Germany, Heat Exchange 2

Guest artists and Erfurt sounds

So I’ve been back from Erfurt for over a week, and while I’ve finished unpacking (the bulk of which turned out to be enamels and steel – who knew!) I’m still processing – both the work I produced, and the experiences I had while there.

I’ll talk more about both those things soon, but I’m really keen to share a bit of a side project that I got up to while in the studios at the Künstlerwerkstätten. There was so much concentrated, or perhaps contemplative  (you’d have to ask each participant which they were veering towards in any given moment – which I admit might be tricky) silence, that was only broken by the sounds of hands busy making things. In essence, we were treated to some of the noises that normally only the solo artist would hear in her/his studio. And I found it fascinating!

So, aside from coating a lot of pieces of metal in enamel, I went around taking some (admittedly shaky) footage of artists at work, just so that I could record the noises they were producing as a part of their process.

And this is where I also introduce a couple of friends of the Heat Exchange 2 project, Annemarie Timmer and Martin Schulze (and a great video including Martin, and Elizabeth Turrell plus others from an earlier enamel Symposium in Erfurt this year.) Annemarie and Martin came along to help fill out numbers, and added their warmth to the atmosphere of exchange.

But back to sound. One of the most distinctive noises was the ‘chink, chink’ of Annemarie Timmer’s slip-trailer against enamelled steel, magnified by the curvature of the bowls that she was working on. Unfortunately in this video the background noise proved an almost overpowering an aural overlay for the tiny microphone on my camera, but you’ll get a small idea of what it was like sitting in the studio, being able to tune into every mark Annemarie made.

It was like very rhythmic crickets!

Then there was the firing. Once again, the sheer size, as well as the in-built amplification of Annemarie’s piece, made for an interesting and unique aural experience.

Stay tuned, more sounds to come…

Germany, Heat Exchange 2

02 studio

This is the second stage of our workshop! Check it out!!!

Germany, Heat Exchange 2

Three days in and out of the studio

So much happening, so little time with an internet connection! Here’s a few things we’ve been getting up to, in a photo diary.

Germany, Heat Exchange 2

In Erfurt!

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Several of the artists involved in the project have travelled to the Künstlerwerkstätten in Erfurt, Germany, to work together for two weeks over the northern summer. The first artists to arrive are staying for the whole two week long residency and have been getting busy – in the studio and out. Last night we celebrated our first Saturday night together and took our first group selfie to commemorate!

Image of artists Beate, Melissa and Kaori, with the Künstlerwe
Left to right – Beate, Melissa, Künstlerwerkstätten director Grit Becher and Kaori.

Now lest you think me too frivolous let me just say that I’ve got plenty of proper photos of work coming soon.

Australia, Heat Exchange 2, United States

Introducing…

Here we are, making work for Heat Exchange 2! In the two years that has passed since the last edition not much has changed.. Oh who am I kidding? This iteration of the exhibition finds me living in the USA, surrounded by the welcoming and very vibrant metals community in Seattle, Washington.

Owing to my personal cross-continental exchange, I have had the pleasure of catching a couple of other Heat Exchange participants already this year. I visited Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond in February where I caught up with the dynamic Susie Ganch. We were concentrating on her Radical Jewelry Makeover project at the time but we managed to share a few thoughts on enamel while she gave me a walking tour of her city.

Susie Ganch in the metals studio at VCU in Richmond, Virginia. 2014

Next up, I was at SNAG where Robert Ebendorf was honoured as this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award Winner. I’d like to say I managed to snap a selfie while the two of us shared a few words, but with SNAG conferences being what they are, after his award ceremony I did not spot him for the rest of the weekend! So, please excuse the grainy photos of Robert, but as you can appreciate the auditorium was full for his award ceremony.

Photo montage of Robert Ebendorf receiving his award at SNAG 2014
Photo montage of Robert Ebendorf receiving his award at SNAG 2014

So that just leaves me. Here’s me in my basement studio in Seattle, about to face a moment of truth…

Melissa by the kiln

 

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Work for ‘Back from the Front’, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol, July 2014

Postcards recreated from an original Postcard and photographs from my Great Uncle Maurice Dawson sent before his unit was sent to the front
Postcards recreated from an original Postcard and photographs from my Great Uncle Maurice Dawson sent before his unit was sent to the front

To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the First World War I have been busy making some new work for an exhibition in Bristol curated by Elizabeth Turrell.

‘Back from the Front’ will have two components, showing simultaneously:

‘Brothers in Art’: a show of paintings by two major British artists from the First World War, Paul Nash and John Nash, both of whom served at the front and who were later commissioned as Official War Artists.

‘Shock and Awe’: Exhibited in the RWA’s extensive Sharples, Winterstoke and Stancomb-Wills galleries, ‘Shock and Awe’ is an exhibition of work by artists who have been exposed to the front-line experience of war and by those who have responded to recent conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Balkans

Alongside other invited international artists exhibiting at the RWA Elizabeth Turrell has curated a show of a small group of enamel artists from the US, UK and Europe with whom she has previously worked with on  ‘anti-war medals’

  • The artists for this exhibition: Michael Brennan-Wood, Kathleen Browne, Stephen Bottomley, Helen Carnac, Robert Ebendorf, Kirsten Haydon, Elizabeth Turrell, Jessica Turrell, Tamar de Vries Winter, Rolf Lindner,  Jonathan Ward, Bettina Dittlmann, George Coutouvidis and Susan Cross
    display of cards in progress
    display of cards in progress
    Detail of the built house of cards, in preparation for delivery and set up at the RWA in mid July
    Detail of the built house of cards, in preparation for delivery and set up at the RWA in mid July

     

  • This work developed from working directly from family photographs, in particular a recently discovered 1915 postcard sent from the Hertfordshire training camp where his Great Uncle Maurice Dawson, then aged 17, was trained as a young newly enlisted soldier. There he sent a ‘postcard photograph’ picturing him with at army camp to his mother. The card was sent to warn home that he had heard his unit was due to be transported to the next day by train and then on to military action.This project explores memory through the photography available at that time as souvenir postcards that captured one of very many individual stories and a poignant and tender moment between a mother and child.  The construction represents the real vulnerability and danger facing families caught up in the Great War.

 

‘Back from the Front’

Royal West of England Academy, Queen’s Road, Bristol, UK

18th July (PV), Public Exhibition 19th July – until the end September 2014

Germany, United Kingdom

Introducing some of the artists

I am excited to kick off our new Heat Exchange 2 project and look forward to the sharing of ideas, the dialogue and the feedback from you all. It is fantastic to create this dialogue amongst artists, who are located all over the globe, sharing a passion for this wonderful medium of enamel.

Elizabeth and I thought of beginning the conversation by introducing ourselves and some of the artists, who we visited or worked with in the last couple of months.

Beate and Elizabeth in Beate's workshop on the Gower
Beate and Elizabeth in Beate’s workshop on the Gower
Elizabeth working in her workshop in Bristol.
Elizabeth working in her workshop in Bristol.
Elizabeth Turrell and Beate Gegenwart
Elizabeth Turrell and Beate Gegenwart planning Heat Exchange 2

 

Beate visiting Christine Graf in her workshop in Munich during Schmuck.
Beate visiting Christine Graf in her workshop in Munich during Schmuck.

 

Christine Graf in her workshop.
Christine Graf in her workshop.

 

Jessica Turrell and Christine Graf at Christine's exhibition at Schmuck in Munich.
Jessica Turrell and Christine Graf at Christine’s exhibition at Schmuck in Munich.

 

Beate visiting Catherine Fairgrieve in her workshop at Coleg Sir Gar.
Beate visiting Catherine Fairgrieve in her workshop at Coleg Sir Gar.

 

Elizabeth and Kirsten Haydon in the workshop at RMIT in Melbourne.
Elizabeth and Kirsten Haydon in the workshop at RMIT in Melbourne.

 

Gudrun Wiesmann working in the Kuenstlerwerkstaetten in Erfurt.
Gudrun Wiesmann working in the Kuenstlerwerkstaetten in Erfurt.

 

I am looking forward very much to this new project. I have just completed a 3D Printing residency at Cardiff Metropolitan University, which was very exciting and might lead to new opportunities. I will talk about this in my next blog.

artists exchanging energy