Creative Reactions // Pint of Science 2023

Creative Reactions 2023 - Art Exhibition

May 16 to June 1, 2023 - Lincoln Cathedral, Minster Yard, Lincoln, LN2 1PX

After the success of Creative Reactions last year, I was thrilled to be able to put time aside to participate in this year’s iteration. For those of you who have not heard of Pint of Science, it is a non-profit organisation ‘to provide a space for researchers and members of the public alike to come together, be curious, and chat about research in a relaxed environment outside of mysterious laboratories or daunting dark lecture theatres.’ The sister event, Creative Reactions, provides an alternative interpretation of these research topics in a creative way that broadens its’ accessibility.

For Creative Reactions, I was paired with PhD student, Lauren Bourn and supervisor, Niko Kargas, who are researching the positive impact of Forest School on young people with autism. After our initial discussion, it sparked my interest on the impact and use of trees and woodland for all, whether this was used as a resource, or for our mental, physical and social wellbeing. My original intention was to place a real tree in the exhibition to bring the woodland to the viewer, but the realities of keeping the tree alive for a 2-3 week period meant that this was not a realistic option. I began researching alternative methodologies to fabricate a tree using materials such as paper and cardboard, both derivatives of trees with a metal structure underneath. This was something that I had not done before, but by extension, was not too dissimilar from my paper sculptures in 2019.

During the labour intensive making, I began questioning the why? Why present a recreated tree to the viewer and for what purpose? What experience was I trying to present? I could not present an entire forest to the viewer, so how else might a tree best serve them and were there any historic traditions I could draw from? From this thread, I realised that I, myself, had stumbled across several wishing trees that were hammered with copper coins in the Lake District in 2012. With this in mind, I decided to pursue a participatory artwork, where instead of coins, the viewer could leave anonymous paper wishes on the tree. No longer a static sculpture, the tree could continue to grow and change over time. Essentially, becoming a monument for a communities hopes and dreams.

Over the exhibition period, I was unprepared for the range of responses from the public. Some fun and light hearted, whilst others were deep and philosophical. I will need time to process these and consider the work moving forward. For me, the work remains unfinished so it is my intention to push this further, with time permitting, of course. Watch this space!

For further information: https://pintofscience.co.uk/events/lincoln

Associate Artist

I am happy to announce that I have been selected to be an Associate Artist for Mansions of the Future where I will continue to develop my art practice at their dedicated studios and help them to develop their arts programme in 2019/20. Very excited to be involved in the project and to see how this will continue to evolve in supporting artists and the local community.

Heidi Bucher @ Parasol Unit

Recently, I have been researching the artist Heidi Bucher and the entwinement of built space, body and time. I thought it would be beneficial to take the opportunity to see more of her work first hand. It was exciting to see such a diverse range of her work which included the skinnings, glue houses, frottage rubbings, and latex suits to name but a few. A worthwhile trip!

Nottingham trip

Recently, I explored the delightful sights of Nottingham where I visited the exhibition House of Fame at the Nottingham Contemporary, as well as artist led spaces - Primary, BACKLIT and the Surface Gallery.

The exhibition House of Fame was convened by Linder Sterling, the first artist in residence at Chatsworth House who engages with gender, commodity and display by creating photomontages and carefully selecting key influential artists and artefacts from the Chatsworth collection. Whilst appearing to be a random assortment of work, this eclectic mix provides an insight into the complexities of an artists mind and their subsequent influences, whether that's other practitioners or the environment they are working in. In celebration of her achievements spanning 40 years, Sterling provides a platform for artists that she is inspired by to share the limelight from Moki Cherry to Heidi Bucher, the latter of which, called to me the most.

Artist Heidi Bucher creates "room skins" that preserve architectural spaces through the use of latex and gauze (see image below).

“These experiments in fixing the forms and volumes of once-inhabited spaces predate a similar attempt that won Rachel Whiteread the Turner Prize in 1993 (the year Bucher died) by almost two decades. But whereas House was a public monument to overlooked and uncelebrated normality, further immortalized in the collective consciousness by the council’s decision to demolish it soon after it opened, Bucher’s room-skins, laden with the autobiography that they drag with them, chart a much more intimate psychogeography. By making skins from her childhood home, Bucher wasn’t just asking how we inhabit spaces but how they inhabit us; how we carry them with us, even after we have left them. The notion of ‘home’ is not something that can be so easily shrugged off.”

— Amy Sherlock (March 2014) https://frieze.com/article/heidi-bucher [accessed: 21.06.18]

In addition to the Nottingham Contemporary, it was a pleasure to visit artist led spaces Primary, Backlit and the Surface Gallery. This provided a wonderful opportunity to see how collectives have set up spaces to work and exhibit. For me, Primary was a fantastic example in how an art community can be formed where people have the opportunity to be creative, collaborate and give back to the organisation by delivering workshops, organising exhibitions and engaging with the community. It is my hope that something similar might be formed in Lincoln in the future, fingers crossed! 

Postman Time in the Blue Room

‘Postman Time’ was a collaborative performance between MA Fine Art and Drama, which was inspired by Hans Ulrich Obrist who curated an event called ‘Il Tempo Del Postino’. For me, the concept of ‘Postman Time’ was to allocate time rather than space to creative practitioners to deliver a piece of work. What they did with that freedom was up to them and it was this freedom that led me to consider surface rubbings as a live performance, initially inspired by Do Ho Suh’s apartment.

Do Ho Suh (2014) Rubbing/Loving Project: Kitchen, Apartment A, 348 West 22nd Street, New York, NY 10011, USA

As I am interested in revealing hidden histories and raising awareness of materiality, I decided to produce a live surface drawing where an element of the space was covered by newsprint but slowly revealed through surface rubbings. My initial intention was to amplify the sound of this process by using contact mics, unfortunately these were not sensitive enough for the live performance, which meant that a pre-recording was required. This led to an interesting dialogue where the sound would sync and fall out of sync so that it became a dance between current and past time. Once the performance had concluded, the surface drawing was torn down to reveal the fireplace underneath where the fragments were subsequently given to members of the audience as a memento of the space.

Overall, this was a fantastic opportunity to collaborate with creative practitioners from other disciplines and work in an alternative space. This has led me to consider new ways of working, which I hope will lead to some ambitious work that envelopes whole rooms and environments. Keep an eye out for some exciting developments in the future!

Video to follow.