Through the use of simple gestures, a playful ‘lets-see-if-this-works’ approach incorporates elements of intuition and contingency into the work. Using materials at hand, there is an emphasis on process and conceptualization while exploring the sculptural phenomena of gravity, weight, bearing of load, stability and fragility.
Chris Clinton: 'For Every Action, There Is An Equal and Opposite Reaction'.
I'm interested in the materiality and tactility of art and its provisional nature, in relation to the architectural space that frames it, and in generating an activity or process, through the changing of physical properties of materials within a creative context.
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JAMES FOWKES
I predominantly fabricate models of buildings or structures, out of everyday objects and materials such as cardboard, foil and found objects. The models that I make are not exact recreations of real buildings or structures. I aim to create the essence of the building or structure, without paying too much attention to every tiny detail.
Birmingham Central Library is of particular interest to me for a few reasons. I am fascinated by Brutalist Architecture, which this library is a great example. I find the odd paradox of Brutalist buildings curious. They look futuristic, yet are a dated form of architecture. Also I was also attracted to how this building would translate into a cardboard model.
James Fowkes: Carboard Model Of Birmingham Central Library.
I intended this model to be a predicted future for the building, as debates surface regarding the future of this building as the new library starts to take shape and dominate the cityscape. Will this building be knocked down, left to ruin or preserved as a piece of historical architecture that illustrates Brutalism in its purity?
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PAUL NEWMAN
Paul Newman: 'A Confidentiality Clause'.
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Paul's work is centred on drawing, painting and performance-based photography. It depicts imagined characters of a personal and fabricated identity, and mindscapes which represent imagined places on the point of collapse and regeneration. There has been an increasing oscillation in the work between figuration, landscape and abstraction and the image of the self, merging into its surroundings. This development has been influenced by an artist’s relationship with his studio environment, and the surrounding debris and detritus from the working method that creeps into the work itself.
Paul Newman: 'The Last Day'.
Stage I & II is an experimental moving image and painting installation which is a starting point of an investigation exploring connections between a painting practice, the studio environment and the domestic space.
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ALEXI K
'Looking California, Feeling Minnesota'; That Soundgarden lyric pretty much sums up the idea behind my MOOD FLAGS series. I don't feel any particular allegiance to a landmass. Why do I have to say 'I'm English'? Why can't I just say, 'I'm Earth-ish'? This whole thing about patriotism gets on my nerves. Therefore, I have declared myself a country. Following that logic, I needed a flag. But what if my mood changed? What if I wake up feeling Zimbabwe, but after a couple of Earl Greys and a biscuit or two, am edging towards Cameroon? Then, after spending time in pleasant company, I'm feeling decidedly Sweden? Consequently, I would require a flag for every mood. And perhaps every mood-within-a-mood, as is fitting for a highly complex and romantic figure like myself. So I dismantle the original flag structure, and fill them with stripes or other shapes, depending on what captures the nuance I'm trying to express.
Alexi K: 'Mood Flag 12', Acrylic on canvas, 60cm x 50cm
I think declaring one's-self a country could catch on. But now, I need an embassy. Preferably in a nice warm territory where they have good food and agreeable people. And the guy on the train this morning, with his elbow encroaching into my airspace - I could simply have ordered an airstrike.
As you can see, there are many practical applications to this concept.
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ROBERT E.V. WALSH
Circle.
Plane figure with an
infinite number of straight sides.
Colour theory.
Tonal vectors.
Construct.
Golden Section.
(Bilateral symmetry.)
Colour theory.
Scintillation.
Tonal contrast.
Tonal vectors.
Harmonic balance.
Painting.
(de)construct.
Drawing.
