Artists talking

by Janie Nicoll, 22 Oct 2008

Things are moving on with the Calendar project and a few days ago we received work by post from Tommy Grace, currently based in London but who trained at Edinburgh College of Art, was involved with the Embassy Gallery and recently featured in the exhibition The Young Athenians at the RSA. He has sent us a lovely piece of work called “Fifteen Easy Pieces”. We also met up with Cath Whippey, who is currently based in Yorkshire, and who has made an intriguing sculptural work that involves a tree, an apple and a wasp that talks, unless I am mistaken….

We have done various studio visits to artists such as Hanneline Visnes and Kenny Hunter and are looking forward to receiving the works. There really is something very special about hearing how and why an artist makes the work they do…. it never ceases to amaze me how the artworks come to life in a new way when an artists explains their reasoning and interests, and the background they are coming from. I am thinking how rarely this actually happens. It has also been really nice doing this with the group, and realizing how much more informed they are and interested when they see the work explained by the person who has created it. As Mary, one of our regulars said on Tuesday “I’m really starting to get into this arty stuff of yours !!” It makes it all worth while, it really does.

Meanwhile back in the studio I have discovered a really great video camera I can access and Alex and I have been creating a Flash animation using Photobooth, a really simple to use application on the Macs. It is becoming an ongoing project, and I am really enjoying the way you can make video from photos, and the way the brain fills in the gaps and makes sense of the imagery even when obviously there’s information missing.. Its quite a punk approach to video, which is right up my street. I am feeling quite fired up with the possibilities this opens up…

On Friday I’m off to the Liverpool Biennial/ Capital of Culture to attend an a-n Magazine networking event called “The Winner Takes It All”. Fifteen artists from the UK and five from Europe have been invited to attend and take part in a discussion about how these titles benefit artists and artists networks. It’s to be based at the Royal Standard and Red Wire Gallery which are both artist run spaces. I exhibited at Red Wire two years ago so it will be good to go back and see what effect the “C of C” has had on the grassroots arts-scene in general. I seem to be representing Glasgow, so today I met with Jean Cameron who has kindly lent me documentation from the last GI (Glasgow International), which i think will be a good way to show the legacy that remains after Glasgow City of Culture in 1990. I am meeting Becky from Lowsalt tomorrow to get some props from the Secret Agent which was an experimental street performance during GI by Raydale Dower and Judd Brucke, that used Glasgow city centre as a backdrop. I thought this really exemplified how the artscene and the music scenes in Glasgow are inextricably linked and continue to throw up unexpectedly refreshing cross-platform collaborations. Long may it continue…. (Have I said that already in a previous blog!! Well I’ll say it again anyway!!)