Acts of Making Festival
The Shipley Art Gallery, March 7 –
21
6 makers. 6 moments. 14 days to
discover.
http://www.craftscouncil.org.uk/actsof-making
Acts of Making is a two-week
festival celebrating
contemporary craft through
performances, live
installations, collaborations
and workshops. The festival
features six artists all using
craft skills in unexpected ways
to create moments that are
curious, fascinating and shortlived.
Richard William Wheater, Tree and Scooters Collage, 2013. Paper. Courtesy of the Artist.
Owl Project, Photosynthonium, 2014. Logs and electronics.
Installation Pitzhanger Manor Gallery, Ealing. Image courtesy of Owl
Project and Pitzhanger Manor Gallery.
Clare Twomey, Is It Madness. Is It Beauty, 2010. Clay and performance.
Courtesy of the artist and ROTOR – Siobhan Davies Studios. Photo: MJ Kelly
Festival Themes
• Making as performance
• Making as a statement
• Unexpected use of traditional craft
techniques
• Use of unexpected materials
• Making as a temporary act
• Collaboration and participation in
making
Catherine Bertola
Unfurling Splendour [V]
Catherine Bertola will create a patterned
carpet made entirely of dust at the start
of the festival. Visitors will be able to
witness Bertola painstakingly creating
the piece over the course of three days.
The carpet’s pattern will be inspired by
the history and architecture of the
gallery building and will represent its
invisible history.
It will be cleaned away after the close
of the festival.
The Shipley Art Gallery
Installation performance: 7/10/11 March
Completed installation: 12-20 March
De-installation performance; 21 March
Catherine Bertola, After the Fact, 2006. Found dust and sound.
Images courtesy the artist, Workplace Gallery and Galerie M+R Fricke.
Keith Harrison
Tombstone [let’s get over this]
Tombstone [let’s get over this] is a
series of benches designed for
skateboarders. They will featured as a
part of an event hosted at Dynamix
Skatepark. The benches are made of
sandstone and will change shape as they
are sculpted by the skills of the skaters
at the event. Come along and witness an
Act
Making.
Findof
the
artwork:
Dynamix Skatepark
Collaborative performance: Skate Jam Event
Attack of the Tombstones: 14 March, 7pm –
10 pm
Image (Top) Keith Harrison, Bench, Green and Yellow, 2014. Gouache, coloured paper, tippex and
pencil on cardboard. Courtesy of the Artist.
Image (Below)
Keith Harrison, Four Colour Ways, 2014. Gouache, coloured paper, tippex and pencil on cardboard.
Courtesy of the Artist.
Owl Project
Photosynthonium
Photosynthonium is a log pile embedded
with LEDs. Light is converted into sound
and can be played by moving hand-held
iLog devices over them. The iLogs are
connected to large wooden amplifiers,
allowing you to create your own sound
art.
Visit and play the Photosynthonium at the
gallery during the festival.
The Shipley Art Gallery
Collaborative performance: 7-21 March
Live artist improvised performance: 7 March
– 3pm
Workshops: 7 & 21 March -10am – 2:30pm
Owl Project, Photosynthonium, 2014. Logs and electronics.
Installation Pitzhanger Manor Gallery, Ealing. Image courtesy of Owl
Project and Pitzhanger Manor Gallery.
Mah Rana
Meanings and Attachments
This work records the personal stories
that link people to the jewellery they
wear. Stories have been collected from
people all around the world and are added
to the archive, which can be viewed
online at www.meaningsandattachments.com
During the festival Mah Rana will record
stories at Gateshead Central Library and
exhibit her work and photographs at The
Shipley Art Gallery.
Find the artwork:
Gateshead Central Library
Live event: 7 March, 10am – 12.30pm
Live event: 17 March, 10am – 2:45 pm
The Shipley Art Gallery
Display: 10-21 March
Mah Rana, Meanings and Attachments, 2014. Event held at Skövde
Kulturhus, Sweden; commissioned by Konsthantverkscentrum.
Photo: Mah Rana.
Claire Twomey
Is It Madness. Is It Beauty.
Claire Twomey’s work is a performance
piece which takes place at the Shipley
Art Gallery over the course of five days
during the festival. 500 unfired clay
pots will be repeatedly filled with
water, leading to their gradual
disintegration and loss of function.
Twomey will work with volunteers to
perform this pieces which is a comment on
the futility of human action.
The Shipley Art Gallery
Performance: 17-21 March, 11am – 3pm
Clare Twomey, Is It Madness. Is It Beauty, 2010. Clay and performance.
Courtesy of the artist and ROTOR – Siobhan Davies Studios. Photos: MJ Kelly
Richard William Wheater
Tree and Scooters
Tree and Scooters is a procession of
Vespa and Lambretta scooters which will
take place on Saturday March 7, starting
at 1pm at Trinity Square shopping centre,
arriving at the Shipley Art Gallery at
2pm.
The procession will demonstrate man’s
effect on the environment. Each scooter
will carry a flag showing a section of a
plastic poplar tree. After the procession
the flags will be displayed until the end
of the festival.
Trinity Square Shopping Centre to The Shipley
Art Gallery
Performance and procession: 7 March,1pm-2pm
The Shipley Art Gallery
Display: 7-21 March
Richard William Wheater, Tree and Scooters, 2013.
What will your Act of Making be?
Use this slide and the following curriculum links
to create Acts of Making in your classroom.
- Study patterns and create patterned art using
unusual materials inspired by Catherine Bertola’s
work
- Look at materials that nature gives to art and
craft and create memorial statements for nature
inspired by Richard William Wheater’s flags
- Use a mix of high and low-tech equipment to
create instruments that respond like the
Photosynthonium
- Work with clay inspired by Claire Twomeys work:
allow people to make and ‘un-make’ each other’s
work: discuss the process of making
- Visit the festival and encourage students to
respond to the installations and performances in
their own way
- Allow students to consider participation in their
work: can they create work that is shaped or
sculpted by others like Keith Harrison’s
Tombstone?
- Photograph jewellery and record stories to be
added to meaningsandattachments.tumblr.com
Images courtesy of Crafts Council
Curriculum Links – Primary
Art and Design
- Use Acts of Making as a sketching activity
- Create sketch books to record their observations and use
them to review and revisit ideas
- Use Acts of Making to work with new materials
- Improve mastery of art and design techniques, including
drawing, painting and sculpture with a range of
materials [for example, pencil, charcoal, paint, clay]
- Use Acts of Making to learn about art and the local
community
- Learn about great artists, architects and designers in
history
Design and Technology
Owl Project has strong links to
- Design/invent your own musical instruments
- Select from and use a wider range of tools and equipment
to perform practical tasks [for example, cutting,
shaping, joining and finishing], accurately
- Select from and use a wider range of materials and
components, including construction materials, textiles
and ingredients, according to their functional
properties and aesthetic qualities
- Play the Photosynthonium
- Investigate and analyse a range of existing products.
- Evaluate their ideas and products against their own
design criteria.
Images courtesy of Crafts Council
Curriculum Links – Secondary
Art and Design
- Analyse and evaluate the work of others
- Visit the gallery and record the visit in a diary or
sketchbook
- Consider different materials used and apply that in
class to increase proficiency in the handling of
materials
Design and Technology
Owl Projects has strong links to
- Analyse the work of past and present professionals…
- Investigate new and emerging technologies
- Apply computing and use electronics to embed
intelligence in products that respond to inputs, and
control outputs using programmable components
Images courtesy of Crafts Council
Acts of Making Festival
The Shipley Art Gallery, March 7 –
21
6 makers. 6 moments. 14 days to
discover.
http://www.craftscouncil.org.uk/actsof-making