Plans put into action

It's been a pretty full on day, with lots accomplished, but still lots to do!

I am now back at work at Glasgow School of Art, so my time working on my exhibition is limited to afternoons and evenings.

After work Ruth and I drove to Travis Perkins to purchase more fine casting plaster.

We then met with Grace and Petter for a committee meeting related to my exhibition. It was the first time that we had all met together, and I found it very useful to clarify various things and ensure that we are all aware of where we are at and what still needs doing. We discussed things such as lighting in the gallery, poster distribution, the workplan for the run-up to the exhibition, availability of help and issues relating to the opening and in conversation event.

Petter and I then began the mammoth casting mission of the evening. We spent the first few hours cleaning the moulds and re-assembling them for more casts. We then mixed the plaster and poured into filled every mould suitable.

I decided to keep layers minimal, instead choosing to fill the moulds with one or two colours so as to provide a pause in the chaos that already exists within the existing casts on the bookshelf.

Having another pair of hands to assist me has been such a help, and even then, it took us a long time to clean the moulds and reassemble the pieces.

Action Plan made

Today I met with Petter in the gallery to assess the progress I have made since he last was in the gallery, and to talk through some ideas.

At the moment I have made 37 floor tiles, but need to make more. I also need to cast more blocks for the shelves.

I coated the casts that had most recently been removed from their moulds in the polymer solution that adds strength and helps the casts retain their colour.

I have drafted a rough action plan for the 9 days that remain before the exhibition opens. It is rather scary to think how much still needs to be done!

Drawing, a great way to spend the first day of 2014

I am conscious that at the moment, all the work in 'Brimming', my forthcoming solo exhibition at 1 Royal Terrace, is made from plaster, and I want to add another dimension to the exhibition and introduce work in a different medium.

Today I've been going back to drawing in its simplest form firstly doing some sketches of ideas for the shelves and then a colour collage.

I also made a few drawings of possible outlines for laser cutting. All will become clear later!

Angie Lewin at Yorkshire Sculpture Park

I've seen Angie Lewin's prints on greetings cards, but never in their original state, so I was keen to visit her 'A Natural Line' exhibition at Yorkshire Sculpture Park.

I enjoyed seeing the sketches and studies that lead to the finished work. 

Sometimes I find her large prints to be too cluttered, but I found her smaller scale work was simpler which I prefer.

Similarly, the small studies on driftwood are not too dense, and the unusual shapes forces Lewin to adapt the composition to suit the driftwood.

Markus Linnenbrink

As I am preparing work for my solo exhibition at 1 Royal Terrace, I am thinking about how the work addresses the categories of sculpture, installation and painting, and if these categories are actually necessary and/or useful. 

I am conscious that I want the exhibition to be varied enough to avoid being predictable, but for it also to sit together as a coherent whole.

I have been looking into artists who work in similar ways to myself, and came across the wonderful work of Markus Linnenbrink

  

 

Linnenbrink creates sculpture, installation and paintings, and I have been investigating the way in which he spans the different disciplines when installing a solo exhibition.

At the moment all the work I have been making for my 'Brimming' exhibition is made from plaster, but I think that another dimension is needed in the form of another material and/or different process.

I am working on some two-dimensional drawings and prints which will, potentially be included in the exhibition.

Trip to the new Tetley art gallery in Leeds

A new contemporary art gallery opened in Leeds about 3 weeks ago so I paid it a visit while in the area. The building, the old Tetley Brewery Headquarters, is beautiful. On the ground floor there is a bar, restaurant and exhibition space. The next three floors consist of art galleries, a workshop space, offices and studios.

The Tetley's first exhibition, ‘A ‘New Reality’, invites audiences to join artists in unraveling the history and future use of the former Tetley Brewery headquarters through a series of artist projects, exhibitions, events and residencies.

Part 1 of this 9-month programme features projects and exhibitions from artists Emma Rushton & Derek Tyman, James Clarkson, Simon Lewandowksi & Sam Belinfante, and Rehana Zaman.

‘A New Reality’ launches The Tetley as a permanent contemporary art space, taking the theme of ‘labour’, the telling of overlooked or fading history, and the cyclical process of change, as starting points for the space’s transformation. An intergenerational mix of contemporary artists have been invited to create cross-disciplinary interventions that are sensitive to the site’s past.

The work in the galleries seemed to be more like a museum survey of the history of the Tetley building than art exhibitions. Unfortunately there were no artists around at the time of my visit, and , but there was evidence of activity in the form of a stage like structure constructed by Rushton & Tyman for their project titled Fear of the Surplus.

A series of public discussions and events around the topics of work, labour and welfare will take place on this stage. An impressive line-up of invited speakers – authors, activists, academics, theorists, organisers and campaigners will debate ideas of work – what it is, why and how we do it, its values and rewards and the conflicting ideas and issues which surround it. As stated on the Tetley website "With current government rhetoric surrounding work and welfare, Fear of the Surplus is timely in providing a space where conflicting ideas about labour, work systems and possible alternatives can be voiced and debated.

Fear of the Surplus refers to those groups – unemployed, the elderly, migrant workers, the recently made redundant, single mothers, under employed, public sector workers – that are either used as scapegoats by those in power, or considered extra to requirement or ‘surplus’ to requirements, or both."

I look forward to following the development of this exciting new contemporary art space.

http://thetetley.org

http://www.creativetourist.com/articles/art/yorkshire/its-art-leeds-but-not-as-we-know-it-the-tetley-launches/

@The_Tetley

Rainbow soil by Katharina Grosse

by Annie Churdar in New Art on Friday 6 September 2013

Walking into Katharina Grosse’s spray painted soil installation  feels like entering the aftermath of a paint factory explosion. It beckons  visitors to wonder through it all, dig around, and interact with the strange phenomenon. The installation, ‘Wunderblock’, is literally made of piles and piles of dirt that she attack with a giant spray paint gun. Needless to say, all surfaces of the room seem to have paint residue.

http://www.lostateminor.com/2013/09/06/rainbow-soil-by-katharina-grosse/

Happy Christmas

Recommendation - Ken Price

Loving your suggestions - please keep them coming

Making art can be a lonely and rather isolating experience, but this blog is a great way of sharing my thoughts and activity with an audience. I find it very useful to reflect on what I have been doing, and I think of my blog as a kind of online sketchbook.

But the blog really works when it becomes a conversation between me and an audience and I really enjoy hearing from friends, colleagues and followers who send me suggestions of artists to look at, images I may find inspiring, relevant research articles and practical recommendations. Please do keep them coming!

Over the next week while I am away from Glasgow, I will be posting some of the links/images etc that have been recommended to me.

First up:

pic.twitter.com/7UI3tgtCTS

This fabric image was sent to me by @JuJuDollie

All lined up after polymerisation

Today I removed the latest casts from their moulds and laid them out to dry.

I then attended to the numerous casts that have been drying, waiting to be coated in a polymer solution. I mixed the solution of water and polymer, and placed 4 rods of wood onto the floor. Gradually, I worked my way through the casts that had been drying, dipping each  cast into the polymer solution and rolling it around so that it is coated on all sides. I then placed the cast onto the wooden batons so as not to stick to the flooring.

I am developing quite a range of colours of the floor tiles, but think I need to vary the heights more.

Attempting to tidy up

I reached the stage where it was becoming difficult to find a patch of floor that was not covered in dust from the plaster, and there were no areas to put casts to dry without them picking up lots of plaster dust. Although I have been trying to keep mess to a minimum, and tidy as i go, the time came for a thorough clean!

I removed the latest batch of casts from their moulds and laid them out to dry.

I now have quite a large selection of casts that need to be covered in polymer - a job for tomorrow!

The gallery as studio

It is such a luxury to be able to work in the gallery for a few weeks prior to my exhibition, and I feel very fortunate. I would not have been able to produce the work I am making if I had not been based here.

Firstly, the gallery is a large space, allowing me to have several things on the go at the same time. For instance, I currently have moulds that have been filled with plaster and left to set, casts that have been removed from the moulds waiting to be and covered in polymer, moulds that are ready for cleaning, and moulds that are cleaned and are waiting to be filled with plaster.

The work I am making involves lots of casting, and this is a messy process requiring lots of space. I try to keep different areas for different tasks, separating the wet and dry areas, and the clean from the messy. One area is where I mix the coloured plaster and pour it into the moulds, another area is where I turn out the casts from the moulds and leave them to dry, another area is where I coat the casts in polymer, and another area is where I leave the casts to dry once they have been covered in polymer.

When making work on such a scale, it is efficient to follow a systematic production line, and for this to happen, space is required!

Another benefit that comes with working in the gallery is that one gets to know the space and this can help influence the work and how it is installed. New ideas are formed, and site specific works can happen. One gets a sense of how people navigate the space, and this can help when it comes to positioning the work at install.

My huge thanks go to Ruth and the 1 Royal Terrace committee for giving me the opportunity to work in the wonderful space that is 1 Royal Terrace. I will certainly miss it!

The latest batch of casts

The photo above shows the casts that I poured into the moulds yesterday, that I removed from the moulds today.

I then cleaned and reassembled the moulds, and the photo below shows the moulds filled with plaster mixed today