Capability Funding Bidding Form 2008/9

Place and Time
An exhibition by members of the A.P.T. (A Place in Time?) Research Group
Avenue Gallery
The University of Northampton
11 January – 8 February 2013
Place and Time
Avenue Gallery
The University of Northampton
11th January to 8st February, 2013.
Preview: Thursday 10th January 6pm-9pm.
This exhibition comprises of works by members of the research group A.P.T. (A Place in
Time?).
Exhibiting members:
Professor Sebastian Blackie
Susan Bonvin & Andrew Eden
Christina ten Bosch
Ben Baal-Bowdler
Desmond Brett
Gail Dickerson
Kelly Gardner
Spencer Graham
Tom Hackett
Hitomi Kammai
Graham Keddie
Gary Price-Hunt
James Steventon
The A.P.T. research group is made up of artists involved in research within and across
different areas of fine art practice including ceramics, film, installation, painting,
photography, print, sculpture and sound. A.P.T. has engaged with the relationship between
the words place and time, and place and time orientated art practice by exploring the
multidimensional potential of the question A Place in Time?
Current members include: Graham Keddie (founding member and committee
chair), Spencer Graham (committee member/website), Susan Bonvin & Andrew Eden, Gary
Price-Hunt (committee member), Professor Sebastian Blackie, Desmond Brett, Gail
Dickerson, Christina ten Bosch, Ieuan Ward, Tom Hackett, James Steventon, Kelly
Gardner, Hitomi Kammai , Saba Hasan and Ben Baal-Bowdler.
http://aplaceintime.info/about/
Ben Baal-Bowdler
I am a musician who writes electronic music.
Working alongside Kevin Ford, I record under the names Loop Theory and 7inch Thugs, and
solo as Phat Knacka, Baal and 3B. Further information and music can be found at:
www.soundcloud.com/10000leagues and www.10000leagues.com
I am interested in the use of analogue and digital instruments to create aspects of sound
whether musical or not. Recently I have been exploring the use of found sounds to
manipulate into new forms.
1000 sq ft of Sound
The sounds that form the structure of the piece were collected from several locations within
the postcode E16 2RD on the 3rd February 2012. Sourced from exterior and interior settings
the sounds were recorded, edited, manipulated and arranged to create an immersive sound
environment.
Equipment used
Zoom H2 recorder
Apple Mac
Ableton Live
Logic
Remind 95
In 1995 Kevin Ford and I worked on a soundscape for a group of Performance Artists that
was not completed. The core of the work featured sounds created by electric guitar using a
number of guitar effect pedals and implements such as chains, coins and other items.
Recently the original C90 cassette tape was discovered with the guitar sounds. These
recordings have been edited and mixed into a new form that is essentially both old and
new.
Equipment used
Original recordings:
Charvel Charvette electric guitar
Various metal and wooden objects
Rocktek MWR-01 Metal Worker distortion pedal
Alesis Multiverb effects rack
Tascam 8 Track recorder
TEAC cassette recorder
2012 edit:
Apple Mac
Ableton Live
Improvisation 1 and 2
The idea was to explore using a simple set of melody lines played on electric guitar that are
fed through a number of effects pedals to create ambient soundscapes that focus on the
use of harmonic sounds and delays that are produced and their relationship to each other.
Equipment used
Westone Thunder 1A electric guitar
Native Instruments Guitar Rig
Ebow
Ableton Live
Apple Mac
Professor Sebastian Blackie
HLS no 13. Porcelain red clay garden ties
HLS Nature Carpet. Porcelain red clay cling film
HLS Absent Herbarium. Porcelain cling film
Clayscape: A ceramic research project by Sebastian Blackie
Clayscape is a phenomenological exploration of landscape representation using a number of
contested sites in the East Midlands.
The Huntingdon Life Science series is made with porcelain tiles in which wild plants,
gathered from the perimeter fence of the animal testing laboratory, have been pressed.
When fired the minerals, specific to the location and ingested by the plants, combine with
the clay to form a very thin glaze. Some of the impressions are inlayed with red clay also
gathered from the site but re-fired at a lower temperature.
The tiles are joined to form ceramic ‘carpets’ that represent our ambiguous and hierarchical
attitudes to nature and culture as well as to concepts of the natural and the synthetic.
Some of the ‘carpets’ are framed by tiles inscribed with text taken from the extensive
documentation of the site; others present skin like textures that evoke both the companies
notorious testing of cosmetics and pharmaceuticals as well as, more widely, our
understanding of boundaries and barriers.
Bonvin & Eden
Street Corner with a Lamp Post 1 2012
max. dimensions 172 x 114 cm
four panel painting in pigmented epoxy resin
Deptford Series, 2012
Our approach to making work is to focus on a location, and to collect drawings and
photographs which we develop in the studio. The record of the topography is unimportant,
but the drawings provide unpredictable combinations of visual elements and chance
insights into the character of the contemporary built environment. We have generally
chosen locations from the new towns, such as Milton Keynes, or the landscapes of roads
and edge of town developments.
For this series, the selected location was the exit of Creekside, Deptford onto the A200.
Here a new block of luxury flats was under construction, visible above older buildings. The
glass and metal of the new flats reflected the sky and the trees of a nearby pocket park.
This led us to exploit the natural transparency of epoxy resin, which was our chosen
medium. Additionally, we applied a high gloss finish to the panels to accentuate the
reflective/refractive nature of the building under construction.
Vertical features, such as streetlights, appear to interrupt and divide the landscape.
Christina ten Bosch
Time and Place
Medium: Film
The film exists as a simple record of a brief spell of time in a specific yet anonymous place.
The deliberate omission of obvious points of reference relieves the viewer of any
predefining burden of knowledge could otherwise hinder submission and disallow the
freedom to explore and interact with that non-time and non-place.
Desmond Brett
'The Keeper'
2009-2012
Found object & photographs.
The Keeper. A repository of events. A memory bank.
Gail Dickerson
‘Oxidation II’
Nine Prints
Beginning of the year
Six of the prints at the end of the year
Metal such as copper, brass, iron and aluminium, were left to oxidize on paper over a period of a
year. Familiar bits and pieces were used such as parts of computers or plumbing, sometimes
galvanised, or plated with chromium or cadmium, or steel coated in brass. Finally the objects were
removed and only a trace remained left as a print on the paper. Familiar objects are seen out of
place and broken down more into their raw elements.
Kelly Gardner
Baby Dress 3
Baby Dress 4
Photograms
60x50cm
My work is concerned with time and memory, traces and absence. I use textiles and found
garments to convey these ideas; fragments of lace and imprints of garments evoke traces
and residues of lost and forgotten things. The memories we hold are fated to become
selective, fragmented and faded, so this work is in part a reflection of the need to capture
and preserve the memory through the use of the ‘keepsake’.
I make photograms from garments by placing them on light sensitive paper. I use chiffon
and transparent garments, christening gowns, nightdresses, slips and gloves - antique flea
market finds. I capture the ghostly trace of them. I am interested in the sense of absence
and also the trace of a human presence that is left behind. These clothes are those residues,
the husks of lives.
Spencer Graham
Pressing Detroit 2012
Pressing Detroit 2012 is essentially a kind of “listening station” not dissimilar to the set up
you might find in an independent record store. All records included as part of the
installation were pressed and/or released last year and include the word Detroit either in
the titles of the records themselves, within featured track titles or as part of the recording
artists’ names. These records are shown along with a turntable, amp and headphones. It is
hoped that through the act of listening to the said records and/or studying the associated
artwork on the sleeves/labels, visitors to the exhibition will consider the significance of
Detroit as a place of diverse cultural production and as a specific point of reference to
outsiders* for myriad reasons.
The auditory emphasis within the installation, together with a specific focus on the word
Detroit, deliberately steers clear of the tired “ruin porn” images that are currently so often
used to depict the city. On this point it is interesting to note how the records are housed in
plain sleeves or feature artwork that does not include such visual clichés of urban decay.
* e.g. Detroit Swindle are from Amsterdam
The following records form part of the work Pressing Detroit 2012:
Luca Ballerini & Rio Padice, Never Mess La Cricca, Waxjam, 2012 includes the track
Detroit Bazaar (track B1 – although there is no tracklisting on the cover, label or run
out groove area)
Faruq Z. Bey 4et, Live at the Detroit Art Space, Sagittarius A-Star, 2012
Blodfet & DJ Lonely, From Tuscany to Provence, Börft Records, 2012 - includes the
track Detroit is tuff, but so are we, sweets
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. We Almost Lost Detroit EP, Warner Bros. Records Inc., 2012
Detroitrocketscience, Detroitrocketscience Vol 1, Detroitrocketscience, 2012
Detroitrocketscience, Detroitrocketscience Vol 2, Detroitrocketscience, 2012
Detroitrocketscience/Kuba Sojka, 22.300 miles above Neo-Detroit, Minimalsoul
Recordings, 2012
Detroit Swindle, B.O.S.T.O.N., Murmur Records, 2012
Dilla Dog, Dillatroit, Ruff Draft Records, 2012 - includes the track Detroit Madness
Dimension, Digital World/Detroit (Ft. Cyantific), Cyantific Music, 2012
The Evergreens, The Green Folder, Terpsiton, 2012 - includes the track Detroit
Evening
Kemetrix, Soulwerkz Detroit Presents: Soulbrother #3, Pomelo Records, 2012
Fela Kuti & Egypt 80, Live in Detroit 1986, Knitting Factory Records/Strut Records,
2012
Optic Nerve, Detropolis EP, Puzzlebox, 2012 - includes the track Detropolis (Detroit
Vocal Mental Mix)
Professor Inc. Natural Evolution EP, Rue De Plaisance Records, 2012 - includes the
track Detroit Baby
Karriem Riggins, Alone, Stones Throw Records, 2012 - includes the track From
Detroit/Belle Isle
Society of Silence, Signifying Monkey, Society of Silence, 2012 - includes the track
Beat Reading Detroit (A and B sides are mislabelled)
Norm Talley, The Riviere D'etroit, Rue De Plaisance, 2012
Andras Toth, Would U?, Alphahouse, 2012 - includes the track Detroit Echo Tool
Two Armadillos, Golden Age Thinking Part 3, Two Armadillos, 2012 - includes the
track Detroit Dancer
Unknown Artist, Long Distance to Detroit 02, Long Distance to Detroit, 2012 (the
words Long Distance to Detroit are etched in the run out groove area)
Various Artists, Essential Detroit Blues, Not Now Music Limited, 2012
Various Artists, In The Dark: The Soul Of Detroit, Still Music, 2012
Various Artists, KMS 25th Anniversary Classics Sampler 03, 2012 - includes Phil
Agosta Tribute to Detroit (Agent X Motor City Remix)
Various Artists, WPH Summer Sampler 2012, We Play House Recordings, 2012 includes Alex & The Grizzly Detroit/Berlin - San Soda's Lazer Remix (tracklisting
etched in the run out groove area)
Rick Wade, Detroit Fury EP, Hizou, 2012
DJ W!ld, We Almost Lost Detroit EP, W, 2012
Many thanks to the following: Alex at Stones Throw Records, Andrew at Alphahouse
Records, Art at Pomelo Records, Bart at We Play House Recordings, Sander Bekeschus,
Dennis at Terpsiton, Detroit Swindle, Glenn at Not Now Music Ltd, T.J. Hicks at Minimalsoul
Recordings, James at Mahogani Music, Jamie at Cyantific Music, Jan at Börft Records,
Jerome at Still Music, Jerry at Warner Bros. Records Inc., Justin at Mute, Luca at Waxjam,
Jonas Ohlsson, Alan Oldham, Sagittarius A-Star, Kuba Sojka, Society of Silence, Varoslav at
Rue De Plaisance Records and Rick Wade. Apologies if anyone has inadvertently been left
out.
spencergraham.net
Tom Hackett
My current interests present a shift from an engagement with the notion of the site specific
and its commitment to place in a particular manner, to the notion of:
site/place} fluid-fragmented-contingent
In essence exploring one’s cerebral displacement from any given physical locus, by being
mentally in many times and places, whilst physically occupying one given geographic point.
Gathered conversations mingle with displaced memories, fiction and sites to set up layered
and fragmented images blending extrapolated sound-bites and daydream both actual and
fictional to form A0 text works for third party contemplation.
Hitomi Kammai
Media: Video
My works are based on showing my ideas about humanity by using artificial objects such as
light bulbs, tiles or invented objects.
Recently, I have made paintings with dents. They represent polluted ground in Japan after
the nuclear accident in 2011. These works also show that what used to be believed as
perfect can turn into the opposite through the changing of time.
Graham Keddie
Unknowing in time an ineffable dialogue
Media; Sculptural print.
“Emergent Methodologies
... thinkers who are concerned with understanding the relationship between events and
mental phenomena, and who have replaced the notion of “materialism” with that of
“physicalism” (Beckermann 1992:1). Central to the work of such thinkers, is the theory of
emergent evolution which asserts that as systems develop, their material configurations
become more complex...”1
“...we live in a world where information bombardment is in danger of leading to atrophy of
memory, erosion of privacy and decay of feeling...”2
Love and Information. Caryl Churchill.
“Scene 1
Decision
I’ve written down all the reasons to leave the country and all the reasons to stay.
So how does that work out?
There’s things on both side.
How do you feel about it?
No, I’m trying to make a rational decision based on the facts.
Do you want me to decide for you?
Based on what? The facts don’t add up
I’d rather you stayed here. Does that help?”3
If language is a method by which we can see the limits of the physical boundaries applied
through logic based on facts and therefore how things are, then I ask myself are there
secrets that language can hold that are beyond what can be said? Can I legitimise the act of
not knowing, deflect dogma interrupt preconceptions or fixed viewpoints? Therefore,
disabled and dysfunctional, layered patination is at the centre of this work. I am engaging in
an ineffable dialogue, struggling to define, determine or identify.
‘Peter believes Paul to be a Spy’.
The nature of logic; Analyticity as logical truth. In this chapter the boundaries of logical truth
are considered;
... “The definition of logical truth
Consider the logical truth
Brutus killed Caesar or Brutus did not kill Caesar.
The schema for this sentence is:
p or not p ...” 4
This piece interactively explores an equation of intentional contexts. It has within it, a
predicate relational expression and can, in this context be annotated; ‘a R that S’. For me
this statement has an emotional and unresolved nature to it, which I find uncomfortable.
The work tries to broach this aspersion but it struggles to find proof, measurable evidence
or definition. Therefore, ‘in the moment’ the piece becomes intangible and unplaced.
However, the statement draws in a sense of value, doubt and moral questioning that, for
me, brings about a cycle of emotional wrestling with this ‘predictive text’.
1. Barrett. E. Bolt. B. (2012) Practice as Research Approaches to Creative Arts Enquiry I. B.
Tauris & Co Ltd.Replika Press Pvt. Ltd India, pp. 6-13.
2. Billington. M (15th September 2012) review of, Churchill. C. Love and Information.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2012/sep/15/love-and-information-royal-court-review.
3. The Love and Information compiled and written by Lynne Gagliano,
Royal Court Education Associate and Caitlin McLeod, Assistant Director for Love and
Information. Cover Image by Science Visuals ©2012. Production photos and Caryl
Churchill photo by Stephen Cumminskey © 2012.
4. Orenstein. A. W. (2002) Quine Acumen Publishing Limited. Printed Biddles Ltd., Guilford
and King’s Lynn, Pp 95-99
www.grahamkeddie.com
Gary Price-Hunt
I Can’t Stay Long (after Bonnard)
I Always Looked for You (after Bonnard)
We Left the Week Ahead (after Bonnard)
Pierre Bonnard (1867 -1942) The Table 1925
Oil on canvas 1029 x 743 mm
Tate Modern, London
The Bonnard table is brightly lit, casting blue shadows to the left of each of the assorted
bowls, plates and baskets of food. Our table was round, sometimes oval if the cantilevered
extra pieces were brought up from below to accommodate extra guests or food. It was lit in
the same way with an overhead electric light that could rise and fall. The Bonnards look as
though they ate well: this is France after all. There is bread and fruit here, set for three, with
one child already at the table. I waited as well, hearing the preparation in the kitchen,
seeing items being brought in as the Sunday tea took shape on the table. Bonnard was a bit
older than me when he painted this. His studio was upstairs, close to this room and he
would work from memory and small sketches. He made lots of similar paintings of meal
times; there’s another one in The Tate Collection, Coffee, painted in 1915. It shows his wife
and dog at the same(?) table. A bit daring… we wouldn’t have been allowed to have our dog
at the table like that. She was around my feet. Waiting as well. That’s probably a rug under
the Bonnard table, just visible in a narrow strip to the left and bottom. Rugs were for old
houses not for one on a 1960s estate. We had fitted carpet made by Courtauld’s down the
road in Kidderminster. This was the first Bonnard painting bought by the Tate, with money
from a substantial Courtauld donation, a year after it was made.
Gary Price-Hunt
James Steventon
James Steventon
15 hours
129.8 cm x 98.2 cm (framed)
Pencil on paper
7 seconds per breath
3,600 seconds per hour
15 hours
7,714 breaths
“ … pain takes no object, and like other interior states is impossible to express fully in the
external shareable world … As runners, all we can do is map our surroundings, to note,
submit, and file its geographical extremities. In return we are helped to chart our own
physical limitations.” ¹
“A moment of complete happiness never occurs in the creation of a work of art. The promise
of it is felt in the act of creation but disappears towards the completion of the work.” ²
James Steventon’s practice involves methods of inhabiting the fleeting mental state of
operation loosely defined by Csikszentmihalyi as ‘Flow’. Strategies for achieving this include
both endurance running and endurance drawing. That the intention for each strategy is the
same, the methods are considered alike: running is drawing.
This can manifest itself as either public or private performance, where “Matter has been
transformed into energy and time motion,” ³ or as the residue of performance in the form of
an autotelic object. In each case this can be driven from perspective of the heart as a
sensory organ.
1. Robin Harvie (2011). Why We Run: A Story Of Obsession. London: John Murray. pp72-73.
2. Lucian Freud (1996). Some Thoughts On Painting. Theories & Documents Of
Contemporary Art: A Sourcebook Of Artists Writings. California: University Of California
Press. p219.
3. Lucy Lippard. (February 1968). The Dematerialization of Art. Art International. Vol. XII
(No.2), p31.