Thursday 15 December 2011

Sculpture inventory on Behance

I am developing an online inventory of all the sculptures that were included in my recent 'Strength in numbers' exhibition at The Briggait, Glasgow.

This can be seen on my Behance Network profile:

http://www.behance.net/gallery/Inventory-of-Strength-in-numbers-sculptures/2689199








Please note that due to the vast quantity of such sculptures (over 140) the inventory is still being updated, so keep an eye on it as more sculptures are added.

The sculptures are for sale, individually and in sets. If you are interested in purchasing some of my artwork, please email me at

helen.shaddock(at)yahoo.co.uk

Behance

I have recently joined the Behance network, the leading online platform to showcase and discover creative work. Creative professionals, from across industries, use Behance to create multi-media portfolios that showcase their work within the Network, as well as dozens of other partner sites and industry-specific, curated online galleries.

I have begun to load my artwork into my profile projects, and will continue to add my existing work to this in the next few weeks. My projects will expand as I develop new work, so please keep checking for additions.

Take a look at:

Monday 5 December 2011

Martin Boyce wins Turner prize 2011

So, another success for Glasgow





Making the studio my own

Apologies for the lack of posts recently - been very busy dealing with some necessities of life e.g. finding a new housemate

I have, with the superb help of my Uncle Andy and his pal Howard, moved my stuff into my new studio. It will take some time to sort it all out and make it my own - particularly as I have injured myself and am on doctors orders not to move heavy sculptures, but at least I've made a start


Wednesday 23 November 2011

GSA video Archive

The entire GSA Video Archive is now at:
http://www.gsa.ac.uk/visit-gsa/video-archive/

The GSA Archive has grown to include 84 videos of public lectures and events organised by The Glasgow Urban Lab, Architecture Friday Lectures, Fine Art Friday Events, Exhibitions talks and events, and more!

You can now watch the entire series of Architecture Friday Lectures from 2010-11 and various Friday Event lectures dating from 2006-11 – including notable talks by architect Steven Holl, artist and kinetic sculptor Susumu Shingu, designer Ben Kelly, artist and GSA graduate Christine Borland, artist and GSA graduate Roddy Buchanan, Urban Lab lecturer Graeme Evans, artist Martha Rosler, and more! There are two talks each featuring Roger Wilson and Thomas Joshua Cooper, a fantastic research presentation by Alistair MacDonald, and two talks by recent UK Fullbright Distinguished Chair Ann Markusen.

Here is the very impressive full list of all that can be viewed:

Mackintosh School of Architecture Friday Lecture Series
2011
11 Mar Rick Mather, Rick Mather Architects Recent Projects
04 Mar Prof Robert Tavernor, LSE Cities Visualising the City
25 Feb Alan Pert, NORD Architecture Future Nostalgia
04 Feb Charlotte Frank, Schultes Frank Architekten The Lightness of Stone
28 Jan Neil Porter, Gustafson Porter Contemporary Landscape Design
21 Jan Jonathan Sergison, Sergison Bates Architects Concept Construction
14 Jan Julian Lewis, East Adjusting Places
07 Jan Emanuel Christ, Christ + Gantenbein Architekten Plans

2010
26 Nov Wiel Arets, Wiel Arets Architects Recent Projects
19 Nov Tom Emerson, 6a Architects We Were Never Modern
12 Nov Jonathon Woodroffe, S333 Architecture + Urbanism Projective Cities
22 Oct Stephen Witherford, Witherford Watson Mann Architects London Edges - The Adaptive City
15 Oct David Kohn, David Kohn Architects Jujitsu Urbanism
08 Oct Jonathan Speirs, Speirs Major Associates Light: Dark: Creativity
01 Oct Frank Barkow, Barkow Leibinger Architekten Digital Kraftwerk

Friday Event Lectures
2011
11 Mar Roderick Buchanan From USA '94 to London 2012
04 Mar Richard Layzell Falling Phoebe
04 Feb Louise Welsh Robert Louis Stevenson and the Theatre of the Brain

2010
26 Nov Madelon Hooykaas Revealing the Invisible
19 Nov Sonia Boyce LEAP into uncertainty
12 Nov Vanessa Place Notes on Conceptualism
29 Oct Professor Ann Markusen Creative Placemaking
22 Oct Eamonn McCann Putting the wrongs of the Northern Ireland conflict to rights
15 Oct Christine Borland SimBodies, NoBodies & Me
08 Oct Dr. Thomas Röske The Prinzhorn Collection - Past and Present

30 Apr Lewis Biggs Hello? Liverpool Biennial & the Visual Art Ecology of the City
23 Apr Maria Thereza Alves urgent and not so urgent possibilities
05 Mar Ben Kelly Ben Kelly Design: International Orange + Rural Studies
05 Feb Roshini Kempadoo State of Play: Photography, Multimedia and Memory
29 Jan Jimmie Durham The Usual Song and Dance Routine with a few...
15 Jan Steven Holl Recent Works
08 Jan Susumu Shingu How should we live tomorrow?

2009
20 Nov Siobhán Hapaska Artist Talk
27 Nov Mariele Neudecker The Air we Breathe is Invisible
23 Oct Kortney Ryan Ziegler The Creative Intellectual: Troubling the...
02 Oct Chris Wainwright, Thomas Joshua Cooper & Roger Wilson A Conversation Regarding Journeys

20 Mar Tetsuo Kogawa Pirate Aesthetics of the Mini-FM
06 Mar Faith Wilding Cyberfeminism Interrogates Biotechnology...
13 Mar Silvia Ziranek The Z of How
06 Feb Claire Doherty The Event of Situation: Contemporary Art, Place and Time
30 Jan Lauren Dyer Amazeen Art Performance

2008
05 Dec John Morrison Autonomy & Identity : Independent art in Glasgow 1955-1965
28 Nov Ron Broglio Minor Art: Becoming-Animal
14 Nov Martha Rosler Artist's Talk
31 Oct Craig Richardson Landscape as Conceptual Art
24 Oct Thomas Joshua Cooper The World's Edge: The Atlantic Basin Project

25 Apr Melanie Gilligan Recent Writing and Performances
22 Feb John Smith Lecture and Screening
25 Jan Yvonne Spielmann Video: A New Technology & a New Medium
18 Jan Ursula Biemann The Maghreb Connection: Counter-Geographies in the Sahara

2007
23 Nov Joanne Sharp Imagining the Subject of Geopolitics
16 Nov Damian Sutton Time (and) Travel in Television
09 Nov Jan Verwoert From Appropriation to Evocation
26 Oct Hayley Newman Performing Performance
19 Oct Eyal Weizman The Architecture of Occupation (Presentation of 'Hollow Land') (audio only)

02 Mar Chantal Mouffe Agonistic Politics and Artistic Practices
02 Feb Stephen Graham Dreams of Omniscience: Urbanization & the US Revolution in Military Affairs (audio only)

2006
1 Dec Oliver Ressler An Ideal Society Creates Itself (audio only)
24 Nov Andrew Hussey Paris Underground: Reading and Writing the 'Situationist' City
17 Nov Chad McCail Work
27 Oct Simon Starling Autoxylopyrocycloboros (audio only)
20 Oct Michael Albert Realizing Hope: Life Beyond Capitalism

Research Presentations and Collaborative Events
2011
18 May Stephen FarthingThis is Drawing
6 Apr Ann Markusen 'Arts & Culture as Regeneration: Four UK Cities Experiences'
21 Feb Graeme Evans Creative Cities, Creative Spaces? Form and Function
02 Feb Ülar Mark, Toomas Tammis, Martin Aunin, Margit Aule
BOOM. ROOM. New Estonian Architecture
26 Jan Claudia Zeiske with Nuno Sacramento the town is the venue


2010
24 Nov Art and Activism: The Aberdeen Climate9 jury trial
20 Nov Roger Wilson An Art School Perspective
17 Nov The Nine Trades of Dundee
28 Oct Simon Manfield in conversation with Joanne Tatham and Tom O'Sullivan (audio only)
10 Nov Barry Esson Music is about more than just music
06 Oct Henry Coombes Artist's Talk

26 Apr Simon Critchley Symposium: The Infinite Demand of Art
16 Apr Jan Verwoert Why are conceptual artists painting again? Because they think it's a good idea
15 Apr Joseph Leo Koerner Hieronymus Bosch: Enemy Painting
1 Mar Alistair MacDonald Designing with Ageing Populations: UK/Japan research Dialogues

14 Dec 2009
The Mackintosh Symposium Lectures and Panel Discussions
Andy MacMillan The Building as Document
Benedetta Tagliabue Mackintosh and Miralles
Pamela Robertson Mackintosh and Glasgow
Professor William J. R. Curtis Materials of the Imagination : The Glasgow School of Art
The Mackintosh Symposium Morning Panel Discussion - Part 1
The Mackintosh Symposium Afternoon Panel Discussion - Part 2

2008
7 May Chandraguptha ThenuwaraSpaces Giving Shade (audio only)

2006
16 Oct Dan Graham Pavilions

Tuesday 22 November 2011

what to draw

I often have an urge to draw, but then don't know what to draw...

Now I have the solution, kindly suggested by Amy from Pikaland:



genius!

Monday 21 November 2011

Mindy Shapero

My good friend Gary often sends me information about other artists, the most recent being Mindy Shapero who just had an exhibition at Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York.




Breaking Open The Head
September 10 – October 22, 2011


Marianne Boesky Gallery is very pleased to announce Breaking Open The Head, its first solo exhibition of new work by Mindy Shapero. Featuring large sculptures, a grouping of smaller objects, and works on paper, the exhibition locates Shapero's labor-intensive process at an intersection where narrative and formalist impulses collide. In her practice, visual intensity often overrides the very forms it has been used to create, resulting in objects that dare to contradict their reasons for being. Accordingly, Shapero operates in a zone that can be read in relation both to art historical tradition and to outsider tendencies predicated on visionary experience.

The exhibition's title, borrowed from writer Daniel Pinchbeck's treatise on psychedelic shamanism, suggests the otherworldly qualities readily associated with Shapero's work. But it also refers more directly to the head-like forms that recur throughout the show. The head functions here as a primary symbolic representation of imaginative flux. When it is 'broken open,' it is revealed as a profoundly physical thing that has the paradoxical ability to transcend the physical plane –– by thinking, dreaming, and hallucinating.

This can be seen clearly in three new sculptures that treat the head as a state of becoming and/or dissolution. In one, a large shell-like form has been filled with small pieces of cut paper arranged into swirling rows; before cutting the paper, Shapero paints each sheet black so that hints of its original color can only be seen at the edges. While peering into the piece can feel like staring into a limitless void, upon further viewing it becomes apparent that its shape is in fact based on a giant face, and new questions about what it depicts begin to arise. Looking itself is treated as an ongoing process of transformation, a state of mind that allows interiority and exteriority to mix and become a single metaphysical continuum.

A second work features a similarly shell-like form with a luminous gold-leafed exterior, recalling a variety of ancient art historical antecedents. The interior, however, is filled with maze-like concentric rings of puffy paint in an array of colors. Though it has sculptural dimensionality, the paint flattens out the relief of its supporting surface and prevents it from being read as a head or face. If this is a representational artwork, its subject seems to be the interior of the imagination rather than an outwardly recognizable figurative form.

The third sculpture in the series completely inverts the relationships between form and formlessness proposed by the other two. Here, the exterior of the object is covered with barely translucent pieces of cut white paper that resemble feathers or fur. As they capture and reflect light, they obliterate the sculptural face that gives the piece distinctive form. Throughout these works, Shapero treats the absence and abundance of color as companion states in which the visual field is overwhelmed, and the viewer is forced to look beyond immediate physical reality into a space redolent of the unknown.



In another pair of sculptures that also make use of imagery based on heads, arrangements of bent metal rods introduce line, and therefore an element of drawing, to the work. One features a central form covered in colored paper; surrounding it are a series of stylized profiles formed from the metal rods. Gradually the central form reveals itself to be a continuation of the 'spinning' silhouettes, and the illusion of movement is juxtaposed with the teeming array of color that animates the work's visual anchor. The other piece reverses this arrangement, so that its striped, painted center recalls a spinning profile, while the rods that surround it continue the 'drawing' of the back of the head in space. Figuration, abstraction, flatness and volume switch places, and seem to illustrate the transaction between an object and the mental processes of the observer who perceives it.

The use of metal rod carries over into a group of smaller sculptures arranged together on a large pedestal installed in the gallery's front room. Reminiscent of arches, thresholds, and molecular structures, they take on performative characteristics when seen in combination, and create narrative associations that are indicative of Shapero's ability to use language as a generative tool. Because they recombine materials and techniques seen in the larger works, they also suggest that her practice draws in part from modernist notions of pure formalism. In the studio, the artist reconciles these two tendencies by developing fictional narratives as she works and allowing them to influence subsequent formal decisions.

Like Shapero's often elaborate titles, which allude to the evolution of such narratives, the works on paper on view reflect accretions of material and process. Stencil-like remnants of cut paper used to make sculptures are laid down as templates; after spray paint and leafing are applied, the negative spaces left in their wake demarcate dense layers of grids that confuse foreground and background. Though Shapero traces visual histories of materials being put to use, her relationship to the material world is not defined by sheer pragmatism. Rather, she perceives how tangible things are capable of transporting us beyond ordinary experience, so that the intangible is just within reach.



Mindy Shapero lives and works in Los Angeles. Her work has been featured in Like Color in Pictures, Aspen Art Museum, 2007; Diptych: Jockum Nordström and Mindy Shapero, Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, 2006;The Uncertainty of Objects and Ideas, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, 2006; Thing, New Sculpture from LA, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, 2005. Her work was included in Vitamin 3D, published by Phaidon Press in 2009.


Marianne Boesky Gallery is located at 509 W 24th Street, between 10th and 11th avenues. Our hours are Tuesday to Saturday from 10am to 6pm. For further information or images, please contact Annie Rana at 212.680.9889 or annie@marianneboeskygallery.com.

Thursday 3 November 2011

Moving studio

The time has come for me to bid fairwell to studio 122 at the Briggait and move to pastures new. I will miss the beautiful studio, Steph, Sparkles and Mungion, the new addition to the Spindler-Bell household, but I am looking forward to having my own studio at Osborne Street.







The address of my new studio is:

South Block
Studio 312
64 Osborne Street
Glasgow
G1 5QH

I will let you know once I have moved in, set up and am ready for visitors!

Wednesday 2 November 2011

Wednesday 19 October 2011

Postgraduate Presentation

Today I did a presentation for a group of Postgraduate students at Glasgow School of Art. I was asked by Lesley Black to discuss how I use market research in my art practice.

I began by discussing Glasgow International Artists Bookfair; how Harald and I had the idea when we were participating in the Contemporary Artist Bookfair in Leeds, 2007 and realised that there was no event of this kind in Scotland.



We did a lot of market research that weekend, talking to other artists participating in the bookfair to assess their interest in our idea, and asking advice from the organisers.



I then talked about the market research we did when back in Scotland, and how we put a lot of thought into how we would make GIAB different from other artists bookfairs.





We felt there were things missing from other artist bookfairs:

- People exhibiting on their own do not get a break - provide volunteers who could relieve artists for a while to allow them to have a lunch break

- The artists don’t get a chance to look at the work of other artists - have an hour before the bookfair opens to the public for the artists to look at each others work

- No real opportunity to see any of the city in which the bookfair is taking place - organise a day trip for the day after the bookfair

- What if artists cannot attend in person? - offer a service whereby a volunteer would set up, supervise and then pack up the books ready to be posted back to the artist

I then discussed who we have collaborated with



and how we consider the climate in which we are operating in



The second half of my presentation was focused on my approach to market research when making my own work





Who do I want to view the work?

How do they encounter the work?



GALLERIES - look at which artists they represent, whose work they exhibit, what are the aims of the gallery?, does your work suit the gallery?

FUNDING - read the guidelines, is the opportunity suitable for you? Who has received funding in the past?





The presentation went down well, and some great questions were asked. It was also really good to meet Janine Matheson again. Janine co curates Sierra Metro gallery in Edniburgh, works at the Cultural Enterprise and is also working on a new project soon to be launched.

Monday 17 October 2011

Glasgow's Turner connection

In today's Guardian Charlotte Higgins investigates why Glasgow keeps producing so many Turner prize winners and nominees? She asks, could it all be down to David Harding?



read the article here:

http://gu.com/p/32kzt

Saturday 15 October 2011

Interview on Sunny Govan radio

A couple of weeks ago I was interviewed by Tess and Anna from Sunny Govan radio for their arts and culture programme called The Happy Hour.

Listen to it on soundcloud - http://soundcloud.com/the-happy-hour/the-happy-hour-october-2011

Thursday 13 October 2011

Talk for GSA Postgraduate students

I have been invited to give a talk to the Postgraduate Students studying the Creative Entrepreneur elective at Glasgow School of Art.

Along with Janine Matheson from the Edinburgh Gallery Sierra Metro, we will discuss market research and how to learn from others.

Wednesday 12 October 2011

AHM State of Play manifestos

Documentation of the one-minute manifestos that were presented at AHM's third State of Play Symposium are now on the AHM blog.

More documentation from the event is to be updated soon!

http://theahmblog.blogspot.com/

Tuesday 4 October 2011

Interviewed for the Happy Hour on Sunny Govan radio

Today I was interviewed by the wonderful Anna and Tess from Sunny Govan radio about my forthcoming solo exhibition 'Strength in numbers' - listen out for the next edition of the Happy Hour:
http://soundcloud.com/the-happy-hour/the-happy-hour

Sunday 2 October 2011

manifesto at AHM Symposium 3 - Dundee



Art is, and can be many things

Art : political : art : captivating : art : public : art :

loud: art : thought provoking : art : light : art :

critical
: art : colourful : art : challenging : art :

beautiful
: art : permanent : art : enlightening : art :

intimate : art : poetic : art : huge : art : meaningful

: art : soft : art : moving : art : reflective : art :

sensual : art : controversial : art : tactile : art :

temporary : art : pertinent : art : complex : art :

humorous : art : difficult : art : inspiring : art :

quiet : art : engaging : art : emotional : art :

stimulating
: art : important

Sunday 25 September 2011

Strength in numbers



You are warmly invited to my solo exhibition Strength in numbers in one of the front project spaces at The Briggait, 141 Bridgegate, Glasgow

The preview is on Thursday 6th October from 6pm - 8pm.

The exhibition runs from Friday 7th October until Sunday 30th October 2011.

Hope to see you there!

Saturday 24 September 2011

Wasps Open Studios Weekend

Wasps Open Studios Weekend 2011

Saturday 1st October 2011 11am - 5pm

Sunday 2nd October 2011 12pm - 5pm





Come and visit the Wasps Open Studio Weekend at The Briggait, Glasgow where you get an exclusive preview into the artists studios, meet the artists and have the opportunity to buy their work.

My Studio (122)
is on the first floor overlooking the St Enoch car park. Although it will be open both days, I will only be there on Sunday as I am taking part in the STATE OF PLAY Symposium at DCA, Dundee on Saturday. If you do go on Saturday, by studio mate, Stephanie will be happy to talk to you!

For more information please visit http://www.waspsstudios.org.uk/

Thursday 22 September 2011

GIAB 2012

Save the date : Saturday 28th & Sunday the 29th April 2012.

Glasgow International Artists Bookfair will be held again in 2012 at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall.




GIAB is a showcase of artists’ books produced by local, UK-based and international artists. Books as artworks, books about books, books about bookbinding, old-style letterpress books, audio books, funny & weird books and even books with nothing in them can be seen and bought.

It is a rare opportunity to access such artworks, meet the creators and purchase some original artworks, without breaking the bank.

There will also be the possibility of participating in bookbinding workshops.

Harald and I are busy working on the organisation of GIAB 2012, so keep checking http://www.giab.org.uk/ for updates

Tuesday 20 September 2011

Artist manifesto at STATE OF PLAY Symposium

STATE OF PLAY - Art and Culture in Scotland Today Symposium

Saturday 1st October
Cinema 1, Dundee Contemporary Arts (DCA)
11am - 4pm




Working as Research Assistant for AHM (Sam Ainsley, David Harding and Sandy Moffat), I have been heavily involved in the planning and organisation of this event. I will be performing my own personal one minute manifesto at the event.

AHM’s third and final State of Play: Art and Culture in Scotland Today symposium will bring together the main themes of previous symposia in a debate about the role of art and culture in shaping Scotland’s future. A key element of the day will be the spoken delivery of one-minute artist manifestos where artists have the opportunity to give voice to their concerns and ambitions about where they feel visual art stands today and what the future might hold.

Speakers are Gerry Hassan a leading writer and critic on culture and politics, Jenny Brownrigg Exhibition Director The Glasgow School of Art, artist Ross Sinclair and Jean Urquhart MSP.

More information can be found at http://theahmblog.blogspot.com/ or by contacting ahmglasgow@gmail.com

Tickets can be purchased from Dundee Contemporary Arts Box Office either in person or by calling +44 (0)1382 909900 Mon - Sat 10am - 8pm, Sun Midday - 8pm with a credit or debit card. Tickets can also be purchased online at http://www.dca.org.uk/

Sunday 18 September 2011

Urban Space III at the Briggait

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It was super to see so many people enjoying Urban Space III at the Briggait during Open Doors Weekend. If you didnt manage to come this weekend, make sure you don't miss the WASPs Artists Open Studios on Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd October 2011.