Just found out that we had comments on our blog – thankyou if you have left them, and sorry if we've ignored you. It is a really good way for us to contextualise much of our work, and to create some interesting debate.
Christine Gray brought up an interesting point;
How is exploring your welshness coming along now that you are in England and how it is received by the London art world?
We have been considering this a while, as being Welsh is something that initially brought us together as collaborators. Our "Welshness" seems to be stronger than ever being away from England – but we are wary of by including it in our work – it becoming trite and gimmicky.
Fellow welsh artists Bedwyr Williams, Heikie Roms and Bethan Huws manage to avoid this. Their allegiance to Wales runs throughout their work but doesn't dominate it.
A piece for our exhibition Gam is of 80 porcelain whales. What started as an initial pun on the word Whales/Wales has become so much more. As one of us could make multiples of whales moulds, and the other one couldn't – it became a learning experience for the both of us. Working collaboratively isn't just about working together, it's about working apart and learning what each of us can and can't do. I'm not sure whether the initial pun may put viewers off – it may be hard for them to see past it and to the real intention for the work. Maybe it would've worked better with elephants?!
As relatively new collaborators, there are lots of questions we are still asking ourselves. As for how the London art world is taking it, we're not entirely sure…it is definately a talking point at University!
Watch this space!
