o u t t h e o t h e r s i d e

So we managed to survive our relatively hectic couple of weeks with 9 exhibitions in total and it turned out to be pretty fun after all *winking emoji face*

For the 3D/XD open studios at CSM we took a similar approach to that which we had with the 2D/4D with regards to both its site specificity and inconspicuousness. We decided to place a number of fictional ‘lost art’ posters (pictured below) the week before the opening and leave them up for the duration. We wanted them up for a certain amount of time so that there might have been some discrepancy with reference to whether or not people perceived the posters to be ‘art’. Students who had seen them for 7 days may have come accustomed to seeing them and therefore not give them a second look but someone who they’ve invited might instead point them out and a dialogue arises. Another similarity to the 2D/4D show is that it’s hard to get away from the obviousness of it being art due to it being within the walls of an art school but this work seemed to be slightly more effective in that sense due to its ‘slap-dash’ appearance; stuck to the wall with masking tape and (seemingly) without any consideration for design. However, what may appear to be something that took only a few seconds to knock up on a laptop was slightly more thought out. The arrangement is taken from the visual language of lost cat/dog/pet posters in an attempt to personify art as this ‘thing’ that is alive and has a beating heart. The image is blurred and appears to be of an entire studio as opposed to just one work, making identifying it impossible even if it was clear. The photo is one of Kazimir Malevich in his studio but we colourised and blurred it using Photoshop. This image has been chosen due to the nature of his practice; Malevich is considered by many (including himself) as the embodiment of the movement into pure abstraction. Moving away from the real and creating paintings that instead depict something ‘other’ or something that has been invented from ones imagination. This reflects what we’re playing with when creating this work; the artwork in the image is imaginary and therefore is our own interpretation of what Malevich was trying to do. The text, which describes the work, is nonsensical – there’s plenty of content but none of it would be helpful when physically identifying something. It speaks of the ideas behind the work, none of which are translated into material attributes. This is a work about transparency, usually what is on display is the piece itself and perhaps the meaning would be lost, here the intention behind the work is out for everyone to read. The absence of it causes a reaction in the reader, they then make their own mind up about what the work may or may not be and so they become active viewers and a part of the piece. We also attributed it to William Cost and some people are aware of who this is and therefore is a slight hint to those who might be slightly better informed about our previous work.

On Monday we were a part of a project called ‘Destroy’ which is in association with Bow Arts and was instigated by artist Poppy Green. Students are invited to destroy a piece of art and then use the materials to make their own work. The work we put forward was ‘is here alright?’ which is the collection of boxes and crates that look like they might contain art. We felt this took the ideas that went into making the piece about mystery and the unknown and (quite literally) smashed them up and we were very excited! The students involved we actually very insightful about the work and about art in general, asking pretty big questions that I’m positive continue to trouble most of the population. It was a great experience to see how their minds work when faced with something quite abstract and concept heavy. Working with younger people is always informative but can definitely be vary in difficulty; it was obvious that these particular students were on the edge of being overly conscious about what they said and how they acted. They still didn’t really care about what the rest of the group thought of them; disagreeing with each other and speaking their mind. A very positive day.

Another show we had this week was ‘Pack it in’, held at Vent in Hoxton. For this we also produced a new work where we produced a life size cut out and faced it into the corner of the room. These are usually seen in the cinema where you get to see your favourite heroes and villains up close or in supermarkets where the classic smiley family is promoting a variety of products. This work has links to our mild obsession to stock imagery. We tend to this of our ideas and then how those things are going to manifest and even if we think ‘you know what I really fancy making a Sid and Jim hammock but I don’t really know why’ we’ll have a look into what a hammock is about and how we could potentially turn that into an interesting work. The main point is that it’s our ideas that we value most, over the product. To return the stock images; they aren’t images of real things; they are images of the idea of what those things are. So what’s being depicted is not how it happens in the real world, it’s just a shadow that sort of mimics something we might find familiar. So the people who have cardboard cutouts made of them aren’t real people, they’re characters and so is ours. The cutout is of William Cost (he’s been busy this week) and the side facing the wall is consequently blank to reflect both his potential and nonexistence. This is another work that is using certain visual cues to poke at an audience’s memory and try and get them to think, posing questions and opposed to answers.

Some new to announcements are that ‘One Man’s Art…’ is going to be in Average Art magazine’s new issue ‘What is Art?’. We’re also doing an interview with Art Reveal magazine which is very exciting! Tomorrow is going to be the launch of The SketchUp Residency website so head to www.thesketchupresidency.com to see the product of Bob Bicknell-Knight’s term.

Finally we just wanted to apologise for the lack of Artists and Friends content the past couple of weeks – we’ve just been so so busy with other stuff but we’ve got something cooking up to stay tuned…

l e a r n i n g b y d o i n g

It’s been a busy couple of weeks and is continuing into the beginning of the next. We managed to partake in 4 exhibitions last week, another 4 this week and then another project on Monday. A theme that we’ve been considering for quite some time is gallery objects and works that encompass which intern might cause questions of all things being of artistic merit. The exhibition being discussed is part of a series of 48-hour shows, meaning that the artists have 48 hours to from receiving the brief to the private view. The title was ‘fire and light’ and so thinking about what we’ve previously just mentioned we thought that for our work that we would purchase the light bulbs to be used in the space for the show. Again, the basis of this stems from research into essential homogenous objects of the gallery set-up. Characteristics of the space also include the white walls of the gallery, the nails used to hang work and even the front desk. These unsung heroes of the white cube facilitate the viewing of art objects and subsequently the conversation that arises from them. None of this can happen without these utilitarian objects that often go unnoticed, primarily due to their domesticity. Instead of artists we then become facilitators; enabling the other work in the show to be seen but also/hopefully getting the audience to look a little closer. It’s articles with headlines like ‘man drops phone in Tate Modern and visitors think it’s art’ which bring give this idea some of its body. The notion of the white cube is crucial to the art world so looking into it is something we thoroughly enjoy. Having to search for the art is another facet of this; proposing questions or scenarios is more of our aim than solutions or explanations. We like the idea that the audience has to work a bit. In line with this ‘facilitator’ role the there was also a certificate made to let visitors know that we were the ‘Patrons of Light’. Below are some photos the light in action.

We also had isthisit ‘AFK’ which was a great success! A huge number of people came and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. However, our work in the show seemed slightly out of place against all the dazzling moving imagery and kitschy objects. Not that we believed our piece to be better or worse than those on show but due to the time based nature of so many of the other works, ours was very quickly dismissed. Again, this is in no way a comment on any being superior but just a reflection on the type of exhibition that it was. ‘Touch Me Baby’ (the show where the audience was allowed to physically interact with the work) gathered a huge crowd which is always a plus but due to the high number of people in the exhibition the piece had to be edited slightly meaning the throwing line was closer and the paper had to be kept in its packaging. All fair compromises to have the work shown to such a large number of people.

The piece we had in the 2D/4D Open Studios was exactly what we wanted it to be; very inconspicuous but not completely invisible by any stretch. It was entertaining to watch some people were looking at it gingerly like a puppy sniffing around a dead rabbit; wanting to pick it up but not sure if it was safe to do so. Having it as a permanent installation would be amusing but due to the nature of CSM being an art school it would probably be unveiled fairly quickly. Other places where there is the possibility for art and less potential for suspicion would be good, even if it were only as far Kings Cross Station.

For another show at CSM, this one occurs in the main street, called 'BIG SPACE' we were forced, due to a late Amazon order, to produce a slightly different iteration of the work ’12 Angry Men’, where we make name tags for the twelve apostles from the New Testament. The nametags did not arrive on time and therefore we had a piece of paper with all their names in a grid and a big ‘SIGN IN HERE’ sign with a pen. Included in the grid was also their dietary requirements and what time they all arrived. This combines the original idea (the one we had right at the beginning of the production process) which was to have a table and then place mats for where they were supposed to sit, and the idea we eventually landed on which was to have name tags. All in all it wasn’t so bad the package arrived late! We’ll post some updates on the other projects we’re working on next week!

s o m e o l d s o m e n e w

We’ve got a few more works that are in shows this week, some new some old. ‘Touch Me Baby’ is a one night only exhibition where guests will be invited to freely interact with all artwork on show, without fear of alarms or getting told off for standing too close. It feels like an interesting idea that by allowing physical interaction, they hopes to integrate the art and public in a far more intimate way, dissolving any feelings of alienation or intimidation previously separating the two. The show will also reverse the role of the artist and viewer, as each artwork will evolve into new, unforeseen forms throughout the evening, dictated by the hand of the public. The work we are choosing to exhibit therefore is ‘You need to have some fun’; a physical rendition of the App ‘Paper Toss’.

We’re also developing a new work for the 2D/4D open studios, which comes in the form of a leaflet. The leaflets are inconspicuously placed in a clear plastic dispenser and visitors will be allowed to take them. The content of the leaflet is advert-style/sale pitch of a new commissioned artwork for the front of CSM, one that would replace the iconic array of colored fountains. We have used language from that of an estate agent to create appealing sentences without actually saying what the work will be. The work is then put to the reader to think about the possibilities of the space presented to them. Art can be sold and traded like any other commodity and sometimes it becomes far less about what’s being made and more about who’s making it. Therefore we’ve used the artist persona we’ve recently used, Millie Place, to act as the one making the new work. Fiction plays a big part of our practice and twisting the current world into something that resembles its former self but causes a second glance is an aim for the things we construct.

d r u m r o l l p l e a s e

Our printed canvas for the isthisit show ‘AFK’ has arrived! It looks so much better than we ever thought it would considering it didn’t cost a huge amount and didn’t really feel like it a service used for much more than printing your dogs face onto a stretcher. None the less is does exactly what we wanted it to do! The materiality has all these echoes of cheesy motivational posters you would see around an office building and at the same time the imagery reflects that of the stock market or some other graph related facts. So the work itself is complete and just needs to be transported to south London by next week!

Speaking of isthisit, we have announced our first resident of The SketchUp Residency which will be Bob Bicknell-Knight (who’s website can be found >>>here<<<). He will be making work for the three artificial islands off the coast of Dubai known as Palm Islands. These strictures are quite phenomenal, visually but also politically in how they are received by media and public alike. We’re looking forward to seeing the work that unfolds and you can keep up to date with Bob’s research via The SketchUp Residency Instagram! We’ll be doing an open call for the next section of the residency so keep yah eyes n ears peeled for that one.

There is also another new episode of our podcast ‘Artists and Friends’ which can be heard >>>here<<<. We're talking about an online, moving image curatorial project called DVD is Dead and a particular set of works by Karl Sims. Instaminiseries, which is a string of 15-second films published via Instagram and talk by Jesse Darling that she gave at our Uni. Hope you enjoy!

We decided (regretfully) to go to an opening of a group show at Kate MacGarry last night. The work absolutely reeked of unintentional decision-making and clumsy metaphors about space as a material. Fortunately there was wine and good conversation but the art was not on form on this occasion which was a shame since just this year there’s been great shows including some artists such as Haroon Mirza and John smith.

A news-y style bit is that we got our film ‘Anything I Can do is Not Art Because I’m Not an Artist’ into The Bomb Factory Film Festival which supposedly had over 500 submissions so it’s fun to know they enjoyed our film so much. And recently we found a dolls house which had a picture of a cactus hanging in one of the rooms so we took it home and we’re going to start another curatorial project called ‘The Doll’s House Gallery’ or something to that effect. We’ll have an open call and then artist would have to send the work to us, meaning that the components of the work would have to be able to fit through a letterbox. We would then take install shots of all the teeny tiny art and have the gallery open by appointment. We’ll see how it goes and keep you posted!