WINKHILL MILL - 8/12/17 - Proposal

 

Initial Meeting 

CLAYHEAD @ Winkhill Mill 

CLAYHEAD, Winkhill Mill, Swan Street, Stoke

In response to an open call for pop up events; myself and Fearn visited Winkhill Mill during a weekend open day. We discussed with Ceramic City Stories - the organisation residing in the loading bay of the working tile factory- the potential for a small 3 day exhibition in the space on offer. 
Two modified shipping containers are located at the front of the factory; fitted with exhibition lighting and MDF cladding to hang work. The space would be perfect to exhibit in, with regard to the history of the site as well as the two modern additions. There is potential to generate an interesting site-responsive residency/exhibition to present to the public and community seting around stoke town. 

Proposal 

Amy Foster // Fearn Hepden 
Collaborative Exhibition – Exploring Space, Materiality and Ephemerality. ‘

Stoke-On-Trent has a rich industrial heritage; the decline of ceramics production in the city has left behind an array of empty spaces holding on to their pasts. Regeneration in old and new properties can develop the potential of what these spaces can be used for moving forwards. Although just missing the UK City of Culture 2021 accolade. There is rife opportunity for artists to come together to show what the creative arts can do, to create new histories in these vacant spaces throughout the city.

The shipping containers at Winkhill Mill would be a fantastic location for our creative project. The mercantile history of the containers, alongside the industrious context of the Mill would provide us with a plethora of material to generate our intended site-responsive work. Whilst the exhibition will be an extension of our current practice, we also hope that the material gathered from the site will propel our practices into different directions and bring new exciting possibilities.

In our past co-curated exhibitions that investigated audience engagement with arts practice; responses were limited to small numbers of people already familiar with our work. Larger public recognition is essential to us for a greater understanding of how viewers react to the art we create. These varied responses offer diverse insight that opens opportunities to develop our work in new directions.

Both artists operate in opposing formats. Amy's work looks at immateriality, capturing the ephemeral in representations of fleeting moments and emotions. Alternately Fearn's work explores a physical presence; the intimacies between materials and the contextual histories of the space they occupy.  Between the artists, a richer body of work has potential to be created combining these themes in the external exhibition. From an audience perspective, the exhibition could explore the potential of industrialised spaces around the city, offering a renewed purpose to un-used property.

We envision a bare indoor location, a blank canvas for us to respond to. Variation in architectural construction will allow for exploration of the dynamics of the space with sculpture and video work. Light and dark regions in the room will provide conditions to create an experience for viewers with projections and the physical presence of regenerated material. With a focus on impermanence; the work made lasts only briefly and has no lasting presence in the spaces used, keeping the integrity and histories of the spaces we occupy intact.

Our creative project would require the space for around two weeks in February 2018. This timeframe includes time spent visiting the site and gathering visual material, an instalment period, and a short exhibition lasting two to four days. This allowance of time would ensure that our exhibition is coherent, and our works interact with the space’s dimensions and visual aesthetics whilst also securing an interesting spectacle for the audience.
Safety is paramount and therefore we would supply a full risk assessment. Also, in terms of public liability insurance, we each are covered by the university. 
Please consider the images we have provided of our current practice as an indication of similar work which may be produced for the exhibition.