Artist Statement:

My work strives to convey ideas and questions about our expectations regarding gender roles, work, culture and other aspects of our social and personal lives.

Using machine embroidery and reverse appliqué techniques, I seek to juxtapose pattern with theme in an incongruous and sometimes ironic manner to highlight how our expectations of life have adapted in a changing world.

My personal background and experience pervades the work; my training in the contrasting fields of engineering, time spent in a variety of work, periods of art practice and in the role of primary carer for my own children and a curiosity in observing the political and economic shifts over the past thirty years from Thatcher to the current credit crunch.

My work sets out to present the adaptation we have had to perfect in order to take our place in the 21st century, men being more active in parenting, juggling the work/ life balance, the pressure of a consumerist, aspirational culture, the necessity of changing our expectations of working life and the increasing presence of crime in the media and entertainment.

The choice of fabric and colour will be governed by a desire to provide contrasts between what we anticipate and the reality in which we find ourselves. Using materials found and given will enhance the sense of having to continually alter and adapt these expectations.

In conclusion, my work will use textiles and fabric techniques to illustrate the contrasts and adaptations of our ever changing society and to provide visual stimulus for discussion of the need to change and develop our expectations.

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TALKING CITY is Anna Francis’ Longhouse Guest Editor project, for March 2010.

Click here to go to the project page.

Artist Statement:

Branthwaite’s work spans a broad range of approaches where sites, subject and context interplay to create the specific content of each work. Seminal points in his career have forced direction changes and reconsideration of methodologies. In 2001 a residency at Red Gallery in Hull brought about interests in art making and the position of the Artifact within Art Practice. An Arts Council England Graduate placement in 2004 started what is still a key concern- The link between form and Function that acts as a metaphor for the dialogue between concept and art work.

Branthwaites work often alludes to a function or utilitarian use but constantly avoids any clear usage or clear meaning. This tension is created to provoke a question of the objects and environments that make up the fabric of our daily existence. Recent work includes the creation of sculptures that reference flat-pack furniture and installations that adjust ways of seeing and experiencing environments.

The work presented here is influenced by radical architectural thinking and introduces concepts of regeneration outside of the ‘city living’ approach. The ‘additional’ buildings in the image are made of collections of images of ceramic goods. This use of local materials and skills aims to draw on new questions about the innovation that could be incorporated in urban regeneration projects but is often omitted in favor of standardised design solutions. The work should not be read as a criticism but as an alternative conceptual approach that runs along side regeneration thinking and introduces new ways of ‘talking’ between the past and present city landscapes.

Click here to go to Michael Branthwaite’s Website

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TALKING CITY is Anna Francis’ Longhouse Guest Editor project, for March 2010.

Click here to go to the project page.

Artist Statement: ‘Eterniments / Joyful Sorrow’

When artist is an authentic witness and confessor of faith, the art becomes a passage to the invisible world. In“Reversed Perspective”,artist reviles existence of something beyond the obvious fact of miracle, found in “everyday’’- the discovery of God’s presence,developing the endless possibilities of “practising imagination”,and focusing direction towards achieving the highest goal: Redemption, Revelation and Salvation. We can feel at first hand the presence of the Holy Spirit, of Its Uncreated Energy . It all has one goal – the change of the entire visible world. Its complete, essential transfiguration.

At some times,we simply do not know if we are on earth or in heaven. We feel, with our entire being, that God is with us at that time. Truly with us.Those moments of stepping into eternity ,I have named ‘’eterniments’’.I strive to turn my art into prayer to God.

Click here to go to Jasna Nikolic’s Website

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TALKING CITY is Anna Francis’ Longhouse Guest Editor project, for March 2010.

Click here to go to the project page.

Ann Kopka’s artistic practice incorporates mixed media painting, drawing, 3D, installation, and digital arts. She is currently engaged in researching the properties of everyday ephemera; disposable discarded objects of little or no intrinsic value, drawing attention to the throwaway nature of consumer society and questioning our perceptions of its value systems.

Through the concept of making ‘something out of nothing’, items such as found papers, redundant photographs, discarded packaging and discarded everyday objects, are subjected to investigative processes and either become the source material for painting or are transformed into objects for reflective contemplation and exploration.

In this instance charity shop jugs became the source material for the painting ‘Talking Pottery’.

Ann has studied BA Fine Art, at Central St Martins’ College of Art & Design and has completed a two year contemporary Fine Art course at the City Lit in Central London. In 2001 Ann graduated from the Open University with a first class honours degree specialising in the Practices and Debates of Modern Art.

Ann has exhibited at galleries in Central London and North West London, London Docklands, Hampstead, Watford and Boston. In 2006 Ann was selected by the charity BlindArt to exhibit a large scale multi sensory relief image constructed entirely with tea leaves, for the Sense & Sensuality Exhibition at the Bankside Gallery, Southwark. In 2008 a grid of 9 multi sensory reliefs constructed from teabags was shortlisted by Brunel University for the Essence Exhibition at the Beldam Gallery.

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TALKING CITY is Anna Francis’ Longhouse Guest Editor project, for March 2010.

Click here to go to the project page.

Artist Statement:

More than Words uses the language of film, TV and popular culture to explore modern notions of romance and tragedy as well as the depiction of gender. It takes the visual perfection of advertising as an analogy for our quest for an ideal state of being. The collages solidify the most instant and passing experience of consumerism trapping what is by its very nature throw-away, and repositioning it as the raw material for something new. In this way it re-appropriates recognisable imagery, subverting its intended meaning

This series looks at how the images that surround us ‘speaks’ to us. By removing the images from their original context alongside slogans which give them a certain meaning we can now see how they ‘talk’ to us about our common humanity and our need to reach out and touch something that is shared in our experience of the world.

More than Words is a critique of contemporary consumer culture and commodity fetishism. It interrogates and explores the depiction of the human condition through the prism of advertising and mass media. Both placing work as intervention in advertising space and taking found images to create re-interpretations of this experience in gallery space.

My work deals with the fragmented nature of imagery in contemporary media where hackneyed cliché has replaced the genuine experiences the pictures once represented, twisted by the need to create the desire to consume.

Click here to go to Paul Stanley’s Website

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TALKING CITY is Anna Francis’ Longhouse Guest Editor project, for March 2010.

Click here to go to the project page.

Artist Statement:

I am a photographer living and working out of stoke-on-trent, uk. My work investigates and documents those parts of urban life which often go unnoticed and are often wilfully ignored.

Whilst on the surface, a city appears to be the sum of its buildings, inhabitants, attractions and planning, there has to be a deeper explanation as to why each has its own unique feel. City life is full of transient experiences, actions and conversations which happen in an instant and disappear just as quickly. However, I believe they leave an imprint – a series of indelible imprints in terms of visible marks and ephemeral memories which collectively make up an urban identity.

This picture was taken in Prague in 2008.

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TALKING CITY is Anna Francis’ Longhouse Guest Editor project, for March 2010.

Click here to go to the project page.

Aaron Head has been selected for the Talking City Com:mission Action Research.

The Com:missions explore the impact that one artist can make in one place, in one day. The com:missions are designed to investigate the impact of short, sharp interventions within the public realm, and question how working quickly and responsively feels for the artist.

Here is the documentation of his Com:mission

What did you do?

I undertook an action that consisted of displaying a countdown of five in an inaudible and visual way. I did this in a variety of busy public spaces in Milton Keynes. This was filmed and has been edited to create the film ‘5… 4… 3… 2… 1…’

How did it feel to work within the public realm in a quick and responsive way?

I think it was quite organic in a creative sense. It allowed me to repeat myself as many times as possible. I think this allowed me to develop the aesthetic of the work as the day went on. I also feel that towards the end of the day I was creating a presence in the city. In that way the work began to exist through gossip and retrospect. The work then develops an identity independent of myself, which could aid in it’s understanding and adoption as an image or idea.

What responses did you encounter from the public?

Some apathy, Some smiles and laughter, a lot of avoidance. In a commercial centre like Milton Keynes where people are well used to the arts of advertising I think the slight absurdity of my action jarred with a lot of peoples expectations. So I think the most common response was a faltering step.

What did you enjoy about the Talking City Com:mission?

I enjoyed being a presence in the city, which I hope created a folk and anecdotal element to the work. I also enjoyed the structure of this commission, it felt creatively empowering, as I have been trusted to create the work in my own time and in my own way. Faith in the integrity of the artist doesn’t seem to be so common in many commissions. I didn’t feel that I had to make work that ticked certain political boxes. I think the attitude was ‘we like your idea, get out their and do it and let’s see what happens’.

What did you find difficult?

I found it difficult being the fool. But that difficulty is an indispensable part of the work.

What would you do differently next time?

I think I would try and get permission from the local authorities in advance so that I could do the action in increasingly challenging spaces like a supermarket or Milton Keynes Snow Dome. If I did the work again I would also use a number of cameras to show different angles on one action.

What impact, if any, could this experience have on your practice?

I think it’s perhaps good to have a singular and simple idea in your mind and then to go out and do it, to see what happens. This was quite an instinctive work and it was good to just follow my instincts for a while.

Aaron Head talking city commission Have a look at the proposal that Aaron sent in originally.

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TALKING CITY is Anna Francis’ Longhouse Guest Editor project, for March 2010.

Click here to go to the project page.