Unitypanda

Unitypanda is an ambitious and fun project for people to come together to knit pandas. The Unitypanda project is being tested out with the people of Coventry 16-20 January 2010 at the Coventry Artspace shop at Unit 22, City Arcade. Members of the public of all ages are invited to come along and knit a small part of a panda, be they experts, ex-knitters or pure beginners.

Local people can take a break from their shopping in the winter cold by dropping into the Unitypanda shop in Coventry town centre. Anyone interested in a spot of knitting can cast on around the large pandaknitting table and enjoy a hot cup of tea with some friendly company. The aim of Unitypanda is simply for people to have fun making pandas together.

For the four days of this initial Unitypanda trial run pandaknitters are sought to test out the knitting pattern. Advice from experienced knitters or helpful comments from novices are invaluable for perfecting the adorable little Unitypandas. Through trial and error the pandamaking system will be fine tuned until the pandas start to multiply like hot cakes.

In April 2010 Unitypanda sees its official launch at the Coventry Artspace shop and at venues nationwide. It is hoped that scores of knitters pooling their time and effort will create a hundred Unitypandas or more. All the knitted pandas will go on tour in an art exhibition in autumn/winter 2010-2011.

As the saying goes, many hands make light work. Every panda stitch is helpful and everyone can knit as much or as little as they like. As the needles start clicking hind legs and paws will start taking shape and a good time will be had by all. It’s anyone’s guess how many pandas will appear when a lot of people each make a tiny effort, and that’s part of the fun.

Knitters will follow an original pattern from 1946 which commemorates the arrival of the giant panda “Miss Unity Panda” to London Zoo. The lovable 10” knitted creature is made up of 24 parts, some being larger and more complex than others. Pandaknitters choose which part of the panda they have the time and skills to knit. Panda parts range from an ‘ear’, a quick and easy knit, to an ‘upper half fore leg’ which suits the more experienced knitter.

Would be participants don’t even need to knit to join in the panda fun. Help is required to cut rags for stuffing, sew the pandas up and embroider eyes and noses. People are more than welcome to simply share their memories of knitting around the pandaknitting table. Perhaps someone even remembers Miss Unity Panda arriving at London Zoo 66 years ago! In keeping with the 1940’s theme, music from the wartime era will enliven the proceedings. Parents are welcome and a selection of panda books and toys are available for children.

All the Unitypandas created with the help of Coventry residents will be on show in a touring exhibition from September 2010 to January 2011 ‘Material Actions’ organised by Textile Forum South West. Unitypanda is devised by West Midlands based artist, Jonnet Middleton and funded by Coventry Artspace and Longhouse. For more information call the Pandaline on 07974 694 584.

Pandaline: 07974 694 584

Opening times: 10-30 – 4.30, Sat 16, Mon 18 – Wed 20 January 2010.
Coventry Artspace shop, Unit 22, City Arcade, Coventry.

Follow Unitypanda on :

http://unitypanda.wordpress.com
http://www.facebook.com/unitypanda
https://twitter.com/unitypanda
https://friendfeed.com/unitypanda

Beyond Bricks is entering its second year following on from a successful programme in 2009 and this year Beyond Bricks will take place in nine different neighbourhoods in the Birmingham and Sandwell Housing Renewal Pathfinder area. To find out more about the programme and last year’s projects please go to www.beyondbricks.net

The programme is an exciting collaboration initiated and led by Urban Living and Arts Council England, West Midlands. Delivery of the programme is managed by local community arts organisation, Multistory.

A number of commissions are now available on the Beyond Bricks programme. Please click on the documents below to find out further information about the commission and how to apply.

• Beyond Bricks Documentation Brief (pdf)
• Beyond Bricks Evaluation Brief (pdf)
• Beyond Bricks Press & PR Brief (pdf)

The involvement of residents is critical to my proposed project. The research will be structured as a series of public ‘consultation’ sessions in green sites. The focus of this approach is too provide an informal venue where members of the public can work with myself on exploring how green sites are valued and used. Each event will consist of a freestanding 3m x3m x2m display where the public will be invited to engage in informal discussions. Throughout these discussions, notes will be made onto the display, which over successive sessions will become a cumulative public text exploring cogent questions of urban green spaces and how we can behave as responsible stewards of these valuable spaces.

The intention of this approach is to foreground how green spaces are seen and valued by members of different communities and to build a consensus about their value and possible future creative uses which would contribute to the life of the residents.

The online aspect of my research will be a cumulative map of the area which presents my research data. The map will include the locations of the sites, their approximate dimensions, botanical survey information listing the plants at each site, in the case of ‘neglected sites’ how long the site has been ‘out of use’, current uses of each site and possible future uses for sites developed in collaboration with residents. The map will also include highlights of the on site discussions.

This bursary will support me in building upon a new focus in my practise which began this year with scribble space, (commissioned by the Architecture Centre in Bristol and Groundwork Southwest). This project was a gallery installation with off-site guided walks, which questioned and expanded the debates and assumptions which inform how we understand and value urban green space.

This is an area that I wish to develop further within my practice. Previously my focus has been on the built urban environment and I have not specifically focused on green spaces before. Part of a vibrant urban landscape is its green areas, access to them and freedom of action within them is vitally important. This new focus in my practice is about developing practical approaches to maintaining and using them which does not preclude creative and imaginative uses of them.

This bursary will provide me with valuable time in which to develop, with the public a template for future projects in green spaces. My desire is to build a collaborative way of working which proactively explores how the public can act as responsible and imaginative stewards of green spaces.

Project update- September 2009

accumulations and removals

This is difficult to start……. there is the obvious one of the initial plan agreed at the onset of this period of research, but there are multiple points before this that would serve as beginnings. Perhaps I should outline what I mean by multiple beginnings or how this notion entered this project.

By chance something was returned to me in early September, a set of note books, sketches and ephemera from my practice between 1994 and 2000. This collection of words, drawings and plans marked out the spread of my practice, within which I worked from then onwards, in some form it was a set of instructions, a messy manual of assumptions and ideas I would spend the best part of ten years unpicking.

This pile was the remnants of billboard posters after they were removed. I found them in a small space below a series of billboards outside St. James Football Stadium.

I called this pile of discarded posters a grimoire . Why did this interest me within the context of this research project? To answer that I need to go back to my second visit to West Bromwich, on that day I walked the town and photographed a number of sites, one site particularly interested me, and it was an unused car park next to the metro line, behind the shopping centre. Whilst not appearing to be very green, it did have these green areas, where the top layer of tarmac had been removed and where piles of earth and rubble had been left after some construction/dismantling work.

These piles of material and surface removals echoed somehow with what I had been thinking when I first approached this project, but at that point I was unsure of what actually was going on. Following on from this I carried out a series of walks in Newcastle upon Tyne, looking for derelict sites that had ‘gone green’.

Over two weeks I found lots of sites which fitted what I was looking for and inside these sites I found more piles of material and areas where the top layer of the ground had been removed or excavated.

Project update – November 2009

preparing the ground

The first report concluded with references to alchemy, the writings of Robert Smithson, and a proposition to consider place as a form of matter, an unsupervised coagulation of processes, unregulated by deliberate or thought through actions. Since this report I have been organizing the series of public works, as proposed in my research plan.

As of tomorrow the 23rd of November I will begin to put my preliminary thoughts and research into action over two weeks in Bridgwater, Somerset. To enable this I am working with a number of organizations in Somerset, primarily the Engine Room, a film and video resource space set up by Somerset Film and Video and Thrive which is a network of arts organizations in the county which are providing technical support for the realization of small scale contemporary art projects.

For two weeks (Nov 23rd to Dec 6th) I will have the use of a vacant shop space, which I will use as a ‘collecting house’ for notes, observations, documentation and found objects collected from accidental green sites in Bridgwater. During these two weeks I will be visiting different green spaces both large and some very small, with members of the public and I will work with them on making in-situ texts, interventions and modifications to the sites. The purpose of this participatory and critical process is to develop a body of contextual material which will unpack the assumptions, expectations and perceptions surrounding accidental green sites. The results of this on site process will be drawn together in the shop unit, as a cumulative body of writing, drawing, photographs and video.

On the 28th and 29th of November I have invited three artists to work with me. The role of this intensive weekend is to develop a collaborative video piece which will explore and record possible uses of accidental green sites and the different social and economic reasons for their existence. The three artists are Nina Chua, Kirsten Forkert and Sophia Yadong Hao:

Nina Chua lives in Manchester, UK and spends a significant amount of time in Sabah, East Malaysia. Nina Chua has exhibited at, among others, Chinese Arts Centre, Manchester; Laing Gallery, Newcastle; Blackburn Cathedral and Blackburn Pavilion in conjunction with Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery. Nina studied Embroidery at Manchester Metropolitan University, graduating in 2002. She is currently involved in a collaborative project, Mutually Advantageous Association.

Kirsten Forkert is involved in activism, art and research, particularly the difficult task of trying to allow these activities and contexts to cross over. She is currently doing a PhD in Media and Communications at Goldsmiths and has written for Mute, Variant and Third Text. She lives in South London, where she studies and works, and is involved with the Lift and Hoist social centre.

Sophia Yadong Hao is a UK based artist who works with process and participation. Hao has exhibited works in the UK and internationally, including at Vital: International Live Art Festival (Manchester) in 2006 and 2007 and at the National Review of Live Art (Glasgow) 2009 and 2010. She was one of the collaborators of Ornamental Happiness, Rose English’s production commissioned by the Liverpool Biennial 2006. In 2008, Hao lived in a remote Chinese village and made an ongoing process based project I am not a Fairytale, an addendum to Chinese artist Ai Wei-wei’s work for documenta 12. As well as being an artist, Hao is a curator and writer. In 2009, she curated NOTES on a return which involved Anne Bean, Rose English, Mona Hatoum, Bruce McLean and Nigel Rolfe in revisiting and re-contextualizing Performance Art history in Britain in the 1980s.

01: Scribble space. The Architecture centre and Groundwork Southwest. Bristol 2009. Scribble space for the architecture centre in Bristol was a gallery installation supported by off-site guided walks, this process led approach questioned the rhetoric of green spaces by providing a venue in which to explore and expand the debates and assumptions which inform how we understand and value urban green space.

02: Full Bloom, Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne 2008. This was commissioned to support the National Portrait Galleries touring exhibition ‘love’. The work was a 12 hour interactive installation in which the public were invited to write how emotions are expressed in public space. The work was a large timber frame covered in plastic sheeting on which were mounted 1000 fresh flowers. The flowers were used as a writing surface.

03: Public good. Out of site live art event, Dublin, Ireland 2007. This 3 day public work explored how behaviour is affected by site. The work consisted of a wreath made from artificial flowers and ribbons mounted on a steel frame. The wreath was located in Temple Bar Square, a popular tourist destination in central Dublin. During the work the public was invited to engage in discussions which explore forms of behaviour in public space and how these shifted depending on what is thought permissible. During the discussions notes were written onto the wreath providing a cumulative document of the process.

04: Lookout. Articule Gallery, Montreal Canada, 2003.

This gallery installation presented a static work which explored the rhetoric of public and civic spaces. The installation was supported by a gallery talk and panel discussion in which the role of the gallery as a public space was explored.

My research plan is largely staying intact at this stage; the only major change has been one of location for the proposed public works, which has moved from West Bromwich to Bridgwater. This is for a number of reasons; firstly it’s more practical for me to be developing this where I am now living (I moved from Newcastle to Somerset in October), secondly I wish to develop a relationship with venues and arts organizations in Somerset, as part of a longer term strategy to be professionally involved in the art sector in the county and I felt that this was a good opportunity to begin this.

After the two weeks in Bridgwater has come to a close I will submit a detailed report on what happened and its potential impact on the final stage of my research plan.

“The days of our lives” is – at its heart – an oral history project which will use the full range of new digital technology – photography, audio, video and online ‘social media’ – to celebrate the lives of the residents of a residential sheltered accommodation and its community.

Whilst still in development, my hopes are to weave together a narrative, that when combined with the power of words; fashions and explores notions of our – as Dr. Paul Bassu cites – “…individual and collective memory…metaphors of home…and the rhetoric of self-making…” located, as they are, within the socially constructed landscape of our worlds.

Project update – September 2009

At this stage of the project development I have initiated contact with Holly Grange which is a sheltered housing initiative comprising 33 1 bedroom sized flats, which were built in 1985 and are situated in Malin Street, Smethwick.

Renovated in 2007, the sheltered housing initiative provides an extra Care Sheltered scheme with on-site care staff (24 hours / 7 days), and non-resident management staff (7 days) and community alarm service. The service is operated by Sandwell Council

I contacted my primary contact, Ms. Lorraine Skipp, at the beginning of August and outlined my initial project ideas to her wherein which she discussed her own interest and in turn scheduled a meeting to discuss how this idea could be further advanced.

A summary of the points discussed in the meeting is below:

Lorraine was extremely keen that the project should go ahead. She sees it as a way of “celebrating Holly Grange and its community”.

She was especially keen on the potential the project has to:

• Celebrate individual life stories.

• Utilise audio and video recording – especially with those residents who may not wish or consider themselves able to write their own blog contributions.

• Create a sense of community both within Holly Grange and possibly across other Sandwell Homes housing units for which she has responsibility (Walker Grange, Tipton; Manifoldia Grange, West Bromwich; possibly Penmakers, the Sandwell Homes/Midland Heart joint venture housing on the site of the old Bearwood Pens factory, Bearwood Rd)). However, it is not clear in practice how tenants at other locations might be supported to be part of the project nor whether realistically the project can be run on multiple sites.

We agreed that there should be an introductory “icebreaker” session – in which residents might be asked to participate by bringing an object or photograph that means something special to them or depicts a period of their lives that is especially important.

Whilst Lorraine saw the clear potential that the project has to showcase Holly Grange and celebrate the community that has developed there – one that is largely otherwise hidden away, she also acknowledged some potential problems:

• Vulnerable adults/duty of care – project workers may need CRB checks; Sandwell MBC will need to satisfy itself that there is no potential for exploitation of residents.

• Sandwell MBC/Sandwell Homes has a stringent communications policy which is applied to all Holly Grange publications/communications and it is likely that SMBC will consider that this should also apply to the project.

• Privacy and ‘release’ issues re. photography, video and audio inclusions.

These issues will probably have to be resolved to SMBC’s satisfaction before project can commence on-site – but it is evident that Lorraine wants these issues to be overcome.

Project update – November 2009

The population of the UK is ageing. Over the last 25 years the percentage of the population aged 65 and over increased from 15 per cent in 1983 to 16 per cent in 2008, an increase of 1.5 million people in this age group. Over the same period, the percentage of the population aged 16 and under decreased from 21 per cent to 19 per cent. This trend is projected to continue. By 2033, 23 per cent of the population will be aged 65 and over compared to 18 per cent aged 16 or younger.

“The days of our lives” is an oral history project which will use the full range of new digital technology – photography, audio, video and online ‘social media’ – to celebrate the lives of the residents of a residential sheltered accommodation and its community.

In a culture obsessed with youth, fame and celebrity, in which older people’s histories and experiences are increasingly ignored, a project about community, experience and ageing has special relevance.

Whilst still in development, my hopes are to weave together a narrative, that when combined with the power of words; fashions and explores notions of our – as Dr. Paul Bassu cites – “…individual and collective memory…metaphors of home…and the rhetoric of self-making…” located, as they are, within the socially constructed landscape of our worlds.

In practice:

After numerous voice, and email conversations and meetings with Lorraine Skip, Manager at Holly Grange Care Centre, during August and September on October 7th I finally met with residents to discuss the scope of my project.

At the meeting I was introduced to 8 residents who, during the 90 minute ‘icebreaker’, expressed a keen interest in the project. In an informal group setting we discussed the idea history and the need for it to be shared to new generations unawares of the past.

We discussed some of the following points.

1. We spoke about modern culture and the ways in which the society in which we live is obsessed with youth, fame and celebrity where the voices of older people are ignored. Someone raised the issue of how other cultures respect the voice of elders.

2. I raised the idea of them being social historians and that their experiences would become an oral history of what has gone before – that they are the link to the past.

3. I put this into the context of the ways in which TV is obsessed with history but usually it is the opinion of an expert – who was not there – retelling history. They were there – and so this is their opportunity to tell their stories.

4. I explained that my project will hope to record their memories and experiences of the past, of today and tomorrow in an oral histories project – that if you agree – will be kept for future generations. I mentioned that they have all been witness and lived through such amazing and interesting times. You have seen the world change around you in ways that no-one could have imagined. You are our only real link to the past and I would be honoured if you would share them with me.

5. I discussed that the project was not just about the war, or memories of 60 years ago – that all memories even those from yesterday are valid (that no story is too small) and that they can all be involved within a range of ways.

6. I discussed a number of entry levels to the project. Actively writing blogs themselves, having someone write them for them, being recorded etc.

After the conclusion of the first meeting I was surprised how positive the group had been towards the project.

By the time of my second visit I would be introduced to a range of difficulties that I thought the first visit had resolved.

1. Prior to my second visit I had asked residents to bring an object – photo, letter etc – that they had a personal connection to so that they could discuss this and share a memory about it. I kept the same group setting from the previous session – as they had expressed that they would be more comfortable sharing their experiences with the group rather than with me individually.

2. I realised beforehand, as I was recording this, that this might be problematic but had no other choice but to continue with it.

3. It was clear that some of the people present had not been there the previous week and had no idea what the others were doing. It appears that staff had realised and opportunity to ‘off hand’ some residents for an hour.

4. This proved quite destabilising as they constantly spoke over other people, and asked why they were here?

5. It was immediately clear that no matter how much I described the project – without a product (or a blog with their stories and images on) they were not able to pre-visualise how their words, stories and images would be shared to the world.

6. It was immediately clear that the group format was not right. Asking residents to be quiet whilst they listened to stories they had no interest in was problematic.

7. It was also quite clear that stories chosen lacked a degree of intimacy and perhaps were chosen more for public consumption within the group. I realised that the other members of the group are strangers to them and whether it’s because they are from a generation that does not share publicly what they are feeling inside, or they felt uncomfortable revealing things about themselves to strangers – they would constantly refuse to talk about how they felt within certain circumstances and stories would start off promising and then dry up when they thought they were revealing too much of themselves.

8. It was also clear that some of the residents had believed the first session was the beginning and the end of the project.

9. Whilst I thought I was fully aware of what difficulties might arise from working with an older target group – it has proven more difficult than I had imagined.

10. The issue of levels of privacy became important as, within the group firstly there is a fear of the internet and indeed a fear of computers – and technology – as a whole. Within the group only one individual uses the communal computer and he himself does not like the internet.

11. It was immediately clear that no matter how much I described the project – without a product (or a blog with their stories and images on) they were not able to pre-visualise how their words, stories and images would be shared to the world.

Products of second session:

Whilst there were many issues arising from the second session – there have been a degree of progress made.

Whilst recording interviews within the group format was difficult it was still possible to construct 14 good interviews from this session. Examples of some are below:

Edna – her husband, Afghanistan

Edna: This is the certificate that my husband was given – ‘cause the Royal Marines come under the Navy not the Army – and that was his certificate to go on-board ship.

Andrew: Do you mind if I pass it round?

Edna: Well, I’m not sure if they –

Alan: I’d like to see it if you don’t mind, Edna…

Edna: And that’s when he was discharged after the war.

Andrew: When did you meet each other?

Edna: Oh, I’ve known him all my life, I knew him all my life, yes, we didn’t meet in the forces… We lived by one another in West Bromwich, from children we knew each other… And that’s his Commando certificate to say where he served and that… He went onto the Marines in 1943 and then he volunteered for the Commandos.

Andrew: How did you feel when he joined up?

Edna: Well, he never spoke about his experiences. You could never get anything out of him. The only person who ever got anything out of him was his doctor when he was dying of cancer.

Andrew: So while he was away you kept in touch by letter?

Edna: No, we didn’t, we saw each other once when we both happened to be on leave at the same time – ‘cause I was in the army too – we met once and then we didn’t meet up again until after the war was finished, and then we got married in 1947.

Andrew: It’s difficult for someone of my generation to understand that kind of situation.

Edna: Well, after the war, you picked up the treads, got a job and carried on. You didn’t forget…you couldn’t forget the war…being in the forces. We’re doing things here now for the boys in Afghan – collecting stuff to send parcels to them for Christmas. Well, I’ve been in touch with all the different Territorial Units to give us names of boys out there because the GPO won’t accept parcels unless they’re sent to an individual person. I shall be on the phone tonight to West Bromwich Territorials to see if they’ve got any boys in Afghan. I mean, we must forget these people who are serving the country – to stop terrorism, really.

Action Research for me is the opportunity to take the time to further research Alzheimer’s disease and other degenerative diseases, a subject dealt with within my artwork. I hope to raise awareness about the disease and offer subtle support to people whose world is affected by it.

I will be exploring taking my artwork out into the public realm, using green spaces and a rural setting. I also hope to be able to work collaboratively with other artists including using online resources, exploring creating work with artists I have never met.

Project Update – September

The first Action Research task I set myself was to look through old sketchbooks and pick out notes I had made about things I would like to explore but have not yet had the time to do so.  This was quite a therapeutic exercise and what was most reassuring was that I actually get around to doing a lot of the stuff I say I want to do. But one area I felt needed looking at first was my knowledge on the specific subject I am dealing with in my artwork. I have been producing artwork about Alzheimer’s disease for the past three years based entirely on my experiences of caring for my Grandfather, in order to continue to develop my work I feel that I should try to look at the disease from another point of view. So this meant I was allowed the luxury of buying myself some new books to read.

The most interesting thing that has struck me whilst beginning my research, is the conversations that have started from people spotting the book that I am now reading ‘Learning to Speak Alzheimer’s.’ People I have worked with and known for years are suddenly opening up to me about their parents or grandparents, it appears many of us have unspoken worries about relatives suffering from Dementia. The number of dementia sufferers, specifically with Alzheimer’s disease, is dramatically increasing with the aging of the baby boom generation, as such more and more people like myself will be caring for older relatives with the added difficulty of a degenerative disease. It is important that these carers are given support, in order to care for their relatives correctly and more easily, but also to reassure the carer through a difficult time. Through my Action Research I hope to develop my work in order to raise awareness about the difficulty of caring for someone with Alzheimer’s disease and to give gentle support to those doing the caring.  I want to do this through placing artwork in public spaces; confronting people with an unexpectedly altered world, much like the world that an Alzheimer sufferer sees. But also offering reassurance to carers with affectionate and encouraging notes in the most unexpected places.

The next stage of my research is to look for places in which to produce this work. I have been researching GPS devices, as I am interested in producing the work in a more rural setting. I live just outside of the Peak District and would like to explore the area for possible sites. Using the GPS will allow me to record sites that I am interested in and to then locate them on a web based map once the work has be produced.

Another important part of my Action Research is that I am interested in collaborating with other artists, the conversations sparked from the book I am reading has helped here too. I have arranged to meet with another artist working in Leek to discuss a possible collaboration, as she too has had to care for a relative with dementia and believes there should be more support for carers. I am also now working on a project with Stoke-on-Trent Museums, where we will be developing activities for residents of an EMI residential home.

Project update (September to November 2010)

Listening To Your Eyes: I think I’m obsessing

www.listeningtoyoureyes.blogspot.com

A: ‘I was travelling on the train the other day and spotted a crumpled up chewing gum wrapper that had been left on the table in front of me. I started to think about how far the wrapper had travelled, how long had it been there? Who had sat next to it? What conversations had it witnessed? Who had left it there? I rather poetically began to think that the answers to all of these questions are captured in the folds of the wrapper.

I took the wrapper and put it in my pocket. But then started to feel guilty, that I was somehow preventing it from completing its journey. I decided to put it back. When I got off the train and put my hand in my pocket it was still there, I had forgotten.’

I have started a blog, a place to keep all my thoughts and a record of my explorations. I’m being quite specific about the things that I keep on there, as it is also the place I’m directing people to through my intervention work. The intention is to keep it quite honest, as I feel that’s the easiest way to support people in a similar situation as you: they can see that I am still learning but also feel my empathy. At the same time I want that to be honesty about things that will help them with their situation, rather than my ramblings about my art work.

A really strong theme that is emerging with my work is the continued discussions I am having with other people about their experiences. A lot of these experiences are people who are only just realising that this is something they are going to have to deal with. Particularly with friends, they are coming to me for preparatory support; they want to know how to behave around their loved ones who are in the early stages of dementia. This further encourages me to believe that this kind of support is really needed and the more people that know about places you can get this support the better; the need for this support is only going to increase as the population increases and people continue to live longer.

I attended a Dementia training day in October, where I learnt a bit more about the history of dementia and the many different types that exist; it also covered the science behind the diseases and confronted a few of the myths. This was in preparation for me going in to a residential home for people with dementia, where I took part in an activity that involved introducing residents to selected objects from The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery Social History Collection. I found this to be useful for my understanding of different types of dementia and to see the varying levels that people are likely to face. I also enjoyed interacting with the people at the residential home and was able to see techniques that professional carers use with the residents.  Thus began my obsession with the colour yellow.

Two of the techniques that have stayed with me are more to do with the visual techniques that are used at the residential home. The first is that out of bounds areas at the home, such as big kitchens and caretakers’ cupboards are disguised by continuing the wallpaper or border over the door that leads to the area. This means that the door remains mostly unnoticed by the residents, which in turn means less confusion for the residents, who might wonder why they are not allowed into certain areas. I really like this idea that I can remove the things that I don’t like or that I wouldn’t want someone to see, simply by placing a border around it. The second is that rooms they are allowed in that might need explaining, like toilets and offices, are labelled with big yellow signs; yellow is the last colour on the spectrum that a dementia sufferer loses. This has given a theme to my current practice; I am currently generating a lot of artwork around the colour yellow. I began by using yellow post it notes to leave notes in public spaces (see ‘What time is it?’ and ‘When words fail’) this then led to my creating some yellow postcards, with the intention of leaving them in public spaces for people to pick up. I have also explored the idea that this could become an obsession, I could try to hold onto the things that I need by turning them yellow, which could in turn lead to me turning everything yellow and getting lost in a world where one thing cannot be distinguished from everything else (see ‘toothbrush’ and ‘frame’).

One of the most difficult things for me has been the actual placing of my work in public spaces. I am surprisingly nervous about just putting my work out there; I’m not sure if it’s a fear of judgement, that I’m simply not happy with what I’ve done or that it is a practice I am just not used to. I have begun placing notes around public spaces and have been happy with the result achieved, although I think more abundance is required.

Another approach with my artwork that I wanted to explore was that of collaboration. I was lucky enough to be able to take part in the Interrogation: Collaboration residency at The New Art Gallery Walsall in September. For this I was instructed to work with Agent Strain. Although I found the residency to be enjoyable, on reflection of this experience I have found that I did not enjoy collaboration for collaboration’s sake. If I were to work with another artist it would be because we have a similar idea that we want to explore or a particular project we want to work on. Although decision making with Agent Strain was surprisingly quick and easy, I felt that as we did not know each other well we were unwilling to be as critical as we might normally be.

In my practice, I have started to challenge the use of the video camera by exploring the physical limits of its frame through performances. With the Action Research Project, I would like to explore the use of projectors, surveillance cameras, video cameras, TV monitors and different types of screens to offer interactive live video installations involving passing pedestrians. The piece would be shown through the window of an empty shop. By making obvious the omnipresent and hidden CCTV filming, I would like to offer the viewers a possibility to gain some power back over their image and to reach poetic dimensions in the public space.

Project update

To follow the progress of Celine’s project please visit her Action Research project blog.

Unitypanda is a project which critically engages with the community-building capacity of both knitting and social media. Within the context of socially engaged practice and relational art, the artist experiments with new definitions of community as a network relationship between people, both real and virtual, in the emerging digital environment. This project examines how the inherent potential of social media affectsaesthetic experience on the cultural landscape of today in what could be termed ‘social media aesthetics’.

Project Update – September

The project has got off to a good start with a positive reaction from the Age Concern taster groups. In the following phase I will concentrate on planning the launch event with hopefully real time contact between some of the online and offline knitters.

It has become clear that the project could become significant in scope and that it’s growth potential depends equally on my initial time input and, largely beyond my control, whether the idea takes off online or ‘goes viral’. The more time I invest in networking, the greater and faster the spread of unitypanda online. Likewise, the more offline sessions I kickstart, the more offline panda production is spawned.

Therefore, I am seeking to reduce my professional work commitment in order to better realise the potential of the Unitypanda project and thus readjust my workload to reflect my priorities as an arts practitioner.

That said, however, as the project takes shape, I would like to explore avenues and means whereby Unitypanda can become increasingly self-organised, depending less on me for its expansion. I see my role moving from that of initiator to one of moderator/co-ordinator,ensuring effective panda completion and online/offline co-ordination, and also of documenter of the project.

Project update (September to November 2009)

The project has grown in stature over the past two months through significant exhibition and film opportunities and additional funding. The resulting short film and exhibition catalogue will generate a lasting legacy of both process and product. The unitypanda idea has been extremely well received in both the offline trial knitting event and among local social media theorists and practitioners.

There is, however, much of the practical groundwork still to do and the launch will take place two months later than was at first envisaged. This is partly due to the unexpected developments mentioned above and also to other commitments. I have now left full time employment and over the next three months the realisation of unitypanda is my top priority.

For this reason I am not unduly concerned about arriving at a sufficiently advanced stage by the time of the evaluation phase of the action research. I have been studying social media theory and community/activist knitting to try to understand this online/offline experiment in both theory and practice. In addition I have discussed the project with workshops of digital environment students. They identified the online/offline distinction as being potentially more divisive than inclusive. This is an interesting point and I wonder if there is a terminology for communities built of both virtual and face to face interaction, something along the lines of “interline” – between the online and the offline.

Regarding my personal development as an artist in general, the Material Actions exhibition is also highly relevant to the other areas of my practice (see futuremenders.wordpress.com) The catalogue is written by the leading exponent in sustainable textiles, Kate Flatcher, and I believe this could generate additional interest in my practice and further openings in the future.

Follow Unitypanda on :

http://unitypanda.wordpress.com
http://www.facebook.com/unitypanda
https://twitter.com/unitypanda
https://friendfeed.com/unitypanda

Ground Control reveals how untested urban planning is transforming not only our cities, but the very nature of public space, of citizenship and of trust.

This is the start of a two year programme of work by the University of Wolverhampton and Multistory as part of the Black Country Creative Advantage (BCCA).  Most of the delegates at the event were selected to take part in a seminar for BCCA in West Bromwich on 19 November 2009.

Here is the video of the video of the event:

Here is the Q&A session with Anna following her presentation:

BCCA is two year programme which aims to develop and then realize an innovative, public realm development scheme benefiting artists, institutions and communities in the West Midlands. BCCA wants to build capacity for transformative public art and design practices and gain national recognition for the quality and depth of the work they are about to begin together and in relationship to West Midlands Communities.  Artistic work that will be increasingly embedded in the regeneration programmes across the Black Country and disseminated in national and international publications.

By working across the two institutions (CADRE and Multistory) BCCA seeks to engage in a rigorous national discourse about public realm ideas, policy and practices for the region. BCCA will establish a replicable model of artist/community collaboration focused upon place-based creativity, and a sense of real cultural democracy and regional impact. The project seeks to develop the confidence and knowledge that leads to creativity and sensitivity in the changes that are typical within a dynamic regeneration environment.

The blog address for this programme of work is www.blackcountrycreativeadvantage.org

The launch event for BCCA was held at the Public and featured a talk by acclaimed journalist Anna Minton talking about her book, Ground Control. The video for the talk can be seen be clicking here.

Prior to this event, BCCA did a call out for enthusiastic and curious activists and researchers, architects, artists, designers, planners, to attend Anna’s talk and to also participate in a seminar on the following day on 19 November. The seminar aimed to kick off the Black Country Creative Advantage and explore possible ways of working on the programme by sharing best practice amongst a team of highly experienced professionals.

To read about Jonathan Atkinson’s (Urban Research Collective)account of the day please visit their blog.