Posts by sfletcher

Hi, I’m Alistair Small the new Digital Content and Engagement Officer for the University of Salford Art Collection in partnership with Open Eye Gallery. I’m coming to Salford with a strong interest in public collections and how they can function as common resources, and as sites of critical engagement with collecting practices of the past and present.

My background is in curating visual art and public programmes, with a focus on socially engaged practices and co-creation. My previous projects include a live-streamed exhibition and programme with the LUX collection of Artists Moving Image, a collaborative ceramics project with over 50s Chinese communities in Manchester, and an online project exploring language diversity through food and recipes. I like to work collaboratively-  with artists, communities and institutions – and I’ll be bringing this approach to this project. Outside of my role with the University, I also work as a Fundraiser and Grower for a community gardening project and have my own practice as a potter.  

In my new role I’m going to be overseeing the digitisation of the University’s 800+ works, and creating opportunities for engagement and access for students, staff and our local communities. I’m really excited to be working with Gwen Riley Jones, the Socially-Engaged Photographer-in-Residence on this project, as well the core Art Collection team – Lindsay Taylor and Stephanie Fletcher – and our partners in Liverpool, Open Eye Gallery.  

The collection finds itself in an exciting period of transformation and transition. In November 2021 we will start moving the collection to a new purpose-built store located centrally on campus  and equipped with a study space. This will be a permanent home for the 800+ works in the collection, and a huge upgrade on the current store. This move will grant greater access to and engagement with the collection: from students, staff, researchers, and our local communities in Salford and Greater Manchester. We’ll be documenting the store move as we go, showcasing collection objects that may not have seen the light of day for quite some time!  

This move is also an ideal moment to consider the collecting practices and policies in place over the University’s history, to take stock of what’s ‘in store’, and what is absent from the collection. Collections are records of institutional policies, histories, geopolitical and social shifts. They are rich resources for investigation, change, research and inspiration. As The University of the Arts, London’s Black Artists and Modernism (2015-2018) project (the first nation-wide audit of works by British born or based artists of African, Asian and Middle East and North Africa descent in UK public collections) has shown, public collections in the North West of England have a long, long way to go before they can be considered representative of their communities.¹ 

As part of the Digitisation Programme, we will be undertaking research into the demographics of artists represented in the University’s collection,, recognising what improvements have been made since 2013, and identifying areas for further development.  

At the same time, the digitisation project and a revamped digital platform will showcase the collection in its entirety online, creating new possibilities for critical engagement and study, and entry points for browsing the collection. Since 2013 the University works on a commission-to-collect model to create and acquire new work from established and emerging artists, including through the Graduate Scholarship scheme, residencies, and socially engaged projects.  How we collect, store and facilitate access to these works will be important considerations during this project. Over the coming months we will be making changes to how the collection is displayed and accessed online and crucially making this rich resource visible to all.  

Footnotes:
1- The data collected from Manchester Art Gallery, The Harris and Walker Art Gallery for the Black Artists & Modernism project’s audit of UK public collections indicated that less than 2% of the artists represented in each of the three collections were from these ethnic backgrounds, and works made by such artists represented less than 3% of the artworks held in each collection. According to recent census data, around 9% of people in the North-West of England self-identify as Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic; in Liverpool this rises to 10%, in Preston to 20%, and in Manchester to 32%  

“Developing more representative art collections could not be more urgent”: Dr Anjalie Dalal-Clayton on the need to diversify the narrative. The Double Negative, 14/10/2020. Accessed 07/10/2021 

October’s ‘Artwork of the Month’ is Albert Adams’ Self Portrait (1956) – chosen by Dr Alice Correia and part of a new exhibition at the Albert Adams room at the Old Fire Station curated by Correia (due to launch later in the year, visits by appointment).

Albert Adams’ self-portrait was made in 1956, the year he completed his studies at the Slade School of Art in London. At the Slade he had been taught by the influential printmaker, Anthony Gross, and this work demonstrates Adams’ experimentation with etching techniques; the print shows how he was testing the strength – darkness and thickness – of his lines, particularly around the chin and nose, while thinner, more delicate lines are used to present his hair.

The portrait also, perhaps, shows Adams at a moment of transition, and it is possible to discern a sense of uncertainty or hesitancy in his expression. We might wonder what life was like for a young South African man in London in 1956. Throughout the 1950s immigration to Britain from the Commonwealth, particularly the Caribbean, had been promoted by the government to counter labour shortages, but as the decade progressed, public and political anxieties over immigration surfaced.

Published the year Adams created his self-portrait, Sam Selveon’s novel, “The Lonely Londoners”, proves insight into the alienation felt by black migrants in the city, and it may be possible to understand Adams’ work as a personal expression of wider sense of dislocation and unbelonging felt by this pioneering generation of migrants.

– Dr Alice Correia

Find out more about the Albert Adams collection here.

In early 2022 we will be convening a symposium inspired by Adams’ work, supported by the Paul Mellon Centre – more news soon! We’ll also be digitising much of this collection as part of a wider digitisation programme.

Image: detail. Copyright the artists estate.

We are delighted to share that the You Belong Here exhibition at Salford Museum and Art Gallery has been extended til 19 June 2022! Giving plenty more time to enjoy these nature-inspired artworks through the coming seasons. See new contemporary art commissions alongside historic photographs and paintings inspired by our local parks, green spaces and heritge. Visit by dropping in or booking in advance.

Alongside – enjoy a programme of curator tours, artist talks and more – in person at the Museum and also streamed/recorded online. Find the programme here.

Plus – video artwork Circadian Bloom (California Poppy) has launched in the Museum cafe. The AI generated artwork produces gently-moving flower images throughout the day – read more about the work here.

#YouBelongHere
#RediscoveringSalford

Hi, my name is Gwen Riley Jones and I have recently begun a year-long project as a Socially Engaged Photographer-in-Residence at the University of Salford Art Collection in partnership with Open Eye Gallery. 

I am a photographer with a creative practice exploring themes of identity and belonging, and have 13 years’ experience working with collections. My previous major projects include participatory projects working with Holocaust survivors and refugees, a book about Piccadilly Records and a collection-based project, Portrait of a Living Archive. I have always had an interest of the role of photography in the ability (or not) to make change in people’s lives, and wider society.  

I am so excited to be working with the Art Collection Team and really looking forward to working with a community group truly collaboratively, co-authoring and co-producing work together using the University’s Art Collection as our starting point. 

As part of this residency, I will be receiving mentorship from Open Eye Gallery – who are actively rethinking what a gallery can be. They are the national lead in Socially Engaged Photography, bringing different voices, photographers and communities together, to establish projects where the collaborative process is just as important as the final product. I will also be working with students from the School of Arts, Media and Creative Technology at University of Salford, who have an MA in Socially Engaged Photography.  

Outside of my role at Salford I also work at The John Rylands Research Institute and Library as Imaging Manager and I am a member of POST Photography Collective – a group of photographers who are also mothers, committed to making Motherhood more visible in the photographic industry. I am also currently collaborating with Salford Young Fathers Project on ‘Hold Tight: My Dad and Me’, a participatory photo project celebrating young dads and their kids and the things they do together in and around Salford. 

During the first part of this residency, I am spending time researching the collection and identifying themes that could help to provide access to the collection. Over the coming weeks and months, we will be connecting with a group of young people. We will develop the project together so we don’t yet know what the outcome will be. As part of the process, we will not only be thinking about themes within the collection, but also critiquing ideas of what a collection could and should be, asking who are the collections for? What stories can they tell? Whose voice can we hear? And how can we think differently about them? We will be blogging regularly to share our progress and our journey.  

Images: Photographs from Salford and along the River Irwell, from Gwen’s first day on residency.

Climate, Retrofitting and Photography: McCoy Wynne to Exhibit at COP26 Universities’ Innovation Showcase

Stephanie Wynne and Stephen McCoy explore the power of photography to tackle one of the UK’s biggest climate challenges: in a world increasingly impacted by a changing climate, how can our Victorian terrace housing stock be retrofitted to become energy efficient? 

In 2021, Open Eye Gallery and University of Salford Art Collection awarded photography partnership McCoy Wynne a residency in collaboration with Salford Energy House to explore positive solutions to the climate crisis. A selection of images from the resulting photography project, titled Are You Living Comfortably?, will be included in the COP26 UK Universities’ Climate Innovation Showcase. 

‘We are very pleased that Are You Living Comfortably? has been chosen to be exhibited as part of this crucial conference for all our futures,’ say McCoy Wynne. ‘Collaborating with scientists at the Energy House gave us the opportunity to consider the small, household, energy saving, modifications we can all make to help address the detrimental issues of climate change.’

The images were developed in collaboration with the engineers and scientists at Salford Energy House, the world’s first full sized, two bedroom, brick built terraced house constructed inside an environmentally controllable chamber. ‘Are You Living Comfortably? is all about storytelling,’ says Lindsay Taylor of the University of Salford Art Collection. ‘These images tell the story of how the innovative work of our scientists relates to our everyday lives. Sometimes that research can come across as quite dry, however McCoy Wynne visually represent the experiments in a way we can all relate to.’ 

Mccoy Wynne observed how engineers and scientists at Energy House tested insulation and heat transferal technologies to provide clarity on what works and how well it works – essential know-how for professional in the housing sector, but also for anyone able to invest in retrofitting their own property to reduce spiraling energy bills. Lindsay Taylor explains, ‘As we address the climate emergency it is so important to understand that there are small things that each of us can do that will make a difference. We’re excited that  Are You Living Comfortably? is selected for this exhibition at COP26!’ 

Their images are coloured with reference to heat mapping as a data visualisation technique, adjusting the colour in each image to emphasise cold spots. They have created multi-layered lab images to tell a story, ghosting domestic scenes such as furniture and fireplaces over these technologies and lab equipment, with green landscapes visible through windows to hint at the direct correlation between energy use and carbon capture. ‘The Energy House is a traditionally built house, that is – observed, analysed and measured,’ the photography partnership say. ‘We recreated it as a home giving it a new imagined life, introducing furniture and gardens etc. The details of this imagined world are semi-opaque to give a sense of reverie to a scientific study.’

However, the title of the project is poignant. For many of the poorest residents of Victorian terraced housing, the question is not one of how to best retrofit for energy efficiency, but how to ensure that the everyday energy costs of living can be managed. 

McCoy Wynne are currently developing a brochure that alludes to estate agent brochures. It will explore Energy House 1 room by room, with text from Energy House scientist Dr Richard Fitton identifying measures to prevent heat loss and creating the correct level of thermal comfort. It provides tips across a spectrum of reducing energy use – from pulling curtains and covering floors, to brick cladding. ‘We hope that the pictures resonate with the public and help them to engage with the aims of Energy House,’ say Mccoy Wynne, ‘to make affordable and sustainable changes to their own homes, so we can all live comfortably.’

Click here to visit the #Cop26Universities Network Innovation Showcase website and find out more

Images:

Are You Living Comfortably? series by McCoy Wynne, 2021

We are delighted to announce a further commission for our Rediscovering Salford programme, with Greater Manchester based artist Lowri Evans. Read more about Lowri and her work here, and find out about her call for the #SalfordTree inventory below.

Call for your favourite Salford Trees:

Do you have a favourite tree in Salford? Maybe it’s a tree you have climbed up or sheltered under. Maybe you planted it. Maybe it was already hundreds of years old when you were born…

As the leaves fall in Autumn 2021, artist Lowri Evans will be getting to know the trees and the people that love them around Salford as part of a new project for the University of Salford Art Collection in collaboration with Salford Museum & Art Gallery.

This project will pay attention to the cycles of nature, life death and life again, and how we can learn from trees and apply it to our personal lives. Seeing life decay and nourish new life again.

Share your favourite tree with us – post your images, stories or memories on social media using the hashtag #SalfordTrees  (on Twitter and Instagram) and tagging Lowri at @LowriEvans on Twitter or @thelowri on Instagram. (On Facebook, just post your image in our comments!)

Intertwined
Visit the online exhibition here

For the June 21 residency, Vital Capacities invited three artists from across the UK to explore and develop new work, supported by the University of Salford Art Collection, Film London Artists’ Moving Image Network, and Phoenix.
Over the course of the month, the artists undertook research, tested ideas, and created new commissions, working with partners, artists, web designers and a digital inclusion specialist. Intertwined is an exhibition of the new work resulting from the residency.

Seo Hye Lee was co-commissioned by University of Salford Art Collection, whose experience of working with archives was especially important in contributing to Lee’s new film, [Sound of Subtitles]. Over the month, Lee researched approaches to subtitles and captioning, and how sounds are described or omitted using these tools for increasing accessibility for D/deaf and hard of hearing people. Lee worked with film archives across the country to develop a silent film that invites you, through the captions, to imagine the sounds, and the stories behind them, while provoking the viewer to question the role of captioning.

Laura Lulika’s new work, Body Builder, was co-commissioned by Film London Artists’ Moving Image Network, which includes moving image, music, spoken word, performance and collage. Over the course of the residency, Lulika explored hyperability, mascot bodies, the false binary of healthy/unhealthy, and the absurdity of footballer’s fake foul dives. Lulika has created an interactive collage, combining Frankenstein mascots, pub settings and automobile bodies all with their own tales to investigate.

During the residency, Linda Stupart continued to explore the River Cole, a process begun in 2020, resulting in the work-in-progress film, Watershed (2020). During June 21, Stupart continued to walk and map the River Cole, which has resulted in the creation of an interactive story/game, with images, texts and music; Watershed 2.0: Pandemic CYOA Cyberspace Edition 2021. Stupart’s new work has been co-commissioned by Phoenix in Leicester, who supported them to explore new game-based platforms, including Twine – a programme for making choose your own adventure (COYA) games, with which the new work has been created.

To find out more about how the artworks came about, explore the artists’ studios, where you can see the developments which led to the new work.

vitalcapacities.com
Supported by Arts Council England

Castlefield Gallery and the University of Salford Art Collection are delighted to announce the new cohort for our annual Graduate Scholarship Programme. 

This year, following a very competitive application process, we have awarded scholarships to five students from the Salford School of Arts, Media and Creative Technology: Katie Aird, BA (Hons) Photography; Daniel Callan, BA (Hons) Fine Art; Jeffrey Knopf, MA Contemporary Fine Art; Henna Mahmood, BA (Hons) Fine Art, and Sara Rawat, BA (Hons) Fine Art.

The Graduate Scholarship Programme is run by the University of Salford Art Collection in collaboration with Castlefield Gallery, and with the support of our local industry partners Hotbed Press, Islington Mill, Paradise Works and Redeye, The Photography Network. It provides a bespoke programme of professional development and real world experiences for a small number of students in the first year after graduation, with one place also offered to an MA student. 

Each artist will receive support tailored to their individual needs and aspirations by Castlefield Gallery including: a 12 month programme of coaching, mentoring, professional development sessions, local and national trips and honorary 12 month membership of Castlefield Gallery Associates, providing further opportunities for professional development and training, plus a bursary of £1,000 to spend on materials or travel; studio space or place on a programme with one of our industry partners; Hot Bed Press, Islington Mill, Paradise Works, and Redeye, The Photography Network.    

Founder of the programme, and Curator of the University Art Collection, Lindsay Taylor says:

“As we enter the 8^th year of the programme, the competition for places was harder than ever. We had some exceptional applications, and I am confident that the successful candidates will make the best use of opportunities offered to them in the year ahead.  Despite the challenges of the last year, the determination, ambition and hard work of our students, and the university staff who taught them has shone through”.

 Director and Artistic Director of Castlefield Gallery, Helen Wewiora says:

“It’s a pleasure to support the University of Salford School of Arts and Media graduates through the scheme. We understand all too well what a difference a programme like Salford Scholars can make to graduates in that important first year out. It is inspiring to see how many of the ‘scholars’ establish themselves as professional practitioners, becoming part of and contributing to artist and creative communities in the city of Salford, the region and beyond.

“Despite the challenges of 2020, the Scholars selected last year demonstrated exceptional promise. We are super excited to see what this new cohort can achieve and are very much looking forward to working with Katie, Daniel, Jeffrey, Henna, and Sara, and once again the University of Salford Art Collection, Hot Bed Press, Islington Mill, Paradise Works and Redeye, The Photography Network.”   

We are delighted to share that our new collaborative exhibition with Salford Museum and Art Gallery is opening to the public from 15th July. You Belong Here: Artists Rediscovering Salford’s Green Spaces includes historic, modern and contemporary works that explore and celebrate our local parks and green spaces. Included are four new commissions by Salford based artists Lizzie King, Hilary Jack, Jack Brown and Cheddar Gorgeous, who have each ‘rediscovered’ Salford in unique ways. Alongside, the augmented reality app ‘The Storm Cone’ by Laura Daly can be downloaded for free from app stores to enjoy in nearby Peel Park.

Find out more at the project website here: you-belong-here.salford.ac.uk
And book your tickets at the Salford Museum and Art Gallery website here.

We are pleased to announce a new co-commission for the collection with UK based artist Seo Hye Lee, for the Vital Capacities online residency programme from 1st June 2021.

Vital Capacities aims to provide an accessible space for artists and audiences who may be limited by resources or physical barriers from participating. The platform supports artists to develop new work, share skills, make new contacts, and reach audiences in the UK and internationally. Working with organisation around the country, especially those with a focus on disability arts, to nominate artists for the programme, three artists have been selected for the June edition of the programme.

Seo Hye Lee, Laura Lulika and Linda Stupart will be in residence throughout June, sharing new work and research in an online ‘studio’ and exhibition space. The artists are supported by University of Salford Art Collection, Film London Artists’ Moving Image Network (FLAMIN) and Phoenix, respectively.

Seo Hye Lee is a Somerset-based South Korean artist who uses the mediums of sound, illustration, and installation to experiment with new forms of narrative, creating playful pieces that challenge the idea of listening. Drawing inspiration from her hearing loss experience, Seo Hye aims to explore the boundaries between hearing and listening; regardless of your hearing skill, one can always listen in a variety of ways. Recent presentations of her work include: Artist Self-Publishers’ Fair (2020) Grundy Art Gallery (2020), School of Art Institute Chicago (2019), London College of Communication (2019), Jip + Olympia (2020), Tate Exchange (2019) and Tanzhaus NRW (2019).Seo Hye graduated from MA Visual Communication at The Royal College of Art in 2017.

“I like to explore the nature of sound as a deaf individual in different ways. As someone who has frequently worked with audio-visual installation, I would like to push my practice toward creating works within the video installation and moving image format. Due to my deafness, I grew up relying on subtitles in film and media. I have since become interested in subtitles as a nuanced form of communication. This residency will provide a fantastic opportunity for me to explore this in greater depth and allow me to experiment with the context of subtitles more boldly, particularly engaging with other artists and researching in depth. For this residency, I will be experimenting with the language of subtitle, and the inaccuracy of auto-generated captions and transcriptions through the medium of video projection.”
– Seo Hye Lee

“We are excited to work with Seo Hye Lee and Vital Capacities for this online residency. The programme offers an innovative and engaging online platform – we have really enjoyed exploring past programmes and look forward to collaborating on the June edition. Seo Hye Lee’s work carefully interrogates experiences of audio-visual communication (and mis-communication) – a key theme in our ‘About the Digital’ collecting strand – and something which has only increased in resonance for many of us since the pandemic. Her work will be an important addition to our collection.”
– Stephanie Fletcher, Assistant Curator

She joins artists Laura Lulika – a chronically sick and disabled queer artist exploring themes of care, sexuality, labour, sickness, and performativity in the everyday; and Linda Stupart – a South African artist, writer and educator based in Birmingham, interested in objectification, abjection, science fiction and revenge.

Follow the residencies online from 1st June at vitalcapacities.com

Vital Capacities has been created by videoclub in consultation with artists, digital inclusion specialist Sarah Pickthall and website designer Oli Pyle.