One aspect of Grizedale Arts that I found totally inspiring, was the collection of chairs, tables, bowls, cutlery (almost anything functional), ranging from many different art and design periods. The collection of these objects, immerses you into a kind of living / useable gallery – in which you can’t help but notice and appreciate design. Aside from this, is Adam Sutherland’s incredible knowledge of this collection – with each cabinet, knife and fork set, etc, hold it’s own unique story. Adam described the collection, not merely as a set of functional objects used for daily living, but as one which intentionally acts as a gateway into the wider concepts and ethos of the organisation. A collection and an ethos around art being central to civic provisions.
On returning from Grizedale, I found myself frequently studying the plates, bowls and jugs in the Welsh Ceramics gallery at the National Museum Cardiff. This wasn’t a gallery of the museum which I had given much thought to, previously, but after Grizedale I felt drawn to it in a way I hadn’t before.
During the Unit residency, I spent time chatting with Anthony Shapland about the visit, and the time I was subsequently spending at the museum. He said he had seen a new sense of direction in my research. Objects.
I thought a lot about function when in the Welsh Ceramics gallery. A plate as part of a dinner service held it’s primary function as a usable object for eating from. But what concepts was it trying to engage me in? What was it’s surface design saying to me? Could the surface of an object, hold its own function, separate to the primary function in which the object was made?
In the Unite studios; early brainstorms around provisions, proposals, models, toolkits and home industries. These ideas developed further after our visit to Grizedale.
It’s been a little while since my last post, as I have been busy on a brilliant residency with a bunch of other artists at G39, Cardiff. The artist-run gallery has been turned into a studio for the past three months – a space for experimentation, crits, visitors and conversations. A kind of alternative art school. Today is the final day of the residency and tonight we have the opening show.
My proposal for the residency was to link in with my plans for the A-N Artist Bursary – continuing conversation with Louise Hobson and collaboratively undertaking a research trip to Grizedale Arts. During this time I have been reflecting on the links that have developed / are half formed / have always been, between my work, my conversations and plans with Louise, and Grizedale Arts.
At it’s core, I am interested in how the arts can be fully integrated into society. My residency also tried to respond to the idea of design as a method for action. Through some of the works, I have tried to respond directly to the gallery itself and to the concept of the residency as an alternative art school. I have been interested in the areas of the gallery that hold their own function, outside of the display or making of artworks. I have spent some time working with a local engraver, who bases himself in Cardiff market. I have also studied and responded to a collections of functional objects held at Cardiff Museum. All of these processes have been somewhat informed by my learnings from Grizedale Arts, which helped to clarify some the linch pins within my practice.
As I reflect on this work, I expect that some of the murkier throughs will also become clear. I’ll be using this space to post up some pictures of the work / research / processes.
Hats off to Louise and I for only getting a little bit lost on our journey to Grizedale Arts.
Grizedale is a place that I have wanted to visit for a long time. But the remoteness of it’s main site, Lawson Park, has made it a bit more of a challenge. Yet, Grizedale has had artist visitors from around the globe in it’s 20 years of existence.
Hearing about projects at Lawson Park and in the nearby village, Coniston, you sense Grizedale’s relationship with place and locality (and with that, the people who make up the community). But Grizedale has also forged a vast international network and developed long term projects in other corners of the globe. At first this may seem opposing but speaking with Director, Adam Sutherland, you begin to understand the complexities and threads running through these projects and the decision to undertake them. A conceptual framework which Louise and I found super interesting…
