Currently working as Curatorial Assistant with Cooper Gallery, Exhibitions at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design.
Having worked there since April, I've had the opportunity to see through the Undergrad Degree Show and a Centre for Artists' Books exhibition at Centrespace, and now we're working towards the Masters Show and Knife Edge Press: The Complete Works (so far) with Bruce McLean and Mel Gooding, as well as preparing for a really exciting interdisciplinary exhibition later in the year and making preparations and funding applications for future projects. It gives me the brilliant opportunity to learn about different stages in project development.
I'll be working until early September and by then it'll certainly be time to take stock of everything I've learned! Sophia Hao, Curator and Andrew Dodds, Technical Manager have been incredible sharing their knowledge and experience, whether it's in answer to small queries or by helping me to think through larger or more complicated situations.
Then from September I'll focus on SHIFT which is the project I'm curating with the funding I was granted by Dundee Visual Artists Awards. I hope to hold the exhibition towards the end of October, which should allow me to spend time in the run up working on it full-time. There are a few people already on board who I'm looking forward to working with, but I will also have a Call Out for artists soon.
Thursday, 25 July 2013
Monday, 11 February 2013
Fun A Day Dundee, 2013
Last year Morgan Cahn brought Fun A Day to Dundee inviting individuals to pick a project to do each day of the month of January, and then submit their work for a celebratory group exhibition. 2013 saw it return with 38 people taking part, myself included: I decided to use the project to kick-start re-learning French.
'Un peu quelque chose francais, chaque jour'
I studied French at high school, though I never got to the stage where I was confident in being able to hold a conversation in the language. Aware that my skills would only continue to diminish, Fun A Day seemed like the perfect opportunity to return to my learning before forgetting everything entirely.
Easing my way back into the language, I spent January watching French tv, reading Le Monde, remembering grammar rules, emailing a friend in French and booking/planning a trip to Paris in February! I created a zine to document some of the things I'd been up to and wrote everything in French, including my to-do list for my trip to Paris.
'Un peu quelque chose francais, chaque jour'
I studied French at high school, though I never got to the stage where I was confident in being able to hold a conversation in the language. Aware that my skills would only continue to diminish, Fun A Day seemed like the perfect opportunity to return to my learning before forgetting everything entirely.
Easing my way back into the language, I spent January watching French tv, reading Le Monde, remembering grammar rules, emailing a friend in French and booking/planning a trip to Paris in February! I created a zine to document some of the things I'd been up to and wrote everything in French, including my to-do list for my trip to Paris.
Image courtesy of Scotsman-In-Hawaii
There was a vast variety of work for Fun A Day, which is part of what makes it such a brilliant project to take part in - almost nothing would seem out-of-place so you can really take your own idea and run with it.
The Celebratory Exhibition was held at Roseangle Cafe Arts, Feb 8th from 6-9pm. There was such a great atmosphere made by people bustling around talking about the works, (trying to see as many as possible over the evening) all interspersed by the sounds of the flute whenever Matt-R was summoned by ringing a bell and later in the evening there was a performance by Playground Tactics. Then we joined up with folk from the DCA's Jutta Koether Seasons and Sacraments exhibition preview for a lot of dancing at an After-Party at Redd. Fun A Day, 2013 certainly got the year off to a great beginning... ensuite j'irai a Paris!
Wednesday, 6 February 2013
Zoo As A Gallery, Camperdown Conversations
In January, 2013 Beth Savage and I met to discuss the concept of the zoo as a gallery - what could this mean? What would we consider? What would we challenge?
Before holding our conversations, we decided upon six topics to act as focal points for our discussions - value, aesthetics, roles and symbols, site/situation/proximity, the gaze and ethics - and each put forward a text relating to our thinking about individual topics. The conversations weren't confined to the topics and texts we presented but were often guided by them, so that the six conversations have overlaps but are distinct in their content.
We made notes on screen prints Beth has worked on as part of her Residency at Camperdown Wildlife Centre. Toy animals explored the words as we explored our thoughts on the ethical considerations of animals in art, life, zoos etc. This project will continue to evolve. As yet it has no determined end-point, or aim, but I expect that once we listen back to the conversations we will have more of a sense of what route it could take.
Our day of conversation was recorded and can be heard by following this link from Beth's blog, there are also details of the texts/articles we read.
Before holding our conversations, we decided upon six topics to act as focal points for our discussions - value, aesthetics, roles and symbols, site/situation/proximity, the gaze and ethics - and each put forward a text relating to our thinking about individual topics. The conversations weren't confined to the topics and texts we presented but were often guided by them, so that the six conversations have overlaps but are distinct in their content.
We made notes on screen prints Beth has worked on as part of her Residency at Camperdown Wildlife Centre. Toy animals explored the words as we explored our thoughts on the ethical considerations of animals in art, life, zoos etc. This project will continue to evolve. As yet it has no determined end-point, or aim, but I expect that once we listen back to the conversations we will have more of a sense of what route it could take.
Our day of conversation was recorded and can be heard by following this link from Beth's blog, there are also details of the texts/articles we read.
Sunday, 25 November 2012
Student Curatorial Team: Currency of Ideas Workshop
Alongside Holly Knox Yeoman, I recently devised a workshop for students of Exhibitions DJCAD's Student Curatorial Team of which we were members while studying in Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design. Holly and I blogged on Exhibitions, DJCAD's blog about the two afternoons, Afternoon 1 and Afternoon 2.
The workshop, SCT: A Currency of Ideas was structured to take place over two afternoons. The first explored curatorial models and highlighted experiences that have so far been key to our understanding of curation. (This included talking about Collection(s) Part 1 and Part 2 which we worked on during our 4th year of University). The second afternoon facilitated the sharing, exchanging and improving of ideas for potential exhibitions and projects between the student members of the team.
Great ideas were put forward and discussed amongst the team who are now continuing to develop them. I look forward to seeing how their exhibitions and projects develop over the next few months!
Monday, 1 October 2012
W.A.G.E.
Wasn't there but I imagine it would have been good to hear all the points of view and how the discussion evolved after the speakers' finished.
A report on the event by Chris Sharratt on a-n describes:
"A speaker from New York's W.A.G.E. campaign joined Glasgow-based artists this week to talk about the 'non' payment of artists' fees. a-n reports from Glasgow...
The main speaker on the night was Lise Soskolne of W.A.G.E. (Working Artists and the Greater Economy). She offered an enlightening and entertaining overview of the New York activist group’s campaigns and research. Setting the group’s work in context, she said: “People in New York are just baffled by what we do – it’s like, why should artists get paid?”
Formed in 2008, W.A.G.E. is not a union. It campaigns specifically around the issue of artists’ fees, focusing on not-for-profit galleries and museums. Soskolne showed a W.A.G.E. campaign video that distilled its objectives into succinct slogans, such as ‘Renumeration of cultural value in capital value’; ‘Mutual respect between artist and institution’; and – one for every artist, surely – ‘We demand payment for making the world more interesting’...
It was, though, rather more recent information regarding New York’s art scene that proved most shocking. Soskolne talked about the results of a recent survey into artists’ fees, based on the responses of artists. By far the worst offender was Performa, ‘the internationally acclaimed biennial of new visual art performance’.
“Performa were upset by this, which is good – I think you call it naming and shaming in the UK,” said Soskolne. “They got in touch and said they wanted to make a statement. W.A.G.E. responded with, ‘Yeah, let’s meet, we’d like to see your budget.’” They're still waiting for a reply."
Check out this link to the letter Hollis Frampton sent to the Film Curator of MoMA in 1973 when he was asked to take part/comply with a retrospective of his films, with 'no money' given to him.
I plan to keep up-to-date with W.A.G.E. via their website.
Monday, 20 August 2012
May Meet In Mutual
We have now cleared away the work and swept up the Park Centre leaving no traces of crumbs, thread or leaves, but here are a few photos for those of you who missed May Meet In Mutual.
May Meet In Mutual was a site responsive exhibition based at the Park Centre, Baxter Park, Dundee between 16-18 August, 2012. Nine artists made works which looked at the park as it is now (how it functions within the community, environmentally, the potential it has...) and that reflected upon its historical links to the linen trade, (having been donated to the people of Dundee in 1863 by Sir David Baxter and his sisters Mary-Ann and Eleanor whose money came from the Baxter Brothers linen manufacturing firm). Each artist worked from within their own practice but linked through the site their works could be seen to meet in mutual, just as Sir David Baxter had intended that the people of Dundee use the park as "a common ground where all may meet in mutual acknowledgement of their dependence the one upon the other."
May Meet In Mutual was a site responsive exhibition based at the Park Centre, Baxter Park, Dundee between 16-18 August, 2012. Nine artists made works which looked at the park as it is now (how it functions within the community, environmentally, the potential it has...) and that reflected upon its historical links to the linen trade, (having been donated to the people of Dundee in 1863 by Sir David Baxter and his sisters Mary-Ann and Eleanor whose money came from the Baxter Brothers linen manufacturing firm). Each artist worked from within their own practice but linked through the site their works could be seen to meet in mutual, just as Sir David Baxter had intended that the people of Dundee use the park as "a common ground where all may meet in mutual acknowledgement of their dependence the one upon the other."
Morgan Cahn's work 'Me(a)nder' saw her stitching and mending around the park and within the Park Centre for the duration of the exhibition. Here she is patching up my incredibly worn out 'install jeans' with some hand printed fabric - and they look fab, thanks!
Holly Keasey's 'Sew 'n' Grow' project has started to consider proposing a rain garden within the Baxter Park. Visitors took part in conversations about gardening, community and the park while stitching flowers that are suitable for a sustainable rain garden.
This is the inside view of my contribution to May Meet In Mutual. Two of our visitors, who interrupted their walk in the park to take a look, are shown investigating photographs from a pocket in the pin board. The photographs show the boarded up windows of the beautiful, but currently unused, Dens Mills, which was formerly a Baxter Brothers' mill.
Holly Knox Yeoman's 'Mutual Divide' after visitors took part in scanning and arranging items they found in the park. Yeoman describes, "This clean, neutrality the park provides works as a metaphor for society; the park is masking reality, its edges, through the fences are the truth with the Baxter Park Centre's glass walls gifting a space for local people, an impartial place for the outside reality of the park to congregate."
Hannah Moitt's thoughtful drawn, painted and printed illustrations investigate aspects of becoming an adult female: independence, fear, expectation, and preparation, etc.
Rebecca Jones took inspiration from woven textiles for this structural hanging piece that gently drops from the large beams in the space.
Beth Savage's banner, 'Shit Happens' can be seen in the back left. A tree covered with dog-bag-leaves questions how we deal with this animal waste, and how we interact with animals in the city.
This dog spotted Beth Savage's 'Olfactory Cortex', an outside work consisting of dog treats.
Sarah Johnston's 'Untitled, (Jute and Flax)' took the material qualities of jute and flax into the space in a beautiful way. Elevated from the floor the work implied strength and structure, although the materials are gently stacked and twisted together with no fixings.
Emma Reid's 'live feed (Park Centre)' is a work for the inquisitive visitor. Peeping into a small hole in the top of the mirrored plinth reveals a screen upon which you are surprised with your own image. Two cameras were hidden within/and outwith the space angled towards the plinth to transmit live footage of your own interaction with the work, other works and people in the space.
Thursday, 16 August 2012
May Meet In Mutual, Open Install
May Meet In Mutual, Open Install, Park Centre, Baxter Park. Join us tomorrow or Saturday for the exhibition.
Getting started.
Wires and water barrels.
Light, shadow, reflection.
Placement.
Let's install!
Visitors chatting about Beth Savage's work with her.
Wednesday, 15 August 2012
May Meet In Mutual, Install, day one.
Great day installing 'May Meet In Mutual' with more to come tomorrow.
Here's Morgan Cahn's paper sculpture taking shape in the space. Look out for her 'Me(a)nder' project, through which she will be helping to mend your worn out textiles, solve wider issues or perhaps mend your broken heart. Check out her site for previous work.
Thursday, 9 August 2012
Wednesday, 25 July 2012
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