Aberystwyth Artists in Residence

The Fish and Chips Museum - Open Studio

2012-02-28T23:29:00.014-08:00

Open Studio > Next week!

2012-02-14T01:09:00.000-08:00

2012-02-02T05:53:00.000-08:00

Hidden Trees

www.clare-wilson.com

Screenprinting at the School of Art!

2012-01-21T11:08:00.000-08:00

Work in progress.

Orange, green and black will be printed next week.

lucywatts.com

Some observations...

2012-01-20T05:06:00.000-08:00

Ibghy & Lemmens, vtls 004518389-53 (Danny O’Connor)

by permission of Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru

One of the many benefits of being a resident artist at the AberystwythArts Centre is that the famous pod-like structures, a.k.a. the studios, are veryclose to the National Library of Wales, one of five depository libraries in theUK. Not being one to waste a good opportunity, I decided to visit the Library every morning during the month of October on my way to the studio.

I’d sit at a long table, often alongside academics orindividuals plotting their family tree, and stare at photographs from randomlychosen collections I had requested the night before. I would stare at them fora long time. Long enough to look for signs. And when there were no signs to befound, I would go ahead and invent them. In this way, hour after hour, dayafter day, like those beside me prying the doors of their newly found past, Ialways managed to find what I was looking for.

It was an exercise in observation.

In one box I found 163 photographs of Welsh boxers, most ofthem from the beginning of the 20^th century. I later learnt thatmany of these boxers were colliers, and that boxing had become an importantstage in Welsh society during the boom of industrialisation, producing aprolific stream of champions and the emergence of local working-class heroes.

This box photographs became thestarting point for much of the work I conducted during my residency, leading meto research subjects as diverse as the domestication of chance, the developmentof probabilities and statistics, coal mining in Wales, boxing, portrait photography, andthe introduction of graphical representation in political economy.

One of the projects that has emerged from this research, entitledThe Space of Observation, is an exhibition of photographs and writing that will be presented at 221a, Vancouver, towards the end of January. A second project,entitled The Wilful Undertaking ofSerious Chances, will be further developed into a live projection / performance during a residency at ausland, Berlin, in March. Both projects have been realised in collaboration with MarilouLemmens, who was able to join me for the last month of my residency.

I am very grateful for the time I was able to spend inAberystwyth at the Arts Centre, without which, none of these projects would have seen the light of day. I would like to thank Alan, Eve,Carys, Cath, Carol, Paul and Tim from the Arts Centre, as well as Will from the Library, for all of their assistance and guidance. I would also like to wish my flatmates Matthewand Petri, followed by Clare and Lucy, all the best in their future endeavours.

Lastly, I wouldlike to show appreciation to Francine Royer and the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Qébec for making my residency possible.

Richard Ibghy

ibghylemmens.com

2012-01-12T05:42:00.000-08:00

'The deep, dark forest is a common representation of the feared elements within. It can reflect parts of ourselves that are never entirely tamed, that are always somewhat dangerous or chaotic.They are important aspects of ourselves. In some ways, they are the most creative aspects of our inner world. We need to go into the dark forest. It is difficult and mysterious. Still, fresh energies and new ideas come from that place.'
Joseph Young 'How fairy tales shape our lives'

I arrived in Aberystwyth expecting to respond to the tides but is the trees that I find myself drawn to.

Parc Penglais, a stones throw from the studio is a wonderful ancient woodland with it's beautifully twisted Welsh Oak and it's gorse covered old quarry.

The grey slate struggles to compete with the stubborn old tree roots.

Walking, photographing, drawing - I am transferring my ideas into small studies in ink, acrylic and oil.

I'm finding myself using black oil paint which I haven't done for at least 15 years. There is a darkness here. A non threatening but all enveloping darkness. It reminds me of my childhood in Northumberland where pitch black was familiar at the same time as being full of secrets.

These are all works in progress.....

The kingdom of fish and chips

2012-01-11T04:16:00.000-08:00

My original idea was to do something that involved local people. I started going to different villages to try and meet local welsh people. On my list was Llanbadarn, Borth, Bow Street,

Machynlleth.

All these places seemed to have shut down for the winter period, nobody in the streets, cafes and shops closed... However, fish and chip shops remained open. Spending time in these popular places implied meeting local people.

So I started drawing in fish shops,

and collecting items.

I liked the idea of working on such a typical traditional British institution. I heard that it remained a British preference and did not cross borders even when Britain tried exporting it to France, Belgium or Italy. Fish and chips have failed to become an export. Why has is it such a British thing?

Fish and chips are now my main field of research. I have decided to bring the “Fish and chips institution” in the exhibition space. I like the idea of bringing a popular custom that is associated to the working class in a supposedly cultural and elite institution that is the “museum”. For the open studio night -taking place at the end of February, my studio will become the “Fish and Chips Museum”.

Fish and chips seemed to have been left out by historians.

“Fish and chips is generally recognized as a great and quintessentially British institution; but it is difficult to persuade people to take it seriously as a subject of historical inquiry. This is partly because of it is presumed to be, for practical purposes, timeless: it has 'always' been there, but it has no 'history' in the sense of transforming itself, affecting people's lives for good or ill in significant ways, or interacting with the self-evidently important concerns of statesmen and diplomats”

John K. Walton “Fish and Chips and the British Working Class, 1870-1940”, p1

Next week I will make posters in screen printing at the school of art.

I am also working on a fake TV program called “The fish and chips review”. A review of the village of Borth and Bow Street, MoMA in Macynlleth, ciment sculptures by Arthur Jones in a garden in Llanbadarn and finally the Chip Box in Aberystwyth.

lucywatts.com

Student Interviews

2011-12-16T04:00:00.000-08:00

Aberyswyth University student Gemma Meek has helped document Richard Ibghy's time at Aberystwyth Arts Centre by interviewing him prior to his departure. Follow the link below to read the interview in full:

Richard Ibghy on his research process:

"One of the things I like about looking at photographs is that you can take your time; you can look at one image for a long time, as opposed to getting caught up in something that is happening in front of you. Also, I’m not so concerned with trying to understand precisely what is going on in a photograph; which is something I don’t even think is possible. Rather, I am interested in using signs in photographs as springboards to think about other things, things that I am currently researching. I’m very aware, and very comfortable with the fact, that I’m using historical images as a means of stimulating thought and then writing those thoughts down. So I end up writing observations which are more a function of my own concerns than what it is that I am actually seeing."

(http://issuu.com/aberystwytharts/docs/richard_20ibghy_20interview_20nov_20_281_29)

Hanging on a Line

2011-12-11T09:57:00.000-08:00

Open Studios and Goodbyes

2011-12-06T21:17:00.000-08:00

So the second half of the residency at Aberystwyth disappeared even quicker than the first half did. The last few weeks fell through the hourglass at breakneck speed as I tried to get all the things that I had started to a completed state.

We had an open studios on the 24 November, which was a nice way to catch up with a lot of people that I have met over the last three months, and to show some of the things I have been working on. This included a set of portraits, some costumes, some masks entitled 'three quack doctor's masks for the purposes of self diagnosis - the coroner, the psychologist & the surgeon', and a chair banner/costume that I just finished. [also we had a chance to finish off the packet of fireworks I had left over from making a film].

There are three projects that I have been working on mainly….

A series of portraits based on an image that I found at the Ceredigion Museum.

I was interested in the history of the Welsh folk costume, an image that you know as the ubiquitous dress of women on postcards of Wales. I was lucky to discover that Michael Freeman, the curator at the Ceredigion Museum is an expert in the history of the Welsh women's folk costume. How this dress came to be associated with a national identity is a curious process in itself, but I wanted to look a little beyond this history. Through the process of going through some victorian examples of people wearing this costume we came across a very curious image indeed…

This photograph provides no immediate clues about its origin or its intention, but this is what I like the most about it. Why had this bearded man gone to the trouble of being photographed in a welsh folk costume, and who was the photograph intended for?

Perhaps this image was intended simply as a joke, but it led me to discover more about the Rebecca Riots, a series of protests by farmers and agricultural workers in Wales in the 1840s over unfair taxation. The protesters dressed as women for disguise and invoked a short verse from the bible. The image is also familiar to me as the man/woman character in European folk drama and ritual, a figure that plays with the topsy turvy nature of folk celebration, and a distant relative of the modern pantomime dame.

Working with Stuart Evans at the musuem, I created a series of portraits of men wearing traditional women's folk costume, using the image above for a starting point.

Straw Devils

There are many examples of straw costumes for folk rituals across Europe and the rest of the world, but I was curious about the possibility of constructing some costumes from drinking straws. These costumes became two devil characters after I had been reading Edmund Jones' accounts of appearances and sightings of the devil accross Wales during the 1700s. After his his admission that he never really bothered to come to Cardigonshire and his firm belief that had he made it to these parts then he would have "received many accounts" of devilish activity and appearance, I decided that my characters would be a kind of example of a devilish occurrence in these parts.

I made two straw devils, one a mainly white one, with a dash of colour, that I decided was a 'devil of the daytime', and partnered this with a black devil, the 'devil of the nighttime'. I ordered 10,000 drinking straws to make these suits, and started by sewing them into strings, and then sewing these strings onto an undersuit. Like some of the ritual devils that you see in folk processions in eastern Europe, each costume has a long red tongue hanging down from its head.

I got the chance to use the costumes to film a short ritual involving a couple of other costumes I have made, and the University Cheerleaders. I am still editing this piece, but will post it when I have finished.

The Sheep Stealer

One part of the residency at the Art Centre was to make an artwork with a group of people in the area. In the first few days that I was in Aberystwyth I came across the films of William Haggar in the Screen & Sound Archives at the National Library of Wales. I thought these films were amazing, and the humour and life in the stories he was telling seemed like a great point to start work with a group of people in the area. The same day that I had been looking at the Haggar films in the library, I had come across a photographic exhibition on the top floor of the library celebrating the history and the 70th anniversary of the Young Farmers Clubs in Ceredigion. The YFC seemed to be an amazing combination of rural skills and amateur dramatics taking place in fairgrounds and fields across the county.

The film that stood out to me initially had been 'The Sheep Stealer" made by Haggar in 1908, and after a few weeks of trying I managed to make contact with a group of YFC in Tregaron, not too far from Aberystwyth. After a few meetings we set a date and filmed a new version of the film on the farm belonging to the dad of one of the girls in the group. I shot both a digital and a super8 version of the film, and next year the both the original William Haggar film, and the new one we have worked on will be shown at the National Library.

And so an amazing three months in Aberystwyth comes to an end.

Thanks to Eve, Carys, Cath, Tim, Carol & Paul at the Art Centre, to Michael, Stuart & Jill at the Ceredigion Musuem, Petri & Richard my fellow resident artists and housemates, and a special thanks to Pete Stephenson & Ali Matthews for all their help.

Matthew Cowan

www.matthewcowan.net

COUGHT IN A SHELL

2011-11-29T09:07:00.001-08:00

Hello! Again! I am still in California but still editing all the material gathered during my residency at Aberystwyth last summer......you can see for yourself in the videos posted below!

have fun...ciao for now

Claudia

HOW MANY VEILS COUGHT BY THE WIND FIDDLING WITH THE CLOUDS

2011-11-29T09:07:00.000-08:00

WHO CAN STILL bear ALL THAT BEAUTIFUL CRAP?

2011-11-29T09:06:00.001-08:00

Hanging Landscapes

2011-11-29T09:06:00.000-08:00

A SEA WITH NO MORE GODS

2011-11-29T09:05:00.000-08:00

From Petri Virtanen

2011-11-29T02:36:00.001-08:00

From Petri Virtanen - Nov.2011

2011-11-29T01:55:00.000-08:00

The past weeks have raced like a Finnish rally driver through the woods pushing the pedal, and soon it is time to return back to Helsinki. But everything looks pretty good now, I do believe, after tomorrows´ last shoot at the pier, that I should have about 9-11 good shots, which would make an exhibition by itself!

Somehow when you finally settle down in a place, and get couple of shootings after another under your belt, it feels like you can’t stop.

Yesterday was the open studio, and a nice number of people arrived, and the atmosphere was very jolly. It’s always interesting to hear comments of your work, of course you make it purely for yourself, but still secretly you hope that somebody likes at least something, and that the pictures, drawings and music would have as wide audience as possible. And when asked, what is the favourite picture, the answers were very different, sometimes even surprising!

Also I would like to thank before leaving this great Welsh town, all the people of the Arts Centre, who helped and supported me, they made all this possible, and gave new spark to my a little bit jaded steps that I had before coming here, and being able to concentrate 120 % on my art, and make me once again know, where I am, and what I should do from now on, a sharper vision has been found, a refuelled artist has been made, thank you everybody!

Cheers and all the best!
Petri

The Devil's Wind

2011-10-14T11:28:00.000-07:00

As an artist in residence in Aberystwyth, you can't help but be knocked out by the weather, which blows in from the Irish sea, and speeds up the hill to the art centre most days. Its hard not to fall into that uniquely British trap of talking about the weather with my fellow resident artists, as the weather does have such an effect on your existence here, although we have begun to joke that the status quo is huge gusts of wind, short squalling showers of rain and fast moving clouds blowing in from the sea. When the sun shines through in brief patches, its so welcome that you end up feeling guilty remaining inside your studio.

I first arrived in my studio full of the excitement at the potential new work I was going to make, and itching to get started. I only tripped myself up though in the beginning deciding what exactly it was going to be that I would start on. I made a lot of use of the library in the first couple of weeks that I was in Aberystwyth (in the days before the population doubled with the arrival of this years batch of freshers, and all the returning other students for the start of term) and started down a path that was leading straight to the devil. I have been reading from Edmund Jones' accounts of appearances and sightings of the devil accross Wales during the 1700s, and his admission that he never really bothered to come to Cardigonshire. He is firm though in his belief that had he made it to these parts then he would have "received many accounts" of devilish activity and appearance.

So its into this void that I have stepped, constructing, in my head only at the moment, a devilish dance routine, ritual procession, and set of straw costumes for both the day and the night. I am hoping to assemble a chair to accompany these characters but at the moment that's all ahead of me.

FROM PETRI VIRTANEN

2011-10-14T06:53:00.001-07:00

Sketchin´and writing and drawing

I´ve also continued my beloved trait of sketching and drawing to my notebooks and pads, and
writing song lyrics and poems. I like to just start from scratch and keep on drawing until it´s done,
and then wonder what it is and where it came from. Sometimes I might do some premliminary sketches,
but I prefer the spontaneous, relaxed results that might appear, if I´m lucky. They are always kind of hit-and-miss stuff.

Well, the sun is shining; I better take a short break, before it vanishes back inside the clouds...

FROM PETRI VIRTANEN

2011-10-14T06:48:00.000-07:00

FROM PETRI VIRTANEN

2011-10-14T06:40:00.000-07:00

ALMOST HALFWAY THERE

Can it be already 6 weeks behind me? The days I´ve spent here have been running over the hills as fast as the 28 m/s wind, that stormed through Aberystwyth few days ago.

But all´s well so far, my bad knee is getting better, my motivation to do `real´ and `honest´(read whatever) art has slowly elevated itself towards the sky´s limits.

I have several things that have occupied my mind.

I brought couple of cameras here, to take some `mythical´ photos around here. I´ve become interested so far more to the heroic side of it, what is a hero, what does he/she do on a day off, what are the working days like, or the days off, how does he/she chill, win, lose etc. It´s not easy to be a hero and succeed.

I´ve also taken some pictures from here, just simple snaps, to show my friends in Finland, what my
life looks like here, and the scenery houses, etc. Believe me, to the Finns everything looks different and exotic here! And also some pics from Borth, where Matt and I took a field trip on one strange heatwave day. We went there on a super low tide, so we could see the `immersed forest´of Borth.
It looked great and strange, and a lovely village, too! You´re welcome to glance through them:

http://www.dropbox.com/gallery/42679043/1/Aberystwyth%20pics?h=7bf283
http://www.dropbox.com/gallery/42679043/1/Aber_2_pics?h=a9dd41

and some of my photos and music is possible to see and listen at my old website: www.puiestee.ee/virtanen
I have a new website coming up, almost ready, but it can´t be finished until I´m back in Helsinki,
so maybe in the beginning of 2012.

I also bought before coming here, some recording equipment, so that I could start learning the digital
ways of home recording. A Lexicon Omeca soundcard box, plus Cubase LE4 software. I didn´t want to drag my acoustic from Finland, but got lucky and found a nice Washburn electro/acoustic from a used stuff store. I´m not a big fan of computers, but so far I´ve been succesful in recording one rough demo, called `Lost like Loneliness´, plus I made couple of vocal performances to my great guitarist friends´, Pekka `Puka´Oinonen´s demo´s that I brought here with me. It is amazing, these pretty cheap and simple things nowadays, that you get high-quality recorded sound, just like that, no cassettes, huge consoles etc. I´m working on 3 more songs, and try to make rough demos of them, in about 2 weeks time. You can hear some of the music of a band I´m in, Aquasaurus from a link in Soundcloud. I do the singing:

http://soundcloud.com/search?q%5Bfulltext%5D=aquasaurus

Photograms

2011-08-25T08:45:00.002-07:00

For this open studio I have made a series of Photograms to replace all my bags that have gone to Los Gatos Museum.
The few bags I had left are all on display hanging from a line or laying on the floor accompanied by the photograms.
here are close ups of the photograms:

Open Studio

2011-08-25T08:45:00.000-07:00

So now that is how my studio looks like

All Packed Up Ready for Los Gatos Museum!

2011-08-25T08:44:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow is open studio's here at Aberystwyth Arts Centre but the work of almost three months has already gone, shipped to California to the Museum of Los Gatos were they are in good company together with all the other boxes that have previously been sent mainly from Dallas.
This Box is a special one though, and I hope the work will be still the same I have just finished making when I will open it up. For economical reason I had to reduce the volume of the bags in order to reduce the size and therefore the cost of the shipment that apparently goes according to volumetric weight, took me a while to figure that all out. It was quite a mission to squash everything into my custom home made box to contain more than 8000 bags, compressed into vacuum bags and on the verge of explosion! Which will surely happen once I'll open it next! Or the bags will shoot out or they'll have morphed into some other sculptural creature!
Here are some pics:

SHEEP TO SHEEP

2011-08-14T02:31:00.000-07:00

New Fashion Victims

2011-08-13T06:27:00.000-07:00

A River streaming out of my window into my studio

2011-08-12T13:49:00.000-07:00

DRESSING UP THE LANDSCAPE

2011-08-11T04:29:00.003-07:00

OUTSIDE MY STUDIO WINDOW

2011-08-11T04:28:00.000-07:00

I am now slowly coming to the packing up stages here in Aberystwyth and though I have a little fun playing around with what surrounds me!

SHEEP TO SHEEP

2011-08-07T09:23:00.001-07:00

So the next day I wake up with all my sheep and swans and poodles, and went searching for welsh sheep. I was lucky this time! I cannot tell you the experience: the welsh sheep went crazy for my plastic creatures! They started charging towards us, Steady! Despite my expectations of them scare away and my preoccupation of the best way to chase them into my picture frame! At the beginning I thought me and my globalized plastic herd were under attack really quite scary. I was ready to jump off the fence and run out of surprise! At some point it got so loud with their screams of joy, I suppose, that I felt embarrassed. But what can I say I was flattered by such responsive audience! Truly great appreciation. No museum nor gallery could ever compare to this welcoming experience and I could not have hope of anything better. The sheep loved my sculptures and nibbled all over them (maybe because of the salt of the sea water from the day before) to the point I had to take them away and back to were they came form: into my studio, were they have became into a river!

SHEEP ON THE ROCKS.....and they BECAME SWANS.....

2011-08-07T09:22:00.002-07:00

Quickly my sheep got tired of pasturing and so we went down to the sea to feed on some algae. The tide was low and by sunset the sheep turned into swans, or better poodles, more likely, even if they still felt like sheep deep down!

PASTURE

2011-08-07T09:22:00.000-07:00

So by 8000 bags and still going, I decided to have a little break in between. Inspired by the Welsh landscape and playing with biblical references I set off with my little herd of plastic sheep to Clarech. During my explorations I thought I had found the perfect spot to set them in, so that I could blend them into the summer grazing together with all the local sheep. I have kept an eye on that spot for a while now but when got there yesterday, of course there were no bloody sheep anymore! All gone! Not one even one sheep left for the sake of art! No sheep around that I could see. I was really bummed. I lost my mojo and considered leaving and go to the pub instead, but it had been such an effort to just get there and carry the plastic beasts over the hills that I had to stick around for a bit longer and try to make something out of it even without any imspiration.....here are some pics

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: PLASTIC BAGS ON STAGE!

2011-08-05T06:33:00.000-07:00

8000 plastic bags performing on the theatre stage of Aberystwyth arts Centre!

The bags are performing only for me!

In a work called: 'HANGING LANDSCAPE'

But I thought I share some visuals anyhow!

On that day I have taken almost 500 photos and many hours of film. Editing has been a nightmare, like usual I could not make my mind up so the selection I have finally come up with is quite a large one!

ON STAGE at Aberystwyth Theatre

2011-08-05T06:32:00.000-07:00

ONE DAY AT THE THEATRE

2011-08-05T06:30:00.000-07:00

Working away I have now taped together 8000 plastic bags. My studio is stuffed with them and there are more to come!

Yesterday we had the privilege, me and all of my bags to go for a day to the Aberystwyth Theatre.

Wow, did they love the stage! so huge and magical, really special. I tested them all out, but it was a mad race against time, from 8am till 10pm, setting them up, photographing them and filming just to actually see what I have done until now!

Here are few pics of how I have install them. There are videos coming hopefully soon featuring the performance that I have filmed to go with the work.

Open Studio

2011-07-08T06:31:00.000-07:00

Tests in preparation for my first Museum Solo Show at the Museum of Los Gatos, California.

Images from Clare Thornton's 'Material Matters' project at the Arts Centre between 28th May 2011 - 9th June 2011

2011-07-07T01:46:00.001-07:00

FROM CLARE THORNTON - JUNE 2011

2011-07-07T01:35:00.000-07:00

Hello, My name’s Clare Thornton & I’m the recipient of the Laura Ashley Foundation Residency Award.I’ve been in residence here since the beginning of May 2011 and will be so for another 4 weeks.

The studio's here are great spaces to work in and I've been jamming with some incredible people in the past weeks.By way of introduction I’d describe my practice as interdisciplinary and collaborative and I work across performance, visual art and craft to create performance events, print/book works and mixed media installations.

A key part of the Laura Ashley Foundation’s support for my residency here at Aberystwyth Arts Centre was to encourage local engagement with my practice. With the aim of creating the right conditions for that engagement I developed Materials Matters - a social, participatory installation in the gallery space which I hosted from 28th May-9th June with collaborative support from Aberystwyth based artist Ali Matthews, who is a Ph.D. student at the University and researching participatory performance and relational practices.

In the lead up to this event I established a small network of community contacts guided by the Arts Centre team and the call went out through its diverse networks for local residents to bring me an object to the gallery space that might tell me something about them or their local area...

So Material Matters was an invitation to join in.
A way of opening up of a creative research process.
A process that involved a good deal of chat (dialogue plays a key role in my work), as in fact does Collecting/examining objects and the memories we tenderly fold into them.

Material Matters was curious about people's interaction with each other, their physical and emotional relationship with objects and with place or context/situation.

The proposition was to create a 3D landscape of Aberystwyth, an emotional, biographical landscape if you like, shaped through the objects shared with me by local residents.

It was a kind of mapping process. A shifting, sculptural installation transformed daily by the participants active contribution and transactions with the artists and the objects displayed.

This activity works alongside my interests in revealing the processes of production and inviting people into discussions around contemporary art production.

So now that installation has been de-installed and the objects returned to their owners, its time to move out of the gallery and back into the studio. I'm using this part of my residency as reflection time and using the studio space to begin to consider how I might transform the materials I have gathered through this social, public research process.

I would like to work with these encounters: with people, objects, gesture, conversation and explore how I might transform these 'fragile materials' into performance movements (to camera), sculptural forms & works on paper.

I'm excited to use the studio space here to work more physically and try out some movement ideas. I'm really pleased to have met Louise Ritchie, a Ph.D. student here, as I like to engage with her research around the 'In All Languages' movement vocabulary. And look at how I may introduce that into my studio practice.

I’ll let you know how I get on...

I believe I could fly.....and mop the sky

2011-06-22T04:40:00.000-07:00

Playing with the wind here in Aberystwyth and surroundings

little start

2011-06-21T12:21:00.001-07:00

Sai Hua Kuan and David Cushley leave.

2011-06-02T06:37:00.000-07:00

Well these three month residencies fly by so quickly.

Sai Hua Kuan and David Cushley who arrived at the beginning of March have just left and have been replaced by Zoe Childerley and Claudia Borgna.

Sai Hua Kuan: “My work often explores the dynamic void between space and time. To break down and transform a space and to dismantle and reconstruct materials and objects, are the important relearning processes in my creation of art. This playful yet adventurous making process provides an opportunity for me to revisit my social and cultural memory and experience.”

David Cushway: “For over twenty-five years, I have been fascinated with clay as a material, and how it is intrinsically linked to all aspects of our lives. From birth, day to day living, and to death, clay and the ceramic process has been fundamental to our cultural existence since the first human beings developed the skills to use it. The history of ceramics is the history of humanity. It defines humankind’s aspirations and cultural development; it is the material that binds us to the earth that we inhabit. It is what we come from and what we ultimately return to.”

Clare Thornton, who is on a residency funded by Laura Ashley also arrived here in May for three months. She currently is in the middle of a 10 day project in Gallery 1, Aberystwyth Arts Centre, where she has been inviting people to visit the gallery and bring along an object that says something about them. These objects can be large or small, something you might use for work or an interest or hobby. Clare has been placing these objects in the gallery, creating a 3D landscape, unique to the people and place of Aberystwyth..... photographs will follow!

The Second Half of my Residency

2011-04-26T09:10:00.001-07:00

(I meant to add this at the end of February)

The second half of the residency flew by! As the weather got milder I spent some more time around the coastline which in turn steered the direction of the work. I was drawn to the experience of looking into haze or mist and not being able to make sense of its landscape – was it big, small, far, near and so on. I made charcoal drawings and tried different things out with photos and text. The work was focussed on pictorial space and I wanted to suggest a form to the blank page or white canvas, or perhaps make it seem heavy and thick.

It soon became time to leave Aberystwyth and say goodbye to some wonderful new friends. Towards the end we went on two trips to North and South Wales and also held an open studio day. Looking back it was such a productive time and I left with the exciting feeling of having ideas for new work which I’m currently working on and developing further.

After my aberystwyth residency..

2011-04-05T02:05:00.000-07:00

Images will follow shortly but in the mean time please visit Chapter between May - July 2011 at the Chapter gallery in Cardiff a Selection of work to be shown at the Assembly - Art in the Bar.

Some of these works reference my times in Aberystwyth. Will be back later with more news...

The first half of the residency

2011-01-25T06:36:00.000-08:00

15^th of January 2011

The residency began with the feeling of being slightly overwhelmed and wanting to do everything at once. I was mainly torn between spending time doing various things at the studio but also wanting to go out exploring Aberystwyth and the surrounding area. It took a couple of weeks to settle in and arriving at a sense of balance. My most memorable day so far was the first day of heavy snow when me and Kate went for a walk along the beach. I had never seen snow on the beach before, and it seemed quite surreal. The snow looked like a frozen wave running towards the sea.

In my work at the residency so far I have been exploring ideas to do with the way that space is represented in pictures. I usually work in paint on canvas but was keen on using the time here to work with other media. Amongst other things, I have been making collages which occupy a three dimensional space, based on the idea of the panoramic view. I’m not sure where they will lead – I’m using the time and freedom at the residency to experiment rather than trying to reach a definite conclusion.

Kate Street 'Mererid's Duty', 2011 - looped animation

2011-01-21T07:45:00.000-08:00

New animation now available to view at:

http://www.vimeo.com/19005675

Half way through my residency....

2011-01-21T07:14:00.000-08:00

At the start of my residency I began to research the local myth of Cantre’r Gwaelod. I first came across this on an initial research trip, and was also told about the submerged forest at Borth that probably initiated the legend. The idea of a land lost to the sea is cross-cultural and the structure of the story is relative to the deluge myth that exists in nearly ancient culture – such as the lost city of Atlantis.

There seem to be several different versions of Cantre’r Gwaelod that exist. One of the oldest tales is of a well-maiden called Mererid, who was distracted from her duties of closing the sluice gates and thus causing the flooding of the lands, and destruction of 16 noble cities. I was drawn to this version because of it moral warning to young women everywhere – don’t neglect your duties!

My initial trip to Borth was quite awe-inspiring and frustrating at the same time. Being a Londoner it’s not often that I encounter vast stretches of sand, sky and mountains, so equipped with my wellies and a camera I set out to find the submerged forest. I kept thinking that I could see it rising out of the sea on the horizon, but alas it turned out to be a mirage! I did however find a small section, which gave me an idea of how such tales must have circulated around these ancient petrified trees.

After what seemed like hours of walking, everything started to look like the illusive submerged forest!

It’s not my intention to create a piece that is a direct illustration of the myth, but rather is suggestive, with a looped, rather than linear narrative.

My aim for this residency is to develop my basic animation skills, and to consider how best to show them. Last year I started trying to animate some of my drawings and I hope that some concentrated time here at Aber might help me to resolve some technical issues. I’m hoping to create layered animations that convey the handmade and drawn aspects within my practice. So far I have been filming and photographing myself enacting unusual domestic chores, such as cleaning the floor with my hair (as being a good maiden I wouldn’t want to neglect my duties) and then turning these into a series of drawings.

I have also been observing waves and trying to replicate them with chalk.

And also creating monotypes of sections of beach.

With a little more tweaking I hope to get all these elements working together by using Photoshop and Quicktime.

Once I feel that the looped animation is working I intend to try various presentation options. The great thing about the studios here at Aber is the versatile space. I’m hoping to create several animations and then experiment with split screen projections – to create an immersive environment for the viewer.

2011-01-04T06:22:00.001-08:00

Just seen the videos that Melanie from Culture Colony made of Annabelle and I during our residency......They're posted on culturecolony.com

Would love to see what the current residents are up to.......

The Final Half of My Residency

2010-09-02T09:23:00.000-07:00

I have now finished my residency at Aberystwyth....I feel that I was really able to play with ideas and experiment without any pressure. I now feel much more confident in my practice as an artist. I also wanted to say a big thank you to everyone at the Arts Centre, who made my time here a pleasure, especially to Eve, Carys, Cath, Heather, Geraint, Caroline, Jesal (and of course, Annabelle!) for all their help and support over the last 3 months.

If you would like to see further images from the residency, please look at my website www.priyachohan.com

The First Half of My Residency

2010-07-18T06:54:00.000-07:00

The first half of my residency at Aberystwyth has been exciting and liberating. It has been great to have the space to try out new ideas. When I first arrived, the space felt huge....

I made drawings outside as a way to deal with my new environment.

I have also been working directly on the wall to make drawings.

The time so far has been great and feels like a laboratory of ideas. I am now working on experimenting with different techniques to make bigger pieces of work which I'll hopefully be able to complete before I leave here.

5 @ Aberystwyth Arts Centre

2010-07-03T01:08:00.000-07:00

by Lucy Harvey
Some shots of the massive gallery space at Aberystwyth Arts Centre which is currently housing a digital installation by Ralph Juergen Colmar, sculptures by Katherine Sullivan, contemporary works by Priya Chohan, paintings by Annabelle Shelton and contemporary metal work by myself.

The exhibition shows the fantastic diversity which the Artist Residency scheme at Aberystwyth Arts Centre hosts. I'm excited to showcase alongside artists of this caliber and in such an airy space. As a relatively new practitioner from a craft background I have never had this extent of space to exhibit my work and the exhibition gave me the opportunity to showcase my floor based installation as well as objects collected from the seafront during my residency last winter alongside my crafted artefacts.

Having spent the three months of my residency with Katherine Sullivan it was great to see her photo assemblages presented in their lightbox which elevated the eerie qualities of the domestic architecture and female figures which she sourced again from Ceredigion Museum. The subtley sinister lead shoes from her previous residency in Ireland and her decorative domestic sculptures from this residency hold an interesting discourse together and provide a colour palette that seemed to run throughout the show.

Ralph's animation is a remarkable feat, I find it difficult to imagine that it was conceived in the same Creative Unit that I inhabited for my residency. As ever I found the attention to detail in Annabelle's contemporary landscapes mind boggling, I know she'll find a lot of inspiration in Aberystwyth. Finally, Priya's temporal installations really inspired me; that materials so lowly as wax and sand could come together to have such presence in a gallery is quite an achievement.

Artist talks from both Annabelle and Priya both focused on this idea of time and space and it was interesting as a maker to hear Priya discuss the issue of control in the manipulation of materials and in their presentation. The exhibition gives us all this platform to share part of the residency process with visitors through three outcomes with the work of myself, Ralph and Katherine, and two starting points with Annabelle and Priya. I look forward to seeing the fruits of their residency, good luck guys!

5 is on at Aberystwyth Arts Centre until the 14th July 2010.
Further information here.

My Residency @ Aberystwyth Arts Centre

2010-07-02T23:40:00.000-07:00

by Lucy Harvey

Hello, my name's Lucy and I tentatively title myself a 'conceptual metalsmith'. My work is currently in 5, an exhibition at Aberystwyth Arts Centre until the 14th June, alongside Priya and Annabelle (who are the current artists in residence) and previous residencees Raph Juergen Colmar and Katherine Sullivan.
My residency spanned December to February 2010 which was this year's big freeze. It was the first time I have ever stepped on frozen sand and probably the wrong season for exploring fishing but as someone who is interested in subverting the function of objects this probably worked to my advantage.

During my time in Aber I did what I always do to spark the wheels on my creative practice; that is to collect stuff. My beach combing amounted to a collection of natural and man made objects that were worn and distorted by their time in the ocean. I was inspired by how these objects were discarded and abandoned on the sea front and by the processes of wearing and tangling that detritus was subjected to by the waves.
This abuse of objects and the ambiguities regarding an item's discardment to the sea chimed in with my enquiry into the function of objects. I paired this inspiration with a direct look at the unrecognised craft processes behind the making of fishing equipment, which I found was not too dissimilar from my own jewellery background only there was less soldering (braising) and more 'cold connections' such as wrapping and riveting. I sought to use my own technical processes - jewellery and small scale metal work- to rework my collected objects into artefacts which subverted function.
This gave me an opportunity to diversify my making skills and respond directly to processes used in fly tying, lure making and weighting. Ceredigion Museum were kind enough to let me have a handling session with their collection of fishing equipment and I looked at techniques and equipment further afield with a copy of Von Brandt's Fish Catching Methods of the World (Forth Edition!) from Aberystwyth University's Hugh Owen Library. Aber Fishing Tackle on Terrace Road got quite a bit of custom from me, and I in turn got a few funny looks as I declined a copy of the tide times and left the shop with a bag full of sea fishing and fly fishing paraphernalia.

Local heritage was also an inspiration and I fell in love with Borth (or "the Munster's Holiday Home" as my residency partner Katherine Sullivan termed it). Borth: A Seaborn Village by Terry Davies painted a fantastically evocative picture of the mana like force of fish on the town in the olden days.
All of this boiled down to a desire to create symbolic artefacts which questioned function. I began making in the final month of my residency after two hugely valuable months of research and reflection. An entire log of my time in Aber can be found on my blog, which is here.

Thanks to the Arts Centre for having me, it's been an utterly invaluable part of my progression as an emerging artist and a fantastic addition to my portfolio!

2010-06-24T12:02:00.000-07:00

It's a few weeks now into my residency. It's taken a couple of weeks to get settled in, but now that I have re-acclimatized and discovered where the industrial estate is (the key to my materials!), I feel free to enjoy this experience.

Giving a talk at the private view for 5 was terrifying but glad I did it!

I've had lots of conversations with Annabelle, talking about the feeling of trying to make the most of being here and the pressure you put on yourself to make a masterpiece - a sense of not wanting to fail. I've now decided to spend this time experimenting and playing with processes, not thinking 'outcome' but hoping that a realisation of what I'm doing will become evident.....

Ynyslas

2010-06-24T09:18:00.000-07:00

Annabelle and I discovered Ynyslas yesterday - I would definitely recommend a visit. Apart from a hairy moment on the winding country road negotiating uphill and a 90 degree turn, it was well worth the short drive. We'll be going back to try and find the mysterious 'petrified forest'!

2010-06-18T08:49:00.000-07:00

Looks good! Who are the Artists In Residence at the moment? ...

AIR Blog

2010-06-18T03:51:00.000-07:00

At last - we have our own Artists in Residence Blog!!! Watch this space for info from past and present Artists taking part in the residency scheme here at Aber Arts Centre. Have a look at our creative units website also (where Artists are based):- http://www.aberystwythartscentre.co.uk/creative/ and for info on available residencies have a look at: http://www.aberystwythartscentre.co.uk/information/artistsinresidence.shtml

2010-06-18T02:22:00.001-07:00