The Means and the Instruments - Michael Mulvihill - Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art, Sunderland

Last week artist Michael Mulvihill gave an artist talk and spoke about his current exhibition, The Means and the Instruments at Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art, Sunderland. At the weekend I visited the exhibition.



"Mulvihill is fascinated by the Cold War, and tells the story of when he was growing up as a child in the Eighties, running home from school to see whether he could beat the 'four minute' attack warning that would signal nuclear annihilation. He failed, it took him 6 minutes. This biographical anecdote is used to focus his attentions on broader geopolitical narratives of that era. 

The exhibition features a number of delicate pencil drawings based on the Vulcan XL319 aircraft                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

By appropriating the iconography of the Vulcan aircraft and reframing it through his typically delicate pencil drawings, Mulvihill conflates global histories with a more personal tenor."



Although I had seen good quality images of Michael's work through his artist talk, the intricate details on Michael's postage stamp sized works cannot be viewed properly unless you are looking at the work first hand.



I am curious about how Michael's decided to position the individual drawings over two walls. They were fairly evenly spaced, with no dense or sparse areas or direction to the flow of images. There did not appear to be any guidelines determining the positioning of the images. Sometimes highly detailed images were at the top of the walls, preventing the viewer from admiring the drawing.



http://www.ngca.co.uk/exhibs/default.asp?id=216&prnt=18

Layer by layer

Nearly reached the top!

Adding more layers - lime - medium blue - lime

More layers in the bedrock sequence

I continue to follow the order of the geology of the Cheeseburn as indicated on a bedrock map. The colours of each layer of plaster relates to the colour of the rock as per the key on bedrock geology maps.

Critique of SEMI at BALTIC 39

This morning we met up with the Northumbria University MFA students at BALTIC 39. 

On Thursday evening I had attended the preview of their exhibition; SEMI, and today we participated in a group critique of the work in the exhibition. 

The work is varied in form and content, including sound work, performance, video work and painting by the following students

David Bilbrough / Alex Brunt / Jamie Ellis-Clark / Tim Croft / Rachel Errington / Alex Harmon / Alexandra Hughes / Joanna Hutton / Ricky James / Gethin Wyn Jones / Phil Larry / David Longwill / Dan May / Lily Mellor / Markos Sotiriou / James Watts

I look forward to meeting the group again, this time at Newcastle University, for a critique of our forthcoming exhibition in February.

Colour layer 3

Coloured layer 2

First pour in the angular mould

With this cast I am going to use the colours depicting the different rock types from the bedrock geology of the Cheeseburn area.

Rather than simply pouring the plaster in straight layers, I am going to alter the angle of the mould with each pour. My reason for doing so is to prevent the sculpture from being too predictable.

Time for the layers of colour

After a couple of weeks spent making the moulds, and preparing the outside surfaces of the sculpture, it was finally the time to add the initial layers of coloured plaster into the mould.

My choice of colours is being determined by the colours used to depict the different layers of rock in bedrock geology.

I have investigated the geology of the Cheeseburn Grange region, and will follow this pattern for these casts.

Coloured layer 1

A playful day at the museum

Can and should museums be playful places? Anna Bunney and Charlotte Derry believe so,  and In a recent essay for Arts Professional, they reflect on their mission to discover how best to create the right conditions for play.

Creating moments of nonsense at the Museums Association Conference in 2012

At Manchester Museum we are currently involved in a project to shape a series of principles, based upon our real experiences, loosely called ‘The new rules of the playful museum’. The project has evolved from experimentation and engagement over the past four years with playful ideas and practice in our museum space.

Our current project emerged from our Happy Museum Playful Museum project which enabled us to commission training for visitor-facing staff with playwork experts. Staff learnt from innovative work in the playwork sector and embedded new, creative ways of working which helped develop their understanding of play and provide more playful opportunities for visitors. They were encouraged and supported to challenge perceptions about play and space, try out playful nonsense, observe children and adults’ playful movements.

Our gallery staff have coined the term 'relaxy staffitude' as one of the key ingredients in creating the right conditions for play

With continued support from The Happy Museum, we are producing a rulebook, a sustainable resource which shares our learning and thinking, and a vehicle through which we hope to start a rich discussion within the sector about what a playful museum or gallery could look and feel like. The idea for the rulebook came about when we read a small booklet ‘The New Rules of Public Art’ produced in 2013 by the public art organisation Situations. Its 1940s ministerial pamphlet format is juxtaposed with challenging provocations and wisdoms gleaned from practice. Its rules prompted us to think differently about public art and encourage commissioners to think more about developing works with emerging, fluid and multiple meanings which can be created between artist, artwork and viewer/participant. The concept of a traditional-looking framework incorporating contemporary ideas struck a chord with us, as Manchester Museum is a traditional Victorian museum, but we like to experiment with our practice. We liked the playfulness of the contrast between the instructive dogmatism of a rulebook and the openness of its content. This has inspired us to play with the rules within our own rulebook, much as children and adults create their own rules for play when they take games in different directions according to the players and their environment.

With the format decided upon and a designer on board to steer and mesh our ideas into a coherent booklet, our next challenge is to consider how we will develop content that is resonant with all, so that the sector receives something of real value. We did not simply want to write a guidebook about “this is how you do the playful museum thing” so we are in the process of co-creating the content and the on-gallery team are playing their part in creating the initial rule ideas. They have now participated in three sessions to develop the core elements of the book, and the themes that have emerged include:

• Creating the conditions to enable play to happen - whether through a smile, a wink, through flexible resources set out in the gallery, or by communicating something witty or playful.
• Getting the support you need from across the organisation - to be able to experiment and try new things, whether it is giving permissions or initiating playful happenings.
• Being able to fail and keep trying.
• One size does not fit all – not all staff want to be playful and everyone’s position must be respected and accommodated.

A playful museum is an attitude of people and the environment. Our museum is a living organism and our gallery staff have coined the term ‘relaxy staffitude’ as one of the key ingredients in creating the right conditions for play.

And so the challenge now is to represent our themes and ideas through language and illustrations which can be universally understood and personally interpreted by staff at every level within museums and galleries. To do this we plan to pilot our ‘rules’ in other venues including the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Edinburgh Museum and Derby Museums. Their feedback will help us form our final version which we will be launching in the spring.

Anna Bunney is Curator of Public Programmes at Manchester Museum and Charlotte Derry is the project lead and an independent play and museum consultant.
www.museum.manchester.ac.uk

Moulds for new casts

Over the last couple of weeks I have been busy working in the wood workshop and the casting workshop making a couple of moulds for new sculptures.

Moving on from my previous casts, I wanted to explore new shapes and on a larger scale. Continuing with my interest in play, games and building, I am using tetris shapes.


This mould is for a plaster sculpture that will be grey on the outside with coloured layers inside. 



I begun by going round the perimeter of the mould and creating walls of grey plaster. Each face needed to be made separately, and so the plaster was mixed in batches. I had mixed the correct amount of pigment to be able to cover all the surfaces  in order to maintain a consistent colour. 

I have built inside the mould with clay so that when I pour the plaster inside the mould, there is a space where the plaster cannot fill (where the clay is). Once the plaster is dry and I remove the clay, the negative space will be revealed and the layers of colour will be visible.

Fine arts suffer class bias in National Student Survey, study says

Researchers argue that nature of teaching in subjects means that they cannot score highly in survey

New research shows that the National Student Survey is “unconsciously biased” against universities specialising in art and design, a vice-chancellor has said.

Although overall satisfaction rates have risen in the 10 years the survey has been in existence, scores for art and design subjects have remained stubbornly low.

Researchers Mantz Yorke (of Lancaster University), Susan Orr (University of the Arts London) and Bernadette Blair (Kingston University) suggest in an article published last month in the journal Studies in Higher Education that “a perfect storm” of factors combine to compromise the performance of the subjects.

On the NSS, a range of subjects often receive poor marks from students on the quality of feedback from tutors, the researchers suggest. This is especially true for fine art and design, they say, where feedback is given ad hoc and informally, such as a passing comment on a student’s work, or over time, as work is developed in a studio.

The researchers note that this may explain why feedback scores are low for these subjects compared with more practical and formal subjects such as nursing.

Art and design subjects also score consistently low when it comes to staff contact hours. This may be because these courses are not as “explicitly structured” as those that score consistently highly in the survey, the researchers suggest.

Overall, they conclude, the “study raises a question about the utility of a generic survey instrument”.

Nigel Carrington, vice-chancellor of UAL, which received a score of 70 per cent for student satisfaction in the most recent survey, said that his institution took the NSS “seriously as a way to listen to our students and improve their experience”.

“But as this research sets out, the NSS is unconsciously biased against arts and design institutions. Its questions assume that students are being taught in lecture theatres and classrooms. That simply doesn’t reflect the way students learn practice-based subjects, from arts and design to some science and medical courses,” he said.

Mr Carrington added that the NSS should be tailored to better reflect the experiences of such students.

“The NSS already asks students on NHS-funded courses a different set of questions because it recognises that they are taught in a different way from the classroom norm. The upcoming review of the NSS should extend this principle to all practice-based subjects. This would be a fairer reflection of satisfaction,” he said.

Eames House of Cards

Created in 1952, the most successful toy of Charles & Ray Eames is a series of cards printed with images, that could be built into three-dimensional structures of various shapes and sizes. Charles and Ray's view of toys was that a point can be made and something can be learned by both adults and children. The message is that we have only to look at our immediate surroundings and the things we use and love for a deep and lasting appreciation of art in its truest form.

http://www.monpetitart-boutique.com/index.php?page=119&lg=2

http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887324216004578483141161803964

Delta Design by Hans Strand

Photographer Hans Strand submitted Delta design to the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2014 competition.

See more at: http://www.nhmshop.co.uk/prints/wildlife-photographer-of-the-year-2014/delta-design-wall-print.html#sthash.zjLwGDZ4.dpuf

Crystal formation by Bernardo Cesare

Bernardo Cesare's entry to the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition features a crystal formation that came about half a billion years ago,after a geological event in Kerala, India, at extreme heat deep within the continental crust.The black mineral is graphite, traversing panels of quartz and feldspar. 

See more at: http://www.nhmshop.co.uk/prints/wildlife-photographer-of-the-year-2014/kaleidoscope-wall-print.html#sthash.jhkRsPqp.dpuf

Visit to the Staiths

Following Wednesday's talk by Suzanne Hutton, I signed up for the site visit to Dunston Staiths.



Along with a couple of other Newcastle University Fine Art students and Bridget (the staff member who had arranged the talk), we walked from the University, met up with Suzanne at the train station and then walked over the High Level Bridge to Gateshead Riverside Park.

  
 
Suzanne told us that the area of Gateshead running parallel with the Tyne was called the Bankies. This area used to be unpleasant to live in, but now it has been turned into modern housing.



Riverside Park was landscaped during 1960-1970. During the late 1980's and in the early 1990's a number of sculptures were introduced within the park. The development of the park as an ‘art venue’ and a valuable open space for local people continues to this day.




We entered Gateshead Riverside Park and looked out for the sculptures that are on display here permanently:



Cone - Andy Goldsworthy (1992)






Rolling Moon - Colin Rose (1990)



Once Upon a Time - Richard Deacon (1990)

In her lecture the previous day Suzanne had talked about the public art project organised by rednile projects that had taken place in Gateshead Riverside Park. The images made the park look well maintained and lush, with lots of visitors. As we walked through the park I realised how different it seemed now. It was a site of fly-tipping, and we hardly passed a soul, which didn't surprise me as it was a dingy place to be. This demonstrates the importance of maintaining areas once temporary public art projects have ended in order to encourage audiences to use the space properly.












As we exited the Gateshead Riverside Park, we reached Dunston Staiths and Staiths South Bank. Staiths South Bank is a development of 777 homes on a brownfield site that had previously been occupied by Redheugh gas works for almost 100 years.



"Central to the concept for Staiths South Bank are the principles of good design, affordability and innovation with the intent on creating a ‘community’ where people want to live. Design and masterplanning were by Wayne and Gerardine Hemingway in partnership with George Wimpey and the Ian Darby Partnership. Their partnership with George Wimpey began when they criticised the 'Wimpeyfication' and 'Barrattification' of Britain in the media, setting the challenge for house builders to think harder about design.

Intrinsic to the design and layout of Staiths South Bank is a move away from the identikit new-build housing that has typified UK developments since the 1960s. A key feature of the scheme is the provision of public, private and semi-private spaces, which integrate and complement (rather than conflict with) the transport and circulation infrastructures. 

Staiths Southbank has been designated a home zone – a development that has been designed for people not just traffic.

On entering the development, roads are wide with cars and pedestrians separated by defined roads and pavements. But more further in and roads will become narrower, pavements will become wider and the bias towards the pedestrian more obvious. Strategically placed trees and shrubs replace speed bumps; all houses are built around communal green areas; car parking is away from houses and even the wading birds have more rights than motorists.



Each phase of the project has its own ‘play strategy’, which calls upon children’s imagination by placing adventurous and unusual equipment within the streetscape. The play strategy also extends to adults through the introduction of seats and benches where residents can meet and congregate.

Within Staiths’ streets, two-storey semis nestle against three-storey townhouses and flats of various shapes and sizes. This results in a broad mix of property type within the same building line and courtyard, something rarely seen today in England. Inside, there’s a choice of traditional layout: open plan or even ”reverse living” with voluminous living rooms on upper floors with ceilings that extend up to the eaves.

The external designs of the properties give a sense of individuality to each home, displaying a range of sustainable materials, including render, brickwork and cedar wood cladding. There are interesting features such as glass bricks set into finished walls and matching mortar colour on the brickwork. The subtle variations in colour and the roofline variations are proving popular with residents.



As well as the varied housing, there is an assortment of gardens and courtyards, some with sandpits and play areas for families with young children, others more suitable for those with teenagers, and so on. With most houses, private gardens back onto south facing communal 'pocket parks' with facilities for all age groups, including permanent barbecues which are free for residents to use. Reclaimed timber has been used to produce outdoor seating, play equipment, gateways and many other features. Wherever possible, recycled railway sleepers were used as retaining walls and it is planned that in the future, these will be used for for 'kickabout walls' within a junior play space that's still to be constructed adjacent the site boundary. The timber features and willow binstores have all been made and installed by local craftsmen.

An abundance of trees, hedges and climbing plants soften the scenery and attract wildlife – wherever possible, trees remaining from the site were reused. Special arrangements have been made to protect the indigenous wading birds (including limiting development work to certain times of the year and in conjunction with the tidal flow of the river Tyne).

Detailed consultation lies at the heart of the project, and extends out of the development itself to working with the council on the restoration of riverbank walks and cycle ways linking up to the other areas of the city and English Heritage on the reopening of the historic Staiths wooden structure."

http://www.hemingwaydesign.co.uk/the-staiths-south-bank-detail



In September 2014 Suzanne opened Staiths Cafe bar in what was once the Sales Room of the Housing Estate. Overlooking the Dunston Staiths, it literally lies at the heart of the community, and even in my short visit I got a sense that it is a hub and somewhere for locals to meet up and socialise. The cafe serves homemade food cooked using local suppliers. The cafe also acts as a small shop selling eggs, milk and bread along with some tinned and packaged staples. The attention to detail is evident - furniture and crockery is well-designed, and Suzanne selects the artwork that is displayed on the walls.

http://www.staiths.co.uk



Following a delicious lunch at The Staiths Cafe, we met Kari Vickers, Activity Manager of Dunston Staiths who kindly gave us access to walk on the Staiths and gave us a fascinating talk about the impressive structure.







"Dunston Staiths on the River Tyne is believed to be the largest timber structure in Europe, at its height, 5.5m tonnes of coal a year was taken by rail from the Durham coalfields and loaded from the Staiths onto ships waiting on the river, which transported coal around the British Isles and Internationally.

The North Eastern Railway Company opened Dunston Staiths in 1893 to meet the growing demand to export coal and to save the rail journey to the docks at the mouth of the river. A second set of Staiths was built adjoining the first in 1903 and a tidal basin dug out, providing six berths in all, where colliers could be loaded at all states of the tide.

Dunston Staiths fell into disrepair during the latter half of the C20th, as the coal industry declined. It was fully restored in the 1980’s with the gantries repaired and redecorated, but in a non-operational condition. Used as a focal point for the National Garden Festival held in Gateshead in 1990, the public could then walk along the top of the structure and view the chutes and other machinery used in loading the ships, it was also a performance area and art gallery.

A fire in 2003 seriously damaged the monument, destroying a section which detached the eastern end to create an island.



Ecologically, the Tyne is considered to be the third most important tidal area in the North East. When dredging stopped, the lagoon silted up rapidly to create mudflats providing an important feeding area for wintering and migrant wading birds. The detoxification of the two rivers has encouraged the establishment of increasingly interesting natural habitats around the Staiths, including an important Saltmarsh Garden, a rare resource in the urban environment and of significant conservation interest.



The Staiths structure currently provides an undisturbed roosting area for a range of bird species including grey heron, lapwing and redshank. Otters, an internationally protected species, also use the Staiths, Saltmarsh and adjoining areas of the Rivers Team and Tyne."



We were lucky enough to spot a seal swimming in the Tyne beneath the Staiths, and Kari informed us that this is not an uncommon sight. Apparently there are two seals living in the area feeding off the salmon.



The structure is currently being restored. Alongside this restoration, an activity plan supported by the Friends Group and Volunteers aims to reconnect the Staiths and Saltmarsh Garden to the local area, develop awareness and understanding of its significance, and give the project long term sustainability through interpretation, events, activities and learning programmes.

While the Staiths will be substantially closed to public access during the winter months when surfaces become slippy and to protect breeding birds, it is planned that the western end of the Staiths will be open to the public during the summer season.











The white poles along the Staiths were lamp posts.









For more information about Tyne and Wear Building Preservation Trust and the Dunston Staiths, please visit

http://twbpt.org.uk

http://dunstonstaiths.org.uk



It was a fascinating and inspiring day, and I am very grateful to Bridget for organising it, and for Suzanne and Kari for being so generous with their time and for sharing so much with us. I now intend to work on a proposal for some artwork that would respond to the site.