In November, we agreed to postpone the Crafting by Committee conclusion until January as some people had other commitments in December. The group was excited then to start the New Year by sharing their final outcomes for the Crafting by Committee project.

There was a varied response with each contributor demonstrating an identifiable departure from their usual practises and genuine responses to both rounds of committee feedback. The group reflected that the experience made people reconsider their approaches, and that the idea of the committee was a good one. There were varying levels of willingness to accept committee feedback however, and some felt uncomfortable about the instructions they received. Despite this, it was agreed that it had been positive to encourage each other to do something different within our practices. Some felt the main outcome was that it reinforced and highlighted what we already do, while for others it has encouraged development and more change in direction. Everyone found it to be an interesting exercise and agreed that it resulted in a variation on existing practices more than specific deviations from disciplines. One analogy was that it was more like adding a new flavour than a using an entirely new recipe. You can find details of the individual outcomes and further discussion on each by visiting the final stage project page.

This month we were also pleased to welcome photographer Jim in his first visit to CRITgroup. With a background in the building trade, he has also been active for the last 15 years in his side line of professional photography, focussing particularly on documenting performances. He is now hoping to extend into other areas and has an interest in 3D modelling and rapid prototyping.

Next month we will meet for an informal CRITsession and everyone is invited to bring some work. We will also make time to reflect further on the Crafting by Committee project, as well as discussing the possibility of a third research project.

This month we enjoyed a slightly different session as we welcomed our first guest speaker to CRITgroup. David Haley is the Route Leader on the MA in Art as Environment at MMU/Miriad and unsurprisingly the work he shared with us this evening clearly located his practice in that context.

David presented the work he was commissioned to produce by the Five Elements Project for the Kai Tak River Regeneration Project which began in November 2011 and culminated in the Kai Tak River Festival in June 2012. An interesting site, much of Hong Kong is developed on ‘re claimed’  land, and the ‘river’ is in fact an entirely artificial construct which acts as a storm drain as well as channelling treated water and sewage. Caught in the ‘limbo’ of the British Hand-Back, and a seemingly never-ending cycle of demolition and rebuilding, the area is earmarked for redevelopment but actually still supports residential communities and wildlife.  As the nature of a regeneration project suggests, David became interested in the future of the area, especially with respect to some predictions for rising sea levels and the impact that this would have in terms of flooding and salination of the water table.

Following a programme of workshops including poetry, performance and urban wildlife walks as well as discussions with various community groups, the project culminated in an outdoor installation and a gallery piece. This allowed different audiences to engage with the work and the issues it seeks to raise. The installation consisted of an hexagonal bamboo structure which reflected traditional scaffolding as well as utilising local skills in the construction. This served as a frame for displaying a series of textile pieces which referenced different aspects of the research including maps illustrating predicted rises in sea levels, poetry, visual representations of the wider area, their reliance on different regions for fresh water and images which represent the five Chinese elements with a contemporary take on methods of sustainable agriculture and development.

The nature of the project stimulated a lot of political discussion and at times issues of regeneration and sustainability closer to home came into focus, as well as the economics of building, farming, political biases and international responsibilities. David also discussed his philosophy with regard to our approaches to such complex issues, which is that we are taught from an early age to avoid complexity and seek simplification. This then led me to venture that although as practitioners concerned with communities and social impact it can be hard to identify the extent to which our work achieves our aims, the real value actually lies in something much harder to quantify; that being the slow, yet unstoppable tide of change that comes when the time is right, when societies become ready to accept an alternative to the norm and that much of this is facilitated not by sweeping political change or landslide victories over the ballot box but the steady drip into the collective consciousness that it is the legacy of the arts to create. This then, like the imperceptible growth, one cell at a time, of a new shoot becomes the spearhead that eventually pushes through the tarmac of popular opinion and affects lasting and meaningful change.  Given that David’s work for the Kai Tak River Regeneration Project essentially centred on relationships between humans and nature in urban spaces, I also think that’s a pretty good analogy to finish on!

We meet next month for informal discussion and reflection on the 22nd of August and welcome Hannah Mosley on September the 26th who will be discussing the concept of masters and apprentices in contemporary arts practices.
  

This month, Kevin Linnane brought along some photos he has taken for display as part of a project with MMU for the new childrens’ hospital being built in Manchester. Each of the floors in the new building will be themed and Kevin has responded to the ‘Manchester Explored’ areas from the starting point of linking Manchester to its extensive canal network. His photographs depict various areas around the canals in Manchester with the common element that they have all been taken reflected in the canal; many of the images have become abstract as a result. The group agreed that the textural effects of water as well as the unusual angles and subtle use of colour produce a series which not only respond well to the theme but perhaps more importantly demonstrate an awareness of audience. Comments included recognition of the calming nature of water and the suggestion that an abstract composition provided a greater opportunity for sick or bed-bound children to use their imaginations than more conventional imagery.

James Sharp brought along some of his textile journals for us to see and perhaps what is more important with his work, to hold, open and flick through! After a brief discussion of possible practical applications (James has also produced re-usable book covers and a way of making binders from plastic wallets) it was fairly unanimously agreed that the main value of the books is simply as art objects or, more accurately, artist’s books. Whilst James reported that his High Peak journals were selling well he also recognised that most of his work came in as commissions for a variety of objects from laptop covers to shopping bags. It was suggested that it would be worth pursuing display in Artist’s Book exhibitions as well as his current representations in Chapel En Le Frith and Bermondsey. James also offers tours of his garden and studio and expects to be involved in the RHS Tatton 2013 Flower Show with the Creative Recycling Gallery (there are a lot of green fingers in CRITgroup it seems!)

I then attempted to wrap up quickly (so much for that!) and shared my latest painting. I explained to the group that the series had begun in 2009 with a set of digital images developed from photographs inspired by my new urban environment (having just moved from London to Manchester).  The images especially looked at graffiti and explored this as a method of ‘claiming’ or ‘marking’ urban spaces (an interest which can then be linked right through to my recent work in areas of a more social practice) and were combined digitally with scans of drawings I had made during a live installation. From these I then selected four compositions which I developed into painted canvases (well, number 2 is now complete). I initially showed the group the photos of the paintings but it soon became clear that it was necessary to show the digital versions too. This then raised some interesting questions and debate around the relationship between process and outcome, how important this is to the viewer and the perception of comparative levels of skill involved in traditional and digital media. I found this quite exciting as it seemed to be the first time in the group that we’d actually unearthed some differences in opinion (very civilly conducted, it goes without saying!).

I then shared the most recent (and final) photographs from the Hulme Workshops series and briefly discussed my hopes for the future of the project before finally gathering feedback from the group on their experiences completing mocks of the proposed This Place Is booklets (another project seeking to harness interactivity and sharing to positively impact on how people feel about their environments). 

The group agreed that whilst time may be a prohibitive factor in getting the booklets done, it had stimulated emotional responses, reflective thought and awareness of alternative perspectives on the chosen locations, all of which had made it a positive experience. It was also suggested that it would be a good idea to make a digital version available for greater flexibility in formatting the layout while some people would prefer a paper based approach. I’ve certainly come away with plenty to reflect on and respond to myself and while I hope to make steady progress on these projects I am also aware that it may take time to get right.