EXHIBITION Documentation

The body of work exhibited at BRISTOL DIVING SCHOOL on December 2nd 2011

EXHIBITION

The culmination of all the workshops exhibited together at Bristol Diving School, Friday 2nd Dec 5PM - 7.30PM, prior to the following show at DAC Beachcroft, Bristol.

One Night Only

Session 7

Session 7 rounded up the WORKSHOP program with an emphasis on 'curation'. Faced with the vast assembled body of work produced during the previous sessions, the students were introduced to the challenging task of making considered selections and decisions regarding the presentation of their artworks. 

Light or no light?

Arrangement possibilities of the placards.

Finishing touches.

Session 6

Session 6 focused on fabric in the context of contemporary art.

We collectively assembled two large fabric sculptures and explored the processes of dying and mark-making.

Session 5

Session 5 introduced themes often considered separate from contemporary art such as music and cartoons and their direct impact on particular artist's approach to making work. We discussed how music was initially used as a muse to Abstract Expressionists, and asked the students to respond to different records as the casts from the previous session were painted.

The session then moved onto considering different methods of display, and the idea of installation art. Artists were referenced who study various forms of popular culture including music or cartoons, and how this influences a running aesthetic and meaning across their practice. We experimented with different materials to place the works within, and also directly worked with LP's as a medium to create a dispariage between function and decoration. 

Session 5

Session 4

Session 4 was a hands-on mucky sculpture workshop using clay. Inspiration came from contemporary sculptors such as Rebecca Warren, Franz West, and Rachel Harrison. We used video clips of figures in motion from our Dodgeball performance to sculpt 3D sketches within a 5-minute time scale. From these figurines we then cast a negative mould of the shape using plaster.

 

Near the end of the session we piled all the original 3d sketches into one totemic mega sculpture, which used a drum as its plinth.

Session 4

Session 3

Session 3 fused the previous workshop elements of performance and text with a new focus on ‘instruction as art’.  A simple set of multiple-choice options provided the framework within which the students created a personalised placard, (Bob and Roberta Smith style). The guidelines implied that there would be specific limitations in the production process. Each student explored the potential of these limitations through a unique interpretation of the language used in the instructions.

The words from last week’s word-association exercise were applied to each of the placards.

The second half of the session put emphasis on sound, with a performative interpretation of the commands. The recorded footage of the performances provides further research material, which will be developed in future sessions.

Artist References from Session 3