Wrapping Up With Free Staring
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Free Staring is a term my friend Justyna Michalik-Minken came up with to describe the time we are allowed to spend observing artworks, especially live public art before we realise that an exchange of some sort must be made to equalize the balance between what is being offered by the artist and how it benefits the viewer. If the viewer participates then the balance is equalized. If the viewer generates and opinion based on reflection upon what they are experiencing then the balance is somewhat restored but if the person staring cannot do either of these things then they are socially obliged to avert their gaze and continue with their day. They have engaged in the act of free staring and staring is rude!
This was my last artwork before I became a mother and because several of my recent works had involved wrapping in paper I chose to make use of the pun. The exhibition was not open to the public but is recorded here: Wrapping Up With Free Staring Border ; Curated by Sorcha Boyle
Exhibiting in Void Gallery, Derry on March 28th the Border exhibition is a unique artistic collaboration which will showcase a range of work by an array of female artists. The project which initially began in February and centered on the theme of borders was an opportunity for women of all backgrounds to come together to make and create work. Over the 28 days each women created work independently with the group meeting at the end of the month to discuss and share their work with each other. The project was originally created as a tribute to Helen Harris, who was a feminist, community activist and a writer mainly of short stories. Helen sadly passed away in 2011, at the age of 39 from cystic fibrosis, in her memory a donation was made for a workshop to take place in the arts and/or writing in her name. The donation was made by the mother of one of Helen’s closest friends, Sara and from there; the idea for the 28 day project was formed. Read More... Manifold Curated By Stephan Roche
The theme chosen was titled ‘manifold’ , which by its very definition has manifold applications in its meaning. As an adjective it is of many kinds; numerous and varied. It is something having many different parts or features as a noun. As a verb, to manifold is to make copies of, as with carbon paper. The manifold can be machinery in the guise of a chamber, having several outlets, through which liquid and gas is distributed or gathered; in mathematics it is a topological space that is connected and locally Euclidian ; philosophically -as with Kant- it is “the totality of the separate elements of sensation which are then organised by the active mind and conceptualised as a perception of an external object”. This exhibition seeks to question how the practise of each artist is manifolded: the creation of an artwork can be broken down into stages, both in the physical act of ‘making’ and in the critical or subjective thinking of the artist as they make. Alternatively, manifold layers of paint or clay shape a final represented form. The artist is acutely aware that various stages and sensations are synthesized in the production of a coherent artwork: numerous different elements, forms, features merging as one in the finished piece. The varied artistic practises of Artlink members, their manifold approaches and interpretations, will eventually culminate in an exhibition that allows the viewer multiple outlets for discovery. BURREN COLLEGE OF ART | 6 – 28 March 2015 David Callan | Aoibheann de Brún | David Finn | Róisín Foley | Sean Guinan | Austin D.H. Ivers Breda Lynch | Eimear Jean McCormack | Cormac O’Neill | Kristian Smith | Louise Spokes Rebecca Strain | Gianna Tomasso The works selected for this exhibition reveal a recurring engagement with mid - late 20th Century popular culture reflections on social anxiety. The works collectively develop a sense of foreboding mitigated by black humour, much like the documentary that inspired the title of the show The Atomic Cafe*. The Atomic Cafe was a documentary created from a braod range of 1940s, 50s and 60s archival media footage and US government issued propaganda films which were designed to reassure Americans that the atomic bomb was not a threat to their safety. The film offers a glimpse into an era rife with paranoia, anxiety and misapprehension and illuminates with black humour, the often comic paradoxes of life in the Atomic Age with a genuine nostalgia for an earlier and more innocent time. References to Doctor Strangelove (Kubrick), WarGames (Badham), Lost Highway (Lynch) and allusions to sci-fi through several works that engage with mutation or dystopias feature in No Time For Hysteria. More than just a re-appropriation of the simulacra of a bygone hysteria, many of the works in this exhibition use the potent visual images of a distinct historical period to point to enduring concerns about our increasingly complex technological relationship with our world and the tactics of sublimation we employ in defence of this. * 1982, Loader, Rafferty and Rafferty (Dir) US, 98 mins. Hereinafter: an exhibition by Artlink Ltd of Inishowen based artists in response to the site at Fort Dunree.
Artlink have been based at Fort Dunree for over a year now. In that time they have delivered the Resistance and Rebellion project which saw internationally recognised Irish artists come to Inishowen to develop new work in relation to the site in its context as a military fort. Local artists have been coming to the site for many years and have always been inspired by the stunning views and the atmosphere of the place. From 8th to 31st August artists Paul Kerr, Philip McFadden, Janet Hoy, Patricia Spokes, Louise Spokes, Mark Cullen, Deirdre Doherty and Rebecca Strain are showcasing recent and new works. Paintings in oil and acrylic as well as installation, video and animation make up the content of this diverse exhibition. The range of approaches highlights the variety of perspectives individuals experience on visiting and being at Fort Dunree. The exhibition runs daily at the Saldanha Suite from 11am-5pm Monday to Friday and 2pm – 6pm at the weekend. See www.artlink.ie to find out more about Artlink Ltd and their current and future activities in the region. by Hot Bed Press
Every artist is asked to produce a new edition of 25 prints on paper size 20cm x 20cm, (paper size). In return each artist receives a box set of 20 randomly selected prints, (including their own print and 19 others). This year’s event is booked to tour until July so far with more venmues expected to join in. It will start of at The cow lane gallery next door to Hot bed Press on Friday 23rd November and head over to neo:Gallery in Bolton between 6th December and 27th January. Other venues include The Print Shed in Swinmoor, Hereford, The Bluecoat in Liverpool, The Art House in Wakefield and Edinburgh Printmakers. |
Welfare
@ Hive Emerging Waterford
2013
This years Imagine Festival presents 'Welfare'. A group show at Waterford's newest gallery, Hive Emerging, located at 25 Michael Street (former News & Star headquarters), Waterford City. This, the second launch within the galleries autumn program, will comprise of works which interpret & explore the theme of welfare. The exhibition will feature artworks by emerging artists from across the wide spectrum of artistic disciplines with works selected through an open submission process.
Into The White
2013
Rebecca Strain: Into the White – an exploration of potential in response to the space at Arts@Trinity and its new neighbour Trinity Leeds shopping centre through gathering and making
Arts@Trinity, Leeds, UK
Artist in residence 27th May – 1st June 2013
Arts@Trinity, Leeds, UK
Artist in residence 27th May – 1st June 2013
CeAmaRa agus other pinhole devices
2013
Three artists currently in residence at Cló and The Living Archive have collaborated on a process led project. The work explores the possibilities of making photographic images using recycled and obsolete objects including an abandoned car and discarded drink cans. The resulting installation; video, film snatches, stills, drawings, artefacts and pinhole images document the endeavour and resulting outcomes – both the successes and failures.
Anna Marie Savage received a First Class B.A Honours Degree in Fine Art from University of Ulster in 2009. Since then she has been shortlisted for the RHA Tony O’Malley Residency Award in 2011 and has currently shown alongside Dorothy Cross, Mark Joyce and Damien Flood in Crystalline, Millennium Court Arts Centre, Portadown.
Rebecca Strain was awarded a Masters with distinction from the Arts University Bournemouth in 2012. She has recently returned from a residency at Polymer Culture Factory Estonia and is currently participating in Harnessing Creativity; Creative Labs 2013 with Leitrim Enterprise Board.
Sue Morris is a graduate of the Royal College of Art, London. Since the mid-nineties she has lived in Ireland and currently practices from The Model Studios Sligo. She has exhibited extensively in Ireland, the UK and internationally. Recent awards include AIR Krems scholarship Austria, Culture Ireland and Artist Bursary from Sligo County Council.
Anna Marie Savage received a First Class B.A Honours Degree in Fine Art from University of Ulster in 2009. Since then she has been shortlisted for the RHA Tony O’Malley Residency Award in 2011 and has currently shown alongside Dorothy Cross, Mark Joyce and Damien Flood in Crystalline, Millennium Court Arts Centre, Portadown.
Rebecca Strain was awarded a Masters with distinction from the Arts University Bournemouth in 2012. She has recently returned from a residency at Polymer Culture Factory Estonia and is currently participating in Harnessing Creativity; Creative Labs 2013 with Leitrim Enterprise Board.
Sue Morris is a graduate of the Royal College of Art, London. Since the mid-nineties she has lived in Ireland and currently practices from The Model Studios Sligo. She has exhibited extensively in Ireland, the UK and internationally. Recent awards include AIR Krems scholarship Austria, Culture Ireland and Artist Bursary from Sligo County Council.
Performative Occupation Washing the Daily Newspaper in the Hope of New Life
2012
performance
9th July - 13th August 2012
Northlight Studio 4
Arts University College at Bournemouth
In spring 2012 instead of reading the newspaper I put it in a canvas bag from the Hepworth gallery and put it in a washing machine on a cold cycle. The pulpy water clogged the pipes and I flooded my kitchen floor three times trying to fix it. In the meantime the blob of washed newspaper began to grow a little green stem and later a heart shaped leaf. I exhibited the blob in Gallery Soup in 2012, but the new life died as the paper blob dried in the warmth of the gallery.
I regret not keeping the plant alive, I feel guilty about this; so every day I wash a newspaper in the hope that it will grow also. As yet it has borne no fruit, but on Friday the newspaper had the same advertisement as the original newspaper I washed: ‘£150 worth of plants free’. Maybe this will be the one or maybe I need to break the washing machine before it will grow.
9th July - 13th August 2012
Northlight Studio 4
Arts University College at Bournemouth
In spring 2012 instead of reading the newspaper I put it in a canvas bag from the Hepworth gallery and put it in a washing machine on a cold cycle. The pulpy water clogged the pipes and I flooded my kitchen floor three times trying to fix it. In the meantime the blob of washed newspaper began to grow a little green stem and later a heart shaped leaf. I exhibited the blob in Gallery Soup in 2012, but the new life died as the paper blob dried in the warmth of the gallery.
I regret not keeping the plant alive, I feel guilty about this; so every day I wash a newspaper in the hope that it will grow also. As yet it has borne no fruit, but on Friday the newspaper had the same advertisement as the original newspaper I washed: ‘£150 worth of plants free’. Maybe this will be the one or maybe I need to break the washing machine before it will grow.
Sex Lives of the Poor and Unknown
2012
Curated by Rebecca Strain and Sandra Jogeva
Polymer Culture Factory, Tallinn
24th August – 2nd September 2012
The title of this exhibition is a subversion of the use of sex lives of the rich and famous to sell newspapers and magazines.
Rightly or wrongly we have become accustomed to the private lives of celebrities being shared as daily news. Now it also seems that even those who make an attempt to retain a private life have intimate details of their lives exposed in public. The question posed by the curators is; are artists were willing to expose the privacy of those whose lives are perhaps at present outside of the daily news in the name of art.
Selected artists based in Estonia and the UK, were invited to respond to the title Sex Lives of the Poor and Unknown. In return they would be furnished with a single unique hand-made sheet of paper to make their mark; defining the interdependent relationship between artist, creative space and curtator.
Paper was handmade from abaca fibres and old rope in Tallinn and the UK by the co-curator Rebecca Strain. The fibres were chosen as they produce a lightweight but strong paper that would survive in transit between countries. An attempt was made to make the largest sheets of paper possible to reflect the spacious environment of an industrial exhibition space; in contrast with the limitations of the hand-made product.
In Estonia Marko Maetamm, Soho Fond, Remo Randver, Katrin Pille, Meeland Sepp, Mari Prekup and in the the UK Driton Selmani, Larna Campbell, Michael Griffiths, Christopher Fraser and Hiroko Matsushita were invited to participate and accepted the invitation.
The paper was distributed and collected by Sandra Jogeva in Tallinn and Rebecca Strain in the UK. In a tragic incident the work of Driton Selmani, whose drawings theme dealt with the unknown, mysteriously vanished from storage so that the image and its whereabouts is presently unknown. Days before the show Tallinn based US artist Ernest Truely suggested he ‘ never felt more poor or obscure in my life’ and on agreement of the curators, a thirteenth hour contribution was made.
The resulting drawings were exhibited Polymer Culture Factory, Tallinn, Estonia. Sandra Jogeva installed one of her serving lady sculptures which served as a banquet table for a feast of the common aphrodisiac; popcorn and Champagne; poured by the visitors into a collection of glasses of unknown ownership. The exhibition formed the opening of the annual Polymer Festival and was warmly attended by invited guests
Polymer Culture Factory, Tallinn
24th August – 2nd September 2012
The title of this exhibition is a subversion of the use of sex lives of the rich and famous to sell newspapers and magazines.
Rightly or wrongly we have become accustomed to the private lives of celebrities being shared as daily news. Now it also seems that even those who make an attempt to retain a private life have intimate details of their lives exposed in public. The question posed by the curators is; are artists were willing to expose the privacy of those whose lives are perhaps at present outside of the daily news in the name of art.
Selected artists based in Estonia and the UK, were invited to respond to the title Sex Lives of the Poor and Unknown. In return they would be furnished with a single unique hand-made sheet of paper to make their mark; defining the interdependent relationship between artist, creative space and curtator.
Paper was handmade from abaca fibres and old rope in Tallinn and the UK by the co-curator Rebecca Strain. The fibres were chosen as they produce a lightweight but strong paper that would survive in transit between countries. An attempt was made to make the largest sheets of paper possible to reflect the spacious environment of an industrial exhibition space; in contrast with the limitations of the hand-made product.
In Estonia Marko Maetamm, Soho Fond, Remo Randver, Katrin Pille, Meeland Sepp, Mari Prekup and in the the UK Driton Selmani, Larna Campbell, Michael Griffiths, Christopher Fraser and Hiroko Matsushita were invited to participate and accepted the invitation.
The paper was distributed and collected by Sandra Jogeva in Tallinn and Rebecca Strain in the UK. In a tragic incident the work of Driton Selmani, whose drawings theme dealt with the unknown, mysteriously vanished from storage so that the image and its whereabouts is presently unknown. Days before the show Tallinn based US artist Ernest Truely suggested he ‘ never felt more poor or obscure in my life’ and on agreement of the curators, a thirteenth hour contribution was made.
The resulting drawings were exhibited Polymer Culture Factory, Tallinn, Estonia. Sandra Jogeva installed one of her serving lady sculptures which served as a banquet table for a feast of the common aphrodisiac; popcorn and Champagne; poured by the visitors into a collection of glasses of unknown ownership. The exhibition formed the opening of the annual Polymer Festival and was warmly attended by invited guests
Dust 2012
31st August - 9th September
Northlight Studio 4
Arts University College at Bournemouth
Exhbitors
MA Animation, Costume, Fine Art, Graphic Design, Illustration and Photography from AUCB 2012
www.dust2012.co.uk
Northlight Studio 4
Arts University College at Bournemouth
Exhbitors
MA Animation, Costume, Fine Art, Graphic Design, Illustration and Photography from AUCB 2012
www.dust2012.co.uk
BH13 Urban Sculpture Garden
An invitation to curate was received in the winter. It was a few weeks before I saw the space; an outside venue. It was the garden of a vicarage about ten minutes walk from my flat, (but I only ever cycled there, which took four minutes). Opposite a car dealership and in between two of the biggest international supermarkets, on the main road between a seaside town and a port; it hid itself behind a red brick wall shaded by horse chestnut trees. Cars buses, bikes and Lorries swarm past day and night. Nearby commuters board and alight trains heading for London, but they don’t know the secret garden is here.
I decided not to theme the show but to encourage the artists to respond to the space. Later I was thrilled to read Ralph Rugoff’s (currently director of The Hayward Gallery, London) essay ‘You Talking To Me? On Curating Group Shows That Give You A Chance To Join The Group’ who condoned themed group shows. By having a theme the audience is told what to think before they even see the artwork. Because I would be introducing some challenging works to the regular visitor to DAW I wanted to make sure they could be involved. By asking the artists to respond to the space I hoped that this would also be the reaction of the viewer to feel invited to respond to the space now presented to them.
I decided not to theme the show but to encourage the artists to respond to the space. Later I was thrilled to read Ralph Rugoff’s (currently director of The Hayward Gallery, London) essay ‘You Talking To Me? On Curating Group Shows That Give You A Chance To Join The Group’ who condoned themed group shows. By having a theme the audience is told what to think before they even see the artwork. Because I would be introducing some challenging works to the regular visitor to DAW I wanted to make sure they could be involved. By asking the artists to respond to the space I hoped that this would also be the reaction of the viewer to feel invited to respond to the space now presented to them.
Evidence is Better
Launch Party Wednesday 14th March 7pm-11pm
15th of March 11th April
Opening times Wed - Fri and Sunday 11am-4pm
at
Gallery Soup
Art exhibition of Recent work by Jonathan Shelper, Tomasz Radej, Gonzalo Costa, and Rebecca Strain.
'Evidence is Better' explores the performative aspect of art making. Asking viewers to view the work on display as evidence so as to raise questions about the permanence of the art object and its documentation via images, whilst not taking this line of questioning to the extent as has been done in recent periods reaching pinnacles in the Dadaist work in the 1920s, performance and conceptual work of the 60s, and more recently the work of Tino Sehgal. No less adventurous however as these artists embark on careers emerging in an era completely removed from that of previous generations, facing the challenges of working in a global society, using tools made available by the internet to share and publish information, and all the while trying not to fall into the trap of working in tired traditions.
15th of March 11th April
Opening times Wed - Fri and Sunday 11am-4pm
at
Gallery Soup
Art exhibition of Recent work by Jonathan Shelper, Tomasz Radej, Gonzalo Costa, and Rebecca Strain.
'Evidence is Better' explores the performative aspect of art making. Asking viewers to view the work on display as evidence so as to raise questions about the permanence of the art object and its documentation via images, whilst not taking this line of questioning to the extent as has been done in recent periods reaching pinnacles in the Dadaist work in the 1920s, performance and conceptual work of the 60s, and more recently the work of Tino Sehgal. No less adventurous however as these artists embark on careers emerging in an era completely removed from that of previous generations, facing the challenges of working in a global society, using tools made available by the internet to share and publish information, and all the while trying not to fall into the trap of working in tired traditions.
Show and Tell
The Old School Room, West Coker
18th to 29th January 2012
'
The Old School Room has been a place of learning, meeting and gathering for over 160 years and this project brings together artists Rebecca Strain and Simon Lee Dicker in a new collaboration which responds to its social history, the building itself and the people associated with it. After the building’s short life as a school, it became a space for rural, social activities such as discos, whist drives, jumble sales and theatrical performances and it is based on this amalgamation of the celebrations, get togethers, parties, socials and other events that the artists create a new language inspired by the trace of what once was.
Old School Room Church Street West Coker Somerset BA22 9JR
Wednesday to Sunday 11am - 6pm
osrprojects.wordpress.com
18th to 29th January 2012
'
The Old School Room has been a place of learning, meeting and gathering for over 160 years and this project brings together artists Rebecca Strain and Simon Lee Dicker in a new collaboration which responds to its social history, the building itself and the people associated with it. After the building’s short life as a school, it became a space for rural, social activities such as discos, whist drives, jumble sales and theatrical performances and it is based on this amalgamation of the celebrations, get togethers, parties, socials and other events that the artists create a new language inspired by the trace of what once was.
Old School Room Church Street West Coker Somerset BA22 9JR
Wednesday to Sunday 11am - 6pm
osrprojects.wordpress.com
Parkstone to Polymer
27th Sept - 18th October 2011
Participating in Global Container 19
http://www.artcontainer.ee/index.php?lang=2
Participating in Global Container 19
http://www.artcontainer.ee/index.php?lang=2
Angels of the North
August 2011
Exhibition at Greenbelt Festival
with
Amelia Crouch
Carla Moss
Eva Mileusnic
Helen Wood
Larna Campbell
Phill Hopkins
Prue Dixon
Rebecca Strain
Shaeron Caton-Rose
Steve Rayner
Exhibition at Greenbelt Festival
with
Amelia Crouch
Carla Moss
Eva Mileusnic
Helen Wood
Larna Campbell
Phill Hopkins
Prue Dixon
Rebecca Strain
Shaeron Caton-Rose
Steve Rayner
Live Art Week
14th-20th February 2011
at
The Art Works Gallery Poole, Dorset
with
Andrew Stacey
Jonathan Shelper
Madara Bunava
Peter John Cooper
Nicola Morrison
Christopher Fraser
This project:
is not interested in getting people in the door.
is not finished work
is not about re-enacting
is not fixed
is unscripted
is not what we said it would be
is not outside
is not about attracting a live audience
is not about what actually happens
is about working in a space
is creating work with whatever materials are at hand
is real
is art in a gallery
is using re-enactment as a starting point in most cases
is documenting
As a result what is emerging is that the project is finding new ways to describe live art, using motion detecting secruity cameras which makes images that can be uploaded to the internet as a live stream. In contrast we are also choosing to use pinhole cameras, written minutes are being recorded as if it could be used later as evidence. Audience are welcome to express ideas and effect the space physically or to interact online with the facebook event. We are not interested in presenting live art.
at
The Art Works Gallery Poole, Dorset
with
Andrew Stacey
Jonathan Shelper
Madara Bunava
Peter John Cooper
Nicola Morrison
Christopher Fraser
This project:
is not interested in getting people in the door.
is not finished work
is not about re-enacting
is not fixed
is unscripted
is not what we said it would be
is not outside
is not about attracting a live audience
is not about what actually happens
is about working in a space
is creating work with whatever materials are at hand
is real
is art in a gallery
is using re-enactment as a starting point in most cases
is documenting
As a result what is emerging is that the project is finding new ways to describe live art, using motion detecting secruity cameras which makes images that can be uploaded to the internet as a live stream. In contrast we are also choosing to use pinhole cameras, written minutes are being recorded as if it could be used later as evidence. Audience are welcome to express ideas and effect the space physically or to interact online with the facebook event. We are not interested in presenting live art.
