Counterwork

27.01.12

Studio Space

Today I went to my new studio space for the first time, to meet the other artists and choose which part of the 32200sqft building was mine. Everything you see inside the red-marked pillars is all mine. It’s massive.

I’m really looking forward to seeing what happens, it’s very exciting.

17.01.12

2012 Kicks Off

I’ve started the year with a whole load of projects and events lined up. Let’s hope I can keep that momentum going:

First off is ‘WOW: The Contemporary Art of Knit and Stitch’ which opened on Friday 13 January at the Gallery@Rheged in Penrith, Cumbria. I was commissioned to build a sheepfold using Thermafleece - an insulation material made from sheep’s wool. The show is on until 15 April.

I’ve got myself a free studio space for a year through Departure Foundation. I’ll be sharing a 32000sqft warehouse on a trading estate in Southall with nine other artists. I haven’t had a studio for so long (since 1998!) it’s going to be quite exciting to see what happens.

I’ve researched and written the Snapshots section of February’s a-n magazine. Pick up a copy to see what I’ve recommended.

Next comes ’OpenAIR - Effecting Change‘ on 11 February. OpenAIR is Artists’ Interaction and Representation’s inaugural forum for artists, taking place at firstsite in Colchester. It will be a day of dialogue and debate looking at how we can best work to effect change and encourage better living and working conditions for Artists. I’ll be part of a Q&A panel during the afternoon.

Straight after that is ’The Art of Architecture‘ at The Public in West Bromwich. I’m going to be building a work in response to people’s thoughts and feelings about, and around, The Public. This will occur over three days from 13 February.

On 17 April Rosalind Davis and Annabel Tilly’s exciting new venture ZeitgeistArtsProjects has it’s first exhibition: ‘Collectible’. I’ll be attempting to make a small work for inclusion in the show.

Finally, Daniel Hoffmann-Gill’s play ‘Our Style is Legendary’ begins a short run at Nottingham Playhouse. They will once again be using the moving truck scenery I designed.

14.01.12

Sheepfold on show

Sheepfold is now on show at the Gallery@Rheged untill 15 April 2012.

28.11.11

Coming soon…

... to Rheged Gallery, Penrith: A Sheepfold, made out of wool-based insulation material.

11.10.11

Not At This Address For Longer

The exhibition ‘Home’ featuring my work ’Not At This Address‘ has been extended to 28 October.

07.10.11

Nest and Not At This Address On Now

Nest and Not At This Address are both on show now.
Home, the exhibition that Not At This Address is in, opened last night. I finished the work just in time after four days of manic building. Documentation to follow.
Nest is a live build happening from now until Friday 14 October. Please come along, bring an object to be added to the Nest, and help build the sculpture.

25.09.11

Nest Starting Soon

Following hot on the heels of my work for Home is Nest, a participatory installation in Testbed 1 in Battersea. Check out the project page for more info.

24.09.11

Place, Space & Identity 3 Comes to a Close

PSI3 officially ended on Wednesday with an excellent event at the Gladstone Pottery Museum in Stoke-on-Trent.
There was an overview of all the projects, people had the chance to meet with the artists and there were some thought-provoking speeches by Ros Robins, director of Arts Council West Midlands, and journalist and lecturer Oliver Bennett. Bennett’s talk in particular I found very interesting - he spoke about the role of art and artists in regeneration and the palpable ‘end’ of big, iconic arts regeneration projects. He charted the rise of such projects (Guggenheim in Bilbao, Angel of the North) and the problems of trying to replicate these successes, which is very difficult. It’s not as simple as just building a big arts centre by a renowned architect or installing a massive sculpture. There is a quality involved that you can’t really manufacture or predict - you can do your damnedest to try and engineer such a thing but you cannot guarantee that what results will work itself into the hearts of those that live with it, or that an art gallery will spark the sustained revival of a town or city’s flagging economy.
There is also another debate (in my mind) about whether economic revival should be the goal art in regeneration - please refer to my earlier post with video of Mr Stewart Lee.