A public diary (of anything) is not just a record of what you have done, but a commitment to what you will do. I am delighted to have been selected as this year’s Yorkshire Art Space Testing Ground artist in residence, and that the selectors – Ailbhe Clyne (Yinka Shonibare Studio), Rachael Dodd (YAS), Tyler Mellins (YAS), and Angelica Sule (Film & Video Umbrella) – had faith in my proposal. So what did I say I would do?
‘For Testing Ground, Emma will create an ambitious ‘expanded painting stage set’ that continues their material exploration of a decommissioned psychiatric hospital in Yorkshire. Using their sensory memories of the building and its internal architecture, Emma will create impermanent compositions that seek to reproduce their experience of the hospital’s specific and affecting atmosphere. They are interested in the physical and bureaucratic boundaries of such institutions: who is kept in and who is kept out?’
In the interim between hearing I had been awarded the residency, the public announcement, and the start (two days away…) I have been trying to make sense of what I have said, and how I might make that happen. I’m filling notebooks with more and more improbable imaginings and thinking of Vladimir Tatlin’s project for the Pamiatntk III Internatsionala [Monument to the Third International] (1919–20). Tatlin’s tower was never realised in its intended form—nearly 400 metres in height—but a model was built by Tatlin and his students in 1920, and models continue to be made by and for various institutions.
Tatlin interests me (as does Malevich—more of early modernism and utopianism as this blog continues) in relation to speculation and possibility as work. My notebook ‘panics’ (a better word than plans, I think) are works in their own right. What happens once I am in the space (a 70 square metre glass fronted gallery as studio) will happen, or not. YAS has already reassured me that the time, space, and support are for me, not for an outcome.
The first week of the residency will be an odd one, as start 1 April, but am then in London on 3&4 April to do a performance for Gestures: Off the Page at the RCA. The notebook of ‘panics’ will be coming with me.
TESTING GROUND KEY DATES:
STUDIO OPEN DAYS
Drop in during an open day for an opportunity to meet Emma and engage with their developing works-in-progress.
Friday 25 April, 12-4pm
Saturday 26 April, 12-4pm
Friday 9 May, 12-4pm
Saturday 10 May, 12-4pm
CRIT
Come along for our monthly crit group for the chance to critically engage as a group with Emma’s work. Free, but booking essential: contact [email protected] to reserve a space.
Wednesday 30 April 4 – 5.30pm
CLOSING EVENT
Join us for a celebratory closing event to meet Emma and see an informal presentation of work developed during their residency. No need to book, just drop by.
Friday 23 May, 5-7pm
