FROM LONDON TO LOCALISM

I have managed to finish off my recent book editions on the residency at MMU. The square bound concertina books ‘On the way’ which are screenprinted and printed with woodblocks, I have managed to press, and also the two printed foldout zine style books which fold out to be a A1 print. I have to say I am pretty please with them, and already have an idea about the next book.

Today, I have been working on prints for the exhibition – they are a combination of screen print and lasercut wood blocks. We need to get planning now on our show for August, which will be here before we know it.

On Monday, I spent the day in Preston, having an exciting day meeting the curators Elaine Speight and Charles Quick from InCertainPlaces (funded by ACE, Harris Museum and UcLan). I am one of two artists commissioned to to a residency as part of the Preston Remembers project. The other artist, Laurence Payot, and I will each make work that investigates how people use the Market square, and move in relation to the War Memorial. We explored the area of Preston, other war memorials, and also the Harris Museum and Lancashire Museum. There was a lot of information to take in, and now I need to come up with a more concrete plan on how I will proceed. I have quite a few ideas, and I would like to explore ideas through drawing and animation – but there are a few technical issues I need to look into. There is lots to be getting on with.

I have a full week off teaching so I am enjoying time to focus entirely on my practice. I have been working on some collages for zine type books I am going to print on the digital printer at MMU once the term starts back. I have also been finishing the other concertina book pages which I will also be able to finish binding when term starts back. The week has also allowed me to finish off the screenprint edition of ‘Occupants Will Vary’, which I have been drawing in colour into with pen.

My animation has been selected for the Video Jam 2 event at the Antwerp Mansion, Manchester. Curated by a current student at MMU, the night presents silent films that are animated by live musical score. I am hoping I will be able to make it to the event, as I am in Edinburgh that day. Video Jam 2 is on the 22nd April at 7pm – for further details visit http://jennysteelelondon.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/video-jam-2-at-antwerp-mansion-22nd.html.

We have also had our first day visiting the Cross Acres Community Knitting Group, as part of a collaboration ‘#Knitterfeed’ with artist Elizabeth Wewiora, programmer Tom Kinniburgh and the Xacres for the Handmade event at Future Everything Conference in May 2012. They were a lovely, warm welcoming group of super skilled knitters, and I have been refreshing my skills. On the run up to, and on the 19th May 2012 at Handmade at Victoria Baths, we are going to be knitting objects and forms that come about through tweets on twitter, or reflect the network of twitter. We are also looking for any donations of yarn, if you can donate any please email me ([email protected]). For more information about #knitterfeed, please visit-http://jennysteelelondon.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/knitterfeed-futureeverything-conference.html.

I have been watching, as if from afar, how my various environments have changed over the past few months(nearly 6 months-eek!) since I have relocated from London to the North West.

Living very near the city centre, my partner says that Manchester has all of the great aspects of London, with none of the bad aspects (ie.long commuting, general griminess, a grumpier more aggressive manner…etc). I can see this point, and it certainly feels as if I can make the most of the city and all the culture it has to offer. When a PV comes up, and I am quibbling whether to spend my budget on the train fare, it is usually for an event outwith the city (Leeds, Brum or Wakefield). But I guess all of this is just geography, and a growing disdain for the extortionate cost of rail fare.

It is also interesting in the workplace – I have noticed how working in a smaller, more rural area (Blackburn University Centre) the considerable longevity that staff seem to have in one organisation. In London, it was general practice to move around more often, but here sustained work, although not in the same role, but same organisation seems much more commonplace. Bonds seem tighter, and dare I say it more emotional.

The residency at Manchester School of Art has also offered me an interesting perspective, as not a student or lecturer in a HE institution but an artist/ user of its excellent resources (also watching as 3rd years begin to panic as time is drawing to a close..). The time at MMU has allowed me to develop several projects at once – 3 books, various range of prints, one animation and another one on the go, and last some sculptural cast objects after Easter. We are also working towards a group show which will be held in the Holden Gallery in August.

I attended a training session today, where the leader of the group quoted a researcher, Silvia Gherardi, with this statement, ‘Ideas travel globally, but they take root locally’. It is satisfying that it rhymes, but it also make me think about my own needs to develop my practice on a more ‘local’ level. And also in a more ‘local’ level to make me feel more supported and more able due to more time and less pressing financial requirements.

Since November 2011, I have been running a monthly Artist Practice Session at Rogue Project Space, Manchester. The format runs very similarly to the crit session that I organised in London with my peers that also graduated from Goldsmiths, and also the sessions that I attended/ presented at the Camden Arts Centre. 1-2 artists present, and a group of 8-12 audience artists offer supportive dialogue and feedback. So far presenting artists have included Jacqueline Wylie, Mike Chavez Dawson, Nicola Dale, Jessica Longmore. This monday’s session has Daniel Fogarty’s talking about his work and next month Annie Harrison and Sarah Sanders are presenting. If you would like to attend and/ or present, please take a look at the tumblr site for the sessions – http://communityofpracticeman.tumblr.com/.

So far the sessions have been a great way to meet other artists in the area, and it would be great to run other sessions or events with other organisations in the future. I would also like to organise a show that would potentially involve collaborations from presenting artists.

My residency at Manchester School of Art has been going well too. Since completing the exhibition at KRAAK, I have been focusing on printing from the lasercut woodblocks to create two books I am going to make. I have been spending time understanding the process of making various basic book construction, so I am going to be using two processes for my two books. I am excited about making them, and a little nervous too. I have also been collecting my thoughts and ideas for a second animation. Work feels steady and relatively productive, but as always there is always room to do more.

One of my prints ‘Hope for an Urban Utopia’ (see image on right), will be exhibited at the #tweetart exhibition at Wakefield Studios, Wakefield on 28th March 2012 – see link http://aliceandbobcurate.wordpress.com/2012/01/14/tweetart/.

It is a guilty few months since I last posted, and life has been busy indeed with..

…moving flat

…getting stuck into my new teaching job

…getting settled and making the most of my residency at Manchester School of Art

…running the Artist Crit sessions at Rogue

…showing in a few shows

and other bits of art and work in between.

My practice seems to have turned quite a corner, and I have really moved away from my interest into mapping of digital space for now. I have been spending a lot of time photographing, drawing, making hand carved and digitally engraved prints of different architectural structures around the local area.

This week I presented an animation, ‘If you’re lost, remember what you saw on the way’, which develops imagery and drawings from my daily walks in Ancoats. The exhibition was at Kraak, and the group show was part of the SAM series of experimental music and art events, funded by the Arts Council. It was a great show and event, with work by Matt Bamber, Annie Carpenter, Taneesha Ahmed, Mary Stark, Mike – Chavez Dawson, Jessica Longmore, Matthew Denniss and Rebecca Rogers.