Bursary Holders
Penryn Arts Festival, 2017As part of Penryn Arts Festival 2017, we provided 5 small bursaries for local artists, makers and organisers in and around Penryn, with an aim to support creatives who were looking to develop new projects, workshops and initiatives in the area. The awardees were Phyllida Bluemel, Georgia Gendall, Samuel Rump, Graham Taylor and Amy Lawrence. As the organisers of the 2017 festival Field Notes mentored the 5 artists, assisting them in the development of their ideas, particularly the elements of public engagement. Read on below to hear more about the individual artists and what the bursaries enabled them to undertake.
Phyllida Bluemel is a book artist and illustrator whose books borrow structures from language philosophy to approach perspectives on landscape, nature and (by extension) reality. Her books are constellations of images and ideas, brought together across disciplines through coincidental or formally resonant connections.
For her project, Phyllida set out to ground her practice in her local community after a period of undertaking residencies abroad- she aimed to make connections with other local artists and craftspeople; and to explicitly acknowledge the deep influence of the sea, Falmouth and Penryn upon her ways of thinking and working. Penryn as an ancient coastal community and edgeland led her to exploring themes of edges and fringes, drawing on research into traditional cartography and map-making. From this she created Guidebook for a Monument, an observation from the fringes of the festival; bringing together snippets of conversation heard during workshops and events with musings on her encounters with the works produced by the other awardees. You can download the guidebook here.
For her project, Phyllida set out to ground her practice in her local community after a period of undertaking residencies abroad- she aimed to make connections with other local artists and craftspeople; and to explicitly acknowledge the deep influence of the sea, Falmouth and Penryn upon her ways of thinking and working. Penryn as an ancient coastal community and edgeland led her to exploring themes of edges and fringes, drawing on research into traditional cartography and map-making. From this she created Guidebook for a Monument, an observation from the fringes of the festival; bringing together snippets of conversation heard during workshops and events with musings on her encounters with the works produced by the other awardees. You can download the guidebook here.
Georgia Gendall is an artist and gardener living and working in Penryn. Often satirical, sometimes immersive and frequently inconclusive; her multidisciplinary practice both celebrates and critiques the relationship between failure and success, the practical and the creative, labour and the body and their intrinsic and empirical relationship to the environment.
Georgia’s bursary was put towards establishing and constructing the More or Less Garden: a project space on an allotment just outside Penryn. The More or Less Garden was set up as both a project in itself and as a space in which to challenge the conventions of the studio space: considering, collaborating and engaging with the complexity of the environment as a studio. Georgia’s long term aims involved hosting local and national artists on a short term residency basis, with artists invited to make site responsive and specific work within and about the space and the wider allotment community. The bursary enabled Geogia to hone these ideas and they evolved to become a project now known as Residency in a Shed at The Allotment Club. At the same time she also develped Forced Collaboration, an idea for artistic exchange through an instruction based format in keeping with the festival’s theme of skill sharing, that also continues to run now.
Georgia’s bursary was put towards establishing and constructing the More or Less Garden: a project space on an allotment just outside Penryn. The More or Less Garden was set up as both a project in itself and as a space in which to challenge the conventions of the studio space: considering, collaborating and engaging with the complexity of the environment as a studio. Georgia’s long term aims involved hosting local and national artists on a short term residency basis, with artists invited to make site responsive and specific work within and about the space and the wider allotment community. The bursary enabled Geogia to hone these ideas and they evolved to become a project now known as Residency in a Shed at The Allotment Club. At the same time she also develped Forced Collaboration, an idea for artistic exchange through an instruction based format in keeping with the festival’s theme of skill sharing, that also continues to run now.
Graham Taylor works from behind various masks/names/entities/collectives, he is associated with OVERT operations, TRYBE, MORECHANDISING, ATTEMPTATION, BLNT Collective, Badge Nipple, The Nicotine Tingles, and a few other masks that have fallen by the wayside. His activity centres around performance and writing, it comes from words and is often manifest in words/writing/text/ performance. His work is informed by an ongoing captivation/fascination/confusion about what artists do, a DIY sensitivity and a dislike of passive aesthetic contemplation (although he rather likes how it looks).
For the festival Graham created The Body Project, a t-shirt making workshop run under his pseudonym TRYBE. TRYBE is a creative entity focused on ideas around a performance of the self made through clothing decisions, and how association or want of association with a trend or sub-cultural tribe, to try + be, can affect what someone might be saying with how they clothe themselves. The idea of the tribe also occurs in the uniformity of each body of work by TRYBE, attempting to create a small community through visual identification. The workshop resulted in the participants creating a garment/t-shirt for A body (rather than THE body); with decisions about how the garments were made and what was done with them afterwards determined through the process of working collaboratively.
For the festival Graham created The Body Project, a t-shirt making workshop run under his pseudonym TRYBE. TRYBE is a creative entity focused on ideas around a performance of the self made through clothing decisions, and how association or want of association with a trend or sub-cultural tribe, to try + be, can affect what someone might be saying with how they clothe themselves. The idea of the tribe also occurs in the uniformity of each body of work by TRYBE, attempting to create a small community through visual identification. The workshop resulted in the participants creating a garment/t-shirt for A body (rather than THE body); with decisions about how the garments were made and what was done with them afterwards determined through the process of working collaboratively.
Amy Lawrence has trained predominantly as a craftsperson, with an interest in performance art, but at the time of receiving the bursary performance was becoming a bigger focus of her work. Merging together practical crafts with conceptual art Amy works to prompt a change in attitude to craft. She is interested in traditional celebrations and rituals, and the invention of new mythologies, mimicking the behaviour of some of these traditions within her practice.
Amy’s bursary led to Earthworms, an outdoor performance experiment in song and dress that took place at a project space on an allotment just outside Penryn, the More or Less Garden, run by fellow bursary holder Geogia Gendall.
Amy’s bursary led to Earthworms, an outdoor performance experiment in song and dress that took place at a project space on an allotment just outside Penryn, the More or Less Garden, run by fellow bursary holder Geogia Gendall.
Samuel Rump is an artist and arts organiser who, at the time of the bursary, had been working out of a building he was restoring in Mawnan Smith, Cornwall. He was interested in exploring the possibilities of establishing a sustainable space to support challenging emerging art in a rural setting, and also investigating the links between the materiality of the china clay industry, Absinthe, the architect Gordon Bunshaft and Adidas in his personal work.
The bursary enabled Sam to curate a test show at Rough Hewn, his space in Mawnan Smith, which was open over February 2018. The exhibition brought together artwork from the five Penryn Arts Festival bursary holders, each offering works made during the festival period as well as from their broader practices. They used the opportunity to show finished work and on-going projects across a variety of media as a snapshot of what they were creating towards the end of the bursary period.
The bursary enabled Sam to curate a test show at Rough Hewn, his space in Mawnan Smith, which was open over February 2018. The exhibition brought together artwork from the five Penryn Arts Festival bursary holders, each offering works made during the festival period as well as from their broader practices. They used the opportunity to show finished work and on-going projects across a variety of media as a snapshot of what they were creating towards the end of the bursary period.
FUNDERS AND PARTNERS
2017 saw Field Notes temporarily take the lead on Penryn Arts Festival to rethink the connection between the town and the arts. This iteration of the festival was devoted to celebrating local expertise; drawing out Penryn’s creative, skilled and resourceful local community; sharing local knowledge, revaluing haptic reasoning, showcasing Cornwall’s connection to making, and exploring contemporary art’s relationship to ancient methods and traditions. The programme included five bursaries for local artists/craftspeople, free public workshops and screening events, an artwork handling collection and a Skills Share Fair.
Penryn Arts Festival 2017 was supported by funds from Big Lottery, Arts Council England, Penryn Town Council and FEAST.
Penryn Arts Festival 2017 was supported by funds from Big Lottery, Arts Council England, Penryn Town Council and FEAST.
GET IN TOUCH:
info@fieldnotes.org.ukThe development of this website was supported by Cultivator Cornwall
