Post - Industrial Revolution: Successful artists

Showing posts with label Successful artists. Show all posts

Saturday, 11 June 2011

Report: Openning of the Post - Industrial Revolution exhibition in Gdansk

Post – Industrial Revolution project is nearing completion. The artists left Gdansk on Sunday. Kate and I are back in Birmingham too. It was hard to leave the shipyard, an area where nature meets culture, where our artists were producing new art works for a month. Thirty-degree heat did not help to install the exhibition, but strongly encouraged our evening trips to the beach and sipping cocktails in one of the old town's cafes . We found time for both though. After a few days of installing we were ready to discuss artists' works during Thursday's talk, and to finally show their final products during Friday's opening. Aliceson Carter and Matthew de Kersaint Giraudeau shown their works at Modelarnia, Louie + Jesse at the Kiosk. Both spaces are part of Wyspa Progress Foundation. The opening gathered a nice bunch of people, which later transferred to Buffet, Wyspa's club. Currently artists and curators are gone but the exhibition is open until Sunday the 12 of June, from Thursday till Sunday (11:00 - 18:00), at two locations - Modelarnia and Kiosk.

Alicson Carter, performance with Zbigniew Stefanski, Modelarnia, 2011

For the Post - Industrial Revolution Aliceson has developed a performative video piece paying homage to the Gdansk Shipyard. By acquiring a boat, recording her journey, while playing shipyard songs, Aliceson has created a floating monument to the shipyard. With this piece Aliceson attempts to celebrate current and past production within the Gdansk shipyard as well as its origins as the birth place of the Solidarity movement. ‘My boat making and broadcasting of solidarity songs would be a homage, as an outsider, to the people & history of the shipyard’ – says Aliceson. The boat, now situated in Modelarnia accompanies a projection of the filmed voyage. During the opening night Aliceson in collaboration with Zbigniew Stefanski (Shipyard’s bard) recited shipyard songs with a twist. Aliceson sang a new song she has written about the shipyard and regeneration plans for the Young city development plan to the tune of Shipbuilding by Elvis Costello/Robert Wyatt.

Matthew de Kersaint Giraudeau, installation, Modelarnia, 2011

Matthew had developed an installation involving moving image, sound recordings and found materials from in and around the shipyard collected during his wanderings. Matthew describes Post-industrial landscapes as haunting - full of economic, political and ideological histories. During his time in the shipyard he attempts to uncover these histories and connect them with a wider network of contemporary ideas. The installation takes the form of two video works and three audio pieces. The audio works within this exhibition consist of headphones set within pile of debris (sand/dirt/rubble and other found objects). Each audio piece is an interview with individuals Matt has met during his time in Gdansk, drawing on issues which have caught his interest such as the young city development, as well as stories from Wyspa Sobieszewska, the island on which Matthew was staying during the residency period.

Louie + Jesse, If we stop now, they will crush us like bed bugs, audiovisual installation, Kiosk, 2011

Louie + Jesse have created a site-specific installation exploring the shipyard strike of 1970 and 1980. They are interested in the so called selective cleansing of history, how some areas are left as monuments and others (the messy elements) are demolished. They are interested in exploring the role of Alina Pienkowska in Shipyard’s strikes, an activist and nurse who became stranded in the clinic during the strike activity. They researched a particular moment within the strike’s history, just before communication lines were cut off. A moment where Alina made a quick but vital phone call to Jacek Kuroń stating details of the strike including its demands. As a result information about the strike was relayed worldwide. It is an understated but significant moment within the shipyards history. Having acquired a kiosk space just outside Wyspa Institute of Art as a location in which to realize their artwork, Louie and Jesse have developed a site-specific installation. The installation appears to be a cross between a hospital room and a hotel room. Their work draws on archival material about Alina but is also influenced by the recent young city developments and regeneration taking place within the shipyard grounds.

Wednesday, 18 May 2011

Aliceson Carter

Aliceson Carter, Homage to the 1968 Paris protests and the legacy of Marcel Duchamp, 2008

We would like to introduce the practice of each artist taking part in the Post-Industrial Revolution residency . We begin with Aliceson Carter. Her Art practice revolves around observation, and as such reflects the world around us. She graduated from Goldsmiths College in 2009. During her time there she made a piece of work where she paid homage to the 1968 Paris protests and the legacy of Marcel Duchamp (who died in Paris in 1968). She carried a urinal from his Paris residence to Birkbeck University in London, documenting the journey in a 5hr video piece. This was shown at 1968: Impact & Implications conference in July 2008. Since graduating she has taken part in a research lead project in Berlin, documenting the Berlin border of today with Kodachrome photographic film from the 1980s, when the Berlin Wall was in force. A 2010 residency in Sweden documented the Tranäs Cruising event, an annual parade of hundreds of restored vintage American cars around the town. She has also recently travelled to Kansas to record the last days of Kodachrome processing for my Kodachrome Pre Paid Processing Packet Project. In all these projects she has been interested in exploring the community, history & locale. This has lead to making work that focuses on the sense of time & place and our interactions within them.

Tuesday, 17 May 2011

Matt's daily reports from his Post-Industrial Revolution experience

Kate and I unfortunately had to head back to Birmingham leaving our artists in good hands of our project manager - Marta. Thus we can't keep you as much updates as we wish. Surprisingly Matthew turned out to be enthusiastic blogger. You can read almost daily reports from his Post-Industrial Revolution experience in Gdańsk on his blog http://ashortdescriptionofmypoo.blogspot.com/

It was fascinating read for me. It is always interesting to read what people from other countries think about your country, and Matt has got a lot to say. I can't wait for more!

Saturday, 14 May 2011

Week one of residency

So it’s been a busy time for Post Industrial Revolution. Roma and I embarked on the first of two-scheduled trips to Poland last week, initiating the second part of the project. We set off a little under the weather but powered through. After a day of re -familiarising myself with Wyspa, Modelarnia and the shipyard, as well as discussing practicalities with Marta and Roma we were good to go.

Two of the four British artists, Aliceson and Matt arrived bright and early Friday morning. We then embarked on a busy day, dropping off artists baggage at the accommodation, beach frolics, and a spot of lunch followed by a trip to Wyspa.

Monument at Westerplatte

The following day we got all touristy and jumped aboard a ferry to Westerplatte, historically significant as the location were Germany invaded Poland on 1st September 1939, initiating the Second World War. We visited a monument dedicated to the 182 Polish Solders who lost their lives defending the city, keeping the Nazi’s at bay for a staggering 7 days. The ferry trip offered fantastic views of the shipyard from the water showing just how vast the Gdansk shipyard really is. The afternoon was spent exploring the shipyard on foot, the highlight being Aliceson’s discovery of a huge polystyrene cube! We are hoping to borrow or possibility rent this object for the exhibition. After talking to Marta I discovered that scrap or discarded object in the shipyard can be borrowed or rented rather then taken. I rather like this idea of loaning found materials. Different parts of the shipyard are owned by different companies or individuals, so it’s just a case of finding out who owns the polystyrene. The day was rounded of with dinner, an opportunity for the artists to meet different members of the Wyspa team and indulge in some tasty polish delicacies.

Matt and Aliceson surveying the cube

Exploring the shipyard

Sunday involved an epic journey to a town called Puck to witness 400km, a project in which camper vans filled with artists and art visit small towns in the surrounding area of Gdansk. We went part of the way by train and the remainder packed into one of the artist's camper vans. Unfortunately upon arriving at our destination we were engulfed by a plague of mosquitoes! It was almost biblical. The event was cancelled but we took it as an opportunity to explore the town. We then stopped off for a beer in Gdynia, the second largest city making up the try cites of Gdansk, Gdynia and Sopot.

Louie and Jesse explore the shipyard

Monday marked the arrival of the artist duo Louie and Jesse. Their first day in Gdansk followed a similar formula to that of Matt and Aliceson's, the difference being we had the opportunity to explore the residency studio space within Wyspa and store room facilities. This is where I came across our old friend Lech Walesa, this model of him was installed in Wyspa's gallery space during my last trip to the shipyard a year previously.

After a trip to Modelarnia and more exploring we bid farewell to our artists. We will be returning to Gdansk in two weeks time to see how they're getting on.

Wednesday, 11 May 2011

British artists arrived to Gdańsk!

Gdansk Shipyard famously the “Cradle of Solidarity’’ and a key industrial site within Polish History shall play host to four emerging British artists intending to explore its heritage.

The Artists’ visit marks the final stage of Post Industrial Revolution, an artistic residency exchange developed between the UK and Poland focusing on the former industrial areas of Birmingham and Gdansk, in particular the districts of Digbeth and the Gdansk Shipyard.

The artists from the UK has just begun the one month residency from the 5^th of May until the 5^th of June 2011, using it as a period for research and for the production of new art works directly responding to the Gdansk Shipyard, its historical and social context. These newly create art works will be displayed in an exhibition at Modelarnia, a former industrial space, originally utilized for the building of model ships and part of the Wyspa Progress Foundation. The exhibition will take place from Friday 3rd until Sunday 12th June.

British artists taking part in the residency are louie+jesse (Jessica Mautner, Louie O’Grady), Matthew de Kersaint Giraudeau and Aliceson Carter.

The comparisons between Digbeth and the Gdansk Shipyard as post industrial sites are of significance, each city has at some stage been deeply affected by the demise of industry, its movement abroad, and more recently the development of cultural and leisure industries in these former industrial areas. Co-curator of Post – Industrial Revolution Kate Pennington – Wilson outlined ‘The focus of this residency exchange is for artists to develop work which responds to these environments, reflecting this shift in usage as well as the change in social, political and industrial history of such spaces’.

Sunday, 13 March 2011

Photos from the exhibition in the Lomabrd Method

MASH HER DIP, Family Brand, an installation, 2011

Christian Costa, part of photographic installation THE GANG OF FOUR MICHEL, GIORGIO, JACQUES, SLAVOJ, 2011

Christian Costa, the part of video installation SITE SPECIFIC CINEMA DIGBETH, AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY, 2011

Christian Costa, part of photographic installation THE GANG OF FOUR MICHEL, GIORGIO, JACQUES, SLAVOJ, 2011

Kamila Szejnoch, For what?, film documentation of mural painting, 2011

Saturday, 26 February 2011

Christian's Costa commision for the Post-Industrial Revolution

Christian Cista, the part of video installation SITE SPECIFIC CINEMA: DIGBETH, AN AUTOBIOGRAPH, commissioned as part of 'Post - Industrial Revolution' curated by Kate Pennington-Wilson and Roma Piotrowska, 2011

Christian’s artistic practice is focused on identities connected to places and perception of the genius loci. For Post-Industrial Revolution he developed a site specific expanded cinema, which he describes as a medium capable of joining cinema, television, video, video art, documentary and fiction. Christian has created an installation in two parts, consisting of film and found imagery reflective of his time here in Digbeth. He carefully selected images, often with political connotations (such as CCTV cameras).

Christian Cista, the part of video installation SITE SPECIFIC CINEMA: DIGBETH, AN AUTOBIOGRAPH, commissioned as part of 'Post - Industrial Revolution' curated by Kate Pennington-Wilson and Roma Piotrowska, 2011

Christian Cista, a set of postcards for Birmingham, commissioned as part of 'Post - Industrial Revolution' curated by Kate Pennington-Wilson and Roma Piotrowska, 2011

Artist also produced the set of photographs for Birmingham which hilights 'uniportant' sites of the city. He is interested in forgotten spaces such as the hidden river Rea, city graveyards (now utilized as parks), as well as derelict public houses of Digbeth. Showing this disused places brings them to attention again and rediscovers their forgotten haritage.

Chris also placed some books in the gallery by thinkers he is inpired by: Slavoj Zizek (First as tragedy, then as farce), Michel Foucault (Discipline and punish), Jacques Rancière (Hatred of Democracy) and by Giorgio Agamben. He created a cosy corner with a chair - as a place to read, to see the installation and to watch the film. Visitors are invited to read the books and to share their thoughts on the pages.

Christian Cista, the part of photographic installation THE GANG OF FOUR: MICHEL, GIORGIO, JACQUES, SLAVOJ, commissioned as part of 'Post - Industrial Revolution' curated by Kate Pennington-Wilson and Roma Piotrowska, 2011

Wednesday, 23 February 2011

For what? - Kamila's Szejnoch commission for the Post-Industrial Revolution

Kamila Szejnoch, For what?, commissioned as part of 'Post - Industrial Revolution' curated by Kate Pennington-Wilson and Roma Piotrowska, Custard Factory, 2011, photo by Nicky Getgood

The Exhibition will be open until the end of this week so this is the last chance for you to see outcomes of the month-long residency of Polish artists in Digbeth.
In this post you can find more information about the work of Kamila's Szejnoch, which will be followed by posts about other artists in the next few days.
During her stay Kamila Szejnoch has developed a fascination with the Birmingham coat of arms, using it as a focal point of her research. In particular she is interested in the motto for the city ‘Forward’.

The coat of arms of Birmingham

For Kamila exploring the significance of symbols and monuments associated with a city is significant, and she often develops whole bodies of work in relation to obscure local references to civic pride. She tries to approach outdated layers of the past by adding something new, contrasting with its original style or function. Her works often consist of two elements, one is history and tradition, the second is more contemporary, open, playful and interactive.

For Post – Industrial Revolution Kamila has developed a series of site specific interventions through out Digbeth. Most notably ‘For what?’ a large scale text piece situated in a car park next to the Custard Factory facing Digbeth High St. ‘For what?’ is a direct response to the 'Forward' mural, an earlier art work referencing Birmingham's coat of arms in a car park on Heathmill Lane. 'For what?” aims to instigate a dialogue about the past and future of the district by responding to the statement ‘Forward’ with a question.

Newso, Forward, art work referencing Birmingham's coat of arms in a car park on Heathmill Lane, photo by Nicky Getgood

Sunday, 20 February 2011

Post - Industrial Revolution: Exhibition 19 – Sunday 27 February 2011 Open Thursday – Sunday from 11am -6pm

Preview, The Lombard Method, 18 February 2011

After a very busy week of installing we are happy to invite you to the exhibition!

Saturday 19 – Sunday 27 February 2011

Open Thursday – Sunday from 11am -6pm

The Lombard Method, 68a Lombard Street, Digbeth, Birmingham, B12 0QR

Admission free

Below you can find some pictures from the talk, Fridays opening and after party in the Anchor Pub!

Preview, The Lombard Method, 18 February 2011

MASH/HER/DIP, Preview, The Lombard Method, 18 February 2011

Preview, The Lombard Method, 18 February 2011

Kamila Szejnoch, Preview, The Lombard Method, 18 February 2011

Preview, The Lombard Method, 18 February 2011

After party in the Anchor Pub and a very special Post-Industrial Revolution ale!


Artist's Talk, Eastside Projects, 17 Feb 2011


Artist's Talk, Eastside Projects, 17 Feb 2011

Wednesday, 16 February 2011

Tomorrow: Artists' Talk

Post-Industrial Revolution, the crit, 11 Feb 2011, the Lombard Method

Come and join us for the artists talk! The talk will give you an insight in what we were doing through the last month.

Thursday 17 February 2011, 6.30 - 8pm Eastside Projects, 86 Heath Mill Lane, Digbeth, Birmingham, B9 4ARFor further information visit http://www.extraspecialpeople.org/