Sunday, 13 September 2009
Saturday, 5 September 2009
/// CONSTRUCTS 09 ///
City Wall (Punctuating Division), 2009
Studio Wall, 2009
Invert (1 of 2), 2009
Preparatory Works 1&2, 2009
Works installed (+ Marks on Maps 1-3, 2009 - see previous post) at White House, Glasgow for CONSTRUCTS, a group exhibition curated by Ric Warren. More information, including a profile of each artist involved can be found at www.constructsglasgow.blogspot.com
Wednesday, 12 August 2009
City Wall (Punctuating Binary Opposition), 2009
Installed at Clydebrae Studios, Glasgow, 2009
"Lines of division cut through modern cities. These are not simply questions of marks on maps, nor can we think of features such as roads or bridges merely as useful objects. Apparently neutral divisions in space, the mundane geography of walls, edges and outskirts, can have effects beyond their basic function."
Fran Tonkiss (Space, The City & Social Theory)
Tuesday, 11 August 2009
Saturday, 25 July 2009
City Limits, 2009
City Limits (Florence, Edinburgh, Siena, Glasgow), 2009 Ink & Pencil on MDF
City Wall (Digital) 2009
Thursday, 23 July 2009
Disegno Interno, 2009
Disegno Interno- Model of the replica of Michelangelo’s “David” (Left) and Bandinelli’s “Hercules & Cacus” (Right) as witnessed in Piazza della Signoria, Florence, 2008. 2009
Friday, 10 July 2009
Follies, 2009
Folly: (noun)
-a foolish act, idea, or practice.
Follies (an investigation into the architecture of Florence), 2009.
-a costly ornamental building with no particle purpose, especially a tower.
Follies (an investigation into the architecture of Florence), 2009. 14 Interchangeable Parts- Dimensions Variable
Friday, 12 June 2009
Wednesday, 22 April 2009
Monuments, 2009
Installed as part of IL DOLCE FAR NIENTE : APERTO STUDIO (The Sweet Doing Nothing: Open Studios), Clydebrae Studios, Glasgow.
Models: cardboard, printed paper
Drawings: Ink & pencil on MDF
These ‘edited monuments’ were influence by research in Florence during my time on the RSA John Kinross Scholarship 2008. I was interested in representing barricaded ‘monuments’ that no longer commemorate or celebrate anything, a shrine to nothing. Yet, still suggest that they did, or once had a purpose. Material variations that insinuate a censored or an edited history, but notably, a not entirely destroyed history. A functionless structure made even more pointless -other than its ability to occupy space and provoke intrigue. A sculpture.
Sunday, 15 February 2009
RSA New Contemporaries 2009
Fear of Freedom (proposal for a prison courtyard or a town square), 2009. 
Society of Captives, 2009. 
To Say That Man Is A Social Animal, 2009. 
Neighbourhood Watch, 2008
Thursday, 18 December 2008
Façade (Renaissance Man), 2008
Installation for homeless man in Florence, constructed from found materials (cardboard, tape, candles), Via Dello Sprone, Florence, Italy. 2008 The work consists of a frontage constructed from found cardboard and packing tape that has been installed upon a windowsill in which a homeless man named Hans lives. The text, “GRAZIE X L’AUTO”, translates as “THANKS FOR THE HELP”. This was already written on a sign that Hans had made for his donation box, and so was incorporated in to the work. The work was consciously constructed from these low value materials (that had been discarded by the city) as I wanted to play with the cliché of homeless people living in cardboard boxes by creating an elaborately decorated version. As well as referencing architecture traditionally associated with Florence, the details on the Façade of the structure was also influence by the elaborate frames of the renaissance paintings in the Uffizi Gallery. This acts as a sculptural frame that is intended to draw attention to the homeless man that it encloses. The work was intended a social commentary and a critique of the distribution of wealth in the city. It is important that the structure is merely a façade and actually offers no practical shelter to its occupant. Like much of my sculptural work that is based on architecture, it takes the guise of a functional construction, yet is in fact useless. I am aware that the work could be seen as slightly exploitative or considered as a form of gentrification. In some senses this perception was intentional. It may be interpreted as an attempt to cover up the problem and make it less offensive to public consciousness, or in contrast, as means to highlight it. The work references the city’s architecture, and in doing so attempts to become part of it. Rather than trying to direct attention elsewhere, it tries to accept and identify the homeless man as an integral part of the city. The cardboard frontage borrows the aesthetics of urban forms associated with wealth and power contrasted with another aspect synonymous of all urban environments; poverty and desperation.
Tuesday, 28 October 2008
Friday, 26 September 2008
Iceberg (The Ego & The Id) - 2nd edition.
Installed as part of the group show 'ROAR!' held at Bargehouse Gallery, Southbank, London, September 2008.
Ex. 2008
City Limits (Redeveloping Geographies of Division) 2008 + Structural Relations, Material Inequalities & Social Circumstances, 2008
Installed as part of the group show 'ex' held at Leeds College of Art & Design, September 2008.
Saturday, 6 September 2008
Monday, 18 August 2008
Monday, 11 August 2008
Art In The Garden
Installation of 3 works commissioned by Edinburgh International Book Festival in association with Edinburgh Art Festival 08.
Buoys (foreground) & Shed-Shed-Shed (Background) 
Iceberg (The Ego & The Id)
Charlotte Square Garden, Edinburgh (9th-23rd August)
Iceberg (The Ego & The Id)Children enjoying/destroying the work
Casa de Pájaros, 2008
Collaboration with Alba Escayo 
LindArt International Fine Art Colony, Lendava, Slovenia
Tuesday, 17 June 2008
Iceberg (The Ego & The Id), 2008
Glasgow School of Art Degree Show 2008
Studio 25, Mackintosh Building
The work is a reincarnation of 'Iceberg', which was first installed in the Garage Space- although I consider 'Iceberg (The Ego & The Id)' to be a new piece. 'Iceberg (The Ego and The Id)' has developed from a body of work initially inspired from the floods that devastated many parts of the UK during summer 2007, as well as the disastrous flood in New Orleans. The floodwaters claimed many buildings, rendering them inaccessible and uninhabitable. I began to consider how this environmental change could affect my childhood home in Yorkshire; a space from which I already feel is no longer as assessable to me as it once was. Experimenting with various forms and structures I have attempted to subvert the traditional gallery floor the to suggest the illusion of a submerged structure and deny its solidity. The framed drawing of the side elevation shows the whole house, including the imagined form of the unseen structure beneath the ‘waterline’.
The work is intended to have a scale relationship to the viewer, so it is large enough to have presence in a space, yet at an appropriate size for the audience to sit on it. This idea was inspired by images of flood victims awaiting rescue from their rooftops, as well as a desire to create a stage for social interaction. Although 'Iceberg (The Ego and The Id)' is based on my ‘home’ and in part originated as an interpretation of my feelings regarding the perceived barricading of / detachment from my former sanctuary, I feel that it represents a typical suburban house. Due to the relative size and number of windows it suggest a house of multiple occupancy, a space for a group, and the padded flat roof offers room for a social unit. The main title 'Iceberg' relates to the ideas of a large unseen space (that is suggested in the framed drawing) as well as describing a natural form that is strongly associated with environmental change. The bracketed part of the title '(The Ego & The Id)' is taken from Sigmund Freud’s seminal essay and is intended to offer a reading of the work as a representation of the human mind. Freud suggests that the id "contains everything that is inherited, that is present at birth, that is laid down in the constitution”, and I feel that this is represented by the childhood/ family home. A shed on the other hand represents a space for the individual (the Ego) and like a studio it is often used as a space for thought. It is seen to be floating independently from the family home, but due to materials and general aesthetic, it is still inseparably linked to the main structure. Like a piece of ice broken off from a melting icecap.
Studio 25, Mackintosh Building
The work is a reincarnation of 'Iceberg', which was first installed in the Garage Space- although I consider 'Iceberg (The Ego & The Id)' to be a new piece. 'Iceberg (The Ego and The Id)' has developed from a body of work initially inspired from the floods that devastated many parts of the UK during summer 2007, as well as the disastrous flood in New Orleans. The floodwaters claimed many buildings, rendering them inaccessible and uninhabitable. I began to consider how this environmental change could affect my childhood home in Yorkshire; a space from which I already feel is no longer as assessable to me as it once was. Experimenting with various forms and structures I have attempted to subvert the traditional gallery floor the to suggest the illusion of a submerged structure and deny its solidity. The framed drawing of the side elevation shows the whole house, including the imagined form of the unseen structure beneath the ‘waterline’.
The work is intended to have a scale relationship to the viewer, so it is large enough to have presence in a space, yet at an appropriate size for the audience to sit on it. This idea was inspired by images of flood victims awaiting rescue from their rooftops, as well as a desire to create a stage for social interaction. Although 'Iceberg (The Ego and The Id)' is based on my ‘home’ and in part originated as an interpretation of my feelings regarding the perceived barricading of / detachment from my former sanctuary, I feel that it represents a typical suburban house. Due to the relative size and number of windows it suggest a house of multiple occupancy, a space for a group, and the padded flat roof offers room for a social unit. The main title 'Iceberg' relates to the ideas of a large unseen space (that is suggested in the framed drawing) as well as describing a natural form that is strongly associated with environmental change. The bracketed part of the title '(The Ego & The Id)' is taken from Sigmund Freud’s seminal essay and is intended to offer a reading of the work as a representation of the human mind. Freud suggests that the id "contains everything that is inherited, that is present at birth, that is laid down in the constitution”, and I feel that this is represented by the childhood/ family home. A shed on the other hand represents a space for the individual (the Ego) and like a studio it is often used as a space for thought. It is seen to be floating independently from the family home, but due to materials and general aesthetic, it is still inseparably linked to the main structure. Like a piece of ice broken off from a melting icecap.
Wednesday, 14 May 2008
Tuesday, 13 May 2008
Wednesday, 16 April 2008
Thursday, 3 April 2008
Buoys, 2008
Front Space, GSA.
Recycle bins are a relatively recent addition to our cities and towns, encouraging us to protect natural resources in an attempt to combat climate change. However, it could be suggested that such efforts to halt environmental disasters are somewhat belated (as recent events have shown). This work was inspired by an image taken during the latest floods in Yorkshire that shows wheelie bins floating in the floodwaters.
Recycle bins are a relatively recent addition to our cities and towns, encouraging us to protect natural resources in an attempt to combat climate change. However, it could be suggested that such efforts to halt environmental disasters are somewhat belated (as recent events have shown). This work was inspired by an image taken during the latest floods in Yorkshire that shows wheelie bins floating in the floodwaters.
Sunday, 9 March 2008
Friday, 22 February 2008
House-Berg, 2008
Initially installed as part of the flat show 'Nice Ensemble' then reinstalled in the Garage Space, GSA.
Wednesday, 20 February 2008
Monday, 18 February 2008
Sunday, 17 February 2008
City as a Resource, 2008 (work in progress)
Garage Space, GSA
(Found materials from Half-mile radius of gallery)
Components
This project was part of my investigation into urban socio-spatial segregation and inequality. I spent a day in the Garage Space constructing an unplanned structure from materials I had sourced from the streets of Glasgow. The sculpture was intended to mimic the architectural forms that compose illegal Favela settlements in Brazil, both in its aesthetic qualities and by its method of creation. The crudely constructed shanty-like form reincarnated found materials that have been discarded by the city, to construct a new structure. The scale and form were dictated by the possibilities and limitations of the available material. Unlike the impromptu dwellings of the informal human settlements, the structure was not internally assessable. It functioned instead as an object that represented such architecture of deprivation and this symbol of social inequality prompted a dialogued among the audience about such themes.
(Found materials from Half-mile radius of gallery)
Components
This project was part of my investigation into urban socio-spatial segregation and inequality. I spent a day in the Garage Space constructing an unplanned structure from materials I had sourced from the streets of Glasgow. The sculpture was intended to mimic the architectural forms that compose illegal Favela settlements in Brazil, both in its aesthetic qualities and by its method of creation. The crudely constructed shanty-like form reincarnated found materials that have been discarded by the city, to construct a new structure. The scale and form were dictated by the possibilities and limitations of the available material. Unlike the impromptu dwellings of the informal human settlements, the structure was not internally assessable. It functioned instead as an object that represented such architecture of deprivation and this symbol of social inequality prompted a dialogued among the audience about such themes.
Monday, 12 November 2007
Structural Relations, Material Inequalities & Social Circumstance. 2007
Front Space Gallery
Glasgow School of Art
(Bricks, Mortar, Wood, Recycled Cardboard)
"While the experience of the city may be over-determined by structural relations, material inequalities and social circumstances - it is not simply case... Urban forms are made not only out of materials and things, but out of meanings, language and symbols." (Fran Tonkiss, Space The City and Social Theory)
‘Structural Relations, Material Inequalities & Social Circumstances’ was an investigation into the structural forms that compose Brazilian Favela settlements. The purpose of which was to explore symbols of social inequality through the examination of the architecture of desperation. I was interested in exploring how the meanings of these structures change when separated from their context and wished to activate a dialogue around these politically loaded forms. The installation consisted of 32 small scale models (aprox. 15cm3) of favela structures constructed from recycled cardboard. These were displayed in a grid formation upon low plinths made from bricks and wood, which were spaced as to allow free movement around the works. The work wished to create confusion between the architecture associated with urban condominiums of the wealthy professional classes and that of the liminal zones occupied by a poor underclass. By employing the formal language associated with architectural exhibitions, the installation did not attempt reconstruct a settlement. Giving each piece its own space within the grid allowed the structures to be seen as autonomous pieces among a series. Due to the formal display, at first instance the structures could be read as models for bespoke upper class housing. Yet, upon closer inspection of the crude constructions of low quality recycled materials evoke a sense of ‘otherness’ associated with the unprompted constructions of the favelas. The low elevation of the works granted the viewer dominance over the objects and the choice of materials was intended to reflect the low value of such urban formations.
Glasgow School of Art
(Bricks, Mortar, Wood, Recycled Cardboard)
"While the experience of the city may be over-determined by structural relations, material inequalities and social circumstances - it is not simply case... Urban forms are made not only out of materials and things, but out of meanings, language and symbols." (Fran Tonkiss, Space The City and Social Theory)
‘Structural Relations, Material Inequalities & Social Circumstances’ was an investigation into the structural forms that compose Brazilian Favela settlements. The purpose of which was to explore symbols of social inequality through the examination of the architecture of desperation. I was interested in exploring how the meanings of these structures change when separated from their context and wished to activate a dialogue around these politically loaded forms. The installation consisted of 32 small scale models (aprox. 15cm3) of favela structures constructed from recycled cardboard. These were displayed in a grid formation upon low plinths made from bricks and wood, which were spaced as to allow free movement around the works. The work wished to create confusion between the architecture associated with urban condominiums of the wealthy professional classes and that of the liminal zones occupied by a poor underclass. By employing the formal language associated with architectural exhibitions, the installation did not attempt reconstruct a settlement. Giving each piece its own space within the grid allowed the structures to be seen as autonomous pieces among a series. Due to the formal display, at first instance the structures could be read as models for bespoke upper class housing. Yet, upon closer inspection of the crude constructions of low quality recycled materials evoke a sense of ‘otherness’ associated with the unprompted constructions of the favelas. The low elevation of the works granted the viewer dominance over the objects and the choice of materials was intended to reflect the low value of such urban formations.
Thursday, 1 November 2007
Extended Essay
Social-Spatial Segregation and Displacement: A Comparative Analysis of Sao Paulo and Glasgow, 2007
Synopsis:
The essay explores socio-spatial divides and the displacement of working-class populations within cities, concentrating specifically on ‘Favela’ settlements in the Brazilian city of São Paulo. These are compared and contrasted with working-class housing schemes in Glasgow in order to identify global tendencies in modern urban and cultural geography.
It considers how the contemporary ‘Haussmannisation’ of post-industrial cities could be pushing working-class populations ever further out of the city towards the peripheries. Primarily researched through contemporary theoretical and statistical works the essay also highlights key historical economic changes within the cities. It identifies what effects these shifts have had on population fluctuations and how the situations have, or have not been dealt with. Thereafter, it investigates the gentrification and representation of the cities. In so doing the essay aims to explore the degree to which such tendencies could be contributing to an urban class apartheid.
Synopsis:
The essay explores socio-spatial divides and the displacement of working-class populations within cities, concentrating specifically on ‘Favela’ settlements in the Brazilian city of São Paulo. These are compared and contrasted with working-class housing schemes in Glasgow in order to identify global tendencies in modern urban and cultural geography.
It considers how the contemporary ‘Haussmannisation’ of post-industrial cities could be pushing working-class populations ever further out of the city towards the peripheries. Primarily researched through contemporary theoretical and statistical works the essay also highlights key historical economic changes within the cities. It identifies what effects these shifts have had on population fluctuations and how the situations have, or have not been dealt with. Thereafter, it investigates the gentrification and representation of the cities. In so doing the essay aims to explore the degree to which such tendencies could be contributing to an urban class apartheid.
Monday, 3 September 2007
Il Faut Cultiver Notre Jardin, 2007
Il Faut Cultiver Notre Jardin. Room 327, Hotel Bloom!, Brussels, Belgium.
On my arrival in Brussels the forest of construction cranes that were growing through the gaps of the cityscape inspired me to produce this wall drawing in response to the theme ‘Bloom’. A predominate feature of many cities, cranes are the tools of growth and change that symbolise the bloom of urban space. We are currently within the epoch of human history where for the first time the world’s urban population will outweigh its rural. Straight lines have taken over the lives we lead - the agglomeration of man made geometric structures is now the garden to more people than the ‘natural’ environment. The quote “Il faut cultiver notre jardin” (“We must cultivate our garden”) comes from Voltaire’s famous concluding paragraph to ‘Candide, ou l'Optimisme’ in which travellers finally settle in the hope to produce a better world for themselves to live in. In agriculture and horticulture it is necessary to preserve, prune, uproot, reseed and rotate plants in order to keep the land fertile and maintain life. This is also essential for our urban environment. The city is a garden- a product of nature, or more specifically, of human nature and we must cultivate our garden.
On my arrival in Brussels the forest of construction cranes that were growing through the gaps of the cityscape inspired me to produce this wall drawing in response to the theme ‘Bloom’. A predominate feature of many cities, cranes are the tools of growth and change that symbolise the bloom of urban space. We are currently within the epoch of human history where for the first time the world’s urban population will outweigh its rural. Straight lines have taken over the lives we lead - the agglomeration of man made geometric structures is now the garden to more people than the ‘natural’ environment. The quote “Il faut cultiver notre jardin” (“We must cultivate our garden”) comes from Voltaire’s famous concluding paragraph to ‘Candide, ou l'Optimisme’ in which travellers finally settle in the hope to produce a better world for themselves to live in. In agriculture and horticulture it is necessary to preserve, prune, uproot, reseed and rotate plants in order to keep the land fertile and maintain life. This is also essential for our urban environment. The city is a garden- a product of nature, or more specifically, of human nature and we must cultivate our garden.
Tuesday, 26 June 2007
Works on Paper, Works on Walls.
Market Gallery Proposal. 
I am interested in how culture-led regeneration in Glasgow has created an urban class-apartheid in which spaces such as art galleries have been used to gentrify areas of the city and thus force out working-class Glaswegians. This hand drawn proposal for Market Gallery, which is located in Glasgow’s less affluent East End is part of a series of ten drawings that propose to brick up similar art spaces across the city. The creation/proposal of artworks that act both as a physical and visual barricade to gallery spaces was intended to demonstrate/critique how the art-world is inaccessible to many members of society.
Transmited
Unheard Voice+Photoshop.jpg)
I am interested in how culture-led regeneration in Glasgow has created an urban class-apartheid in which spaces such as art galleries have been used to gentrify areas of the city and thus force out working-class Glaswegians. This hand drawn proposal for Market Gallery, which is located in Glasgow’s less affluent East End is part of a series of ten drawings that propose to brick up similar art spaces across the city. The creation/proposal of artworks that act both as a physical and visual barricade to gallery spaces was intended to demonstrate/critique how the art-world is inaccessible to many members of society.
Transmited
Unheard Voice
+Photoshop.jpg){kind=spacer}
Tuesday, 19 June 2007
Structural Relations. 2007
Most men appear never to have considered what a house really is, and are actually needlessly poor because they think they must have one such as their neighbours.
Structural Relations, Material Inequalities & Social Circumstances: Exhibited as part of the group show SalvadorDeli, Vic Gallery, Glasgow, 2007.
Structural Relations, Material Inequalities & Social Circumstances: Exhibited as part of the group show SalvadorDeli, Vic Gallery, Glasgow, 2007.
Friday, 27 April 2007
100 Aggresive Acts of Egotistical Masculine Dominance/ Man-made Structures, 2007
Exhibited as part of the group show "Underworked/Overplayed", Glasgow(Fabric Screen with video projection of 100 brick walls on loop)
Monday, 26 March 2007
We Have Moved, 2007
WE HAVE MOVED, 2007. Newbery/GFC Gallery, Glasgow
Using a fixed quantity of bricks, a wall is constructed in a position within the gallery, then dismantantled, and reassembled daily by the artists in a changed configuration and location within the space, and eventually outwith the gallery and into the street. Boundaries and territory are tested by the construction of these intersections in the uncertain space, thereby temorarily forming new relationships. The constant carrying and stacking of bricks can be observed by the viewer. This is an act that does not bare the appearance of 'performance', rather, being an necessary process for the fulfillment of the work. The importance of this is in maintaining the bricks integrity as an object of labour and function, instead of an aethertised gallery object associated with the works of artists such as Carl Andre. There are references to the overall process of creation, that requires a progression, and a destruction. Its is an exploration of an object which is integral to a child's firts discoveries of form and creation, whilst also accounting for the everyday maintenance and progress of our built surroundings.
Using a fixed quantity of bricks, a wall is constructed in a position within the gallery, then dismantantled, and reassembled daily by the artists in a changed configuration and location within the space, and eventually outwith the gallery and into the street. Boundaries and territory are tested by the construction of these intersections in the uncertain space, thereby temorarily forming new relationships. The constant carrying and stacking of bricks can be observed by the viewer. This is an act that does not bare the appearance of 'performance', rather, being an necessary process for the fulfillment of the work. The importance of this is in maintaining the bricks integrity as an object of labour and function, instead of an aethertised gallery object associated with the works of artists such as Carl Andre. There are references to the overall process of creation, that requires a progression, and a destruction. Its is an exploration of an object which is integral to a child's firts discoveries of form and creation, whilst also accounting for the everyday maintenance and progress of our built surroundings.
Friday, 9 February 2007
Unstable Structures Under Construction, 2007
Front Space, Glasgow School of Art
Ode to Tilted Arc
It is human nature to be intrigued by that which is concealed, so much so that building companies have began to put view holes in the fences around building sites to prevent people climbing over to satisfy their curiosity. Interested in this concept I proposed a series of potential projects that used various exhibition spaces within the Glasgow School of Art as well as public spaces across the city. The intention was to interrupt both the physical and visual experience of a space by constructing walls at a certain height that would be low enough to visually intrigue the viewer yet physically too high to actually offer a view over. The particular proposal for a popular thoroughfare of the Glasgow School of Art was intended as homage to Richard Serra's ‘Tilted Arc’. This drawing manifested itself as a direct wall drawing within a solo exhibition of all the proposals. The Show was titled ‘Potential Projects Under Construction” and was blocked off by a brick wall that made the exhibition only partially viewable from outside the gallery space.
Ode to Tilted Arc
It is human nature to be intrigued by that which is concealed, so much so that building companies have began to put view holes in the fences around building sites to prevent people climbing over to satisfy their curiosity. Interested in this concept I proposed a series of potential projects that used various exhibition spaces within the Glasgow School of Art as well as public spaces across the city. The intention was to interrupt both the physical and visual experience of a space by constructing walls at a certain height that would be low enough to visually intrigue the viewer yet physically too high to actually offer a view over. The particular proposal for a popular thoroughfare of the Glasgow School of Art was intended as homage to Richard Serra's ‘Tilted Arc’. This drawing manifested itself as a direct wall drawing within a solo exhibition of all the proposals. The Show was titled ‘Potential Projects Under Construction” and was blocked off by a brick wall that made the exhibition only partially viewable from outside the gallery space.
Thursday, 8 February 2007
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