Exploratory Laboratory 2
SIMON CALLERY
Simon is exploring a journey from Sherborne to the sea linking the hidden geology inland with the visible strata of the coast.
Simon Callery is a painter based in London. His work is currently included in Within/Beyond Borders, selected works from the European Investment Bank Collection, Luxembourg; at the Byzantine and Christian Museum, Athens and he will be showing in a group painting show at Galerie B55, Budapest, in February 2012. Simon is used to collaborating to develop new approaches to landscape. Previously he has worked with archaeologists from University of Oxford. His paintings are multi-sensory like our experience of being in, rather than just looking at a landscape.
Simon's work will be, "generated by a series of long distance winter and spring walks from Sherborne to Weymouth. The intention is to traverse, connect and locate the historic landscapes of the limestone and chalk downlands with the world renowned geology of the Jurassic coast. The artwork that will result from the experience of walking these landscapes will be informed and tempered by the voices and insights of the people who inhabit these landscapes."
Simon's own website
MAT CHIVERS
Mat is working with the National Trust at Purbeck to create work for Bournemouth town centre, bringing the countryside to the town.
Mat work combines traditional approaches to making, like carving by hand in stone and drawing on paper, with contemporary technologies to make normally invisible processes visible.
He will be showing work in ‘Material Matters' at the Courtauld Institute, London in 2012 and is currently involved in an ongoing project with research scientists at The University of Bristol.
Mat has, "always been fascinated by ideas of change and flux. To be working in response to a landscape that makes it possible to experience transformative processes in the natural world on such an enormous scale and in such a beautiful context is going to be a great challenge and pleasure. ( ... ) I would like to work closely with local people who have a strong relationship with the landscape. "
Mat's own website
ZACHARY EASTWOOD-BLOOM
Zachary will be in residence at Durlston Country Park, Swanage.
He works with many different materials such as concrete, ceramic, bronze, wood and resin. He combines both traditional and contemporary processes such as casting, CNC milling, 3D printing and laser cutting, making objects that question the delicate balance between the material and the contemporary world where so much information is held in digital form. Zachary is a founding member of London based Studio Manifold. His amazing piece ‘Information Ate My Table' is currently touring with the Crafts Council's Lab Craft exhibition.
"I am very keen to explore the diverse possibilities of using scientific data and instrumentation to stimulate form creation. The prospect of working and being in dialogue with scientists is a very exciting notion"
Zachary's own website
PROBOSCIS
Proboscis (Alice Angus, Giles Lane, Gary Stewart and Stefan Kueppers) most often work outside art galleries and like to collaborate with local people, communities, scientists, technologists and architects. They create projects, events and artworks inspired by a particular place, community or question that is often the focus of multiple, sometimes conficting, social interests, histories and issues. Their work mixes traditional arts, technology and events with social, artistic and technological research. They have worked with computer scientists, anthropologists, geographers and social scientists. Projects have been in collaboration with universities, community organisations and technology industry and funded by bodies as diverse as the Research Councils, Technology Strategy Board, Local Authorities, Heritage Lottery Fund and Arts Council. Proboscis recent work is inspired by ecological knowledge, communities, landscape and the built environment. Projects blend visual arts practice, arts practice, academic research, spatial design, technology development, and community participation such as Urban Tapestries (2004), Snout (2007), Perception Peterborough (2008) and Being in Common (2009), Sensory Threads (2010) and Graftto (2010).
Alice Angus said: We are very excited to be commissioned for ExLab and are looking forward to working with the local community, PVA medialab, Bridport Arts Centre, Hive Beach Cafe, the National Trust and earth scientists. The coast at Hive Beach is an inspiring and rich mix of physical and social history, folklore, scientific knowledge (amateur and professional) and contemporary stories.
Proboscis web site
SIMON RYDER
Simon is working for the unique setting of Portland Bill.
Originally trained as a zoologist before turning to art, Simon is interested in how we interact with the places in which we live and work, and how they, in turn, shape us. He adopts ideas and methodologies drawn from science, natural history, he ia a qualified zoologist, art, and geology. He often uses one discipline to transform another. In recent work he turned birdsong into landscapes, and crystallized horsetail ferns as a form of keeping memory alive. You will be able to follow Simon's progress on Portland through his blog which can be found at www.artnucleus.org.
"It will be an exciting challenge to address the variety and complexity of Portland, dealing with the many layers that coexists here – geological, historical, ecological, military to name a few – and to find a way of relating these to the bedrock, the underlying limestone. On top of this, I have also been fascinated for some time now by the Jurassic Coast and the way it plays with time, compressing millions of years into a few kilometers of coast."
www.artnucleus.org