My contribution to No Niceties exhibition - collages

The 'No Niceties' exhibition featured works by a diverse group of artists, some based in Newcastle and the others from all over the country. They were united by the premise of the exhibition, namely to make a work in response to my recent publication, 'A lot can happen in fifteen minutes'. Some artists responded specifically to one of the texts within the publication, whereas other artists responded to the general themes of the publication.

I wanted to create a work that acted as a summary of the publication, and so I selected a key sentence or phrase from each text. I chose to use letters cut out from magazines to form the words, and then applied them directly to the walls in the gallery.



I scattered the texts around the gallery at varying heights and sometimes specifically positioned a sentence in relation to one of the other works.

My contribution to No Niceties exhibition - spoken word performance

In addition to all the responses from other artists to my publication, 'A lot can happen in 15 minutes', I used the 'No Niceties' exhibition as an opportunity to test out a couple of ideas relating to the text.

Given the success of the spoken word performances at the publication launch, I decided to create another to perform at 'No Niceties'.



My performance was scheduled after Stella's performance, so while everyone was focusing on Stella, my group of performers got into position, spreading out around the perimeter of the room, each facing the wall.

Once Stella's performance had finished, my performers gradually began whispering the phrase 'The ticking clock', a line from one of the texts within 'A lot can happen in fifteen minutes'. After a few minutes an assortment of other single sentences or phrases such as 'Desperately searching', 'You knew what to expect', and 'No explanation', were gradually introduced by all but one of the performers. This single performer repeated 'The ticking clock' throughout the performance, but the other performers varied the lines they were speaking.



As the performers changed the way in which they delivered their lines, increasing in volume and altering their tone, they also slowly moved backwards away from the wall and towards the centre of the room. They ended in a circle, each facing toward the audience with their back to the other performers.

As they neared the end of the performance, they became more softly spoken and returned to delivering the single line, 'The ticking clock'. At the point when there was some regularity and the performers were in tune with each other, I called out "No Niceties," marking the end of the performance.

My thanks go to the wonderful individuals who kindly agreed to perform this work with me.

No Niceties contributing artist - Stella Dixon

In the No Niceties exhibition, Stella Dixon staged a performance. 

The gallery lights were switched off, and the freestanding lights lit up the 'stage' area which was suggested by an array of pink and purple balloons, some of which were shaped as hearts, scattered on an area of tin foil on the floor.

Dressed in joggers and a pink bra, Stella entered the stage area as the music began to play. 

Over the course of the song, Stella performed to the mirror on the wall, rather like the way a teenage girl may practice in front of a mirror in her bedroom.

Kate Stobbart : No Niceties contributing artist

Kate Stobbart exhibited a work called Fifteen minutes of picking at clay to the No Niceties exhibition.

No Niceties contributing artist - Edwin Li

I haven't forgotten about the remaining three artists who contributed to the 'No Niceties' exhibition that I have yet to blog about.

Not only did Edwin Li deliver his amusing interpretation of the 'A lot can happen in fifteen minutes' text in which he recited a number of alternative sentences that were constructed from rearranging the letters used in the 'Order of texts' page, but he also acted as an entertaining compare, introducing each of the performances to the audience.

No Niceties contributing artist - Kathryn Brame

"Absence, loss, time and memory are all key concerns that influence my practice and after reading Helen’s text ‘A lot can happen in fifteen minutes’, it became clear to me there were similarities between our work. I felt that while the texts described a collection of awkward moments, they also portrayed a real sense of loneliness and isolation and of an individual having to deal with each of these scenarios alone. Sections of text such as: “You opened your eyes. Desperately searching for him. He was not there” and “She avoids you. As much as you avoid her” all spoke to me as moments of struggle and frustration with human connection."

"My work has often involved a single figure placed within a void, removing any clear sense of time or context. The space surrounding the subject and in which the work is shown is integral, serving perhaps as a form of protection, a means of heightening the subject’s importance or space for the viewer to add their own narrative. I submitted two pieces of work in response to Helen’s text – the first was a painting of a small figure looking out of the picture plane into the room, possibly searching for something or someone. I thought this work echoed the sense of loneliness I felt emanating from the texts."

"I also showed a very small text piece called ‘Everything will be alright’. This was a line taken directly from the text ‘You stand at the platform’ but was also a line used by Helen in her MFA Degree show sound piece ‘Everything will be alright’. I felt this line summed up the general feeling of all of the texts - that although these awkward and difficult moments have happened, there is still a sense of hope that everything will be alright."

www.kathrynbrame.com

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No Niceties contributing artist - Holly Wheeler

Newcastle-based artist Holly Wheeler exhibited 3 photoshopped collages titled Well… this is awkward.

Here she offers us an insight into her ideas leading to the work.

"Initially I wanted to respond to the aesthetic properties of Helen’s publication. The specific formatting, colour scheme and precision with which it was assembled, readily caught my attention.

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I chose instead, to respond to the awkward silences and fragmentation that punctuates the work. For me it reveals a shared discomfort and uncertainty within the narrator and the reader as they are confronted by the intimacy of the work. ‘Well…this is awkward’ is a light hearted attempt to voice the internal critic and acknowledge a mutual sense of anxiety the work might stir within the narrator, reader, author and artist."

layering/collage/photoshop/distance/green/online/advice/repetition/obsess

ive behaviour/repair/self-help/self-care/language/communication/thought/reality/

mental/internal/vanishing/merging/objects/mark

making/projection/distance/temporary/humorous/light hearted/lost/vibrancy/perception/displacement/uncertain

ty/uncontrollable/space/placement/fragile/ incomplete/unfinished/evolving/morphing/reshaped/indeterminate



/stuck

To see and read more about Wheeler's work please visit

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http://www.hollyrwheeler.com/

https://hollywheelerart.wordpress.com/

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No Niceties contributing artist - Sofija Sutton

Brooklyn-based artist Sofija Sutton contributed Sweet, Hold the Bitter to the No Niceties exhibition.

She states, "My current art practice explores the use of flash fiction and folklore in video, painting, collage, and multidiscipline installations. I use narratives and visuals to tell layered metaphors for daily, intimate life. The most common themes I address are belonging and mental health. I particularly enjoy using anamorphism with invertebrate references in magical realism to juxtapose the absurd with the mundane.

Each project’s message dictates the materials of my work. Some meanings require text, while others may be communicated with paint alone. Some works benefit from collaboration and some works require learning new technologies. Allowing the meaning of the work to direct the form it takes allows me to be open to new experiences while maintaining the importance of the story’s message."



Sutton shares some of her initial thoughts that led to the end result:

how i wanted one story to go
- how I want the word playful to be associated in my head. not playful but investigative and introspective and innately human. yes.

(I related too closely)
how it went.

I just wanted one sweet hold the bitter end so I could think you have some sweet hold the bitter moments. but thats not really how feelings are felt in hindsight.

in fifteen minutes my tea can go cold.

-flying pill bug baby, roll and pop!
- you settle into your train seat.
- your friends talk a lot about babies and weddings
- you live a different life than them

ticking clock with an empty desk and chair. plain.
toxic colors, acidic or washed out, jarring. initial impression of joy masking the anxiety and compulsion.



For more information about Sofija's practice, please visit

She has also just launched her new illustration website showcasing watercolor and collage illustrations. Check it out!

http://www.fiasutton.com/

No Niceties contributing artist - Cecilia Stenbom

Newcastle-based artist, Cecilia Stenbom created an audio work for the No Niceties exhibition. Buzz was comprised of 15 recordings layered into a single track. The recordings were done over the course of one week, at different times of the day, capturing various everyday activities at home, studio and in public space, creating a record, of the uneventful and mundane of everyday existence.



Stenbom writes, "My work, primarily screen-based, is concerned with narrative and the everyday; notions of identity and human interaction. I examine collective experiences by reinterpretation and appropriation, employing both documentary and fiction conventions. I am interested in how the mundane and everyday is narrativised; the process of turning real experiences into fiction."

Originally from Sweden Cecilia has lived and worked in Helsinki and Glasgow before moving to the North East of England. Forthcoming and recent projects includes; Somewhere Becoming the Sea (2017) , Group Exhibition part of City of Culture, Hull, curated by Steven Bode and Film & Video Umbrella, Beam Reach Blasting and Parallel (2016) commission for Tall Ships Cultural Programme (UK and Sweden) In Waiting (2014), commission by Creative England, The List (2014), Figure two, BALTIC 39, Newcastle Upon Tyne.

www.ceciliastenbom.se

www.workplacegallery.co.uk