Creative
Units 1, 2 & 3.
Free all welcome.
Visit the creative units
to see the new studio works produced by Rizwan Mirza, Vida Simon & Miranda
Whall during their three month residency at Aberystwyth Arts Centre.
Rizwan Mirza:
“I recently came across three books published over a
span of three centuries and often at a unique juncture in our shared history
where cultures have crossed paths and often faced insurmountable challenges:
The Last Mughal, Travels into Bukhara and The Gathering Storm.
When I arrived at the residency in the middle of a
sudden and violent storm I found uprooted trees from nearby forests which had
been abandoned downriver on a pebble beach. These pieces of driftwood became my
raw material.
By
placing what may appear to be disparate ideas together can often take you to an
unexpected place. My ideas and work are closely tied to the topography of a
place, not only how it is shaped but also exploring the layers of matter
contained within it. “
Vida Simon (Canada):
Vida’s
practice incorporates drawing, painting, writing, found/hand-crafted objects, sound,
and gesture, combined to form site-responsive installations and performances.
Drawing live often plays a central role in her performances. Much of her work
plays with scale extremes, through projected drawings or situating the body in
relation to miniature worlds.
“Working
in this wonderful tin pod (light, space, time) has allowed me to develop
diverging threads and themes simultaneously – all under the umbrella of Noah’s
Flood. I have collected seaweed, experimented with sheep’s wool, made watercolours,
drawn storyboards, played with video, and devised new measurement systems and
forms of currency.”
Miranda Whall:
Image: Iwan Bala. July 2012
Miranda Whall’s project while artist
in residence has developed through the contribution of fourteen local Welsh
speaking participants. The participants were invited to talk on ‘hiraeth’ for
an audio and video recording either in her studio or in their homes. The
recordings present a rich and varied interpretation of the word that is
particular and deeply rooted in the Welsh language, heritage and culture but it
could be argued that it is a concept that is universal to us all.
Twm Morys will interpret the
monologues to form a poem that will be interpreted by a composer for the
Aberystwyth Male Voice choir who will perform the a cappella choral arrangement
in the autumn of 2013 in a chapel to be decided.
Hiraeth will be part of a series of
individual projects under the umbrella project- the 'Quests'; an
interdisciplinary multi screen installation that will be a touring exhibition,
the first venue will be the new Institute of Contemporary Interdisciplinary
Arts in Bath, for the opening/launch of the new gallery in Autumn 2014, other
venue's in the tour tbc.
So far Whall has made projects in
France, Spain and Wales, working with texts vocalised in French, Nigerian and
Welsh. She will be developing projects over the coming year while artist in
residence in Istanbul and Mexico and while living and working in Europe. All of
the projects have and will develop according to location specific responses and
the dynamics that occur within local collaboration and participation.
Miranda Whall would like to take this opportunity to thank
everyone involved in the 'hiraeth' project for their inspiration,
enthusiasm, support and generous participation and to invite them to see all
fourteen recordings presented at the Open Studios event.
