I was invited to take part in the International Summer School, which took place at Bury Art Gallery and Sculpture Centre last week (11th – 15th August). It was advertised to be the following;
The moments when artists coming together to learn from each other and experiment have a celebrated history, new ideas and new art emerge. Bury Art Museum & Sculpture Centre are launching such a moment – the annual International Summer School. A week of workshops, lectures, panel discussions, practical learning and skills exchange.
The summer school invited the following panel of artists and curators to lead the sessions:
– Marianne Eigenheer (Switzerland). International artist, curator and lecturer at Universities and Art Colleges in Frankfurt, Offenbach, Stuttgart, Edinburgh and the Royal College of Art. She is also the Director at the Institute for Curatorship and Education (ICE).
– Laura Köönikkä (Finland), International Curator in various projects, institutions and organizations including Gallery Helsinki Contemporary, Tampere Art Museum & TR1 Kunsthalle Tampere and Pori Art Museum. Founder of Finnish Art Agency; Editor-in-chief FAT Finnish Art Today.
– Matt Moser-Clark (UK), Artist living and working in London. Recently graduated from the Royal College of Art. Exhibtions include; Letters to Maurice, Foundation and Trust Gallery; A very difficult pancake, Modern Art Oxford; Drawing into Sculpture, Griffin Gallery and RBS Bursary Show.
– Natalia Fedorova (Russia), a new media poet, a digital literature scholar and a mediapoetry lab curator. In collaboration with a sonic artist Taras Mashtalir she founded a media poetry project Machine Libertine.
– Chaired by Tony Trehy, Director of Bury Art Museum & Sculpture Centre.
Encouraging us to look at the town of Bury in a completely different way, Marianne asked us to venture out to look at what could be or could have been artworks. Everyone in the group came back with totally different findings, showing that we all have our own tastes within the medium of visual art. This project proves that the subjectivity of art is in the eye of the beholder.
Thinking about my own tastes in such matter; being naturally attracted to urban colours, man-made lighting, colour within the landscape/city, reflections, patterns and empty spaces. You can see the fruits of my labour below:
Try this project for yourself. See what new things you can find in your own town or city. Try it in your place of work, home, anywhere where you don’t ordinarily find inspiration maybe…
Although these few images could be documentation of real artworks, they are merely photographs of the world around us. They will inevitably inspire me within my practice. I particularity love the top image and can easily see how this could translate into a new work of mine. Watch this space…
