Utopia and dystopia at Kestle Barton

Students from BA(Hons) Fine Art, BA(Hons) Architecture and BA(Hons) Creative Writing came together for a 1 day collaborative project at Kestle Barton, a rural centre for contemporary art on Frenchman’s Creek in Cornwall.

Students explored themes of utopia and dystopia in the current show Kestle Barton exhibition, Togetherness: Notes on Outrage. Curator Ben James opened up questions for debate relating to a post industrial landscape; students discussed the themes in small groups before setting out into the landscape of Kestle Barton and its beautiful gardens to make artworks in response to place.

Students took a documentary approach, walking though the landscape gathering a sense of the environment, generating fiction and narrative about Kestle Barton. In small, mixed discipline teams, recording the soundscape of place with high-tech sound equipment that picked up frequencies within the earth, students walked, talked, made drawings, collected sound and film footage which informed their discussions about their relationship to place and site. BA(Hons) Fine Art Senior Lecturer Lucy Willow, said ‘The warm autumn day provided the perfect opportunity for students to explore the possibilities of working off campus, away from the studio, with students from different creative subjects, finding common ground within their practice’.

BA(Hons) Fine Art student Alex Maclachlan shared some thoughts about the day…

‘Kestle Barton was a very refreshing experience for me, and I am very grateful to have gone. The idea that we would be exploring the theme of Utopia/Dystopia throughout is what drew my initial interest in the trip and yet the day turned out to have many more advantages than just aiding me in my current practice. For some time I’ve been eager to partner up with students on other courses at Falmouth, and [this study visit] extended me the opportunity to do just that…By the end of the day, some really interesting collaborative work had been produced among creative writers, architects and fine artists. We were exceedingly lucky with the weather, and the gentle conversation among students, tutors and Kestle Barton staff was all the more effortless because of it. We talked as we walked about the gardens in the sun, enjoyed the homemade lunch provided, all on top of the time dedicated to serious discussion…it was lovely to indulge in casual debate away from the elevated pressure you might find on campus or perhaps the more serious atmosphere you may find in the studio. This was an experience that I would happily participate in again’.

On at Kestle Barton until 4 November 2017, Togetherness: Notes on Outrage celebrates the pioneering work of the architecture critic Ian Nairn, whose 1955 edition of Architectural Review, entitled Outrage, revolutionised architectural criticism. For Outrage, Nairn traveled across England observing and documenting the urban sprawl and ubiquitous civic architecture. Broken into 25-mile segments, Outrage proposes an audit of every facet of subtopian aesthetics, covering subjects ranging from wire fencing, telegraph poles and street lights, to military installations and power stations, culminating in a manifesto and checklist of planning malpractices.

Fine Art students reflect on the Future Now Symposium

Second year BA(Hons) Fine Art students, Isaac Aldridge and Unn Devik joined their Senior Lecturers Mercedes Kemp and Lucy Willow at a two-day conference – Future Now – at York St John University. Isaac and Unn, whose attendance was partially funded by Falmouth School of Art, share their experience of the symposium:

‘Cherie Federico, the Co- Publisher, Editor and Director of Aesthetica opened the symposium with a soft, reinforcing message, reminding us of uncertain times with the unprecedented rate of technological intervention with the effects and questions that it brings to us in the present time. Federico mentioned the way technology can sway culture and enforce propaganda; we can see this through the brain washing of young people through the manipulation of religious intentions to commit acts of terror and political gain, but ultimately through art we are able to consider the events of the world; even though it’s shifting at a cataclysmic speed, we have some power of influence. It is a self-reflection on the 21st Century life and what it means.’ Isaac Aldridge

‘Future Now Symposium invited us to celebrate the shortlisted artists for the Aesthetica Art Prize 2017, and for the occasion arranged a vast series of lectures by professionals from the art world. Speakers came from Glasgow School of Art, Welcome Trust, ArtAngel, Arts Council, Visual Art South West, Icon Gallery, Whitechapel Gallery and many more. Themes of the Symposium included; the arrival of the digital age and how it affects the art world as we know it and, diversity in the art world and how to make it a more inclusive and culturally diverse scene on all levels.  There were also sessions about funding and art prizes, relevant platforms when launching a career as a practicing artist.’

I feel privileged to have been given the opportunity by the university to attend the Future Now Symposium. All in all I feel more informed about the current situation of the Art World. Although it is a highly competitive and commercially driven world, it is full of opportunities.  Hopefully, too, it is on its way to becoming a truly diverse place.  An Art World utopia is a place where the Art World is not commercially driven and takes pride in nurturing and sustaining talent from across the globe – regardless of background.  I think only then we can talk about making art for art´s sake – that is to imitate different realities of existence.  We are far from this utopia– but I believe going to symposiums and other events like Future Now is a great way of getting to know yourself and what you find to be valuable and worthwhile – thus creating your own idea of a utopia.’ Unn Devik

Cafe Morte – The Tears of Things – exhibition and events

This weekend sees the opening of Cafe Morte’s The Tears of Things at the Exchange Gallery, Penzance

A growing collection of broken objects, to initiate conversation around the emotional value and attachment we have to something that is broken in our lives. The collection will form the beginning of a growing body of research relating to death and loss. The show includes work from current Falmouth BA(Hons) Fine Art students, alumni, and lecturers, as well as other established writers and artists. As well as work artists from the UK, the exhibition features submissions from artists from Cyprus, Tunisia, USA, Poland and Spain.

CAFE MORTE: THE TEARS OF THINGS | 11Feb – 18 March 2017 | THE EXCHANGE – PENZANCE

OPENING EVENT FRIDAY 10^TH FEBRUARY, 7pm – 9pm, ENGINE ROOM: EXCHANGE GALLERY PENZANCE  Join us for an evening of performance, video, objects, narrative and stories generated by Café Morte to celebrate the life of a broken object.

EVENT: SATURDAY 11^TH 10.00 – 4.00 BROKEN WRITING OPEN INVITATION  Members of the public are invited to participate by bringing a broken object to the gallery to be documented photographically and to write a short piece of text that will be added to the collection. The collection will form an online museum of broken objects reflecting the power that these objects still hold.

Two BA(Hons) Fine Art alumni, Polly Maxwell and Lulu Richards Cottell will be returning to install and help curate the show, and as part of their visit will also be talking to current Fine Art students about their experiences since graduating last year.

Café Morte is a research group led by Falmouth Fine Art Senior Lecturers Mercedes Kemp and Lucy Willow, involving undergraduate and postgraduate students from Falmouth University, along with other artists and curators. Its central focus is to create projects that enable audiences to discuss the rich and varied themes of death found in art and literature. This is an adaption of the recently popular model of the ‘Death Café’, which has arisen worldwide as a meeting place in which to discuss death over a cup of tea.

Café Morte provides Falmouth students with the opportunity to research and make work around a focused theme. It enhances their research capability and enables them to experience the setting up and curating of a show, work collaboratively, experience working directly with audiences and networking with established artists. Each year, Café Morte welcomes a number of new students, and continues working with alumni.

The group started three years ago, working with BA(Hons) Fine Art students at Falmouth to develop research and ideas. The second year culminated in an exhibition at the university, curated by students and showing student work alongside that of established artists. The exhibition coincided with a Symposium by Moth, a research group concerning death and design run by colleagues in Graphic Design.

The Tears of Things exhibition follows a public testing of the project at The Exchange last December.

The Tears of Things Exhibition

CAFE MORTE

www.cafemorte.com

Cafe Morte looks at the way in which visual culture represents death and dying, mourning and grieving through art, dreams, desires, imagery and poetry.

THE TEARS OF THINGS

The Tears of Things is a growing collection of broken objects initially exhibited as part of Newlyn Art Gallery and The Exchange Christmas makers market on 10^th and 11^th December 2016 in Penzance.  Installing the broken collection alongside a market of beautifully made and crafted objects created a strange juxtaposition between the old, discarded and broken object and the desire for something new. The stall was set up to generate conversation and dialogue around the emotional value and attachment we have to something that is broken in our lives. All the objects collected for The Tears of Things, have lost their original integrity in some way.

Members of the public were invited to contribute to the stall by bringing in a broken object and piece of text. The collection grew over the course of the weekend becoming similar to an antiques road show of broken objects often with no material value.

The collection forms the beginning of a growing body of research relating to mortality and what the broken object signifies. The project will  continue in partnership with the Exchange Gallery in Penzance in February 2017, extending the collection  to reach a wide range of community groups in various settings.

CAFE MORTE is a research group led by Mercedes Kemp and Lucy Willow, undergraduate and postgraduate students from Falmouth University, curators and artists. Its central focus is to create projects enabling audiences to discuss the rich and varied themes of death found in art and literature. We have adopted the model of the recently popular Death Cafes, which have arisen worldwide as a meeting place in which to discuss death over a cup of tea.

 

 

Hyper-realism with Gorton Studio

Senior Lecturer Lucy Willow joined BA(Hons) Fine Art students for a hyper-realism workshop…

‘In partnership with The National Maritime Museum Cornwall, BA(Hons) Fine Art students had the wonderful opportunity to work with  Neil Gorton from Gorton Studio for a day, to learn the art of hyper-realism. Since his career began in 1987  Neil has won 12 major awards for his work on shows such as Doctor Who, The Catherine Tate Show, Bodies and Being Human.

Students cast an arm in silicone, learning the art of mold making, how to mix skin tones, insert hair, and how to create finishes. It was fascinating. Fine Art students are particularly skilled in adapting processes in unusual ways, so we are looking forward to see how these hyper realist methods translate into their studio practice. By the end of the day,  hyper-real skin-toned cabbage leaves were emerging as well as ideas for puppets and masks.

This workshop links to an exhibition at the National Maritime Museum opening in March 2017, documenting the history of maritime tattoos.  Gorton Studios have been commissioned to make body parts that are now being tattooed by artists around the country. The museum is also interested in following up the workshop with an article on how our Fine Art  students incorporate hyper-realism into their studio practice…watch this space’.

GAFA, China/Falmouth University International Collaboration

My visit to China this time was a little different. I was invited to participate in a 3-week international teaching and artist residency collaborative project between Falmouth University and the International Art Program (AIP) at the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Art (GAFA), South China. (Funded by Falmouth University and GAFA)

In partnership with Fanfan Yang, a dynamic young designer, fine artist and teacher on AIP we devised a short 3-week course for 2^nd year students. This involved asking students to select a group of objects that had meaning to them (no mobile phones allowed) and getting them to abstract a number of different ideas and outcomes from one starting point. We taught the students what it meant to ‘abstract’ starting points from looking at selected objects in new ways. The students participated in a number of drawing games and took their one theme through a number of outcomes in sculpture, painting and fashion design. We encouraged continual reflection and sketchbook work.

As well as teaching  I focused on developing a new body of work for a solo exhibition in the schools gallery space; a vibrant and trendy contemporary art gallery in the Redtory district of Guangzhou. The ‘Redtory’ area consists of wonderful old soviet style red brick factories that have architecturally designed and converted into studio spaces, galleries and cafes.

The gallery space  enabled me to develop a new body of work based on drawings and research started earlier in the year whilst in Iceland. The environment couldn’t be more different, yet within the dust and ruins similar themes emerge. For this exhibition and residency I have drawn directly onto the gallery walls, made a short animation and soundscape using sound sampled from the NASA website. And there is dust, a lot of it collected from a demolition site nearby. Piles of dust and debris are common in China making it in some ways a perfect location to show the kind of transient ephemeral work that I make. The Chinese easily relate to the themes within my work as they live amongst transitory ruins all the time. Old China is disappearing at an alarming rate. I have created an environment that reflects the feeling of a pause, and ‘interlude’. It is left open and ambiguous.

Processed with Rookie Cam

This is my 5^th visit to AIP GAFA in South China. I have been working with the AIP students since 2013 running portfolio workshops and interviewing for a range of courses at Falmouth University. The students spend 3 years learning English intensively alongside an art foundation program. It is a progressive and experimental course enabling the students to study creative subjects at university in the UK. It is a relaxed and messy environment; unlike the traditional Chinese art education they would otherwise receive. The students are a delight. They are eager to take on new ideas and concepts, which must be challenging given the fact that their education prior to this has been entirely traditional. I am surprised and enjoy the pace in which they have embraced it.

I have particularly enjoyed conversations with the artists and teachers here. Positive working relationships have been formed paving way for future international collaborative projects to take place between staff at Falmouth University and AIP GAFA. Despite the huge cultural differences it is interesting to explore common ground. The academics were particularly interested in how Chinese fine art influences could be interpreted from a contemporary Western perspective.

Whilst there I immersed myself fully in the cultural experience. I was lucky enough to be invited by Fanfan’s family ‘tomb sweeping’ a public holiday for remembering one’s ancestors. This consisted of thousands of families attending the cemetery at the same time, lighting firecrackers to scare away any unwanted ghosts and burning a lot of paper money and gold for the dead relative. It was a fascinating yet rather smoky and noisy affair! I was also taken to a Cantonese opera by one of the student’s families- another unforgettable experience. I find the Chinese people kind and gracious. They are willing to go out of their way to make sure you experience the best of their culture- which I most definitely have.

 

 

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Observations – drawings by Falmouth School of Art Staff

Observations – an exhibition of drawings by staff of Falmouth School of Art

Reflecting the ways in which observational drawing, often combined with memory, imagination and invention, informs a range of practice.

Selected from an open submission by staff of Falmouth School of Art’s courses, staff exhibiting are: Gemma Anderson, Claire Armitage, Simon Averill, Neil Chapman, Jane Chetwynd, Mark Foreman, Glad Fryer, Becky Haughton, Ashley Hold, Phil Naylor, Isolde Pullum, Jesse Leroy Smith, Mark Surridge, Roger Towndrow, Virginia Verran, Lucy Willow and Gillian Wylde.

  

02-12 February, Monday to Friday 10am – 4pm, the Project Space, Falmouth Campus – open to the public

CAFÉ MORTE presents: Lost For Words, Exhibition 6-10 January

CAFÉ MORTE presents: Lost For Words

FALMOUTH UNIVERSITY PROJECT SPACE (Falmouth Campus)

6-10 January 10am-4pm (Private View 6 January 16-9pm)

Lost for Words is a culmination of the work of Café Morte to engage in and encourage discussion around the subject of death with a wider community of artists, curators and healthcare professionals.  It has been curated with the intention of creating a thoughtful and contemplative space for both artists and audience to reflect on their own personal interpretations of death and how it is represented in art and literature. The works are varied, expressed through a variety of different media and address through physical means the often unthinkable concept of absence and loss.

Exhibiting artists: Bram Arnold, Ed Ashby-Hater, Nicola Bealing, Regan Boyce, Neil Chapman, Esther Cooper-Gittens, Kerry Foster, Glad Fryer, Tanith Gould, Joanna Hulin, Sasha Knezevic, Angela Lloyd, Polly Maxwell, Neil McLeod, Janet McEwan, Lucille Moore, Eloise Pilbeam, Viola Qian, Andrew Ross, Edward Rowe, Jessica Russell, Carolyn Shapiro, Chris Slesser, Kate Southworth, Tabitha Tohill-Reid & Joshua Green, Virginia Verran, Belinda Whiting, Lucy Willow, Sandi Williams, Gillian Wylde.

CAFE MORTE is a pop up research group established at Falmouth University in 2014.  Inspired by the recent surge of death cafes across Europe, our aim is to identify themes and ideas relating to death and dying, mourning, transience, ritual and how these translate into contemporary art practice.

Café Morte’s Lost for Words exhibition is a collaborative project with MOTH, a research group which, through the discipline of Graphic Design, explores visual language associated with death and end-of-life experiences – creating visual ‘toolkits’ (analogue and digital) as devices for change in attitudes, conventions and context surrounding death issues.

You may also be interested in:

MOTH Talks: In the face of death – 8 January 2016 | Falmouth Campus, Fox 4 Lecture Theatre, 1.30pm-5pm

Guest Speakers:

Stephen Cave |Writer, critic and philosopher, Immortality: The Quest to Live Forever and How It Drives Civilization (2013, Biteback)

Prof. Tony Walter | Head of the CDAS, (Centre for Death and Society at Bath University) Sociologist

Joseph Macleod | Designer, Closure Experiences

 

Lucy Willow: Research and Residency – Iceland

On 7^th December I arrived in the remote village of Stoovarfjorour, East Fjords of Iceland at the old fish factory to start a three-week artist residency. There was a call out to the villagers on the day that I was arrived to see if anyone could pick me up from the airport two hours away. It is remote. I was met by an Icelandic writer who was staying in the neighbouring village looking after his father’s horses. He came to collect me with the promise that he would be rewarded with a good meal at the end of his long round trip.

While here I plan to host a series of coffee mornings where participants will be invited to share stories relating to Icelandic death rites and ceremonies. The project develops current research with the group Café Morte (pop up research group) looking at the way in which visual culture represents death and dying, mourning and grieving through art, dreams, desires, imagery and poetry. This is my plan.  Currently my interpreter is stuck in snow in Reykjavik where all flights have been cancelled due to the bad weather, so there is a certain amount of having to re-think and work around the weather conditions here.

The village sits in one of Iceland’s Eastern Fjords with mountains covered in snow rising up on each side. It has a population of 150 people that rely heavily on fishing to make a living. The residency space is in an old fish factory; a huge rambling building that is an Aladdin’s cave of potential materials. It is full of old bits of machinery and junk that have been saved and salvaged stored in vast warehouse spaces in the factory. Part of the building has been renovated and has a concert hall where the villagers get together and local bands play. This is also where Café Morte coffee morning will take place. I have the ingredients to bake some cheese scones, which I am hoping will entice the community to take part.

The studio is purpose built, warm and if I stand on tip toe  can just glimpse a view of the mountains. The mornings are dark. I am getting to really enjoy the sunrise at 10.33 am, the changing light and how it falls on the snow at the top of the mountain. I have been here for three days drawing and gathering information from my surroundings that  will be incorporated into a new body of work. A tin shack, black pools of water, dust storms and containers are emerging to form the beginnings of a new symbolic language  explored through drawing. I am finding it interesting to see how I map my imagined Iceland onto the real. I hope to then use film, sound and narrative from the Café Morte session to create an installation in one of the fish factory warehouses.

One thing I can be sure of this year is a white Christmas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Falmouth School of Art deliver workshops in China

Nick Mott, BA(Hons) Illustration Lecturer and Lucy Willow, BA(Hons) Fine Art Senior Lecturer, have been in China running workshops for students at CAFA and GAFA. CAFA is the Central Academy of Fine Arts, located in Beijing.  The Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts (GAFA) is the only one of its kind in South China.

This is a return visit for Lucy, and she has recently said about going back this time: “The relationships are getting stronger and stronger and it’s wonderful to return and have students remember you and the workshops.  The students are also getting a lot from Nick Mott’s drawing games workshops.”

 

Unsettled

Unsettled, an exhibition of paintings, drawings, words and actions by 11 artists and writers. All are artists and writers are all lecturers in BA(Hons) Fine Art at Falmouth University – Simon Averill, Neil Chapman, Glad Fryer, Mercedes Kemp, Neil McLeod, Kate Southworth, Mark Surridge, Roger Towndrow, Lucy Willow, Lisa Wright, and Gillian Wylde.

September 5 – September 18, Enys House & Gardens, St Gluvias, TR10 9LB Penryn, Cornwall

https://www.facebook.com/UnsettledArtEnys