.
By submerging themselves within the landscapes on their personal journeys, each artist in their individual way has developed an empathy for the land and for nature. Whether as an emotional bond or an inquisitive drive that manifests itself within. Terms for describing our landscape look for justification from when humanity began asserting its dominance over the Earth. For example, when large scale structures were constructed and were only accessible from aerial view, the normal ability to look upon the structures were already hindered, and so you begin to question why you are forced to view these structures in a specific way. The specific ways suggest the controlling aspects of male Land Art during the period of 1960s and 70s, and could metaphorically represent the ‘God-like’ nature of their actions. This period influenced many female artists today and opened up a discussion to how we understand female Land Art. The male dominance over the earth is an ideology that is arguably very present. Male land artists during this time period were seen trying to control and shape the land it into their own vision. The term ‘Mother Nature’, then, although arising from spiritually rich traditions, has come to represent a twinned exploitation of the earth and the female form. The need to retire such terminology would be an important 192
catalogue 192-193
193
06/06/2018 10:27
WHAT’S IN A GENDER? While Western culture still has remnants of its misogynistic past, society as a whole is much more accepting of female (and other) pleasures then it was fifty years ago; and I believe this to be a massive contributor to the rebalancing of gender politics that is currently taking place. Undoing centuries of patriarchal manipulation and suppression takes time. It is the efforts of many women (and some men) that are building this change, and while some of the issues still exist (over-sexualisation and objectification of the female body for example) the awareness of female desire and strength has been amplified. The gender-biased history of needlework is very relevant within the work of feminist artists because they use needlework to help convey their messages about gender and sexuality. Female artists, whether intentionally or not, add another dimension of meaning to their work by using needlework and embroidery because of its connotations and history. These artists show a respect and passion for the medium, as well as dealing with a subject matter which both compliments and contrasts with their materials. The subversion of needlework seems to be a common theme throughout feminist art, seeming to reject the ways in which the world of fine art has always been governed by men; they use a historically undermined medium to reclaim their own practice, and to prove that it is not just women’s work
‘The “male gaze” invokes the sexual politics of the gaze and suggests a sexualised way of looking that empowers men and objectifies women.’ (The conversation, 2016). This links the male gaze with the idea that the camera is the ‘metaphor of the eye,’ (Koch, 1985), a male eye. Having discussed the prominent male heterosexual gaze, it is understood that the camera has been used to promote an image of an ideal woman that is desirable to a male audience. Feminist artists have captured the female form from the perspective of the female. The female is no longer the object of the male gaze, successfully challenging the conventions that have been instilled into society by the media. This insight shows how feminist artists were removing the illusion that the only place for women was as a passive object presented through a male dominated medium. These works are made by women, of women and for women.
Contributions by Kat Syddall, Pippa McCollom, Jak Humes, and Clara Nathan. Edited by Beth Davidson and Rebecca Ovenden.
In the last decade the rights for same-sex couples have progressed exponentially. The legalization of same-sex marriage and adoption has been a huge success for both women and men in the LGBTQ+ community. Although social attitudes surrounding this can still be negative, it has been a huge step for gender politics as a whole, a sign that humans are finally moving away from the patriarchal expectations of men and women. It is clear that over the course of time from the 1970s to our contemporary world, the figure of the queer male body has been used countless times by the LGBTQ+ community to serve different functions, attempting to make social change through this use of the queer body. In contemporary society there is the potential for the queer male body to lose its significance it attained in the past because of the rise of aestheticism in the modern world. The body becomes aestheticized, something to be looked at and enjoyed, nothing more.
194
catalogue 194-195
195
06/06/2018 10:27
CONTACTS
196
catalogue 196-197
197
06/06/2018 10:27
Shamima Akhtar
Phoebe Boulton
shamimaa_akthar@hotmail.co.uk
phoebeboulton@hotmail.co.uk
07591752485
@feebeybee
Zainab Al Shabeeb
Katie Brown
zainabalshabeeb@gmail.com
katieelizabeth2710@hotmail.co.uk
07775535938
katieelizabethart.myportfolio.com
Sabriah Ameen-Ali
Emily Careless
sabriahameenali@gmail.com
emilycareless1995@gmail.com
@_sabriah
@e_milyjayne
Malachi Asres
Nicole Connoly
milkiasasres@yahoo.co.uk
nicoleconnolly123@icloud.com
@blackmalachite
@nickybvart_
Georgia Bates
Edyta Czarnecka
georgialeighbates@gmail.com
edyta.czarnecka@yahoo.co.uk
@patternedraindrop
07892690045
Robyn Benham
Beth Davidson
https://robynbenham.myportfolio.com
beth.davidson29@gmail.com
@with.red
@bethdavidson123
Rose Bibby
Amanda Dodd
rose_bibby@hotmail.com
amandadodd2@gmail.com @manadodd22
198
catalogue 198-199
199
06/06/2018 10:27
Jess Fletcher
Eoin Mackay
Clara Nathan
Amelia Radley
jessgfletcher@outlook.com
eoin.mackay1@gmail.com
claranathanart@gmail.com
millyradleyart@outlook.com
@jessart_18
https://eoinmackay1.wixsite.com/
@_claranat
@milly_radley
07585708862
eoinmackay Rebecca Norrington
Chloe Randall
Paige Fullterton
Ryan Magee
blnorrington@hotmail.co.uk
clobo22@live.co.uk
paigefullerton13@gmail.com
ryan-magee@hotmail.com
beckynorrington.co.uk
@chlorandart
@fullerton_photography
@beckynorringtonartist Adam Martin
Ellen Ranson
Lucy Gibbons
ajmartin95@googlemail.com
Rebecca Ovenden
ellen.ranson@yahoo.com
lucy_gibbons@live.co.uk
@addartin
rebeccalouiseovenden@gmail.com
@ellenranson
@rebeccaovy Rachel Hodgson
Pippa McCollom
rah.screenprinting@gmail.com
pippamccollom@hotmail.com
Andrew Parr
@rah.screenprinting
@pipdipkip
kritccing@gmail.com
Etsy Shop: PippaMcCollom
07557942386
Shannon Richards
@andrew_parr
shannon_richards26@hotmail.com
Jak Humes
Caroline Reeves
jakhumes@aol.com
James Mitchell
https://www.facebook.com/an-
@Jaxs_contemporary
wirenewcastle@outlook.com
drewlewisparroriginalart/
caroline.reeves@outlook.com
Charlotte Richardson charlotte4795@gmail.com
Jema Jae
Rachel Moody
Cris Pearson
jema.watling@gmail.com
rachelmoody95@gmail.com
pabloncl@outlook.com
Ian Rodgers
@jema_jae.jpeg
07703398644
@pablo_ncl
ianrodgers1@outlook.com 07714238602
Ed Lawrenson
Megan Morrison
Alex Phillip
e.lawrenson@hotmail.com
@megan_bananna
aphilip279@gmail.com
@edlawrenson
200
catalogue 200-201
201
06/06/2018 10:27
Grace Rowe
Shannon Symonds
@graceloisrowe
shannonmarie95@hotmail.co.uk 0779550974
Darryn Sharpe darryn.sharpe@hotmail.com
Roisin Tasker roisintasker@hotmail.co.uk
Lizzie Simpson
@roisintasker_photography
elizabethsimpson200@gmail.com @_lizziesimps
Catherine Thompson catherine-thompson79@hotmail.co.uk
Robyn Stewart
catherine.thompson1238
robyn.kelbie@outlook.com @robynstewartkelbie
Emma Wilson e_wilson97@yahoo.com
Vanessa Suddick
07792710378
vanessasuddick@hotmail.com
Pacesthroughplaces.wordpress.com
www.facebook.com/groups/ artlogue
Beth Juanita Young beth.juanita.young@outlook.com
Megan Swinney
@bethjuanitaxo
meganswinney@hotmail.co.uk
Kat Syddall kat.syddall@gmail.com @kat_syddall
202
catalogue 202-203
203
06/06/2018 10:27
THANKS
204
catalogue 204-205
205
06/06/2018 10:27
We would like to thank Academic Lecturers and Technicians: Jane Arnfield, Rupert Ashmore, Mike Booth, Sian Bowen, Kevin Burdon, Alfons Bytautus, Laurel-Jay Carpenter, Chun-Chao Chiu, Julie Crawshaw, Charles Danby, Chris Dorsett, Keith Ellison, Simon Gregory, Alex Harbord, Matthew Harle, Matthew Hearn, Paul Halliwell, Ysanne Holt, Victoria Horne, Allan Hughes, Angela Hughes, Mark Jackson, Kate Liston, Luke McCreadie, Keith McIntyre, Gayle Meikle, Tom O’Sullivan, Adam Phillips, Matthew Potter, Ginny Reed, Jason Revell, Sunghoon Son, Sue Spark, Joanne Tatham, Judy Thomas, Louise Wilson, Simon Walvin, Mick Wootton. All of northumbria staff in support and administration with special thanks to Lilian Armour, Laura Crammond and Margaret Raey. Thanks also to those involved in planning, organising and undertaking the Fine Art Auction, Artdrive. A special thanks goes to auctioneer Jim Railton. We would also like to extend our gratitude to the host of companies, galleries, artists, and venues that have supported us over the last three years. The advice and the opportunities you have given us have been integral to our development as emerging artists and we look forward to working with you in the future. With a particular thanks to: Ampersand Interventions Baltic and Baltic 39 B&D Studios Gallery North and Gallery North Project Space The Hancock Pub Hoults Yard Newbridge Project Space and Bookshop
Editors: Malachi Asres Katie Brown Beth Davidson Paige Fullerton Ed Lawrenson Pippa McCollom Rebecca Ovenden Beth Juanita Young Executive Editors: Charles Danby Allan Hughes Kate Liston Image credits: Š All rights reserved. All images are copyright and supplied courtesy of the artists listed (pp11 - pp122), all other images are as captioned. Published by the Fine Art Department, Northumbria University, 2018. No part of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted in any form without the permission of the publishers. Every effort has been made to trace copyright holders. We apologise for any inadvertent infringement and will rectify and omissions at earliest opportunity.
Northern Charter Newcastle Arts Council The Tyneside Cinema Vane Gallery Workplace Gallery
206
catalogue 206-207
207
06/06/2018 10:27
208
catalogue 208
06/06/2018 10:27