Gary Weston's brilliant film documenting day 1 of the residency

Talk at Rochester Art Gallery this Thursday!

Could be of interest to FG artists and followers...


Marta Marcé -  Artist Talk 

Thursday 24 March 2011, 1-2:30pm

In association with the exhibition, Marta Marcé - Conditions of Abstraction - until 25 March 2011

Join Marta Marcé for a visual presentation about her creative practice and hear about her current projects and future developments. Marta will also be discussing, in the gallery, her paintings in the exhibition, and invitesquestions about her work. Artists and students are very welcome to attend as part of a professional development exchange.

Marta Marcé is a Spanish-born Berlin based artist, who is interested in the idea of play as a metaphor for how society operates, in an era when daily life is becoming ever more structured, planned and controlled. Marcé investigates concepts involving the human condition and the act of painting and explores the principles of games, rules and laws. .  

'Marta Marcé is inspired by the idea of play as a way to experiment with the possibilities of abstraction in painting. She begins each of her painting series by establishing a set of conditions and basic building blocks (shapes, background, colours) from which she generates increasingly complex permutations. As with any game, her own rules of painting evolve or collapse as the experimentation gains momentum.'  The above quote is from a commissioned essay by Jennifer Thatcher, Project Co-ordinator for the Folkestone Triennial which is available in the gallery.

Booking is essential as places are limited. 
 
To reserve your free place, contact the Arts Development Team on 01634 338319 or email arts@medway.gov.uk  

Rochester Art Gallery presents Marta Marcé - Conditions of Abstraction in association with Riflemaker Gallery and ARC.

Rochester Art Gallery and Craft Case
Medway Visitor Information Centre
Ground Floor, 95 High Street
Rochester 
Kent ME1 1LX

Happy artists on a Lightship

Photograph by Gary Weston

The wonderful Colin - Morse code genius

We all want to be radio engineers now! Thanks Colin, your contribution to the day was greatly appreciated by everyone.
Photographs by Ann Rapstoff

Threads of thoughts from Elise Liversedge

".... concept for public artwork the ships 'last station' and its relationship/navigational coordinates in regards its current anchorage which includes the  internal and external layered palimpsest collaboration with Mary.... this could be a simple mapping of 'her' current location and the borrowing of other elements within the landscape both with colour and light. and could also involve the placing of simple elements with in the locale. i wonder how far her light beam went..."

Sadie Hennessy's Plimsoll line picture

From wikipedia - "The waterline, national Load Line or Plimsoll Line was invented by Samuel Plimsoll, to be positioned amidships, indicating the legal limit to which a ship may be loaded for specific water types and temperatures. To an observer on the ship the water appears to rise or fall against the hull. Temperature affects the level because warm water provides less buoyancy, being less dense than cold water. The salinity of the water also affects the level, fresh water being less dense than salty seawater."

Mr Samuel Plimsoll 10 February 1824 – 3 June 1898

Matt Bray's photos from the first day of the mini-residency

Ann Rapstoff's thoughts on the first day of the mini-residency

First day at The Figure Ground mini residency, what a day. Amazing bright blue crisp sunshine, a lightship to play on all day, to breathe in the space, be challenged by new perspectives from artists with very different practices, but all managing to find a middle ground to share something of there ideas and thoughts. Space to let things unfold in their own time without pressure, what a luxury.
I was working with two artists during the day, we were initially wondering how we would connect, but I found there was more in common than I thought. Finding that a painter moves with their body and inhabits the work much like I do when I try to inhabit a space. Finding artists who like poetry and singing, who are not restricted by medium or the parameters of art practice, who want to go well beyond those boundaries. A glorious and inspiring start to a great project.

Ann 
www.annrapstoff.co.uk

Photos by Lucy 

Participants announced

We had 180 application requests and 100 returned application forms for our Mini-residency on a Lightship event. We are now excited to announce the participants as Andrew Cross, Ann Rapstoff, Bram Thomas Arnold, Caren Hartley, David Dixon, Elise Liversedge, Fiona Long, Graham Dunning, Hannah Hull, Ingrid Plum, Jane Ponsford, Jessica Mautner, Katarzyna Perlak, Mary Hooper, Matt Bray, Nicola Rae, Sadie Hennessy, Sarah Britten-Jones, Steve McPherson, Will Nash. Click on the tab at the top of the page to see links to their websites.
Saturday marks the start of an exciting collaborative adventure onboard the Lightship. We hope you will come and see the outcome at our public event on the 20th April. See tab above for invitation and directions. 

Figure Ground planning day on LV21