The opening paragraph from our introduction written by Bonnie Kemske
It was always our intention to have a short run for London and a longer run outside of London.
Just as a reminder as my last blog post talking about this was back in April.
Haptic/Tacit is a collective including five makers who met in 2013 on the Crafts Councils development programme Hothouse.
What we all have in common is an innate fascination with making and material language.
Some of us are bound through process or material others by concept or exploration.
This opportunity has enabled us to develop creative networks and to be able to involve our mentors or buddies from the programme to showcase these working partnerships.
Exhibitors
Kim Norton http://www.kimnorton.co.uk
Laura Ellen Bacon http://lauraellenbacon.com
Jane Cairnes http://www.janecairns.co.uk
Annie Turner http://www.galeriebesson.co.uk/turner.html
Laura Grain http://www.lauragrain.com
Shelly Goldsmith http://shellygoldsmith.com
Tomas Appleton http://www.thosworks.com
Giles Macdonald http://www.gilesmacdonald.com
Grant Aston http://www.grantaston.com/#0
Bonnie Kemske http://www.bonniekemske.com
Install begins
Group discussion before opening
Opening night
We were given some Arts Council funding which enabled us to print an exhibition catalogue.
We felt this was an important element to support the two exhibitions, as it helps to build a deeper understanding and greater insight into each partnership. The catalogue includes five conversations between each maker and mentor and touches upon elements around working practice that can't possibly be completely visible just by experiencing the work.
The key element that holds the catalogue together is Kimberley Chandler's essay called Material Talk. Looking at how we have come to work together and the importance of the collective voice.
The conversations and dialogue we have ignited with Kimberley will continue in Oxford where you can hear us in conversation where Kimberley will be chairing the evenings event.
Shelley Goldsmith
Laura Grain
Giles MacDonald
Thomas Appleton
Bonnie Kemske
Grant Aston
Laura Ellen Bacon
Kim Norton
Annie Turner
Jane Cairns
Haptic/Tacit opens in Oxford on January 13th at the Old Fire Station and can be visited until March.
During the exhibition we will be running a workshop and a Q&A.
More information can be found on the website. please note although these events are free to attend tickets will still need to be booked in advance. http://www.oldfirestation.org.uk/exhibit/haptictacit/
The Old Fire Station, Oxford
I changed my collection to scale it down slightly for the space. This was discussed with the gallery at the very beginning. Collection 2 was three renditions of brick ranging from the found object to fired and unfired porcelain creating small assemblages.
Collection 3 was exhibited on grey slate instead of mirror glass showing a handmade rendition of the brick form in black and white. Made from porcelain and black clays the cracks and stresses reveal the making process and hi-light the evidence of my weight applied to the material.
Setting off from Vanguard studios to pick Grant up.
We finally arrive after an epic six hour journey from London to Oxford the day of the train strike.
Day 2 of install we Laura and Giles.
The decals installed after much fear they maybe too large.
Our catalogues ready for the opening Becki kindly made a shelf for them to be neatly displayed throughout the duration of the exhibition.
Giles MacDonald and Thomas Appleton
I changed my collection to scale it down slightly for the space. This was discussed with the gallery at the very beginning. Collection 2 was three renditions of brick ranging from the found object to fired and unfired porcelain creating small assemblages.
Collection 3 was exhibited on grey slate instead of mirror glass showing a handmade rendition of the brick form in black and white. Made from porcelain and black clays the cracks and stresses reveal the making process and hi-light the evidence of my weight applied to the material.
Laura Ellen Bacon
Laura Grain and Shelley Goldsmith
Grant Aston showed different work in Oxford as his previous work was being exhibited overseas.
Bonnie Kemske
Jane Cairns
Jane remade this piece, changing the darker lines than ran through the work shown in London.
Annie Turner
Collaborative making workshop
Jane and Grant ran a collaborative making workshop for adults one Saturday afternoon.
The idea behind this was to get everyone thinking as a group.
Architecture was given as a starting point as this lends itself to structural building methods, it immediately triggered ideas of scale.
Architecture was given as a starting point as this lends itself to structural building methods, it immediately triggered ideas of scale.
Additional props such as wood, bamboo canes, string etc were used to help create a foundation and the clay could be introduced in and around that.
The exhibition
The Window
We were given the opportunity of having a dedicated window to introduce the exhibition from the gallery shop entrance.
In order for this to have an impact we decided that CaCO3 was to be hung in two parts as it filled the entire space and is a piece of work that talks about material, scale and locality.
The chalk for this work was gathered from Sombourne chalk quarry in Hampshire. One of the last chalk quarries in the UK.
