Following the rewrite of my statement and consultation with my mentors I have completely overhauled my website. Many works have been removed to create a more consistent narrative and the navigation system has been simplified. This new and improved Counterwork communicates a clearer and more decisive position for myself and my work.

Posted by Rich
Mentoring,

After working with mentors Rosalind Davis and Julie McCalden I have written a new statement:

Rich White makes multi-layered installation works about location, sense of place and the relationships that develop between people and their environment.

Key aspects to his practice are resonance and discovery: Works are informed by research of the locality, dictated by architecture and space, and through the uncovering of stories of identity, memory, place, humanity, politics and history. These findings are interwoven into the structures creating a context for the work to exist within with the form and narrative of the work resonating with the location and the viewer. The work also provides the viewer with a sense of discovery; the installations are immersive and interactive, inviting the viewer to explore, travel, climb and reposition themselves in order to fully engage with the work.

The forms the works take are often unknown at inception; beginning on site and organically shaped by the limitations of space, material and self-imposed restrictions. White challenges himself to pragmatically develop and craft new techniques and methods as the work progresses; drawing on familiar patterns, local history and material connections. Risk-taking and coincidence play a creative role in his practice; chance encounters with places, people or materials inform the work in its scope and development, creating a socio-political sculpture responding to the varied perspectives people have of their locations and the events that shape them.

“Part of the challenge, and the integral way White achieves his installations (though epic in their scale and ambition) is through a simplifying of a complex process, a distillation of an idea or material; structurally intervening in and navigating through spaces.”
Rosalind Davis

I have also refreshed my downloadable Portfolio and CV pdf.

Posted by Rich
Mentoring,  News,

After my brief meeting with Steve Messam he sent me a series of questions. These focused on clarifying my ideas for my work, setting myself goals for where I want my work to head, and asking who my work is for?

For clarifying ideas I settled on dividing my output into strands or specific modes of working, which I could use when applying for, or instigating, a project. These strands might be (in some kind of order of ‘not knowing what you’re going to get’ to ‘knowing exactly what you’re going to get’):
1. Public realm installations: Location-specific, developed through research and engagement, using materials sourced locally.
2. Gallery-based (in the broadest sense) installations: Location-specific, developed through research and engagement, using materials sourced locally, responding to exhibition theme when reqiured.
3. Statue Platforms: Location-specific platform uniquely designed to allow the public to stand eye to eye with the statue.
4. Nests: Participatory structure created from found and donated objects bound together with continuous line of rope. Can be gallery- and public space-based.

For direction I want to do something bigger. Not necessarily permanent (I feel that my works are about certain times as well as places), I don’t want to rule out permanent work, but definitely something with a decent life-span. I feel that I’m heading in a more socio-political direction: the works are about the places they are in and more often than not it is about the impact that an event has had upon a location. This is something that I want to get my teeth into. It is not about choosing sides, more about revealing the sides and perspectives and making them more accessible and allowing people to express their thoughts about a place.

Who my work is for is trickier. I want my audience to be everyone that visits the location the work is in. The idea behind the socio-political responsive works is that they address more than one perspective of a location; for instance, they look at both sides of an argument (an example being ‘Survivalist’ in Northampton Bus Station - it looked at the desire to both save and demolish the Station and satisfied both parties). It shouldn’t matter whether or not the audience has prior knowledge about the location, if the work does its job it will tell the story on some level, but primarily it is for those that know the area, know a bit about its history or even only faintly familiar with it. The work is about taking little or part-known histories and making them centre-stage.

On another level I make my work for me. Being an artist is an incredibly selfish profession and no matter how much you may deny it you make your work for you - to please some internal desire to make your ideas real, and you are imposing this vision upon others and saying ‘look at what I’ve done’. I don’t want to pretend that I am performing some great beneficial act with my own satisfaction a secondary goal. I do think that art does have a benefit to society but I don’t think that’s the only reason for doing it. I feel I have a responsibility to make things that people will enjoy, that will cause them to think about where they are and what is happening there. I want to create an experience for people. What makes me feel like I have succeeded is when a visitor feels like they have discovered something; they’ve stepped up onto the platform and found the planted square above the car park, they’ve stepped though the hole in the wall and found the hidden room at the end of the corridor. My ideal audience has an inquisitive mind and doesn’t mind doing a little bit of work themselves in order to fully experience the work.

Work with Steve continues…

Posted by Rich
Mentoring,

My first mentoring sessions have already begun to affect changes.

With Steve I have been looking at the direction I want to be heading with my work and my career, and with Rosalind I have been looking at how I present myself and my work.

Changes have already started: on this website I have altered how the work is presented. Work now links to what used to be the Exhibition page - a chronological list of all exhibited works. Rosalind pointed out that as virtually all of my work these days is made for specific exhibitions I’m just duplicating the work between Work and Exhibition, which is quite confusing for a website visitor. What was the Work link is now Archive and shows everything, whether exhibited or not, and other projects, workshops and one-off pieces. Further editing may take place as there is quite a lot of work on here now, and although I quite like the availability of my entire history, it can be a little daunting and cumbersome for site visitors.

I have also set up a new mailing list for a more exciting and dynamic newsletter. My old plain text email announcements were too boring. You can sign up here.

A new statement is also in the works, which will be a more positive, active and convincing piece of text. One of my weaknesses when applying for projects is my tentative, shy and small way of describing my work, using phrases like ‘I will try to…’ and ‘I intend to…’. Basically I need to replace these with ‘I will…’. My work is big and epic and delicate, and I need to embrace this and communicate it clearly to those who may want to commission me.

Posted by Rich
Mentoring,

Today’s mentoring with Steve Messam didn’t quite go to plan. As I made my way up to Kendal to meet him his car broke down, leaving him stranded in the middle of Cumbria with very occasional mobile reception. He was finally able to get a message to me via the breakdown service and I had to entertain myself whilst he got sorted out.

We finally managed to meet up with only a couple of hours before my train was due, but we made the most it - setting out a plan of what we intended to do with Steve asking searching questions about my practice. The rest of the mentoring will be conducted via email and Skype.

Posted by Rich
Mentoring,