Study days and Exhibitions
OCA North Meeting, Dean Clough Mill, Halifax 10th November 2019
OCA North Meeting This is the first time I have joined OCA North regional group. With a venue not too far away, Hazel and I decided to join the group for the afternoon. The group is for students of all disciplines. Andrew Conroy (tutor) was presenting his work with a collaboration theme. I was interested to note how collaborations can sometimes happen and how different they can be. Andrew also introduced us to his personal work and work for the OCA photography pathway.
Helen brought four paintings for us to look at with a list of four questions to think about. We were encouraged to re-order the sequence and see if the answers were different. Although I know nothing about painting, this was an interesting exercise to consider with work that was not my own because I like order and have difficulty re-sequencing my own work. It showed me that this is one of my weaknesses which I need to challenge.
3 Photography students showed their current course work and some interesting conversations ensued.
Ian MacDonald I had seen Ian MacDonald's work previously at HIP Festival Hull (Shipbuilding in Hull and Rotterdam) These are large photographs which require time and space to enjoy the detail. A student and I discussed the size of his artist statement which was 3 panels, almost a mini essay or book forward.The second slide shows the detail in his mixed media work which needs to be seen rather than looked at in a book to appreciate it. The exhibition used various different sizes of work brought together, with a mixture of frames and drawings next to photographs. We discussed a point Stephen Burke had made at the West Brom festival talking about enlarging photographs. He was of the opinion that if something wasn't pin sharp the viewer stood back a little to view. We found we were doing this with one photograph in particular until we realized the reason why.
Ralph Gratton Typology. These images are small, black and white and repeated. Poster sized images which work well together. The "grass" was not as obvious as the "fences".
Alun Kirby: Photographic Memories
I enjoyed the tactile nature of these photographs, sculptures and geometric shapes. However, I did not feel like I was invited to touch them as the work was for sale. The feathers image used real feathers which were sewn onto the photograph. The range of work was interesting. I liked the method of hanging on big bulldog clips which made it feel to me like work in progress in a print room.
HIP Photography Festival, Hull, 9th October 2019
Waste studies research: It was good to see that waste featured within this exhibition. Waste is a large narrative and it was great to see an acknowledgement towards it within the exhibition. These images did not inspire my learning journey although I am looking at rubbish on the floor. Maybe it's because I didn't connect with the artist statement?
Big Fence, Pitcairn Island. Rhinnon Adam
This was a fascinating body of work to look at, with all sorts of details down to posters on the walls, a huge family tree to look at and personal artifacts in display cabinets. It was thought provoking and made me start thinking about what I could collect to display.
I read an article with Robin Friend's photographs in before I started this course. It was great to see some of this work exhibited.
Screenshot from Natalie Paetzold's website https://www.nataliepae.com/
Student work Hazel Bingham
Tim Mitchell, National Glass Centre, Sunderland, 16th September 2019
Tim Mitchell's AV display inside the National Glass Centre was something I found by chance. Having a spare half hour, we visited on the way to the beach. This slide show looked at how humans impact on the ecology of the natural world and how resources are intertwined. Key words: waste, capitalism. The cars are abandoned all over Europe, in various states of disrepair. I found this series interesting. The images showed enough landscape to give some clues as to the where they were abandoned. I felt comfortable looking at this exhibition, confirming that I did need to investigate a strand of waste for my BOW.
RHS London Botanical Art and Photography Show, 25th July 2019
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| Josh Westrich, Octopus's garden: The stunning life of macroalgae (2019) Gold |
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| Rachael Wallace, Woodscapes (2019) Silver |
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| Maria De Wit, The rose garden - a tribute (2019) Silver |
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| Kevin Dutton, Hellebores (2019) Gold |
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| Steve Le Grys, Nature in the abstract (2019) Silver Gilt |
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| Tatiana Bogracheva (2019) Bronze |
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| Francesca Wilkinson, Mary De Laney's Garden - Winter (2019) Silver Gilt |
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| Sabrina Luoni, Anemochory, dispersal by wind (2019) Watercolor, Silver Gilt |
Glitter wall made of sequins outside Gap in Oxford street. Alternative to graffiti in public spaces?
Blast! Festival of Photography, talks and walks, West Bromwich, Saturday 22nd June 2019
Informal OCA Midlands group meeting organised by Allan O’Neill
We met at the Vine Pub in West Bromwich at 12 to look at Stephen Burke’s Exhibition “The Lord is my Shepherd”. Stephen joined us for the afternoon. Stephen works for GRAIN photography hub.
Stephen explained that he applied to Multistory, the commissioners in 2017 for the 2019 Blast festival, giving him a year and a half to make and present the work alongside other his other works. I thought there was a resemblance to Casey Orr’s Saturday Girl on which I saw at Hull and Derby. Colourful backgrounds relate to clothing that would be worn to West Bromwich Albion Football Matches. The clothing represents a uniform and the single images collectively form football fans at a match. Themes emerging are culture, identity and a sense of belonging. People not smiling show respect. I liked the way the vinyl images hung, looking like fans in a football stand. The work was made in three parts:
Interviews
Fan groups such as the Polish Baggies, South Asian Supporters Groups, LGBT fans, and traditional groups were interviewed as football brings people together. Questions were asked such as when did the fans start going to the matches, explaining their sense of belonging and friendships. Stephen spoke to about 10-12 people in depth.
Photographs
Liam Pie from West Bromwich and Stephen used pop-up studios in different place s where fans congregate to meet and speak to fans. They collected details and stayed in touch with people, kept them informed about the project and the celebration event. They photographed about 200 people over a 9-month period between September 2018 and April 2019 with about 10-50 people sitting per session.
Games
The sound recording is live footage. The title of the work is the psalm which West Bromwich Albion fans sing. There is a parallel with the church and a sense of belonging and beliefs. People sing for social wellbeing.
Some of the images were printed onto vinyl and some onto wood. They have been outside for about 2 months and not noticeably showing signs of wear (but someone has scratched their name into the corner of one). They were exhibited for the last home game of the season with a sing along. Some people engaged with the work.
Stephen Burke’s Website http://stephenpburke.com/the-lords-my-shepherd
Stephen took us on a journey of his work since graduating. He concentrates on identity and place. His one regret from his first piece of work “It’s OK around here” (2012) was not keeping contact numbers of the people he photographed and developed his working practice to include this. Other projects he was involved with were Longbridge and Austin Village. Both used archives, heritage, living memory and a celebration of place. The projects sounded really interesting and Stephen worked with a group of people such as archaeologists and historians to look at constantly shifting identities.
I could relate to Stephen’s work and began to question my Assignment 1 images which were about to go to my tutor I realised that Stephen’s work celebrates the pride of the communities he worked with and my images didn’t reflect that or the respect the ex-miners had for the colliery. I had to rethink the angle and re-write the words (So CS Assignment 1 happened to focus my thoughts).
Anne Bryson, a fellow OCA student brought a couple of tunnel books she had made from her photographs to show students. I really like the idea, so I researched Shona Grant’s tunnel books. https://www.shonagrantsart.com/artistsphoto-books
After a curry lunch moved to West Bromwich town centre to see more or the Blast festival.
The British Muslim School Girl Gaze
“Girl Gaze is a photographic exploration of the Punjab and diaspora communities in the Black Country through the voices of young girls and women. Bringing together newly commissioned work by four female artists: Jocelyn Allen (UK), Jennifer Pattison (UK), Andrea Fernandes (India) and Umza Mohsin (India), the exhibition explores the diverse themes regarding gender, identity, patriarchy, tradition, culture, memory, place, belonging and difference that shape the lives of women in both countries.”
I liked the apparent simplicity of Jocelyn Allen’s work. The images were stuck on the wall without frames and grouped together. Different sizes were used. It was in keeping with the venue.
Andrea Fernandes’ work utilized small images in a large frame, keeping the effect simple. I particularly liked the small cut out image with a tiny bit of image left in it. 
Dawinder Bansal explored the relationship between the first-generation South Asian women living in Sandwell and their cars. This was a fascinating film using archived photographs and oral history.
Former Poundland
Jon Tonks - Stories from Home
“A portrait of the Central and Eastern European communities living in Sandwell, home to the biggest Polish population in the UK. Jon Tonk’s photographs were made over a 2-year period and against the backdrop of the divisive geopolitical rhetoric following the 2016 EU referendum. The exhibition explores the cultural identity and hopes and fears for the future of these communities and asks the question that reaches beyond borders: What binds a community to make a place home?
Photo’s in an exhibition don’t have to be big, but the wall hanging was impressive, reminiscent of a school photo, it featured the whole community. When enlarged to this size and printed, it was still sharp enough for faces to be recognisable. We chatted to Stephen about the photographic process.
Caravan Gallery
“Using photography as a starting point, Jan Williams and Chris Teasdale of the Caravan Gallery are working with local people to create a portrait of each of Sandwell’s six towns that will result in a Sandwell Pride of Place Project exhibition that will grow and evolve throughout the festival as visitors add their own Sandwell related contributions in any medium.”
I Love the tyres. May be an idea as an artefact later on? I’m collecting things at the moment and I can’t see it being too difficult to find tyres. The disposal of them afterwards may be an issue? I still like the postcard on racks idea as an interactive way of handling photographs.
Indoor Market Kings Square Shopping Centre
“Nilupa Yasmin was drawn to the markets in Sandwell because they are a place where people from diverse backgrounds come together. Her photographs are woven together to create colourful, and complex patterned images that reflect the people and products for sale.”
These images remind me of memories an elderly relative would share about the markets in Birmingham. This was really impressive work and having some experience of playing with strips of photographs in my last course, I can only begin to imagine the work which has gone into these huge hangings. The cut photographs were very tactile. I preferred them to the digital version.
Thanks to Allan for organising such an enjoyable event. Thanks to Stephen for sharing an insight into the life as a working photographer and answering all the questions! Alan is planning a few further events so fingers crossed I can participate.
References
Blast! (2019) Blast! Festival of photography, talks and walks 24th May-29th June 2019 West Bromwich. Town centre (Indoor Market, British Muslim School, Former Poundland)
Gen23 Nottingham Trent University (NTU) Degree Show Friday 24th May 2019
Hazel and I usually visit the NTU degree show to view the final year students’ Body of Work Exhibitions. They are in different galleries / spaces in Nottingham and it links well with our current OCA studies. This year Hazel had a meeting planned with a gallery to discuss a potential exhibition space for her body of work and work to show The Photo Parlour which was the result of her coursework and attending a bookmaking and photo sequencing day with them.
As we were not starting as early as usual (it takes a whole day to see the work and chat to students), we had to be selective with the galleries we visited. Students advertise their exhibitions on Instagram and one gallery seemed showed work which differed hugely from our BOW’s and added on nearly 2 miles to the circular walk. We decided to miss this one out. That made us question which image summed up our own work and if we chose this, is it a fair representation of the rest of our work? We became so engrossed that we ran out of time to visit the last gallery.
The Photo Parlour
This reminded me of the work of level 3 OCA student. Hazel and I chatted about the way in which this work may have started or evolved and the importance of looking at a similar subject in another way when ideas get stuck.
Another student has discussed his work in the crit session at Format and with the hangout group. His work is about memory loss and photography. We commented that using a diptych may be another way of telling a story.
I was interested in Emily’s idea and her collaboration of work in her book. The use of so many different types of text made it almost like an archive (or could be in a few years’ time). The leather cover of the book gave the work a journal like feeling and something which would age with time but not look out of place. The different handwritten notes added a human factor to the exhibition. For me they worked in the book, but I felt I couldn’t read the ones on the wall incase I pulled them off. They were positioned high on the wall where I was not being invited to read them but view as “evidence”.
Molly’s book had to be turned upside down halfway through. Her handmade book was neat, and I liked the brown card that the text was written on.
Hazel showed her work to a couple of people she knew at the Photo Parlour. They remembered her work from the study day she did with them and were interested to see her completed book as it had just come back from the printers. One of the photographers then singled out an image which he thought would stand alone as a print to hang on the wall as part of an exhibition. Up until this point, thinking about the work as a book, we had been looking at the images in pairs and seeing if they went together. This put a different slant on the work – moving it from BOW to SYP so all a good learning experience for me to watch. The reaction of the photographers to Hazel’s work was positive and uplifting, almost like a show and tell session. They informed us that they had a monthly social night on Wednesday, and it was good to network and talk about work there.
Society of Artists
Ellie’s work was tactile. Her images included glitter, false eyelashes and fake hair. I enjoyed the fun element of these although the message being portrayed is more serious.
Hung Up Gallery
The box of images was good because you could look at them in any order. It gave the exhibition a more hands on approach. I would like something interactive when I get this far so I’m keeping my eyes open for different ways of doing things.
I liked the inclusion of the postcard racks in the exhibition. There were several of the same image and the viewer could pick out images as if choosing a postcard in a shop.
This uses redacting to block out information. I don’t know whether it is in fashion at the moment or whether I started to notice it when looking at text and image together.
Jason’s work has been seen on local social/media. I’ve seen this before and can’t remember where. I remember the AV presentation about the allotment. It may have been on the local news? I like the extra touches with it such as flowers and sign.
Hazel had an appointment with the owner of Hung Up gallery to discuss holding her exhibition here. We looked at the student exhibition first to get a feel for the space. We have visited the basement a few times previously and it’s always different from how you remember it to be. Several students had work on display. It is quite a large space so ideally Hazel would need to exhibit with someone else with similar work. At this point, Hazel had to change from showing her work to selling her work. They negotiated cost, promotion (of which Hazel would have to do it all), length of time she would need the space for, opening presentation, all the preparatory work (which Hazel would have to do herself) and when to hold the exhibition. It wasn’t as simple as the third week in June for 1 week. There would also need to be several meetings to discuss progress.
Broadway Gallery
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| Screengrabs from GEN23 instagram |
https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17950360033259446/ accessed 12/6/19
These images reminded me of some of the delicate flower photographs I had been looking at by Fleur Olby and Lisa Dracup. I looked up Kathleen’s Instagram post to see how she made the images. We got talking to one of the students about the exhibition space and how it worked. You could have this in any combination of false walls and partitions making the space larger or smaller. The space is light and airy, and the work was still hanging on the walls towards the end of the day. Hazel explained it was all to do with the humidity of the room. We went to see if we could chat to the lady in charge of the exhibition space as it seemed to work well. Hazel took her email address as she was not around.
Surface Gallery
The Surface gallery is a huge space. Upstairs we found some interesting work. For me the star of the show was the work by Rebecca Potten on her journey along the River. Her presentation made it easy to look at the images. It reminded me of the boards which are on display in cities showing landscape from the air. Her book was handmade and I liked the information on the dust jacket.
I am interested in landscape and power, but I don’t want to present my landscape in a picturesque manner. This is a reminder to myself of what I don’t want to do.
This would fit in really well with one of the exercises in Digital Image and Culture. I’ve embroidered photographs myself. I think I would have mounted these onto the wall with no frame because the glass squashed the embroidery and made it difficult to see. I didn’t frame my exercise so it was interesting to see what happens if you do.
Modern Nature Symposium, The Hepworth, Wakefield. Friday 26th April 2019 Green spaces and gardens
In 2015, The Hepworth launched a garden design competition to link a 19th century mill and a contemporary art gallery together and provide an open public urban space. It had to reflect Barbara Hepworth’s love of landscape and bring sculptures outside so they could be viewed in changing light. It also must provide all round colour.
The design and build of the garden is an estimated cost of £20 million.
The garden should encourage visitors to wander around sculptures, introducing them to art which they may not have considered. It could be a halfway point for people who are unsure of what to expect in an art gallery. I find the activity sheets for children which the Hepworth produce engaging and a way into the art on display, although people need to visit to discover this for themselves. The café may encourage visitors to the garden. The building is a walk away from Wakefield town centre which has many empty shops; the gallery is situated near retail shopping parks. Public space – accessible? Code of behaviour? Opening times? Transport of groups to use the space? Expensive?
Rachael Craddock (Communities Manager, The Hepworth)
The idea is to connect local people with spaces – working with community groups. Values considered include exchange (learning with and from people), co-creation (hand-over), partnership and access. The aim is to help people and communities become healthier and inclusive and give people a sense of place. It would be somewhere for mental and physical wellbeing activities to happen. The Hepworth have worked with people with dementia through movement, music and art involving artists to gather an informed approach to how people could use the space, looking at current factors such as social isolation, frailty, social prescription and referrals. The garden would have self – guided resources for people and be an accessible gateway to the building.
Critical issues in thinking about green spaces and wellbeing – panel discussion Clare Rishbeth (Department of Landscape Architecture, University of Sheffield), Jan Orlek (Artist / Activist East Street Arts and School of Art, Design and Architecture, University of Huddersfield), Julia Dobson (Department of Landscape Architecture, University of Sheffield)
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| Nicola Talbot 2019 (Twitter) |
Clare produced a park in a bag and asked the audience to think about how people use a park. Do people have different needs at different times in their life? Keywords – materiality, mundane, cultural divergences, aesthetics. Clare had been involved with a refugee project looking at values and experiences of park users. Discussed unpacking familiarity with issues such as people feeling unsafe, an unfamiliar environment, what is allowable or usual behaviour, uncertainty, belonging or not belonging in the landscape / nature. In order to address well-being, people need support with mental health. People value trees, flowers and water but sometimes need support to understand how to use the space when it is an unfamiliar environment and making friends or bringing along friends and developing a social network aids people to use the space. Could be in the form of a walking group. Curated sociability. Develop shared meanings. Human to human relationships and shared experiences.
This made me think differently about parks. Having now spoken to one of my Tutors and read John Fiske’s Reading the Beach Essay, I can begin to contextualise some of Clare’s ideas and start questioning the romantic notion of the park being a “nice landscape”. I think in the park people have similar needs to be there but view each other differently as with the sunbathers and families in Fiske’s essay. Parks provides different types of landscape within them and this could probably be mapped out according to the nature / culture debate, tending mostly towards culture. Some parks do have more wild areas within the security of the park and there can be plenty of boundaries between spaces.
Julia suggests that money spent on parks has fallen by 60% in some areas due to council’s austerity measures. There is a mental health crisis in cities linked to the austerity. Biodiversity – decline of 50% of species in the UK since the 1970’s. If there is no money, other issues take priority. Ethical dilemmas. All about how the issues are framed. To change social policy, one needs to be imaginative and make connections to the issue using art and nature. To achieve utopia there must be conviction.
Ruth Levitas – The concept of utopia. May be useful to read/reference?
IWUN http://iwun.uk/ Improving wellbeing through nature. Who is investigating the green space?
Jon Orlek’s project with back to back houses in Leeds suggested that councils had a masterplan which was invisible. He questioned whether social housing was acceptable and who could influence the plans. Architects define and councils are much less eager to define an artist led approach.
Clare questioned how spaces can change, e.g. drinking / skateboarding. How can you manage “antisocial” behaviour? Connectivity with groups / towns. Desire paths – competing uses – people don’t like being told what to do. Compete / multiple / overlap uses. Wellbeing is informal / transgressive behaviour. How does everyone benefit? Prescribing / enabling behaviours within a space. Observe and intervene when necessary.
Who intervenes – authority, funding (or lack of), falls to society? Is it acceptable for people to sit and have a drink in the park if they don’t have a garden and they feel safe here with their friends? Who decides what is acceptable behaviour? Nature v culture debate.
Criticisms of socially engaged art – follow up, look at the space etc. Evaluations are difficult. Directed by outcomes from commissioners – biased. Can evaluate the activity but not the space. Space is not an intervention. Think of it as an infrastructure like a road, clean air. What are the health benefits and how can it be maximised? Work with engagement of nature needs to start with service users.
Case studies: Creating green spaces
Keith Lilley (Director of Estates and Facilities Management, University of Sheffield)
Keith spoke about the University’s master plan for green space. Urban context reflecting nature. Youtube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16QJ9iwR524 (watch from 3:24secs) Issues such as rerouting buses, creating pedestrian crossings, benches and park like spaces. People’s health improves when they are outside. Uni campus but in the public realm.
How do the public know they can use this space as well as the students?
This presentation enabled me to see Nottingham Trent University’s urban spaces differently than just walking through the area from A to B.
Chris Keady (Sheffield Industrial Museums Trust)
Manages 3 museums – water, industrial and people. Community walks, staff wellbeing, community engagement.
Stephanie Pitts and Sarah Price (Department of Music, University of Sheffield)
Understanding audiences for the contemporary arts. London is different from other cities. White middle-class people are spoken to on the whole. Try to include diverse community groups. Art café’s – people pop in to use the toilets and café, not necessarily see the art. People know how to behave in a café, so it is a bridge to accessing the arts.
Green space is not a destination. Go through it and it changes.
Keith described the green space as a corridor. I can associate with this term – a bridleway runs through the landscape I am studying connecting an SSI to Forestry Commission managed land. This could be the first-time people engage with edgeland landscape. Is it different from the other two? It is managed by Harworth Estates whose aim is to naturalise the area from an old coal mine but it is still being used for some coal activity? Wilderness? How far is it on the scale of nature to culture?
Adrian Moore (Department of Music, University of Sheffield)
Soundscape as an audio document. Acousmatic (electro acoustic piece made for presentation). Lasts 10 minutes. Sounds recorded individually in February 2019 and joined together to create a piece of music
http://coconstructivehumanities.org/recording-the-hepworth/ (insight into the recording)
Casey Strine (Department of History, University of Sheffield)
Gardens then and now
A garden is what a garden does. Comparison between the hanging Garden of Babylon (symbolic- imperial conquest) and the Garden of Eden (representing a place where people lived in harmony with the ecosystem) Fascinating talk. How should the garden at the Hepworth be represented?
Anna Da Silva (RHS Bridgewater)
RHS acquired a garden just outside Manchester. Urban garden. Involving community groups in the restoration. Working with GP’s to launch social prescribing.
Writing the Environment
Alys Fowler (British horticulturalist, journalist and presenter)
Interesting talk regarding urban nature and how we make space for it. Collected plants in the lunch break to share with the audience. Discussed edible plants, weedkillers e.g. don’t eat if there is evidence of spraying. Herbicidal drift. Weeds are tenacious. They take up minerals and bloom over a long period of time. We need more wildflowers for pollination. Don’t pick flowers to use when they are in flower as they become bitter. Trust your senses – if bitter, don’t eat. Grass pollens are getting smaller due to climate change. Hayfever now affects most of the population. Dorothy Hartley – Food of England.
Japanese knotweed – Use like asparagus (Japanese - sacred herb for vigour) Rhubarb and lemon flavoured. Pick young. Problem of Japanese knotweed goes away!
Nettle – Tea (antihistamine) Dried nettle more concentrated. Crush 1-2 teaspoons in cup of water and drink daily. Nettle pesto
Elderflower – cordial (antiviral)
Spring green (stick stuff like Velcro) Tonic (liver cleansing and wellbeing) Stick a handful in water for 8024 hours and drink. Like cucumber water.
Henbane – Smells like fox pee. No good.
Fat hen – seeds fed to foraging hens. There eggs are higher in omega 3. Tastes like spinach.
Salad Burnett – Mediaeval salad ingredient like cucumber.
Dandelion – every part of plant edible. No.1 insect pollinator. Good cleaner, good for digestion. Fry in batter with honey on it. Pollen = protein. Pickle in raw cider vinegar and let the dandelion seep out for 4 weeks. Goes bright yellow. Eat all summer.
Plantain- narrow leaf and broad leaf – Plantain leaf tea, juiced plantain on cuts. (Antibacterial, anti-microbial, anti-viral, good for stings, sore throats) veins remain connected when cut.
Watercress roots in water and grows rapidly. Grow your own from a piece of watercress on a bucket of compost and water.
Apples – good if contaminated because you can peel them. Blackberries, raspberries etc. can’t peel.
Books – a thrifty forager, A modern herbal.
Link between landscape and weeds? Weeds rule. Reminds me of Chris Shaw’s “Weeds of Wallasey” series on display as part of the exhibition of Modern Nature in the Hyman Gallery, The Hepworth.
Dan Eltringham and Vera Fisbian (route 57 Environs: Modern Nature)
Reading of poems / stories exploring our evolving relationship with the natural world and how this shapes individuals and communities.
Format Festival, Derby March 15-17th 2019
Friday - University of Derby, Markeaton Street Campus
I have visited Derby’s biennial Format Festival since 2013. This year the University ran a one-day conference. The day was interesting and varied. It was good to meet fellow students and Derek and Helen (OCA Tutors). A number of papers were thought-provoking although some speakers crammed so much into their 25-minute slot that the pace was too fast to take notes and follow the ideas. I preferred the sessions where the speakers did not read entirely from their papers because their passion came through making the sessions more engaging. The sessions followed 3 strands; myths, narratives and histories, archiving the future and territory, identity and memory. I am interested in all 3 so choosing without the speaker bio’s was a bit of pot luck.
Edgar Martins
The first keynote speaker was Edgar Martins who worked in collaboration with Grain and HMP Birmingham exploring the social context of incarceration (imprisonment), exploring absence, ethics, visibility and aesthetics through the medium of photography, presenting his images as a short film (like Schrodinger’s cat experiment). Edgar’s use of narrative gives the inmates a different voice and encourages the viewer to question rather than using straight documentary photography. The film is also installed in Quad’s exhibition space.
This installation made me think about different ways to present images and narrative within a slide show.
http://www.edgarmartins.com/work/photography-common-empty-vase-2018-2019/ last accessed 21/03/19
Stephanie Rushton “Revolving the doors of perception: The phenomenological relationship between body and world through the realms of perception”
This work is from the Format festival 2017 which I saw and enjoyed at the time. It was interesting to revisit the images and explore the context behind the body of work. Inspired by JG Ballard and painters such as Van Gogh and Ernst, Stephanie compared their work to hers, explaining that they had been seeing in a dreamlike or meditative state whilst she experimented with technology to produce images. She used the word “pareidolia” which means “the perception of apparently significant patterns or recognizable images, especially faces, in random or accidental arrangements of shapes and lines” (OED, 2019) I could relate this back to my work on the trees in Sherwood Forest which started off by seeing faces on trees which I later manipulated actual faces onto. Stephanie also explored psychological links to Freud and schizophrenia, ways of seeing and drugs.
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/pareidolia last accessed 21/3/19
Alys Russell “Locative memory and photography: A study on the psychology related to place and memory in domestic photography”
This work looked at found domestic photos pasted onto billboards. Memories are geotagged in the brain based on location. Places and event memories become fused together. When people stumble on photos (not necessarily their own or people / places they know) it triggers a memory. I started to explore this a little in my last course with archived photographs of the village coal mine. This work looked at simulacrum (Baudrillard), punctum (Barthes) described as a prick of emotion which I noted as a succinct way of explaining it, using swear words on billboards to generate emotion and long-term memory. Discussed “3 billboards outside Ebbing Missouri” (dir. Martin Mcdonagh, 2017) which having seen, I thought related to the presentation.
Tim Daly “Beyond facsimile: the haptic photobook as a distributed archive”
Haptic -touch, optic – vision. Tim presented examples of photo books which were collectors’ pieces. Useful for the visiting the book fair on Saturday. (look at the following for inspiration)
Stephen Shore’s Road trip journal (2008) ephemera e.g. newspaper cuttings, tickets
Marcel Duchamp - Etant Donnes (1987) facsimile book
Christian Bottanski - Sans Sourci (1991) handmade book like a photo album feedback loop from feedback to mind
Robert Frank - Come again (2006) fold out pages, exposed spine binding, enhanced handling experience
Dennis Wheatley (1936-39) dossier format –different types of paper, formats, artefacts. Paper for viewer to write answers to clues. Bound with 3 holes and tied in a figure of 8. Journey of speculation, engagement.
Desires no publicity – Tim Daly (2015) Dossier as distributed archive
Long grove asylum - Tim Daly cover mimics found ephemera e.g. documents, books. Visited archives and photographed again. Used insitu ephemera.
Lesia Maruschak “Will you remember Maria? Photography and the making of a mobile memorial”
Leisa’s work is based on the 1932 famine in Ukraine. History, what happened, and memory are all different. She looks at how memorials function. Space is important. Memory making – exploration of what it is to make. Her work is a dance among the audience in rhythm, time and materiality. She explains her work as performative – if a photo is altered, painted on and handled, it changes over time (materiality of the photo). Maria is a space for viewers in the present to move into the future creating a collective memory or a memory to be created in a public space. This reminded me of the book by David Levi Strauss “between the eyes” regarding atrocities but being distant enough to make work marking the event to remind people of it.
Anne Braybon and Craig Easton “Tethered in time: how SIXTEEN interacts with FOREVER/NOW”
Craig Easton gave us an insight into his collaboration on the work 16. All the teenagers were born on the same day, sharing their 16th birthday with the Scottish Referendum. I was interested to hear from Anne Braybon from the National Portrait Gallery on curating this exhibition.
Paul Hermann “Digital legacy: Questions on the long-term survival and accessibility of digital photography”
What happens to your work that is on the computer if you die? How much can you store on the cloud? And what if there is a power outage and your work is lost? Message – sort and back up. Leave instructions for people. IPFS. Digitallgacyassociation.org The digital beyond photolegacyproject.com
Carla Mitchell, Patrizia Di Bello, Les Monaghan and Nicola Muirhead “Reactivation the archive: Camerawork Magazine 40 years on”
Some of the issues raised in Camerawork magazine 40 years ago are still pertinent today. Nicola Muirhead’s work around Grenfell explores the gentrification, regeneration of the tower block, social inequality and how the name Grenfell identifies synonymously with the tragedy.
Jaakko Kahilaneimi’s work was on display in the university. I liked the way he mixed various types of photograph together.
Saturday
Helen and Derek brought books to look at and discuss before visiting the book fair. Discussed self-publishing (expensive) and many ways of making books to fit with your body of work – ranging from pamphlets and zines to bound books, to inserting photographs and ephemera into existing books. Paul Gaffey – magnetic books which join together (one black and one white) whole thing thought through from inclusion of postcards to the jiffy bag for shipping.
Most expensive book I found was £1000, collectors’ book from Overlapse (Beyond Drifting – Mandy Barker) which bought you a handmade box, signed book with 59 photographs and 104 pages, artists research notes, 2 prints and a microscope specimen slide.
We visited the Maurice Broomfield exhibition following yesterday’s talk from Martin Barnes (curator at the V &A). Met photographer John Angerson who explained his work. John worked with archived photos and explained copyright and gaining consent to use archived material.
Shawn Records – “Now is the time” (in Deda dance school) hung photos on the wall along the top edge only. Did they curl naturally, or had they been curled? Was there a pattern? Portrait and landscape appeared to curl differently. But then we noticed that portrait and portrait curled differently. Had we missed the point? The photographer enabled us to question the images and keep looking until we unpicked the code and discussed what the work was about.
Tristan Poyser – “An Englishman’s search for the border” (Derby Eagle market) was work which Hazel and Derek had seen through Redeye. It is current (Brexit) and participatory. People were asked to rip a photo, stick it back together in a book and leave a comment on their thoughts over the Irish border. We had a chat with him later; 100 photo spaces were available for the exhibition. He had more work on his stand and his work is ongoing. It’s much harder than it looks when you have just seen the exhibition.
Portfolio walk
Anna, a current level 3 student, had participated in the portfolio reviews. I was able to see how her work was presented to people and have a chat about her work. I found the portfolio walk interesting as people presented their work or parts of it in diverse ways. It was an opportunity to ask lots of questions and find out about people’s work. I networked with David Severn (local photographer) re his current work and chatted about my ideas for my BOW.
Sunday
Crit session
This was my first crit. I found it useful to discuss my ideas with students. Hazel took notes for me. Came away with a couple of books to read and knowing I need to start an artefact collection. Just got to find a way into my BOW as it has many different strands and paths it could take.
One collective exhibition in Quad was Mutable multiple which displayed work from Amani Willett “the disappearance of Joseph Plummer” (2017) I liked myth and legend surrounding this and the presentation of text with image. I watched a video on the accompanying book on line which had inserts of small text included.
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