Studio Swap Residency – Day 2
These fragments I have shored against my ruins.
T.S. Eliot, “The Wasteland”
The piece is made of five parts. Each part is a visual representation of the shifting interplay between Nature and Culture. Colours (grey, blue, silver, reflective); materials (metal, card, paper, ceramics) and shapes (circles, waves, stripes) have been carefully chosen for their ability to represent my thoughts on this topic.
Studio Swap Residency – Day 1
The idea of proportion became more tangible then, and I was often tempted to involve proportion in my every creative attempt.
Lau Chung Hang, “The Proportion of Rectangles”
Amongst other amazing features of CAC’s residency space is a wonderful library. I arrived yesterday morning with a miniscule glimmer of an idea, but as the day went on (a bit too quickly for my liking) I found quotes (such as the one above) and objects (small pot of inexplicably gold gravel), which have helped solidify my plans.
I started the residency with a challenge to myself: I will use these five days to complete a whole piece. This is really tricksy for me, as I normally work to much longer timescales.
I have been thinking about how Yu-Chen is interested in the Industrial Revolution (hence our recent trip to Quarry Bank Mill) – I don’t particularly want to encroach on her chosen subject area and so I thought how about I look at that from the other angle? Natural Revolutions? The recent Tsunami sprang to mind. I thought about how a Tsunami is a “Wave Train” and how this name neatly brings together the clash of Nature and Culture which the reality so messily bears out.
So… that’s what I’m making (and why I spent most of yesterday creating paper models): a small-scale work about Nature and Culture – when they work together (collaborate) and when they do not. I love that this is a ridiculously huge topic to consider in only five days.
Today I finalise working models, gather materials and work like the clappers.
Lightning Speed
Thursday saw a mizzly afternoon jaunt to Quarry Bank Mill with Yu-Chen Wang and Geoff Molyneux, as Yu-Chen is particularly interested in learning about the Industrial Revolution whilst she’s in Manchester and both Geoff and I are seeking possible starting points for our 3-way studio swaps.
Being reminded of the impact that industrial processes had on the production of cotton has inspired me to want to make a super quick piece of work during my 5 days at CAC. Because my pieces normally take months/years, this is particularly appealing. Although Yu-Chen, Geoff and I agreed that we don’t have to produce finished work during our swap, I quite like the idea of becoming my own high-speed production unit for a short time. This would be something of a Revolution (ho ho) as far as my normal practice is concerned.
Slow Burner
On Friday afternoon I met Iain Andrews for the first time. He had contacted me about the possibility of collaborating. Iain was an absolutely lovely bloke and although on the face of it our artwork seems totally different, we discovered that our working methodologies and conceptual interests have parallels that we could definitely use as a collaborative starting point. Furthermore, I’d certainly jump at the chance to think about colour properly again – and to do so alongside such a strong colourist would be a great opportunity. As we’re both mega busy at the minute, we agreed that this should be a no-pressure, no deadline kind of a collaboration, which is fine by me, as sometimes the ones that mature slowly work best of all.
Sign of the Times
Manchester’s Cornerhouse gets an increase in ACE funding, whereas Castlefield Gallery loses it all? Ridiculous.
I want to use my beady little eyes of a laboratory mouse to stare back at my fellow mammals… what kind of livable world are we trying to build?
Donna Haraway
Last weekend I went to a Northern Arts and Science Network conference in Leeds. The theme was “Dialogues” and the conference aimed to “provide an insight into the varied types and modes of discourse and conversations that are currently emerging from combinatory areas of arts/science research and collaboration… How do collaborations of arts and science manifest themselves?” Given that I am going to be collaborating with a scientist come September, I thought it would be useful to attend.
Following the keynote lectures, the afternoon was devoted to breakout sessions with a wide variety of themes. I attended “Visualising the Invisible” in which Karen Heald (visual artist), Susan Liggett (fine art lecturer) and Rob Poole (psychiatrist) came together to discuss a recently funded project which will seek to present new perspectives into the effects of anti-depressant medications. The aim of the project is to explore the way that patients perceive surrounding stimuli and how this changes once medication has begun. In collaboration with Karen, each patient will make short videos before, during and possibly also after the medication process.
Interestingly, this group was adamant that this project would not constitute a form of art therapy. Karen stated several times that she saw her work with patients as a collaboration of equals, not as a health intervention. I asked her how she felt issues of trust in this collaboration would be handled – especially since the people she intends to work with are a vulnerable group (patients presenting at GP surgeries with depression and about to go onto anti-depressant medication). I worried that it is hard enough setting up a sense of equality in an “ordinary” collaboration – how would two people in such different positions trust each other on an equal basis, regardless of whether the artist is determined to be on an equal footing with the patient? Given that the project will be taking place institutionally, it might be hard for the patient not to feel a sense of passivity (not ideal conditions for collaboration). However to be fair, Karen has had a great deal of experience in working with patient groups, and I agree with her that art is something that comes from the outside to within – which means that art can be made by anybody, given the opportunity. Although I was a bit unsure about the project as a whole (I found it hard not to see it in terms of therapy), I have to applaud the de-mystification of the art process upon which it is built. In the great nature/culture debate, I am always on the side of culture – believing that artists are not born, we are made and so, with a bit of guidance, art can come to anyone who lets it in. I will be watching the project with interest (www.karenheald.co.uk/ablett-residency).
It was a shame that it was only possible to attend one of the many afternoon sessions, but that was more than made up for by the opportunity to mingle with a fantastic mix of practitioners. The best outcome from an artist’s point of view was the palpable sense from the scientists that they were interested in collaborating with artists not for the sake of ticking the “public engagement” box, nor as a trendy route to funding, but because they were genuinely interested in art as a discipline, rather than as a provider of pre-determined end product.
Eek what a week
It started with a trip to Castlefield Gallery to listen to David Medalla speak about his art, his life and how the two have intertwined in the most astonishing ways. I could have listened to him for hours: not only were his stories fascinating (I can’t even begin to convey “Bambi shitting dollars”); but he really relished the telling. Being a poor public speaker myself (wibbly voice, sweaty palms, ballsing up the punchline), I was mesmerised. Also, it struck me that given the ubiquity of communication devices, it’s surprising how few people actually think about how and when to speak to best effect. Our machinery makes us lazy. Medalla, on the other hand, is a master communicator. He finished by taking off his belt, lining it up on a sheet of paper, dropletting ink into the holes (leaving a spot pattern behind) and then shining a torch through the holes of the belt onto the paper… a new constellation came into being. Silence. Magic. Communication.
I had arrived at the gallery late and by coincidence I ended up sitting next to Yu-Chen Wang, as the seat next to hers was the only spare. “I hope you don’t mind,” she said “but I couldn’t decide between you and another artist for the studio swap and so I wondered if the three of us could work together?” She needn’t have worried. Mind? Why would I mind?! It’s bloody brilliant news. Not only will I get to swap workspaces with Yu-Chen and work in the fabulous Chinese Arts Centre residency space, I will also get to work with Geoff Molyneux. He’s done loads of collaborations in the past and he is a wise man. Yu-Chen said she thinks she could learn a lot off both of us, but it’s me who’s going to be spoiled the most in that regard… our swaps and the resulting exhibition/presentation/whatever-it-turns-out-to-be will take place in late April. And all that was only Thursday.
Over the weekend I went to London. Ai Wei Wei’s Sunflower Seeds were beautiful, poignant and overwhelming. In fact, they made my eyes well up as I walked towards them… and then my whole head boggled: delicacy was strength; sameness was difference; fake was real; small was big. I don’t have the skill to express what the work did to me, I can’t put it into appropriate words… it was just brilliant. (However, “Modern British Sculpture” at The Royal Academy was not so satisfying. My main gripe was more with the way works had been displayed, rather than with the pieces themselves… call me Mrs. Fussypants, but if you’re going to stick loads of sculptures in rooms together, at least think about how they work off each other. Some of the sculptures looked like they’d just been left in the place where they’d been unpacked…. but why impinge on the lovely memory of the Sunflower Seeds?)
I came back from London to surprising messages. One was from painter Iain Andrews – he would like to discuss possible collaboration. I’ll be very interested to talk to him, as trying to work with an artist who has such a strong signature style is going to be incredibly challenging. The other message was from Katie at Untitled Gallery (who kindly negotiated my forthcoming installation at John Rylands Library, Deansgate in December)… it seems they want me to keep going after December and show in various rooms round the library over a 6-12 month period. This is an amazing opportunity. I’m feeling all inspired by Ai Wei Wei’s work with the people of Jingdezhen, so I’d really love to do a project with the “Friends of John Rylands”, if they’d like to… we’ll be meeting over the next couple of weeks to discuss.
Finally, Darren Nixon and I hung his show at Rogue Studios’ Project Space – it’s all ready for the opening tonight…
nicoladale.com
