From Wednesday 11 March – Wednesday 18 March, Architecture students and staff from Nottingham Trent University and Bergen Academy of Art and Design, Norway took part in a unique collaborative project. Taking inspiration from Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities, the students have addressed how global cities seem to challenge the laws of gravity, with soaring skyscrapers that compete to reach imposing heights. Watch the video above to see the wooden city takes form in the Gallery…
Read more about the Made in Wood project here.
Made in Wood is under way! Here’s a sneak peek at the work in progress:
Photos by Lena Mari Kolås, one of the visiting students from Bergen Academy of Art and Design.
Come and take a look at the finished work at the Midway Preview on Wednesday 18 March, 5 pm – 8 pm. If you’d like to attend, please RSVP to confirm your attendance.
In the meantime, for more photos from the build-up check out our Instagram account!
A continuing collaboration between artists exploring the industrial architecture and remnants of ceramics at the former Spode factory in Stoke-on-Trent will result in an exhibition of new work at Bonington Gallery.
Staff and alumni from Nottingham Trent University and Sheffield Hallam University have created new material for the Returns exhibition which will open in this month.
The partnership evolved from an international research project titled Topographies of the Obsolete which was set up by Bergen Academy of Art and Design in Norway in 2012/2013 at the disused Spode factory. The work for that project was exhibited and published during the world-famous British Ceramics Biennial in September 2013, and centred on the landscape of post-industry.
Art shown at the biennial included pieces using abandoned decorative ceramic transfers by Nottingham Trent University researcher Danica Maier. The transfers were produced in bulk in large stacks with which Danica worked, often making them into plinths or frames for themselves – blurring the boundary between what is the ‘artwork’ and what is the ‘frame’.
Danica said: “In my work two-dimensional and three-dimensional identities are combined together: a whole series of flat planes together unite into three-dimensional forms. A ‘flat’ decorative transfer, when stacked in multiple, creates a new three dimensional form in space. It is the continued development of these ideas that I am playing with in the Returns exhibition.”
Meanwhile her Nottingham Trent University colleague Andrew Brown led ‘sound walks’ around the disused factory in which participants walked through the site while listening to a specially-composed soundtrack, comprising contemporary recordings made in that environment and sounds from other times and places. He also exhibited video and installation works.
Returns develops themes and initiatives which started at the Spode factory by focusing on placing objects in a new context, developing site specific work as well as further work with performance and sound.
Andrew explained: “My design for each sound walk is informed by perspectives on the past, present and future of each site, and Bonington Gallery and its environs provide diverse material with which to work.”
In addition to artistic researchers Andrew and Danica, fellow Nottingham Trent researchers exhibiting will include Debra Swann and Joanne Lee, with recent Fine Art graduates Ciaran Harrington and Christine Stevens, both participants in the original Spode project, being artists in residence for the duration of the exhibition. From Sheffield Hallam University, Chloë Brown will be exhibiting.
Following Returns, a subsequent exhibition will be taking place at Sheffield Hallam SIA Gallery in winter 2016. Each exhibition will be a new development from the work previously exhibited, demonstrating the progression of the research.
Returns will show at Bonington Gallery from Thursday 12 February to Wednesday 4 March, Monday – Friday, 10 am – 5 pm.
Bellow is a selection of featured artists from the exhibition, Crafting Anatomies
Exploring Textile Design / Biotechnology in her BIOLOGICAL ATELIER : SS 2082 ‘EXTINCT’ COLLECTION
“At some point, in the not too distant future, biotechnology is going to give the design world the biggest set of completely new materials and tools it has ever had the opportunity to play with.”
Amanda Cotton re-purposes waste materials produced by the human body – not to shock, but to give viewers a different perspective and question preconceived ideas.
Check out Amanda’s website for more of her work
Jon Clair London-based artist who’s work is centred on “digital intimacy”.
The body becomes the centre of a provocative exhibition which, through a selection of visionary artworks, will explore how the human form has been crafted, interpreted and re-imagined in historical, contemporary and future contexts.
Crafting Anatomies brings together an intriguing collection of exhibits by national and international artists and designers who explore the body through the themes of material, performance and identity.
Dr Katharine Townsend, Reader in Fashion and Textile Crafts at Nottingham Trent University, is co-curating the January exhibition alongside Dr Amanda Briggs-Goode, Head of Department for Fashion, Textiles and Knitwear, and Rhian Solomon, Researcher from The Creative Textiles Research Group. They have devised the project and exhibition to provide an opportunity for artists and makers to investigate the body and its meaning in contemporary society’.
Considering skin as a material, designer Amy Congdon is fascinated by a future world where materials are not made but are grown and luxury goods are fashioned from skin cells, not fabric. Her work, Biological Atelier, imagines the sorts of jewellery and adornments that could be created, in the near future, through biotechnology.
“With one of the most controversial sets of materials becoming available for manipulation, that is our body and those of other species, it could be argued that future fashion could be grown from the ultimate commodity,” she said.
Attention shifts to how the body performs for the Human Harp project, by London-based artist Di Mainstone, who has created a piece of body sculpture which literally turns the wearer into a human harp. When attached to the wires of a suspension bridge, the garment allows the wearer to ‘play’ the bridge by translating the structure’s vibrations into sounds.
Artist Amanda Cotton, who gained press attention for her photo frames made out of placentas, will be showing her work Portrait as part of the exhibition. Portrait is a visual diary created from face wipes that the artist used during a three-month period to remove the make-up and natural oil from her face, questioning whether this “mask” is indeed dirt or beauty.
“It is my belief that the by-products of the human race hold equal value aesthetically, to their raw material origins,” said Cotton. “Through critical engagement with my own body’s materials I have crafted a ‘body of work’ that questions people’s preconceptions and explores notions of aesthetic beauty and value.”
Researchers from Nottingham Trent University, whose work draws from and enhances the body, will also exhibit their work. These include senior lecturer and respected couture pattern-cutter and knitwear designer Juliana Sissons.
She will be exhibiting examples of her work that focus upon the fashioning of garments using plastic surgery cutting techniques which she has developed from observations of surgeons at work in the operating theatre.
Sissons began developing surgical processes for fashion through her collaboration with Rhian Solomon and the sKINship project, which is concerned with promoting collaborations between reconstructive plastic surgeons and pattern cutters for fashion.
Her work also explores research into ‘Langers Lines’ – a visual mapping of the grain of skin, used by plastic surgeons. She hopes to consider the benefits of this research for swimwear and body contoured clothing ranges.
Alongside artworks on display, the exhibition will feature a series of historical films concerned with the ‘crafting of anatomies’ from The Wellcome Trust’s film archive and from local historical collections.
Crafting Anatomies will be in the Gallery from Wednesday 7 January until Wednesday 4 February.
November will be all about knitwear as Nottingham Trent University draws the spotlight on the city’s position as a world centre of creativity and innovation with the launch of a major exhibition, Knitting Nottingham.
Tea sets made from electro-plated knit, exhibits by internationally renowned designers, samples of 3D print combined with knitwear and technology embedded into yarn will all be part of the exhibition which will be held at Bonington Gallery from Thursday 6 November 2014.
Knitting Nottingham casts off the comfortable, cosy image of knit and introduces visitors instead to the technological advances made over the centuries and knit’s vast potential.
Ian Mcinnes, Principal Lecturer in Fashion Knitwear and Textile Design at the University, said: “We are delighted to have a diverse range of well-established and new emerging creatives who use knitting to explore innovative ideas and products. This exhibition is a milestone in capturing the history of knitting innovation in Nottingham and its international reach and showcasing how this history has influenced and inspired future focused research and the global knit and textile industries.”
Ever since 1589, when William Lee invented the knitting machine in Calverton, Nottinghamshire has been at the heart of global innovations in both knit design and technology and Nottingham Trent University continues to be the research hub in leading knitting innovation.
The exhibition has been organised as part of the University’s anniversary of 170 years of art and design. Among those the University has to thank for the establishment of a design school in Nottingham are companies involved in the burgeoning knitwear industry at the time who helped fund Nottingham’s Government School of Design in 1843. In 1863, a pair of locally made stockings was buried in the foundations of that school’s new building, Waverley, which remains part of the School of Art & Design at Nottingham Trent University to this day.
Ann Priest, Pro Vice-Chancellor at Nottingham Trent University, said: “This exhibition is an exciting opportunity to demonstrate how Nottingham is at the forefront of pushing the creative potential of an industry with such strong connections to the city and it felt only right to recognise that during our 170th anniversary celebrations.”
Current research into the potential of knitting and knitted structures being developed at Nottingham Trent University will be displayed, including work by academics Will Hurley and Catherine Challender who have machine-knit a complex structure resembling the delicate individual bronchial tubes of a pair of lungs created on knitting machine to demonstrate the creative possibilities of industrial machinery.
Danish fashion designer, Henrik Vibskov, renowned for his use of knit not only in fashion but also in interior design and art installations, will be showing five pieces of work selected from collections made during his career.
Other exhibits on display include a knitted tea set, created by Frances Geesin who electro-plates knit to create rigid forms and Laura McPherson, a visiting lecturer at Nottingham Trent University who takes the 3D element of knit a stage further with her collaborative pieces. Working with designer Mark Beecroft, she incorporates elements of 3D printed materials directly into knit to create movement and flexibility within printed forms.
In addition, through kind loan from BBC Radio Nottingham, a framed poppy knitted by Paul Smith as part of the station’s Big Poppy Knit appeal to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the First World War, will be on display.
Visitors on the opening day on 6 November are being encouraged to wear an item of knitwear and have their picture taken to add to a growing “knit wall”. This is a wall of the gallery’s atrium space which will be dedicated to photographs of people in and around Nottingham wearing their knitwear.
Knitting Nottingham will be held at Bonington Gallery from Thursday 6 November to Friday 28 November.
Bonington Gallery has selected a new manager, Tom Godfrey, to drive forward its future programme and cement its position at the heart of Nottingham’s thriving arts scene.
Tom’s appointment as Gallery Resource Manager comes as the gallery at Nottingham Trent University launches its new programme for 2014-15, featuring exhibitions which honour 170 years of art and design heritage at the University site. They celebrate Nottinghamshire’s knitting industry with Knitting Nottingham and explore cutting edge research and craft practice associated with textiles and the body with Crafting Anatomies. Renowned UK artist Simon Callery will also be exhibiting and creating his unique, large scale paintings on site.
Bonington Gallery has also been working to establish itself as a central point for information on the wider Nottingham arts scene. The team has been developing its website to include an interactive map to locate all the arts spaces in the city. The gallery’s website will also include a blog and online archive of past exhibitions.
Tom explained: “It is about Bonington Gallery serving the city and being a centre point of information about the arts in Nottingham.”
Work is under way to improve the appearance and accessibility of the gallery, helping to attract external visitors while continuing to serve those within it.
Internationally renowned “doodle” artist and Nottingham Trent University alumnus Jon Burgerman has been commissioned to design a mural and lettering to signpost the gallery within the Bonington building on the University’s City site where it is located.
It is at this exciting time for the Gallery that Tom joins to build on the work already achieved by the team and outgoing Gallery Resource Manager, Geoff Litherland.
For Tom, his appointment marks a return to where his artistic career started. He graduated with a degree in Fine Art from Nottingham Trent University in 2004.
He went on to co-found Moot gallery in the city with fellow graduates Tristan Hessing, Candice Jacobs and Matt Jamieson. Their motivation was the lack of provision for national and international artistic exchange and the desire to create a central meeting point for Nottingham’s independent art community.
The founding of Moot sparked a chain reaction, with other spaces such as Tether and Backlit opening, many led by former Nottingham Trent University students. When Tom returned to the city in 2012 after two years in Glasgow studying for his Master of Fine Arts, Nottingham had transformed.
“The talent retention in Nottingham is so much better now,” said Tom. “Artists don’t have to leave Nottingham because there is a lot happening here.”
Now, Tom has returned to the University to help inspire future generations of artists while also ensuring Bonington Gallery continues to play a vital role in the city’s arts offering.
“What I like about Bonington Gallery is that it sits in a place where knowledge is being formed and not where finished, polished objects exist, like a museum,” said Tom. “The gallery is a big part of that process of learning – it is an example to students who will be putting on exhibitions of their own in the future.”
Tom is now busy visiting other art schools in the country to share knowledge, forge connections and partnerships as well as meeting with Nottingham art groups to learn their views about the gallery and how it serves the community.
He said: “Bonington Gallery is vital to the city. Nothing much rivals it in terms of scale and history. Nottingham has built a strong platform and reputation artistically and we want to bring together and highlight those artistic connections in the city.”
The Bonington Blog is live… and what better way to start it than featuring the freshly painted murals, designed by artist Jon Burgerman?
Over the summer our technicians have been busy painting an exciting and vibrant new permanent artwork at the entrance to the Bonington Gallery. We invited alumnus, Jon Burgerman to design a series of large-scale murals that aim to reflect the creative processes, enjoyment and energy of the School of Art & Design.
Jon Burgerman is an English-born artist, living in Brooklyn, New York. His work oscillates somewhere between fine art, urban art and pop-culture, using humour to reference and question his contemporary milieu. Jon exhibits internationally and his work is also in permanent collections at the V&A Museum and the Science Museum in London. Burgerman studied BA (Hons) Fine Art at The Nottingham Trent University, graduating in 2001 with First Class Honours.
Check out Burgerman’s website: www.jonburgerman.com
Burgerman also designed some artwork for the corridor, which you’ll be able to see when you come and visit the Gallery!
