Dover Arts Development starts 2011 with a great new facility, a studio in an industrial space in Dover town. I will be using it as my own studio and running the space as a DAD space and studio share. I hope activity in the studio will grow over the year and this blog will chart its development.
Actually the size of ‘The pavillion’ is ok! It’s a pretty impressive structure. One wall is for posters/flyers etc. There are a couple of benches inside and a screen for projecting onto made of canvas. The roof is also made of canvas.
The thing is getting bigger and bigger, or so it seems. Could have been a bit smaller really ….
Went into the studio to see how they were getting on with part two of the Design & Build workshop, only to be stunned by the size this object cum projection space is going to be. The participants – in the main long-term job seekers now on the New Horizons programme run by LSBC cic in the building – looked as if they were enjoying themselves.
The final structure is supposed to be moveable, but somehow I don’t think it will be very easy to move a cube with sides measuring 3x3x3 pallets.
The studio now has running water and great facilities for washing buckets etc.
This week sees the studio used for Design & Build, 2 workshops run by UCA architecture students on the graduate diploma course. The first workshop was on Monday and the second is today. The participants are all in there building a moveable projection space. more info here: http://www.dadonline.eu/node/288
Went into the studio today and saw a load of pallets ready for the Design and Build workshop next week! It looks like an awful lot.
The carpenter and builder were also there, as were the plumbers, installing a bath – not for bathing – and a sink. All free stuff including the tiles for the splashback.
Can start getting messy in there soon!
It was a bit too noisy to get any work done today so I will stay behind the computer and work on my next film.
Clare Smith's mixed English/Chinese heritage informs her perspective on issues of identity and categorisation. Her nomadic childhood and early adulthood have meant a somewhat ambivalent relationship to place, reinforced by the sense of ambiguity that comes from her mixed identity. Smith works with drawing, print media, collage and moving image to investigate this ambivalence, with references to craft, the importance of labour and the handmade. Through her choice of materials and approaches, she creates work which attempts to create a sense of unity, an interpretation of Homi Bhabha's "Third Space" - seen as a space in which different parts can come together to challenge dominant ideas of wholeness. Collaboration is part of Smith’s practice and she is also co-founder of Dover Arts Development (DAD) together with painter, Joanna Jones. This involves working with many different artists, curation, organisation, event management, creating networks across East Kent and influencing the public realm in Dover. Clare works from a studio in Dover. She has an MA in Fine Art from Central Saint Martins and has exhibited nationally and internationally.
