Wednesday, 20 February 2013
Aspirations for a creative Wales in 2020
I was asked to discuss my hopes for a creative Wales in 2020. This gave me a lot of food for thought and I spent a long time going over my response. I would really like to see Wales offer up more independent modes of study i.e DIY Art Masters that could be assosciated with some of Wales' leading galleries. I think Wales really needs to strive to be more international on every level. Here is a video of the interview. There is an English and a Welsh version:
English:
http://vimeo.com/59469349
Welsh:
http://vimeo.com/59427711
Monday, 21 January 2013
Looking into the Crystal Ball
Firstly I need to wish everyone who has taken a keen interest in my work a Happy New Year. I am humbled by all the support I receive towards my practice.
2013 is set to be another active year of creativity for me. It kicks off with a new Tooth&Clawr reading group session in response to CHAPTER galleries latest exhibition by Joanne Tatham and Tom O'Sullivan: A tool for the making of signs. I have a particular fondness for this show as I was commissioned at the end of last year to make a sound recording for the sculpture. I had to recite an abstract poem by painter and modernist poet David Jones. The poem titled 'The Hunt' is filled with beautiful imagery, and lilts between Welsh language and English. My voice booms from the mouth of the large black and white dragon in the gallery. It makes me smile, as I am so ridiculously Welsh, dragging my cultural identity with me where ever I go. This piece of work takes a humorous look at Welsh National identity.
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| copyright of Joanne Tatham and Tom O'Sullivan |
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| ARTCARDIFF Map |
I will then be off to Cornwall in March to hold a Wormery event. I will be there as part of Tooth&Clawr and will be offering the texts we read for the last session. CHAPTER galleries last exhibition 'The future's not what it used to be' will be opening at the Cornish Galleries. I will also be presenting my own work offsite, and am generating a lot of exciting ideas for this work.
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| Newlyn Art Gallery and The Exchange |
The first quarter of the year is already looking good, and I am excited by my new projects. In the meantime I will continue to visit the psychics and gather as much clarity as I can about my future.....
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| Mystic Meg |
http://www.chapter.org/28853.html
http://www.paradiselost.org.uk/retreat.html
http://www.newlynartgallery.co.uk/?Home
Tuesday, 13 November 2012
Tooth&Clawr @EXPERIMENTICA
FRI 23rd November, 2pm, EXPERIMENTICA@ CHAPTER
Tooth&Clawr will feature as part of BACKWARDS THINKING. Sam Hasler and I will be hosting this months event and have got some juicy texts for you. Along the themes of Unseen we have selected Ian McEwan's short story 'Solid Geometry', and an interview titled 'Screenwriters On Screenwriting'.
We wish our usual T&C host Phil Owen luck with his performance for EXPERIMENTICA, and look forward to welcoming him back for the next session soon (date TBC).For more information on Tooth&Clawr please visit:
http://toothandclawr.blogspot.co.uk/
Backwards Thinking@ EXPERIMENTICA 2012: Unseen/Anweledig
As part of Experimentica festival this year Sam Hasler and I are organising a set of events that are specifically aimed at engagement and contextualisation. This includes a festival hub and reading area, large blackboards with information and responses, text in the festival brochure and discussion events.
The whole set of events is framed under a title of 'Backwards Thinking'. This is a light joke about philistinism, an encouragement to 'reflect' and also to start from a clean slate. Not to suppose we already know everything about performance art or such things. This title has also provided us a little amount of space to play with mirror writing and role reversals.
For more information on Experimentica 2012 visit:
http://www.chapter.org/28459.html
For information on artist Sam Hasler;
http://www.samuelhasler.co.uk/
Monday, 12 November 2012
BARN Magazine Article November 2012
Journalist Lowri Haf Cooke has written a very well informed article about the work I made in New York a month ago. Lowri travelled the whole way to witness the new performance piece and research my residency at Flux Factory. The article explores my own ideas on my new body of work 'For Future Reference...' whilst also touching on Lowri's own perspective on what took place during the performance in NYC. I am grateful to Lowri and BARN for daring to write so intelligently about contemporary performance art from Wales.
To read the article/ I ddarllen yr erthygl:
http://lowrihafcooke.wordpress.com/2012/11/01/erthygl-barn-ddoe-heddiw-ac-yfory-celfyddyd-kathryn-ashill/
For more information about BARN Magaizine/ Am rhagor o wybodaeth am gylchgrawn BARN:
http://www.cylchgrawnbarn.com/
Images of Mother Time (a Momento Mori) performance @ Artes Mundi
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| Photo Credit: Melissa Hinkin |
Action: Close eyes. Hold a travel clock in each palm. Count from 1-600 in Welsh.
The performance Mother Time took place on November the 1st at Teresa Margolles' installation in the National Museum of Wales. My work was created in direct response to the themes of death, time and memorial in the Mexican artists work. I shut my eyes and focused on the difficulty of reaching high numbers in my native tongue. I had imagined beforehand that as it was a simple and durational action that the audience would move around, leave and return. Once I reached 600, I opened my eyes and was shocked that everyone had stayed with me, patiently waiting for me to reach my goal. I ended the performance by approaching each audience member, handing them a drawing, and whispering 'momento mori (remember you will die) in their ear.
This performance has been filmed by artist Matt Cook, and it will be shown at the Critical Mass Symposium at the museum in December. Watch this space!
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