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.

copyright of Joanne Tatham and Tom O'Sullivan
I am currently working on a piece of work for the ARTCARDIFF map. It is a real honour to have been asked to make a work that will be so largely distributed. The imagery I am making focus' on my current body of work 'For Future Reference...' where I aim to archive my potential, and varying futures by visiting as many psychics as possible. Watch this space for the map artwork.....

ARTCARDIFF Map
I am off on a residential workshop for artists, that will aim to promote discussion about our individual practices. Retreat 2013 takes place in Abersorch in North Wales and I cant wait to meet a variety of nationally based artists and make new friends. I was nominated by Meantime Gallery and residency space in Cheltenham, and I'm very lucky to have the support of Sarah Bowden. Retreat 2013 happens during the second week of February. I will document my experiences and share them here.



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.

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.....

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

EXPERIMENTICA Programme

Cathy Gordon



Full festival listings online:
http://issuu.com/chapter/docs/experimentica12/5

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





Photo Credit: Melissa Hinkin
Duration of performance: 20mins
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!