Friday 31 August 2007

Adventures in New Media




The empty display case that perplexed and haunted me for a while was finally finished following ideas to investigate new media. I changed the idea from a video piece within the object to a sound piece within the box. This seems to have effectively pushed the references back to the object without creating another representation of it, and emphasizing its banal presence as a disfunctional display case. When we met and talked to Roger Ackling, he said to be radical. For me, I guess that has happened, at least to some extent, though I followed ideas and solutions to problems rather than seek to produce work that specifically meet what I thought radical meant.
Visitors went up close, as they had to, to hear the spoken loop to find it refering back to the undisplayed presentation. I found it difficult at first to work with an object that did not inherently provoke a response for me. I think that through the encouragement from the others to persevere on this one, I may work again in the future in a similar way, and definately expore new media more.

Completion of the first exhibition




So we have finished the second phase of the project. After working together we have spent some time preparing and further experimenting with pieces for the first exhibition. The process has been successful and we have had good feedback about the work and display.

Friday 17 August 2007

Tuesday 14 August 2007

A few pages from the catalogue

Marianne Koby Johnson contribution


I work in the fields of painting, collage and assemblage. My paintings are atmospheric renderings of landscape, and the prints and collages are more abstract, the collages incorporating weathered manmade materials with organic fragments. It intrigues me how these resemble each other are they erode.Wherever I live and work I walk, and on these walks I pick up things. the objects may be disparate, stems or fragments of leaves crushed by cars, plastic shards, discarded lists, cash slips or school work dropped on the way home and trodden into the surface of the road. Occasionally I may come across a rich haul of objects which can form a complete work in themselves.when making a collage, the first few elements seem to come together by chance. Afterwards a succession of choices defines the gradual putting together of the image. The initial placing may be left for a time, a day, a month, a year. The objects/fragments gain new life through their relationship to each other and the space around, through juxtapositions, contrasting textures and qualities.I am currently working more "out of the frame", making wall hung and free-standing assemblages with a symbolic feel.

The Show is nearly ready






A few shots of the work for Play going up in the church.