April 2010
As an introduction to conjunction 2010, stoke-on-trent’s contemporary art biennial, airspace will be hosting Carl Gent for a two week long residency. The plan for the residency is for the artist to explore through creative means the organisational structures and strategies, both within the Conjunction Biennial and the regional regeneration environment. The process of working should endeavour to examine the way in which the biennial is supportive, contrasting, or developing the regenerative strategies developed by regional regeneration bodies, and the local authority. The work produced should represent a creative interpretation of the processes and avenues which the biennial already engages with and the way in which it can develop new ways of thinking. It will therefore influence the organisational development of the biennial to encourage production and consumption of contemporary art in the North Staffordshire region.
“In my residency at AirSpace I will aim to manufacture an intellectual bond between the environs and people of AirSpace gallery and Stoke-on-Trent in general through something akin to a “town twinning”. Through isolating the age of the Westphalian coal deposits that are so linked with Stoke’s history I can identify two possible candidates for this cosmic town-twinning. The age of Stoke’s coal lies between 313 – 304 million years old. Using this information I have identified both the Coma galaxy cluster (at 310 million light years distant) and the barred galaxy NGC 7318B, a member of Stephan’s Quintet (at 304 million light years distant) as potential twinnings for Stoke. The goal of this twinning is to experience these galactic objects, and the entirety of Outer Space, in a more meaningful manner than just looking at them. The light that is currently being received from these galaxies left their hosts at the same time as the ground beneath Stoke was being formed. There is a connection here that simultaneously identifies Stoke as having a direct relationship with somewhere of an infinitely more exotic nature whilst highlighting the extremities of distance and time inherent within and beyond Earth’s structure.” – Carl Gent 2010
