KIOSK at TOFS

For this workshop, launching KIOSK, an exciting new mobile making unit devised by East Leeds Project and designed and built by Emma Hardaker at Dukes Makes, we set up at The Old Red Fire Station in Gipton. Approaching screen printing for the first time, particpants looked at symbols, symbolic colours, shapes and motifs found in flags and across cultures and folklore. Together we discussed what shapes and colours could mean, together and apart and made choices for basic designs. These were cut from newsprint and used as stencils to create layered screenprints.

KIOSK’s space provided such a great atmosphere for making- a lot of people were curious and keen to take part- the fun and freedom of making clearly appealed- we had some amazing results for first time printers and everyone was able to keep some prints whilst contributing one to a collection that will build through more KIOSK adventures to create a fun communal artwork.

Phenakisto-wha? at The Tetley

Workshops & Activities

Following on from the amazing stop-frame animations created by the Breeze group with Alison Booth, I worked with participants to create portable animating objects, either using drawings or images created in the pop-up photo booth. Using pre-cinema Zoetrope and Phenakistoscope techniques with recycled materials. At The Tetley.

Maybe It’s Only Us…Mirrors & Mazes…Week 1

Workshops & Activities

Half way through our workshop sessions working towards the exciting Maze of Mirrors for Unity Day!

During our 1st session we had a LOT of fun thinking of key words and ideals for our Utopia (ie. putting the world to rights!) which continued into the 2nd session with Kerri & Molly gathering some excellent contributions and thoughts from the crowds in Hyde Park! We’ve had everything from ‘no politicians’ to ‘more leopards climbing trees’….

Translating the words into Thomas More’s Utopian alphabet has been an interesting challenge too, we realised that the letters ‘u’ and ‘w’ weren’t used much in the 16th century…, so Margaret designed some Utopian alternatives for us to use.

The construction of our optical illusions are underway! We looked at artworks by Marcel Duchamp and Ludwig Lindley alongside some amazing examples of antique phenkistoscope designs and will use these to create some large scale ‘tricks of the eye’ to hypnotise our audience with our Utopian values!

Stereoskopische Exponate von Frau Wilding

Maybe it’s Only Us…Maps, Flags & Utopias

Workshops & Activities

For this free, drop-in activity as part of The Tetley’s Springboard Saturdays I invited participants to imagine and create their own country, with invented maps, flags, laws and languages and contributing to a ‘brave new world’!

The workshop included a range of artistic activities suitable for all ages including map drawing, writing creatively, large scale flag painting, book-making and contributing to a collaborative artwork. Alongside the activities I installed a reading corner with family friendly Utopian/Dystopian fiction will be available for inspiration, along with music and sounds taken from films such as Metropolis, Logan’s Run and The Matrix.

This workshop was inspired by themes present in The Tetley’s current New Reality programme; the exhibition Down Time by artist Ben Cain & Rob Kennedy’s ongoing Production Residency.

Palindromic Books Drop-in Workshop

Workshops & Activities

As part of The Tetley‘s Saturday Springboard programme and as part of the 17th International Contemporary Artists’ Book Fair, I led a workshop creating Palindromic Books. The books were made using proper bookbinding materials, tools and techniques following a basic stitch.

The idea for creating palindromes came as a response to a piece in the main exhibition at The Tetley, The Reversing Machine, by artists Simon Lewandowski and Sam Belinfante. They had installed a self-reversing machine which connected to two turntables which played palindromic records- specifically commissioned to play in both directions.

Simon Lewandowski & Sam Belinfante, The Reversing Machine, 2014

Participants were able to select prepared pages for their books, from a range of palindrome pairs, which they then brought together and bound. Once the pages were sewn together the book read as a palindrome itself, creating a sort of Nonsense poem!