Collaboration

Why I choose to collaborate.


Collaboration and why I choose to work with others?



 Collaborating with other artists and makers has become increasingly important to me.
A couple of years ago five of us from the Crafts Councils hothouse programme in 2012 met in a pub in Southwark to begin discussions about organising an exhibition on our own terms.  To be able to make work we wanted to make without having to write a proposal or fulfil a brief.

 At that time our aim was an exhibition, after several meetings and many email conversations between us all we had secured two venues to show this new work and called it Haptic/Tacit. 

 We applied for an Arts Council grant and was successful, we invited Kimberley Chandler
http://arts.brighton.ac.uk/research/doctoral-centre-arts/student/kimberley-chandler
to write an essay for us and invited our mentors from Hothouse to exhibit along side each of us.

 The exhibition was about strengthening artists networks, encouraging conversations and critical observation.

With the grant we were able to produce a catalogue to accompany both exhibitions, in this we included a conversation between each pairing giving a deeper insight into the working relationships between mentor and mentee. 

 The entire process between meeting in Southwark and opening the first exhibition in London was two years. 

 During the take down in London we were discussing where to go from here as this had become something more than simply five artists and two exhibitions. 

 The title of our exhibitions soon became our collaborative group name.
Haptic/Tacit


We set the exhibition up in Oxford in January 2017 during the 7 weeks there we ran a collaborative making workshop for adults and a Q&A chaired by Kimberley.

 During this time it gave us some time to begin to think about how we go forward.
The idea of continuously working with different artists and makers was something we found exciting because it keeps the process fresh by introducing different ideas, working methods, materials, and pushing the group dynamic. 

 So the core of the group remains the same including Kimberley and each exhibition or event we will each individually invite another artist or maker to work with us. 
Based around a subject or theme. 

 Each pairing can work however they choose they can make a collaborative piece of work together or make work that responds to one another. 
This is collaborative working on multiple levels.

 The catalogue is another element we intend to continue with Kimberley, we will also invite professions, curators, scientists, architects.... to contribute around the subject we choice.

 Together we have a stronger voice, we draw on one another strengths, we can explore the possibility of making work that we personally want to develop and It's always about the group and not the individual. 

 The next step for us is updating our website but in the meantime 
for more information about our work to date follow the links to Instagram and twitter 

https://twitter.com/haptic_tacit?lang=en
https://www.instagram.com/haptictacit/

Perpendicular studio 


Is my other collaboration.
Perpendicular was founded in 2011 shortly after Sasha and myself finished our MA at Central Saint Martins. Together we felt that we are able to make larger more ambitious spatial work.

 https://twitter.com/perpendicular14?lang=en
https://www.instagram.com/perpendicularstudio/?hl=en

 We have a wonderful harmony in the way we work together, collaboration is often about pushing the work beyond your own solitary vision, throwing ideas around until you are able to find a resolve. 
Listening to the other person taking everything into consideration and working through different viewpoints.

 Collaboration for me is about sharing thoughts, moving forward to achieve the same vision. to have another pair of eyes, to challenge, to share the workload, and to push you out of your comfort zone. 

 Otherwise we remain small and inward looking. 

Edge and Shore at Siobhan Davies Dance

On Friday 26th September Edge and Shore: Acts of Doing took place at Siobhan Davies Dance. 

This collaborative piece of exploratory work involved Helen Carnac a visual artist and dancer Laila Diallo. Together they have been looking at edges and boundaries.
This work was an extension of Side by Side (2012) initially a six week residency based around ideas of cross disciplinary making. 

During the afternoon two performances/ process presentations took place through a series of    movement, mark making, performance, communication and exploration. 

I arrived within the first 15mins and stayed throughout the two hours.
At the beginning of this piece I entered the top dance studio where large pieces of paper were laid out across the floor. 

In another corner was a cluster of different materials waiting to used in some way.




As an onlooker or viewer to this experience you were free to sit and observe from a distance or roam around the space as Helen and Laila were working through various processes, ideas, movements throughout the space. 
People were entering and leaving the studio throughout this time frame.

 The work was set up in such a way it wasn't necessary to sit down and watch in the same way we are often used to a conventional theatre setting. This wasn't a piece of theatre it felt very much like an insight in to a contemporary collaborative practice.  

 Where ideas were unfolding through the act of doing. 

 There were moments as the viewer that you felt that you were involved in something quite precious. 
I can only liken it to being observed within your own studio during periods where you are immersed in problem solving and the work is unresolved.




As time passed the work felt as though it was building in momentum, movements became more energised. Mark making at times became more fraught the sounds of working became slightly louder and everyone looking on became quieter. 

 I found the entire afternoon fascinating to see how two people work together with very little verbal communication but it was also clear to see that much communication was taking place through subtle changes in working methods and the rhythm of layering, gathering, tearing... 

 More work can be seen at http://edgeandshore.wordpress.com









Exhibition at Arthouse1 October 2014


It's often said that simplicity requires a lot of hard work. In the case of our installation at Arthouse1 in Bermondsey Sasha and myself were setting up for about a week. 
A little longer than we both had expected but this particular exhibition required an exceptional attention to detail. We had decided to keep the ceramic works low to the ground in order for the audience to look at the work from a different perspective. 
I personally feel that a lot of galleries show work at eye level on plinths and it's too easy. It's a format we are all far too familiar with and it's not always the best way of really be able to focus on the work. 

Perpendicular opened on Thursday evening (9th October) after much help and assistance throughout from both Rebecca Fairman and Adrain Hicks. 

Here are a few images of the exhibition in natural daylight on the first day kindly taken by Adrian Hicks. 

www.arthouse1.co.uk




 Image taken by Adrian Hicks 2014


 Image taken by Adrian Hicks 2014


 Image taken by Adrian Hicks 2014

 Image taken by Adrian Hicks 2014


 Image taken by Adrian Hicks 2014

 Image taken by Adrian Hicks 2014


 Image taken by Adrian Hicks 2014



Image taken by Adrian Hicks 2014
Sasha is exhibiting two installations and a series of photographs that have been born from the installations themselves. Through the use of water, light and motion. 





These collaborative pieces titled Collection of five #1 and #2 comprise of small ceramic segments that sit along side Sasha'a photography. 
There is a strong synthesis between us both particularly through the use of mark making. 


Image Taken by Ben Winkley 2014 


Image taken by Ben Winkley 2014 

My two collections on show are titled Kuro and Shiro are looking at small intimate spaces that contain light. 
These objects are the complete opposite to Sasha'a works. They are dense, heavy and present within the space. 

There is a physical tactility to them and the process of making is evident within the traces and marks left either by my hand the tools or other processes I have undergone to achieve certain aesthetic qualities. 

Sasha's work is more transient it's continuously changing with movement, light and shadow. There is an illusion of something tangible but mark making has been created through an impermanant medium and there is an ethereal quality to the entire body of work showing here.

Perpendicular will be showing at Arthouse1 until 1st November 2014 
The gallery is open every Thursday-Sunday from 3pm - 7.30pm or by appointment 

Perpendicular at Arthouse1

In just over 6 weeks time Perpendicular my collaborative work with Sasha will be exhibited at Arthouse1 in Bermondsey London. 

 This beautiful airy white space belongs to Rebecca Fairman and is dedicated to showing works of emerging and established artists. 
www.arthouse1.co.uk 

Last week we both visited to make final decisions for the curation. Each piece of work has been made or specifically designed for the space so every small detail has to be considered in advance. 







We have been exploring light, shadow, and small spaces through the medium of ceramics, photography and installation. 

 The exhibition opens on Friday 10th October 2014 - 1st November 2014 
The Private is Thursday 9th October 6.30 - 8.30pm 

 I will be posting more images of work in progress over the next few weeks leading up to the opening.