Rubbish Art!
In November 2008 I was commissioned to create new work for the exhibition Rubbish Art! at The Point, Doncaster's amazing community arts centre. The exhibition was to showcase the possibilities in using recycled materials in artwork and featured six artists who use these materials in their practices.
My work explored the potentials in using recycled textiles. Using discarded clothing as a starting point but diversifying to sack cloth, baling twine and even old video reels. I teamed these materials with traditional handcrafts such as knit, french knit and crochet and created an installation based around a 'knitting circle' of chairs and a table to allow participants and viewers to interact with the piece and create their own work.
For the exhibition I also created my first 'giant french knitter', scaling up the traditional technique which teaches children the basics of knitting in order to enhance interaction with the tool. The giant french knitter was intended to allow children to interect with the installation as knitting can be both untangible and annoying for little hands, however the knitter proved a hit with all ages and was especially well received by the adult learning groups that use the centre. Here you can see artist Martin Shaw, one of the co-exhibitors, using the knitter.
In addition to my installation I was asked by The Point to run some workshops with local people alongside the exhibition. I worked with The Point's weekly knit group in the run up to the exhibition to create a chunky rug knitted from recycled plastic bags, which can be seen here under the french knitter. I also ran some skill share events details of which can be seen here.Love Making at Top Drawer
In September 2008 Nottingham Trent gave us Decorative Arts graduates the opportunity to 'go it alone' at the top London retail trade show Top Drawer. I co-coordinated the show alongside Michelle Wood. We learned a lot about the logistics and curation of showing on this scale, had a brilliant time and by all accounts the stand was a flying success.
New Designers
In July 2008 myself and 25 other Nottingham Trent Decorative Arts graduates showed our work at New Designers 2008, an annual graduate showcase at the Business Design Centre in Islington.
It was a great week and gave us a good insight into the world of design shows.