BlankPages, Issue 31
I was approached by Blank Media Collective and asked if I would be their 'Spotlight' artist in their monthly publication BlankPages.

Here is my spotlight article:

You can read the entire publication online here: http://www.blankmediacollective.org/blankpages

BLANKEXPRESSION 2011, BLANKSPACE LAUNCH
I was selected to take part in BlankExpression 2011 at BlankSpace.

BlankExpression 2011 is an ambitious and exciting showcase of works by twenty-seven emerging practitioners from London to Victoria, Barnsley to Tel Aviv and anywhere in between. Taken from an open submission call, works will engage, stimulate and challenge each and every viewer. With a wide variety of works spanning over a range of disciplines, BlankExpression 2011 there’s something for everyone. BlankExpression 2011 promises to be the start of something very special happening at the iconic 43 Hulme Street building.

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS:

Alexander Ashton /Andrew Broadey /Andy Nash /Andy Nizinskyj /Ben Sloat /Claudia Borgna /Daniel/Fogarty /Hadas Tapouchi /Hannah Brown /Hannah Wiles /Jane Lawson /Jen Ross /Jez Dolan /Jude Macpherson /Karl Kolley /Katrina Vivian /Lucy Ridges /Lyndsey Searle /Matthew Stanners /Michael Thorp /Rachael Gittins /Rebecca Wild /Rose Barraclough /Ruth O’Brien /Scott Kershaw /Shreepad Jonglekar /Stephen White

EXHIBITION CONTINUES: Friday 28 January - Sunday 13 February 2011

Images of the work I made for the show can be seen in the blog-post below. Here are some images from the preview night:

Photograph Credit: Gareth Hacking

Instrument by Rose Barraclough. Photograph Credit: Damien Hayward



Spinario by aniel Fogarty. Photograph Credit: Gareth Hacking

Tape Series by Karl Kolley. Photograph Credit: Gareth Hacking

Carousel by Andy Broadey. Photograph Credit: Gareth Hacking

Magic Carpet by Jude Macpherson. Photograph Credit: Jude Macpherson

There is detailed information on all the artists that exhibited, along with images of their work, and an opportunity to buy the exhibition catalogue here: http://www.blankmediacollective.org/events/exhibitions/blankexpression_2011_blankspace_launch

BLANKEXPRESSION 2011
I submitted a proposal for the exhibition BlankExpression which built on the ideas I put forward for CUBEOpen 2010 (See Below)

Here are some images of the work that I made, followed by a synopsis of the work.

Synopsis of Work
I am interested in how our society establishes institutions to ensure that the physical environment and people’s social behaviour remain under its determining influence. This has lead to a basic division between the minority who determine the topology of urban living and the majority who are forced to passively accept its given form in their daily lives. And as nature is seen to be a threat to the stability of the infrastructure of society; untamed and always moving towards anarchy, it is similarly repressed. Control is exerted upon the consciousness of people through the encoding of the physical environment into a highly complex structure of inter-related symbols that exhibit their separation from nature. A perfect example of this encoding of the physical environment can be seen in front of the new BLANKSPACE building, in the form of two square bushes that have been grown within a redbrick mount. Through ordering ‘nature’ into this repeated pattern within the constraints of the square concrete slabs, I am referencing the fact that most natural elements within a city are held within a fixed framework, intended as something to look at and admire from a distance.


Here are the two square bushes that have been grown within a redbrick mount, the initial inspiration for the work:

CUBEOpen 2010
Here are some images of work from this years CUBEOpen exhibition which I was selected for.

Exhibition runs 19th November - 22nd January 2011

CUBEOpen 2010 is the UK’s only annual open competition and exhibition of its kind! Launched in 2007, artists, architects and designers are invited to apply with work that reflects current trends and debates surrounding the spaces and places in which we live, each year the exhibition highlights contemporary insights into the urban environment. The CUBEOpen receives applications from around the globe, visitors to the exhibition will have the unique opportunity to see the diverse and engaging ways that artists, architects and designers have been influenced by our surroundings.

Selected artists include:

ALNIS STAKLE, ESKILD BECK, HANNAH WILES, CARLY FISCHER, ALBAN LOW, CAITLIN MASLEY, ELIZABETH WEST, CHRIS PICKUP, BEN COVE, ORTELIUS DREW, EMILY SPEED, DARA MCGRATH, LEE CAMPBELL, SHAN HUR, BEARD AND FERGUSSON, YAEL SCHMIDT, DAVID THEOBALD, DAY BOWMAN, JOE KENNEDY, JAMES O'HANLON, MATTHEW VERDON, CHRIS WRIGHT, MARY RUTH WALSH, URBAN (COL)LABORATORY, MARC PROVINS, SHAUN PAUL, MICK TIMPSON.

Gallery 1, CUBEOpen 2010, images © Nick Harrison

Forgotten No.2, 2010, by Shan Hur, CUBEOpen 2010, images © Nick Harrison

Throwing It All Away #4, Throwing It All Away #8, by Carly Fisher (backrounf Tokyo Palms 2010 & Still Building Within the Wall - Towards Jerusalem Westbank Palestine 2010, by James O'Hanlon), CUBEOpen 2010, images © Nick Harrison

Gallery 3 & 4, CUBEOpen 2010, image ©Nick Harrison

 

Egg-nest-home-country-universe 2010, by Emily Speed, CUBEOpen 2010, images © Nick Harrison

Press Coverage
26/11/10 Manchester Evening News 
30/11/10 Metro
18/12/10 Guardian
11/12/10 Guardian