Having finally engaged with better blogging, my new blog can be found at
http://sonyarussellsaunders.tumblr.com
Utilising a gram of material - a curators tale
Thursday 1 March 2012
Monday 31 October 2011
Are you good at keeping a diary?
An online blog is really some form of diary isn't it? I was never that great at keeping a diary which would explain why I blog intermittently. I'm planning a new "months" resolution (rather than New Year) to keep this blog up to date. So in the meantime here's a note of what I have been doing since the completion of WORKS in June 2011;
August 2011
14 August 2011, first show at The Wig, the new studio and exhibition space I have co-founded with Chris Clinton. Despite it being the week of the Birmingham riots we had a great turnout and the one night show was well received, such a shame we didn't film it, we had the sounds of found reggae on vinyl reminiscent of the history of the place, inviting visitors to "play me". Great show, amazing artists Jeanette Deen, Emma Little, Michael Bold, Chris Clinton
http://morecanalsthanvenice.wordpress.com/2011/08/09/sample-it-loop-it-f-ck-it-delete-it/
http://chrisclintonartist.blogspot.com/2011/08/wig-sample-it-loop-it-fuck-it-delete-it.html
September 2011
Junction Festival of Contemporary Art, Chapel Ash Wolverhampton - co-curator of 14 live venues including pubs, restaurants, beauty salon, studios, brewery with 21 artists, an amazing opportunity, and fantastic to work on. check out http://junctionwolverhampton.org/ & http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2332998885170.133086.1255730611&type=3 for more photos
September - October 2011
More developments at The Wig, we have been joined by Kate Hattley, Tobias Hansrich, Alena Adamkova, Teresa de Miguel Riber and of course Chris Clinton and myself.
21-30 October 2011 The Event theevent.org
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2503326983266.138504.1255730611&type=3
I delivered Guerilla Gastronomy on behalf of the wonderful Companis www.companis.co.uk, Kaye Winwood and Sian Tonkin who are both on maternity leave. A series of surprise lunch boxes evoking the notion of the edible without always providing real sustenance! inspired by fluxus instruction boxes - flux kits, they infiltrated the everyday menu at Eastside Cafe, we were even visited by the BBC's culture show - shame we didnt make it to be included in their 7 minute sweep of everything cultural in Birmingham. Here's a picture of Michael Smith after taking part in "Eat Yourself" (courtesy of Alli Beddoes) in contrast with Food of Confusion participants below (courtesy of Gemma Marsh)....
It was the most fantastic experience, sourcing and preparing the boxes and contents, co-ordinating with Dorinda at the Cafe, presenting to stakeholders and the great and the good of West Midlands arts scene!
And most importantly working with Companis...
so I'll end there with my brief but action packed updated... more to come next month - in preparation for my presentation at university on my Research in Practice, an exploration of Companis practice and developments at The Wig
August 2011
http://morecanalsthanvenice.wordpress.com/2011/08/09/sample-it-loop-it-f-ck-it-delete-it/
http://chrisclintonartist.blogspot.com/2011/08/wig-sample-it-loop-it-fuck-it-delete-it.html
September 2011
Junction Festival of Contemporary Art, Chapel Ash Wolverhampton - co-curator of 14 live venues including pubs, restaurants, beauty salon, studios, brewery with 21 artists, an amazing opportunity, and fantastic to work on. check out http://junctionwolverhampton.org/ & http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2332998885170.133086.1255730611&type=3 for more photos
September - October 2011
More developments at The Wig, we have been joined by Kate Hattley, Tobias Hansrich, Alena Adamkova, Teresa de Miguel Riber and of course Chris Clinton and myself.
21-30 October 2011 The Event theevent.org
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2503326983266.138504.1255730611&type=3
I delivered Guerilla Gastronomy on behalf of the wonderful Companis www.companis.co.uk, Kaye Winwood and Sian Tonkin who are both on maternity leave. A series of surprise lunch boxes evoking the notion of the edible without always providing real sustenance! inspired by fluxus instruction boxes - flux kits, they infiltrated the everyday menu at Eastside Cafe, we were even visited by the BBC's culture show - shame we didnt make it to be included in their 7 minute sweep of everything cultural in Birmingham. Here's a picture of Michael Smith after taking part in "Eat Yourself" (courtesy of Alli Beddoes) in contrast with Food of Confusion participants below (courtesy of Gemma Marsh)....
It was the most fantastic experience, sourcing and preparing the boxes and contents, co-ordinating with Dorinda at the Cafe, presenting to stakeholders and the great and the good of West Midlands arts scene!
And most importantly working with Companis...
so I'll end there with my brief but action packed updated... more to come next month - in preparation for my presentation at university on my Research in Practice, an exploration of Companis practice and developments at The Wig
Wednesday 13 July 2011
Junction - Festival of Contemporary Arts
A short blog to tell you about the forthcoming festival in Chapel Ash, Wolverhampton, celebrating the wonderful creativity around that area with art and music. I'm thrilled to be a part of the curatorial team with Claire and Margot, curating 21 artists (possibly 23) over 14 diverse venues. The training I had when co-curating b-ART-er A contemporary Art Exhibition in an empty shop is certainly helping here.
The venues range from cafes, restaurants, pubs, to the Tattoo Palace, Harley Davidson shop and garage and Banks Brewery with site specific work throughout the brewery tour. It's exciting, check out the website
www.junctionwolverhampton.org
The venues range from cafes, restaurants, pubs, to the Tattoo Palace, Harley Davidson shop and garage and Banks Brewery with site specific work throughout the brewery tour. It's exciting, check out the website
www.junctionwolverhampton.org
Sunday 3 July 2011
WORKS Part II - painting the EAGLE by Tim Stock and Joe Welden 25 June 2011
The Eagleworks artists have expressed their thanks to Tim Stock and Joe Welden for their kind gift.
Sunday 19 June 2011
WORKS by Tim Stock at Eagleworks Gallery & Studios, Gt Brickkiln St, Wolverhampton
Whilst promising to blog each week, it is three weeks since I last posted, but it has been incredibly hectic!
I have been preparing for the opening of WORKS, an exhibition I have curated, by artist Tim Stock from The Lombard Method, Digbeth, Birmingham. The private view was successful with a warm reception to the work installed (in the main) and around 70 people attended. Dan McClane has kindly documented the opening night, photos to follow.
The Eagleworks Gallery committee (c/o Simon Harris) offered me the chance to curate a show in their summer programme 2011 when I was accepted on the MA last year. Of course I jumped at the chance and I am very grateful for the trust and support over the last 6 months. What interested me particularly was the Eagleworks artists and their building, which stands alone amongst acres of derelict land, land that is in limbo due to planning and ownership wrangles between two major supermarkets. The following text is extracted from the exhibition guide that I published to accompany the exhibition.
"WORKS is the conclusion of Tim Stock’s investigation into the long running Eagle Works Artists Group, and their relationship with the former Baynell building at Alexandra Street. This visual study is a snapshot from January to June 2011, potentially a pivotal moment in the studios 27 year history following the announcement of the Raglan Street development by Sainsbury’s. In his first solo show he explores an inter-changeable building-specific relationship that highlights the implications of regeneration, on both an external and internal basis.
...Buildings and edifices shape and control the environments that we occupy and live or work within ...they have an influence on our lives and the environments that we move through. ...Each place seems to demand attention from some and become ignored by others. They allude to their own histories and question their futures.. Many are to be converted or completely flattened and built over. But is what replaces them for the better or the worse? The plans themselves are often quite visually stunning, and by bringing them into the context of the what is past and what is current, they are further into the public domain and open to discussion. (Tim Stock, 2011)
Inspired by the historic Eagle Works sign, the title WORKS is a reflection of the changing usage of this impressive Victorian industrial building, formerly a drapers, gun lock makers, bed manufacturer and finally artists studios. Partly as a reciprocal gift to the studios and as a performative intervention on the building itself, Tim has begun restoration of the faded Eagle Works sign. It is also a permanent display to the outside world that the group care deeply about their building and their art practice. The relationship between the artists and the building is explored through two works in the gallery itself, a billboard scale monochrome image of the current derelict Raglan Street site, overlaid with drawings based on architectural plans, a palimpsest of past, present and possible futures. On the opposite wall, contained within drawn window panes that mirror the original architectural features of the building, are anecdotes from the Eagle Works artists, their experiences and concerns about the effects of the proposed regeneration as well as reflections from Tim’s research into the history of the site. Both works place us, the viewer, in the position of the artists group. Whilst the current external spaces are not picturesque, they confirm the basic needs of an artist for light, quiet spaces and continued public access to the gallery we now stand in. The image we see suggests this view will become a memory, like so many photographs of lost industrial buildings from around Raglan Street contained in the city archives. Eagle Works Artists Group may be on the cusp of change, through regeneration that is founded on economics rather than social or cultural need, and this is a reflection of the current times we find ourselves in. The exhibition and this essay highlight the situation that the Eagle Works Artists now face, and serve as a reminder that within this historic building the artists are acting as patrons to other artists, students and curators and as such are a vital part of West Midlands arts and culture."
I have been preparing for the opening of WORKS, an exhibition I have curated, by artist Tim Stock from The Lombard Method, Digbeth, Birmingham. The private view was successful with a warm reception to the work installed (in the main) and around 70 people attended. Dan McClane has kindly documented the opening night, photos to follow.
The Eagleworks Gallery committee (c/o Simon Harris) offered me the chance to curate a show in their summer programme 2011 when I was accepted on the MA last year. Of course I jumped at the chance and I am very grateful for the trust and support over the last 6 months. What interested me particularly was the Eagleworks artists and their building, which stands alone amongst acres of derelict land, land that is in limbo due to planning and ownership wrangles between two major supermarkets. The following text is extracted from the exhibition guide that I published to accompany the exhibition.
"WORKS is the conclusion of Tim Stock’s investigation into the long running Eagle Works Artists Group, and their relationship with the former Baynell building at Alexandra Street. This visual study is a snapshot from January to June 2011, potentially a pivotal moment in the studios 27 year history following the announcement of the Raglan Street development by Sainsbury’s. In his first solo show he explores an inter-changeable building-specific relationship that highlights the implications of regeneration, on both an external and internal basis.
...Buildings and edifices shape and control the environments that we occupy and live or work within ...they have an influence on our lives and the environments that we move through. ...Each place seems to demand attention from some and become ignored by others. They allude to their own histories and question their futures.. Many are to be converted or completely flattened and built over. But is what replaces them for the better or the worse? The plans themselves are often quite visually stunning, and by bringing them into the context of the what is past and what is current, they are further into the public domain and open to discussion. (Tim Stock, 2011)
Inspired by the historic Eagle Works sign, the title WORKS is a reflection of the changing usage of this impressive Victorian industrial building, formerly a drapers, gun lock makers, bed manufacturer and finally artists studios. Partly as a reciprocal gift to the studios and as a performative intervention on the building itself, Tim has begun restoration of the faded Eagle Works sign. It is also a permanent display to the outside world that the group care deeply about their building and their art practice. The relationship between the artists and the building is explored through two works in the gallery itself, a billboard scale monochrome image of the current derelict Raglan Street site, overlaid with drawings based on architectural plans, a palimpsest of past, present and possible futures. On the opposite wall, contained within drawn window panes that mirror the original architectural features of the building, are anecdotes from the Eagle Works artists, their experiences and concerns about the effects of the proposed regeneration as well as reflections from Tim’s research into the history of the site. Both works place us, the viewer, in the position of the artists group. Whilst the current external spaces are not picturesque, they confirm the basic needs of an artist for light, quiet spaces and continued public access to the gallery we now stand in. The image we see suggests this view will become a memory, like so many photographs of lost industrial buildings from around Raglan Street contained in the city archives. Eagle Works Artists Group may be on the cusp of change, through regeneration that is founded on economics rather than social or cultural need, and this is a reflection of the current times we find ourselves in. The exhibition and this essay highlight the situation that the Eagle Works Artists now face, and serve as a reminder that within this historic building the artists are acting as patrons to other artists, students and curators and as such are a vital part of West Midlands arts and culture."
 |
| Eagleworks the view that will disappear |
 |
| Tim Stock photograph for private view card - at this stage WORKS was theoretical |
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| The completion of WORKS - the EAGLE will be reinstated 25 June 2011 |
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| Large panoramic of the derelict spaces outside of the building, the aim being to highlight the Eagleworks Artists relationship with the outside spaces |
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| View of the "window panes" containing anecdotes and history details |
Saturday 28 May 2011
First Posting
The intention of this blog is to operate as a record of my involvement in the arts during my two year part time MA in Contemporary Curatorial Practice. This links in with my Research in Practice Module and using a contemporary approach to recording reflective practice social media fits rather nicely
I intend to use this space as an online, edited diary, offering reflections on the days and weeks events, the finalising of the forthcoming WORKS exhibition, Eagleworks, Wolverhampton, ongoing internship with the wonderful Companis, and the setting up a new art studios and exhibition space in Birmingham, provisionally entitled The Wig (from Michel de Certau la perruque) with Chris Clinton.
Exciting times are ahead, I hope you enjoy the journey with me.
Sonya
I intend to use this space as an online, edited diary, offering reflections on the days and weeks events, the finalising of the forthcoming WORKS exhibition, Eagleworks, Wolverhampton, ongoing internship with the wonderful Companis, and the setting up a new art studios and exhibition space in Birmingham, provisionally entitled The Wig (from Michel de Certau la perruque) with Chris Clinton.
Exciting times are ahead, I hope you enjoy the journey with me.
Sonya
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