14:53 Tuesday 4th June 2019

As part of my residency creative pathway bursary with Somerset Art Works, I will be taking part in a residency at Dove studios, Butleigh.

During this time, I shall be working alongside five very talented artists in the beautiful rural landscape. With the residency being loosely structured,
we have been asked to bring open minds and refrain from having too many preconceived ideas. The only solid plan of the residency is that one artist
will introduce each day with an hour-long activity of their choice. The rest of the time is open. Open for collaboration. Open for inspiration. And open for making.

I have been reflecting on a past residency at Spike Island where I collaborated with another artist to produce an exhibition and small engagement strand. During this residency, I had become inspired by launderettes as a concept and as space. With laundrettes attracting public from all walks of lives I was interested in the potential of it as a social space. After further research into the history of washing clothes and how this was carried out in public as a communal act, I developed a workshop titled the Great
Wash. I invited members of the public to come and create their own washing detergent and wash laundry in the exhibition space. This group activity brought a group of people together and initiated some interesting dialogue.

 

I intend on delivering an adaption of this workshop during the residency at Dove Studios. Using traditional methods, this manual act of washing creates a catalyst for conversation and new ideas. In addition, each of the items of clothing has been adorned with passionate reviews real people have left about various laundrettes. Washing these clothes will highlight the emotions that are produced in even the most ‘mundane’ social spaces.

Each of the artists participating has a different practice to my own. I hope to use the residency to experiment with new mediums and collaborate with both the artists and the landscape.

After visiting Dove studios a few weeks ago, I have a couple key areas of interest

 

I am currently trying to balance the instruction of arriving with no plan, with the feeling of being

                                             totally

    unprepared…