a WASTE of SPACE: What a week of wonders…

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Aluminium Fox - Jethro Brice - a WasteofSpace, Litterarti

Aluminium Fox – Jethro Brice – a WasteofSpace, Litterarti

What an opportunity and honour to be working with such inspiring, talented people! I am in awe. We have pulled it off! in 2 weeks 25 artists, and with the help and dedication of 10 volunteers, we have managed to pull together an exhibition of excellent quality. We have had workshops running everyday engaging and inspiring kids and adults alike. Today we had Sadie Few and Jan Blake joining in a workshop exploring cardboard. With Louise Block getting creative with plastic. These works contribute to the exhibition, allowing for everyone to be involved. I’d like to cordially invite you to join us and not to miss this wonderful event of collaboration. Here are some pics from the last two days:

Kids making their marks using the stencils of The Fly, exploring stencil work.

Kids making their marks using the stencils of The Fly.

Kids enjoying the installation of photography by Kat LaMiette. Very Sophisticated!

Kids enjoying the installation of photography by Kat LaMiette. Very Sophisticated!

Exhibition from the Scraptors

Exhibition from the Scraptors

Tomorrow, Friday, 8 August, 11-3 pm we see the collaboration of two makers / designers and two conceptual artists exploring willow weaving work and placing value on single use plastic bags!  Two artists  – Sarah Jayne Edwards , a maker, and conceptual artist, Seila Fernandez Arconada will be joining kids to create a bug’s nest to be installed on-site in the garden. Sarah’s preferred medium is willow, and through an engaging process facilitated by Seila, who works with  the kids will create a habitat made out of bits of found materials and willow branches. Artist Jethro Brice and upcycling designer, Fiona Hobson join up making a powerful statement about our comfortable lifestyles and the devastating effects this has on the environment. Join them in creating a quilt out of plastic bags and crisp packets.

Wednesday, Day 2 – a Waste of Space – workshops with Fiona Campbell and Pete Margerum

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An interactive sculpture by Artists, Tim Floyd, and Fred Plumley, made from discarded wood and beer cans found in the local park

An interactive sculpture by Artists, Tim Floyd, and Fred Plumley, made from discarded wood and beer cans found in the local park.

A Waste of Space exploring waste and discarded materials creatively. All visitors are invited to participate in the exhibition by making something out of waste.

Monstrous bird work in progress created by group and artists Phipholle and Bridget Ely

Monstrous bird work in progress created by group and artists Phipholle and Bridget Ely

Tree Sculpture made be Pete Margerum and Fiona Campbell. litterarti, WasteofSpace workshop

Tree Sculpture made be Pete Margerum and Fiona Campbell. litterarti, WasteofSpace workshop

We had a lovely day yesterday ,creating a monstrous bird, mutated after consuming plastic over a multitude of years.

How wonderful to see people having fun and stripping off the layers of perfection inhibiting them to truly be free to create.

Today’s workshop include helping to create a tree out of copper wire and exhaust pipes. The structure has already been created by Fiona and Pete, and we will be adding branches, leaves, insects and all things wild and wonderful to the structure. The materials we are exploring today are softdrink cans and plastic bottle lids.

Both Pete and Fiona have been working with waste materials for years and have a lot of workshop experience between them. They both work at schools in the South West as eco-educators, really communicating sustainability messages in their work while expressing themselves creatively.

Sessions start at 11 am and 1:15 pm. Hope to see you there!

 

DAY 1 A WasteofSPACE at Trinity Centre Bristol 11-5pm

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A WasteofSpace Exhibition opens today at the Trinity Centre, Bristol at 11am – 5pm.

Join us Today at 11am and 1:15 pm for workshops by artists, Bridget Ely and Phipholle, creating a monster bird out of bicycle tubes!
Inner tube

Through art and the creative workshops we have the ability to communicate difficult and serious messages to young people. The deadly effects of plastic in our oceans and waterways.

Who would have guessed. Such a small and seemingly valueless material, to be so dangerous. Through engaging in the workshops with the familiar materials , the workshop participants are encouraged to ask questions about the materials, and for a start to notice and explore the materials. Through this engagement , new value is given to the material already. Then to use the material to spark new and creative ideas, it becomes a medium which allows access to a refined quality within ourselves. To give us confidence in our innate ability to create and to communicate.

At 1:15 we also have a bookbinding workshop with artist, Katharina Nyilas where you will learn how to make use of discarded paper. Great for a personalised gift. She uses a Japanese Book binding technique, which displays beautifully using neat and refined threads and stitching against torn ragged edges of the discarded cardboard and magazines.

The inner tubes are from The Bristol Bike Project and the cardboard and paper we have collected form numerous points including shop outlets, and of course the tried and trusted craft workshop artists’ favourite, Children’s Scrapstore.

Come and see what a WasteofSpace is all about.

 

a WASTE of SPACE: 25 Artists. 9 Willing Volunteers. Eco-Educators. A Film-Maker.

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A WASTEofSPACE is the brainchild of Pete Margerum and Annali Alletha with the vision of having a dedicated space, where traditional “waste” materials can be creatively explored. Where dedicated workshops  and education take place within this dedicated environment.

Painting on cardboard by Thomas Dowdeswell

Painting on cardboard by Thomas Dowdeswell

Through this exhibition, we explore this concept as a reality. By working with artists, all exploring “waste-materials” in their work, we question the process of when waste becomes valuable or turns into resources. As can be seen also in the work of exhibiting artist Thomas Dowdeswell, an established painter, whom clearly illustrates how the impulse to create, does not care about the surfaces it gets exposed to. It is the ultimate illustration of adding value to seemingly worthless objects, when necessity calls for it. These works were created when he could not afford a canvas, but does it detract from the value of the art work? From the purity of expression?

The current trend of waste being a subject matter to many artists, and becoming increasingly popular as representations in gallery spaces, ie. the recent Installation of Phyllida Barlow in the Tate Gallery in London. I call it a trend, but I am a firm believer of artists being able to represent the unseen, hidden sub-conscious of culture. They say if you want to see what a culture is like, look at the art which gets produced. By bringing this art into the public, and involving and engaging people who do not normally go into galleries, we have the opportunity to alter perceptions around waste.

Phyllida Barlow, Tate Gallery London

Phyllida Barlow, Tate Gallery London

Through this exhibition we also seek to bring the “unseen” to the surface. Waste has the quality of out of sight, out of mind. And a big problem with our inability to act on the amount of pollution in our cities, is because it gets tucked away out-of-sight in a landfill site. If we were exposed to the smells and horrors of a landfill site on our doorstep, we would think differently about our wasteful ways. Well, we’re not gonna create a landfill site and pretend it is art. But essentially what we seek to do with this exhibition is allow a space where the individual is confronted to question his / her own relationship with waste.

 

Fiona Campbell and Pete Margerum creating a tree from exhaust pipes for the litterARTI a WASTEofSPACE Exhibition 5- 9 August. Participants will complete the artwork during workshops which will take place on Wednesday, 5 August 2014.

Fiona Campbell and Pete Margerum creating a tree from exhaust pipes for the litterARTI a WASTEofSPACE Exhibition 5- 9 August. Participants will complete the artwork during workshops which will take place on Wednesday, 5 August 2014.

As the week progresses, the “waste” within the space will accumulate through creative workshops. An ants’ nest of activities! And on the final day of the week, we will be able to see the collective footprint of visitors represented creatively and beautifully. All the workshops are run by established and up-coming artists. Artists from different disciplines are invited to collaborate and new relationships are formed. So often this wonderful work is created in isolation, so what this project also seeks is for collaboration and fresh new ideas to inform current work processes. All these artists are explorers of “new-materials” finding new ways to use and engage with materials in excess in our environments. Only through the sharing of techniques and ideas will this zeitgeist gain momentum. It can almost be likened to have the same excitement as the Industrial Revolution, with the Great Exhibition in Crystal Palace and the Eiffel Tower. But with an added challenge – pre-conceived prejudices about the already existing materials, which adds a psychological angle to it. Then the total devastation involved in the excess of these materials causing death in our oceans, and health hazards to humans with less access to public services, where the waste tends to accumulate.

Sadie Few exploring making creations out of cardboard for the workshop on Thursday, 7 August 2014

Sadie Few exploring making creations out of cardboard for the workshop on Thursday, 7 August 2014

Jan Blake busy exploring ideas for the workshop on Thursday, 7 August 2014

Jan Blake busy exploring ideas for the workshop on Thursday, 7 August 2014

During the week other activities include: fancy dress fun litter pick challenges, with outfits provided by  Bristol Textile Recyclers. Fancy Dress costumes headed for India and Pakistan, intercepted by litterARTI to engage kids and make litter picking fun! Stencils provided by The Fly, will allow participants to make statements about litter. We need to start changing perceptions about litter-picking in our societies, that it is unacceptable behaviour to drop litter, but also to ignore litter. If we all take the 2 minute Beach Clean challenge in our own neighbourhoods, you will start to create a culture of litter picking champions. Also look at how LITTERATI seeks to encourage cleaning up the streets: By using Instagram, picturing the litter which you then discard in the correct ways. This way a global map is created where litter has been picked. Litter picking needs to become socially acceptable, and people need to start taking responsibility of their wasteful ways. Collectively. Encouraged within communities.

We are also working with Resource Futures during this exhibition, who provides us with the information necessary to educate and inform accurately about the waste materials we are exploring during the exhibition.

All artists involved in this project, are stakeholders of this project as well. Everyone has agreed to work for half their normal rate, which shows the dedication to the project. The artworks exhibited for sale during the exhibition, will allow for 20% of the profits to go towards the litterARTI – Artists – Collective. We are raising funds which will allow for all the workshop artists to get DBS Clearance Certificates, which will allow them to carry this work forward.

The Scraptors. Fiona Campbell. Pete Margerum. Jethro Brice. Tim Floyd. Thomas Dowdeswell. Lee Kirby. Alison Harper. Jan Blake. Louise Block. Bridget Ely. Sarah Jayne Edwards. Seila Fernandez Arconada. Jennifer Blackwood. Fred Plumley. Object… The Fly. Katryn LaMiette. Katharina Nyilas. Olivia Jones.  Sadie FewFiona Hobson. Phipholle. Annali Alletha. Matt Harris. Ruth Worsley. Morwhenna Woolcock. Domenico Alecci.  Aimee McCabe. Alexandra Rowson. Maxine Hughes. Megan Sutcliffe. Beverly Heath. Clare Wood. June Burrough. Joe Hoare. 

 

Creative workshop assistants and photographers needed (voluntary and half-paid / half – voluntary)

litterARTI exhibition and workshops by Recycling Artists at the Trinity Centre in Bristol
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litterARTI and Trinity Community ARTS are hosting a weeklong exhibition / workshops at the Trinity centre from the 4 – 9 August.

It would involve an arts exhibition and workshops by Recycling artists for local youth groups and charities.

We would love to have people to assist us with the week. The type of people who would enjoy and benefit from this are people interested in the arts, education, and environment. We are looking to set up a team to help us with this work for next year on a much larger scale, so there is an intention that good relationships will be formed to allow for paid work for next year.

The theme we are exploring is our relationship with waste, and will do dedicated creative workshops and sessions around specific materials each day.

The duties for the week between 4 – 9 August would include:

  • Assisting the artists with workshops.
  • Assisting the organiser / curator with exhibition duties – including set up, and moving displays around each theme.
  • Assisting educators ensuring the information about the environmental impact of the materials get communicated clearly.
  • Photography, and filming the exhibition

How you can benefit:

  • Learn environmental facts and experience ways to educate about waste / recycling / sustainability creatively.
  • Training to assist in creative workshops with artists.
  • Learn how to organise events and curate exhibitions.
  • Opportunity to meet local charity groups and build potential relationships with these groups, for further work.
  • An event to document (for portfolio purposes) – we are raising funds for this opportunity currently.
  • Be part of a ground-breaking event and a grassroot organisation, with lots of potential for collaboration for future events.

We would also benefit from expertise in crowd funding, project management, admin duties and graphic design as well as marketing , from the 21st July, which will include, social media, administrative duties, managing a crowd funding campaign and other fundraising incentives. also research into topics, and design of posters and collateral for the exhibition.

Please let us know you interest, expertise, or what you can offer.Also let us know what days you would be available. We would require character references from people who would like to assist with workshops.

Apply at: volunteers@litterarti.com

CALL OUT TO RECYCLING ARTISTS

litterARTI and Trinity Community Arts event 5 - 10 August 2014
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A Quote from Kenneth Martin on Constructivist Theory:

“Material can inspire. Concept dictates material. Material qualifies concept. “

Litter is a symbol of our mindless behaviour of over-consumption. By using this readily available , but apparently value-less material in the co-creation of significant public art-pieces, litter is transformed into a symbol of beauty, hope, empowerment and unity. It provides an opportunity for art to play an active role in finding solutions to sustainability, by

  • Raising awareness
  • Creating empathy
  • Articulation – by giving communities a voice
  • encouraging expression and critical thinking through creativity
  • active education through engagement
  • creating confidence
  • inspiring activism and action

By facilitating workshops, the creative process deepens a connection with the material. The message gets internalised, stimulating further interest in the subject of sustainability.

An exhibition space dedicated to litter, stimulates informal conversations, encouraging us to question our own relationship with waste.

Please get in touch!

Litter as an opportunity!

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litterARTI event at Easton Arts Trail

litterARTI event at the Easton Arts Trail, Bristol, 14, 15 June 2014

LitterARTI uses litter issues to educate about waste. It is not going anywhere, so lets start doing something about it.  While doing something about it, lets have fun and get creative with it!

Through art and engagement you elevate litter objects to the surface… familiar brands are recognised, and then you have a starting point from where to educate. Draw the attention to the rubbish on the ground, and let them make their own assumptions… new creative ways of educating…

There is a disconnection with nature, and through art you can generate compassion and empathy. For behaviour to change, you need to touch hearts. So we need to start generating a culture of cleaners,who would not tolerate litter and who actually start picking it up. Then of course! to reduce… there is simply too much packaging around.

Our maiden project in 2014 was embedded in a local community in Bristol, England. Easton, Ashley and Lawrence Hill are some of the most underprivileged wards in South West England, with higher than average black and minority ethnic groups. Both these wards have higher than average incivilities and litter is cited as a priority concern for the community, as revealed in recent survey findings by the Council. 

Easton is also a vibrant Bohemian community, with many creative people, community groups, activists, and artists, with the popular Easton Arts Trail taking place every year. 

As part of the Trail we put up an event including fancy dress litter pickings and workshops with kids! I think we need to start seeing litter as an opportunity!! Join the litterARTI revolution!

See more pictures here,  as well as an article in the Bristol Post.

Bristol Post Article about the Easton Arts Trail in 2014

Bristol Post Article about the Easton Arts Trail in 2014

 

houses more-art

VOLUNTEER CALL-OUT FOR 14 – 15 JUNE!

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LITTERARTI – LITTER SCULPTURE TRAIL 

Saturday, 14 June and Sunday, 15 June

Owen Square (Chelsea Park behind the Easton Community Centre) and along the Bristol / Bath Railway path.

 

Please help us and have fun! 

This is a wonderful event…It is unique, groundbreaking, innovative, exciting and it is FUN! We just need a few extra pairs of hands for a few hours over the weekend of the Easton Arts Trail to make it all happen. 

We are exhibiting litter-sculptures co-created in workshops by over 200 students from Whitehall Primary, City Academy and the Barton Hill Youth group. The artists involved are Fiona Campbell, Peter Margerum, and Jethro Brice.

On Saturday between 11am and 3pm, we have a get-together, which include litter-pickings along the cycle path, and litter-sculpture workshops with artists, Peter and Jethro.

As these sculptures will be on public display, we would like to tell the public a bit more about the campaign, and this is where we need you to help us. 

We need 3 people at a time, 2 people on the cycle path and 1 person in Owen Square.

The slots we need to fill are on Saturday: 2pm – 6pm and Sunday: 11am – 6pm.

If you could do half an hour, an hour, or even better 2 hours, it would be great. Why not fit it into your visit to the Arts Trail?  

Please email Annali at volunteers@litterarti.com with what time you can offer.

Event Map

Event Map for LitterARTI -Sculpture exhibition on 14 and15 June