After the Degree Show I was asked if I wanted to be part of the Wirksworth Festival by one of their Commitee who had seen my work. IT IS SO EXCITING!! I finally get the opportunity to show large work outside the University! The initial request was for me to show the Degree Show work at the Newbridge Building but the space is huge and at least two of the other artists in the space have not been in touch to confirm their attendance. This has left a massive gap in in the already massive space that I have been asked to fill! If only I had been allowed this much space at University I would have been able to make more or larger pieces that I could use in this space now, oh well. After a talk with the on site organiser I have arranged to make more sculptures based on what I can find around Wirksworth, this all depends on what I can find, of course.
Day 1: Re-building the flat packed sculptures, I should have made this a performance, I feel like I am building a car with all these pieces lined up!! I am so pleased with the way I built the structures to condense down and this is the first time I have had a chance to test it out, I knew I would struggle for storage space and if I had destroyed the pieces I would have nothing to show here.
Day 2: Finishing off the building of the sculptures I am now trying to work out what combinations to put them into. The space dwarfs the small sculptures they were built to fit into the small University space not a warehouse but this is an interesting challenge, I could spread them out to emphasise their small scale or pile them together to make them seem bigger however that would scratch the paint and drawings off that I have just spent hours re-touching! And until the other artist arrive I don't know where to put the work, dilemma! I think the organisers must be pulling out their hair. I am going hunting for more Wirksworth scrap for the sculpture I am building; there is very little useful scrap lying around as most is rotted and would disintegrate if I tried to build with it.
Day 3: A sunny day, I like the light coming through the windows in this otherwise dark, strip-light lit place, I hope that the good weather holds out for the Festival. I am arranging the mirrors to catch the light and shine it onto the long landscape strip the light moves so fast though it is difficult to capture. In the above photo you can see the size of the place and though I am trying out positions I still don't know where the other artists are going to go!
I love this observatory structure with the mirrors reflecting the light to the other landscapes; is this the power source? A solar powerplant? An observatory or a reflection? A reflection of the self? A reflection of these large human behemoths strolling through lilliputian landscapes shattered into tiny little fragments by broken mirrors.
I find myself drawn to certain shapes over and over again; the Observatory, the Sail Boat, the angles in the stick-like legs of the Walkers. I found a large umbrella that echoes the angles only upside down, it is such an exciting shape to find although I try to not build with found wood incase it rots and drops to pieces on the audience. I am making an exception to this pressure treated wood but I am not building with it I want it to echo the linear shapes that the other Walkers have. A walker in construction perhaps? It seems I am making this into a process-display where the layout is in a factory style; found pieces to preparation to construction to finishing off, I believe this was suggested because the onsite staff like watching me build things but it is useful as I have no time to paint and draw on the new structures.
It is hard for me to see my own work or describe it, in hindsight I think I pick these objects because their texture, structure, motion or composition interest me not just their material properties in constructing larger pieces. Even the drawings on the surface have become something else to detract from the sculptural shapes and though I initially wanted the sculptures to be extensions of paper or wall, that was lacking in University for me to draw insignificance onto, I now see these objects as extensions of insignificance themselves, their own entity built magically from ignorance.
Day 3-4: Finding bits and building the Wirksworth sculpture. I have only found enough pieces for one larger sculpture as Wirksworth is a very tidy place! I managed to get some very interesting pieces from a fly-tipping location, the Newbridge Building itself and a field; the copper piping is very flexible but seems like it will hold the weight if it is not moved around too much. I have had a few suggestions at how to put it together which is fine so long as someone stays put to keep it together while I bolt it! I just hope it will hold together as I normally test the structures' stability over time but there is no time to see how this piece will settle. It is up now and hopefully it will stay up.
Day 5-6: Well I built the thing but the copper pipes are bending and sliding on the concrete from being moved so much; not sure how to stop it as the legs might snap off if I brace the base, I don't have any found pieces that I can use to strengthen it and I don't want to use bought materials. It sat perfectly fine until it was shifted this way and that around the new artists who only decided to show up 2hrs before closing to set up their artwork! How RUDE! Everyone thought they were not going to come at all and of course had moved work to compensate for the gaps which we had to rework to let them have space.
The Wirksworth piece has been dubbed the 'Child Catcher' after a discussion with the Camera man because of its large and unpredictable nature, I know it is going to fall down but I like this freedom to collapse, the teetering between found materials and unpredictable people, the tension. Though the piece looks heavy it is really very light, if a bit awkward to manoeuvre. I wonder whether I should pick it up to re-set it after a collapse so it can fall down again, the determination to come from nothing, to stand, to live, to survive!
All set up and done, I hope it all goes well, I have enjoyed the excitement and the build up, to make something this big after university has been fantastic and the Wirksworth team are amazing. It is so exciting and has developed my understanding of what I want from my work even if I am still not sure how the audience percieves it, I would like them to enjoy the shapes and the anthropomorphic structures as much as I do.
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