Bridge and Tunnel

Writing a manifesto

Our upcoming exhibition is titled 'CONTROVERTER'
con·tro·vert  (kntr-vûrt, kntr-vûrt)

tr.v. con·tro·vert·ed, con·tro·vert·ing, con·tro·verts

To raise arguments against; voice opposition to.

To raise arguments against; voice opposition to.

Taking influence from Bob and Roberta Smith's 'Letter to Michael Gove'

We have decided to create a manifesto covering our exhibition.

CONTROVERTER
Response, reaction and interaction
Environmental consciousness
Awareness, physical presence

Work should be politically and socially aware. Work should always have a stance. Forceful intent. The artist truly believes in the intention behind the work.

To be socially engaged is to be superior. To be aware of what is happening to your immediate environment is to be improved as a person. Naivety is sin, ignorance is no longer bliss.

To raise social awareness, promote further discussion and develop interest in issues surrounding us everyday. Raise the issue but do not preach.

We are drawn together by a running commentary on what we see/hear/read/observe/view/trust/watch/debate/condemn

What we ignore is equally as important as what we watch
What we miss is equally as important as what we see
What we disregard is equally as important as what we trust
What we condemn is equally as important as what we permit

The grass is greener...

My submission to the Gallery North interns

Perspex, plywood, leaf pulp

Turfin' 9 to 5...

Human Environment Interaction

This is a recent installation I completed for the exhibition 'Space Invaders'. I use a strong underlying theme of environmentalism in my work, the cubes in this piece have been created from gathered leaves and processed using a papermaking technique to create a sculptural material. 

Offsetting the organic materials, I have juxtaposed the sculpture with sheets of brightly coloured perspex, bringing forth a defined artificial aesthetic.

Within this space I have created an environment that immersed the viewer as they traverse the installation. The contrast between artificial and organic and methods of processing and production are brought to the viewer's attention, yet also allow the viewer to become aware of their own bodily presence within a given environment .

Ai Weiwei

Grayson Perry

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/video/2012/apr/11/grayson-perry-interview-video

Damien Hirst

Last night I watched the Hirst programmes on channel four, I wasn't really sure what to make of them really. I've never felt that much of a connection with Hirst's work, his formaldehyde pieces appealed to me in ways and I find the pastel colours in the spot paintings, well...  nice?
I think what I really found interesting about the programmes was the portrayal of positive, forward thinking. The Freeze show for example in the early nineties, that I find inspiring. Sometimes I look around at the moment and I see young artists like myself who don't seem to be thinking in a forward way, they are quite content with plodding along in the mulch rather than wanting to jump out and make themselves known. The idea of getting hold of an old warehouse and turning it into an exhibition space seems fantastic to me. Yes it might be daunting, but what is life without a few risks?
I don't think you can talk about Hirst without talking about money. I have no idea how much he has now but what I'd really like to know was how much he had when he was putting on the Freeze show? How would it compare in today's terms? Maybe what I really want to know is how much would it cost me to get a warehouse for a month...

Tonight is the night!

Well we have been slaving away in Squires Annexe for the last few days, working through extreme stress, heat, cold and other horrible conditions.
Kind of...
Well our exhibition opens this evening at 5pm, come see what we have created.
If not, i'll be posting up photos from the night over the next few days. We should also have some photos on www.artintheannexe.weebly.com.
Also, if anyone has managed to use our QR codes please comment on our blogs. Feedback would be greatly appreciated!
Cheers!

Meanwhile, back at the Baltic Lounge...

Space invaders. A utopian exhibition.

I will soon be exhibiting in an exhibition based around utopian thought. This suits me down to the bone as my work is centred around critical, environmental utopias. I am in a large group of around 17 artists engaging with dystopias/utopias.
I will be presenting a piece using the leaf-pulp cubes. Probably presenting a large number of these pieces in a floor based work.

Human Environment Interaction

Time to talk about my practice.
I have been interested in involving environmental issues in my practice for a few years now. At times I have struggled with putting my ideas onto canvas or into a physical form, I guess I'm a bit of a dreamer. A switch from painting to sculpture has really enabled me to engage with my concepts and has allowed me to find keys areas to investigate.
I have always been interested in the balance between the organic and the artificial. This has stemmed from an interest in the changing landscape of my environment and was realised in my move from rural Somerset to the urban, industrial North-east of England.
Recently I have been working with organic materials, using papermaking techniques to create a sculptural material from leaves that I have gathered.
I am currently creating cubes from this leaf pulp by compressing the material into wooden moulds. This deconstruction of the original organic material is something that again is poignant, we live in a world that constantly relies, or takes advantage of our natural resources.
I am looking to display these cubes in a future exhibition which I am sure I will talk about soon.

http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2010/09/spontaneous-city/

The daily grind...

By that I mean I've worked more than one day this week...

I'm working at the Baltic lounge at the moment, it was formerly the Turner Prize cafe while the exhibition was being held in the Gateshead gallery.
It was an amazing space which has now been remodeled, becoming the Baltic Lounge, and celebrates the tenth anniversary of Baltic. Unfortunately it seems to have somehow lost its edge, perhaps the public debate of the Turner Prize made it more of an information forum than a cafe. Whatever the reason, it is interesting to see how spaces become completely transformed by context and not function.
On with my day then, at least I remembered my book today.

I've just realised 'daily grind' can relate to me grinding coffee. Genius.

TOAST!

Last night I went to the second in a series of exhibitions by fellow Fine Art students. I knew the exhibition was based around ideas of the 'Everyday' and how it relates to contemporary practice. The exhibition had been taking form over the last few days next to my studio so I had a bit of a sneaky peek as it was being constructed.

On the night the exhibition was brilliant. The group had decided on the title 'Toast!' and were even serving toast and biscuits with the refreshments, I helped myself to a teacup of wine and went in. The first thing that hit me was the total immersion the viewer felt when navigating the space. All available space had been used yet the exhibition felt spacious and considered. I won't go on too much about the exhibition though, it is still on for another day and I haven't finished writing a review yet...

Enjoy the images!