An Exhibition by Islington Mill Art Academy and
Curator in Residence Helen Kaplinsky
7th- 13th September 2009, Islington Mill, James St, Salford
Part One
Internship and Volunteer Open Day, Tues 8th Sept, 2-8pm " Open discussion group on "Where does the Gallery Start" with the artists, curator and local artists, Weds 9th Sept, 7-9pm " Art Academy Open Day for New Members, Thurs 10th Sept, 2-8pm
Part Two
Private-view, Friday 11th Sept 2009, 6pm-late " Exhibition continues 11th-13th Sept, 11am-5pm
The exhibition is a culmination of six months of collaboration between Islington Mill Art Academy and Curator in Residence, Helen Kaplinsky. The white cube gallery space in Islington Mill (previously Bureau Gallery) formed the starting point for a research-based project into the resources needed to re-asses and eventually re-launch the space. The project has seen the Academy meet with many professionals working within the creative industries. It has been an opportunity to explore the relationship between artists and the art market and a chance to consider what it might mean to be an artist working within this circle. The exhibition is being used as a vehicle for recruiting newly created Intern positions, as well as showing work that considers the mechanism of the gallery, such as its history and architecture.
Each artist was tasked with considering a certain aspect of the Gallery space (both the specific and general). Maria Dada's assignment was to Write a History of the Gallery.
Writing History (installation post performance), Maria Dada
Writing History announces itself as a grand gesture, at least linguistically. However this work is born out of a frustrating period of research and requires the artist to concentrate and write something coherent in the potentially busy and noisy environment of a gallery preview. Maria found herself unable to begin one history. Multiple historical approaches, architectural and theoretical fictions blurred all possible paths to the history, leading her to question When Does the Gallery Start, When Does the Gallery End? (the provisional title for the work). Bourdieu's cultural capital is evident in the immediacy of her history. She has her field as her witnesses and writes history as it happens, entangled in context.
Michael Cullen's What Ornithology Means to the Birds is a response to the task of considering the fixtures and fittings of the Gallery. The footage was taken at Manchester Museum and functions as a virtual display cabinet. The artist questions the usefulness of the antiquated cabinet furniture in a contemporary white cube gallery space, the Museum being the final resting place for endorsed objects, the gallery space a stop over on its journey there. The linear installation resembles a production line, an illusionary arrangement pieced together from memory and woolgathering. What Ornithology Means to the Birds realigns the power balance between subject and object, taking issue with the edifying colossal of the Museum.
Maurice Carlin could not ignore his will to consider the very real future of the gallery space, with the job of creating a Business Plan and Vision. In his precariously balanced video installation (Arms of the Man, Socially Useless Activity, The Right Bright People) Maurice documents the manufacturing of flyers for the activation of Intern and Volunteer positions in the Gallery. The films show the white cube as a site of clunky industry, looping into ad- infinitum. A loose system of participation where personal labour is present and prospective, a call to arms to propagate a new beginning.
Arms of the Man and Socially Useless Activity, Maurice Carlin
The re-painting of the defunct factory sign on the side of Islington Mill was suggested by Eoin Macmanus as an apt reference to the internal/ external, past/present uses of the building. The old paintwork sealed the crumbling, centuries old brickwork. Sign-writer, Joe Johnston scraped the old paintwork back and resealed the wall with fresh paint. Some questioned the need for renewal, whilst others admitted they had walked past the wall for years without noticing the old sign. The original sign read:
'ISLINGTON MILL
Clothing for all the family
From factory to wearer
Entrance 25 yds in the mill yard'
After many discussions about adapting the text (suggestions included 'From Factory to Where?'), it was decided the sign should remain unaltered.
Artists and Works:
What Ornithology Means to the Birds (5:10), Michael Cullen, video installation, 2009.
Writing History, Maria Dada, durational performance, 11/09/09 from 7pm onwards.
Arms of the Man (3:08), Socially Useless Activity (3:31), The Right Bright People (6:26), Maurice Carlin, Video installation, 2009.
Eoin Macmanus (Art Direction) and Joseph Johnston (Sign Painting)
From Factory to Wearer, Masonry Paint on sidewall of Islington Mill, 2009.