Play: May 2007

Thursday 31 May 2007

May 2007

We are passing round objects and altering them. Boxes are featuring now and we may explore the potential for display or concealment. We may add or remove things from them, deconstruct or reconstruct aspects and so on as they are passed from hand to hand. We all produced parts of a jigsaw which is very unfinished but has an agreeably disparate range of approaches and materials.

Early 2007

Jevan had decided to retreat as he was to return to live in France, and Margaret had felt that she could not contribute full enough to continue because of other priorities. So we talked to Marianne and Alex about the project and they joined. A range of work is now underway as we are working towards an exhibition for later in the year. The focus has returned to objects rather than concepts at the moment.

Mid 2006

We had met a few times and produced some work. The focus remained with books for a while and we were working to themes and concepts, which was new to some extent for some of us. Emma produced an excellent piece with threads and I (Steve) worked on the theme of Chaos. We had also met with Roger Ackling and discussed our ideas. This was a fascinating and inspirational accation that stopped us in our tracks. We had reevaluated our intensions and moved forward with focus on the work and decided as adviced not to document; though now we have a new role and perspective for the documentation as the blogg will be defined in the same way as the work we do in other ways.

Late 2005

So I searched round and contacted other artists working with the materials and processes of collage & assemblage. I already knew Maraget Wyllie from a project I organised called A Construct of Time, site-specific to The Ancient House in Ipswich. While spending some grant money on documentation of my work the photographer Doug Attfield, I came across images of Jevan Watkins Jones' work, so I contacted him. I hadn't yet met Emma Johnson properly, I think. I am told that I interrogated them to some extent, as I found it fascinating how differently we all worked in response to materials and objects, and I wanted to know more and more. So the project was underway. Some of the work at this time revolved around books, I picked up on Jevan's shedding of paper and Emma's 'obsessive' repetative process work.

beginnings

Mid 2005 I had been kicking around a somewhat loose idea about creating an exhibition idea about creating an exhibition project that formed in the same way as my collages and assemblages. Over a period of time the content and activity would change according to the participants.

(Steve Joyce)

An early piece

Steve Joyce

I am an artist and lecturer who works independently on arts projects as a curator and often working on Site-specific projects with others.

Metaphors, context and presence are recurring interest of mine. Working with objects and specific materials allows me to explore responses to presence and remoteness. I am intrigued by changing perceptions and like to play with the processes of encounter and contemplation. The use of disparate objects, forms or unusual configurations in the work creates a discontinuous image that allows the viewer to engage in personal interpretations.

The work I produce tends to be varied, although I work with collage & assemblage in some way, I also work in printmaking, photography and create installations. This is because I am constantly interested in processes and create new tasks, challenges or problems to overcome.
(steve Joyce 2007)

My work can be seen on:

www.stevejoyce.co

http://www.axisweb.org/seCVPG.aspx?ARTISTID=13054

http://www.creative-freelance.org.uk/

Emma Johnson

My work deals with issues of deconstruction and transformation, the recycling of materials, and the ambiguity of communication - as well as the obsessive repetitive actions used in the making of the work. Found objects are reconstructed into artworks which stand as a tangible and symbolic presence of the information contained within, but are virtually unreadable.

The work questions perceived symbolism by removing objects and images from their original context, deconstructing and recycling found materials, and rendering them "useless", or using them for something other than their intended purpose.

Even conceptual aspects can come from the materials themselves. Found objects are chosen for their inherent qualities – history – use, collections.

On a personal level, it is within my nature (a) to hoard / archive objects, and (b) deconstruct / destroy them. As an inherited trait, this interests me a great deal: not only do the objects themselves contain a history, but so does the obsessive way in which they are treated.