Fourth Meeting

Six months since the seminal meeting, MadLab felt very much like ‘home’ for the fourth group meeting. Five of us came along this month and there were plenty of varied projects to cover with some interesting debates being generated in many cases.

James Pashley started by sharing the exciting news that he has now confirmed an offer of employment working as a teaching assistant in Japan! He will be working as part of a cultural exchange programme to support English teaching beginning in late July or early August. While his insights and contributions will be missed in meetings, we are all looking forward to seeing his new website, which we briefly discussed, and to hearing updates on his experiences via his new blog. Meanwhile I am wondering if this means we can now label CRITgroup as an international art collective…!

Christine Wilcox-Baker who joined us for the first time last month to tease us with a hint of her work in the areas of art and gardening then shared details of what sounds like a very exciting and potentially high profile project working with the Cheshire Gardens Trust. The Caldwell’s Nurseries Project will be creating a garden at the RHS Tatton Flower Show in July for which Christine has designed a 3.3m by 4.5m sculptural stainless steel gazebo and a mosaic. The garden will reference the King Canute legend about how Knutsford came to be named as well as raising awareness of the Trust’s project to record written and oral histories relating to the historic Caldwell’s Nurseries. The conversation turned to a discussion of the benefits of voluntary projects, which whilst being carried out ‘for the love of it’ can still be very demanding. It was agreed that the networking opportunities and CV building potential of such projects was very valuable, however, there are also times where paid employment becomes a priority! We also talked about the onerous task of seeking sponsorship (easier if linked to a charity),  ways of promoting events and ideas for getting national press coverage (including the pros and cons of inviting a range of celebrities to your opening!). The RHS Tatton Flower Show is open to the public from the 18th to the 22nd of July and I look forward to both a visit and to sharing photos of Christine’s gazebo!

Kevin Linnane - Castlefield 064

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!)

James Sharp showcases his textile journals

Glittermouse - Mmm... 2012 - 30 x 30cm Acrylic on Canvas

Glittermouse - Mmm... 2010 - Digital image

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.

This Place Is contributions from CRITgroup members

The next CRITgroup meeting will be on May 23rd (continuing at MadLab) and I hope soon to confirm and publish the subsequent dates running up to the end of the summer. We also agreed that it would be a good idea to plan a series of topics or themes for discussion as well as potentially inviting some guest speakers so I hope to have some more news on those proposals next month.