Rod Maclachlan Artist Reasearch

I am a Bristol-based sculptor equally drawn to working with light and movement as I am to objects and architecture. This combination of media reflects by preoccupation with exploring the complementary relationships between mind and body, observation and the imagination, the physical and the ethereal. In some works kinetic assemblages takes the place of the body whereas in others, such as Exchange, the body of the audience member is the sculptural element. I have been using archaic projection techniques to playfully explore the dynamic between a physical object and its de-located luminous image where a lens is the only mediating factor.

My artistic and professional career to date has acted as research into the technologies and techniques of creating spectacle. Many spectacles lead to a gaze of detached awe and leave little room for the viewers‘ own reading and imagination. I believe visual wonder can trigger surprise and puzzlement that can interrupt habitual judgments thereby liberating the viewer’s imagination. It is important to me that the viewer is aware of and actively complicit in their suspension of disbelief; something far more empowering than passive dazzlement.

I am interested in this quality of interactive looking that can be both analytical and receptive; analogue projection is a medium with which I can explore these different ways of seeing. After many years working with digital production and projection I became disillusioned with the qualities of the image and light whilst the technologies involved clouded the process of production. Through researching into early optical instruments and pre-cinema techniques such as magic lanterns, camera obscura, phatasmogoria and Megascopes, I rediscovered direct projection methods that had the power to create images that transfix the audience without pretence. Looking at these devices, I can sense the wonder felt at the first use of optical and electrical processes that we now take so for granted. The complex evolution of these technologies and our familiarity with them has led to detachment from the fundamental optical and perceptual processes at work. Episcopic or Opaque Object projection is the most direct projection technique possible as the projections exist in the present time with no recording or representation. The alchemical qualities of magnification, repetitive movement and focused light can transform mundane materials into transcendent projections that encourage the viewer to re-access their visual perception.

My practice has evolved, in part, through an active involvement in collectives such as The Cube Cinema and Blackout Arts and through VJing, film and production design work.

Exchange, 2009

A Rules & Regs commission in conjunction with AND Festival and The Bluecoat.

Two gallery visitors / audience members come to the installation at a time and are invited to wear a belt around their diaphragm area. The belts are then calibrated to the extremes of their breath expansion and contraction. The visitors are asked to enter into the installation room where they will be unaccompanied. As the visitors move into the space they come to realise that their breathing patterns are each controlling the intensity of one of the lights. As they breathe in the corresponding light fades up, as they exhale the light fades to darkness. With natural breaths the lights simply glow up and down but with a deep breath the room is filled with bright light. If both participants breathe out simultaneously the room becomes totally dark.

The participants are simultaneously the Audience and the Performers.Like many human processes, Exchange may lead to an experience that is at once sublime and ridiculous. The sublime and the ridiculous are often so closely related, that it is difficult to class them separately.The reciprocal relationships of internal & external, light & dark, and me & you often inform my work. These are complementary opposites are relative. - darkness defines light; your position helps identify my own; observation cannot be separated from imagination. 

The relationship between the physical and the ethereal is also a reciprocal one. Breath, body, air and energy are the exchanges that are vital for life. For Exchange I wish to explore the sense of stretch as the links between these internal sensations and external stimulation are expanded and amplified.

Artist Research Allison Lynn

process, 2011

My work consists of a wide variety of ceramic and embroidery techniques. I make large installation concept pieces as well as a range of jewellery. I love the variation of both scale and technique and enjoy diverse projects. My main influences are age, decay and my own life experiences. I often use recycled materials and shapes from found objects.

Pressed flowers and pieces of polished shell are used to represent organic life and the fragility of nature. I want to question the way we look at nature and show its beauty in a different way. These parts are not the first thing noticeable, but encourage the viewer to look more closely at the piece.

I collect used fabrics and often combine these in my work. Hand dyed silks and organzas play a large part and I use shibori techniques to create shapes. I enjoy ageing fabric by burning and heat setting, these work particularly well with old coat linings that have already aged naturally. I combine these techniques with high-fired porcelain painted with lustre and silver to create a diverse collection of work.

artist research Anna Sherbany

In “Empty Gestures” the ritual becomes a visual marker of what remains common to all people.

The singularity of the gesture is poetic as well as powerful. The increasing value of water is measured by its absence.

The movement of the hands becomes a metaphor for human resilience.

The video is projected onto water in a bowl standing on a plinth. The viewer is encouraged to “disturb” the surface of the water.

Anna Sherbany is a London based visual artist and lecturer. She lectures in Europe and the Midle East and her artwork has been exhibited internationally. In her work Anna probes and explores themes of memory, migration and (dis)location, through interaction and engagement with people. Using image, film and sound, she produces photographic works and mixed media installations, exploring the relationship between wall/screen, space and audience, seeing the gallery as a formative part of the work and actively engaging the viewer. The installations are about revelation rather than interpretation.

www.annasherbany.com

Empty Gestures video installation 2009 Group exhibition “End Game – Blue Gold” Darb 1718 Gallery Cairo, Egypt.

fromhttp://www.visitingarts.org.uk/content/anna-sherbany 

Ruchika Wason Singh

My works deal with the human habitat and existence and its relation with the environment.

As a practicing artist living and working in the urban setting of Delhi, my work has been impacted by the daily life and the processes of consumption therein.

These have grown out of my gendered experiences and the interface with objects/commodities of consumption in the kitchen ,at the supermarket and at home. It interests me how every day, mundane activities can become sources of deeper meaning and self probation. In the choices of food and lifestyle lie our own location within the environment .For me commodities embody multiplicity of choices not only through their capacity to gratify but also to hoard, pollute and accumulate. In this sense I see consumption and its aftermath as a reflection of the environment-that which is physical as well as mental. This explains the expanse of my thought process and also the direction of exploration of my forms.

In my works though I reflect upon these situations, processes and patterns; generally there is an absence of the human body itself. It is apparent either in parts or through the objects and metaphorical symbols, as associated agents of acts of human life-those which have been, are being or will be performed. From reflection to anticipation, the objects become significant references of identities, choices, acceptance and resistance. As part of the creative process, at times even through their physical presence, they exist beyond their functionality as sources of probation and enquiry.

Working as an artist in a fast globalizing India, I find certain grounds common for all artistic and existential engagements beyond borders. These are the domains of creative dialogue and that of consciousness, through which we can connect with our own self and with each other.

Ruchika Wason Singh October 2011, Delhi.

from http://www.visitingarts.org.uk/content/ruchika-wason-singh 

Deborah Gardner artist research

She states her concepts are: The sculptures relate strongly to the body, some in terms of memory of presence in the cast moulds of the head, fist and body within a pillow or bed and the subsequent evidence of a permanent presence these casts hold. Others are analogous to the body in terms of forms and reference to clothing or beds.

At the Close of the Day, 2011
-Storm Brewing alludes to common notions of Britishness, such as umbrellas and the rain or tea drinking but it also alludes to both an intimate and immense space; we can read both puddle and sea in one space. The tea cup sinks in the clear resin up to the rim of the cup; there remains a tension between submergence and buoyancy. The dynamic configuration of the umbrella and teacup implies that at any point the cup may be launched out of the umbrella. Comparisons could be made to Britain's current financial and political situation.

Mantelpose, 2010
-this work came about through an exploration of the domestic realm. Using the site of my home, I made a series of interventions using either members of my family or installations as a means of reconsidering or subverting familiar spaces and sites.

Artist research Abigail Duffty

The art work becomes less a 'work' than a process of meaning-making interactions.' Allan Kaprow

Since 2007 I have been working under the pseudonym of the Institution of Meaningful Interaction (IMI), which has been a platform for participatory live art. Creating events/happenings that set out to redefine the relationship between audience, object, space and performer through play. Using the observations of everyday situations to engage the audience into ritual activity that highlight our humanity.

Through out the last year I have become interested in the relationships between 'self' and the 'other', in relation to connecting through contemporary modes of communication such as the social networking sites and the use of technology as the extension of man. Which in turn highlights that we are defined by the 'other' and how we don't exist within a vacuum. Drawing inspiration from such works of the Happenings in the 1950s and 1960s IMI has set out to develop the idea of a contemporary Happening.

Flux, the state that the audience and the performer find themselves in during a performance has also become an important part of my researching area. Looking into how the performance space 'provides a sense of immediacy, feedback, and direct communication' as Lucy Lippard mentioned in Leaving Art: Writings on performance, politics, and publics, 1974-2007 by Suzanne Lacy.

By creating performative installations from low-fi materials such as cardboard, paper mache, paint and so on the audience is invited into the immersive world. Upon entering the performance space the audience take on the role of performer by interacting with the mechanical objects within the space. In doing this they begin to create a dialogue between objects, space, audience and performers. This dialogue creates this sense of immediacy and feedback that Lucy Lippard state, by a direct communication from one being the audience to the other being the object.

I use oversized everyday objects that have mechanical elements in order that when the audience interacting with them they enter into a state of play. The use of humour creates a comfortable environment for ritual tasks to take place. Allowing for the audience member to cross the threshold of reality into the hyper reality of the performance space, suspending their belief for the duration of the event/happening. In this process of play the audience begin to partake in meaning-making interaction through the use of direct communication with the objects and other members of the audience in the immersive world. This meaningful interaction is where I would like to continue my research and develop my practice.

Manifesto of Existence, 2009

Performance based on the ritualised activities of everyday life. Using oversized objects to highlight the humour of the activities that give us structure and assurance. The performers repeated their given tasks whilst reciting the manifesto over and over again.

i like the humour n play with her work, the everyday nature and the oversizing

In ikea with tests

Tea when painting in a draw

Stayin MDF tests

New plans for final peice