Interesting projects!

Hello again, a quick update from the Transporter Project with a list of projects and websites which you may be interested in....

A great community project building a greenhouse from plastic bottles
http://www.the4csne.com/greenhouse.html

Go back to basics and make your own book!
http://theresaeaston.wordpress.com/2013/03/13/print-book-making-36-lime-street/

Uniting new and old technologies, Yvette Hawkins and Susannah Pickering - whose work incorporates books, poetry and traditional crafts - will start a poem thread on Twitter with clothing as the central theme.
http://www.bookapothecary.co.uk/#!blog/cs0g

An interesting article about sustainability
http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture-professionals-network/culture-professionals-blog/2013/mar/18/environment-reporting-arts-council-sustainability

Northeast Permaculture - Since January 2005, permaculture activists throughout the Northeast have been meeting and actively creating a network for mutually supporting each other and advancing permaculture solutions among the wider public in our area
http://northeasternpermaculture.wikispaces.com/

A link to a great project one of our Newcastle University Fine art students recently attended
http://www.felinuchaf.org/

Enjoy the Easter Weekend!
Transporter Project

Newcastle University 'Strand' Project

We are working with 15 Newcastle University 2nd yr Fine Art students as part of our creative exchange element of the Transporter project. The 'Strand' project, which runs alongside the students studio practice, allows us to share information, knowledge and skills learnt during our time in Peru and Berlin (as well as the developments within our arts practices), with the students to help them develop ideas and new skills.

They’ve had some great ideas and are inspiring us with new ideas too- we are encouraging the students to learn a new skill or develop a body of research on a new area during the Strand. They are responding well to this and some are integrating the project into their studio practice as they discover a new interest or area they wish to work in.

We are uploading images of the students work onto our flickr photostream so please have a look and comment to give them feedback on their ideas so far! http://www.flickr.com/photos/transporterproject/sets/72157633054505042/ Any signposts to artists, books etc to help them with their research is welcomed too!

The Student project aims and learning outcomes are - 

•Develop an understanding of different crafts and skills, what role they play in cultural heritage and whether they can inspire contemporary art

•Gain a greater understanding of other art forms

•Experiment and collaborate with other artists/peers.

•Learn, share skills in arts and crafts such as weaving, paper making, pottery, woodwork etc

•Learn new ways of seeing and doing through cultural exchange and researching their own cultural heritage

•Understand issues surrounding sustaining local and international traditional art forms and cultures

•Develop understanding of sustainable arts practise and broader environmental issues

•Question and explore their relationship to their environment.

•Self direct their studies and research

•Group work and critical feedback

•Create a body of research, ideas and experiments which explore new ground for the student

•Create a ‘resolved’ new art work/design/prototype (either individually or collaboratively) for public showing.

Update since our return to the UK & the next phase of Transporter...

Spending time at Sachaqa Centro De Arte and our experiences in San Roque de Cumbaza, Tarapoto, Chazuta and Lamas has allowed us to take a fresh approach to our art making, giving us time and space to learn to just relax and not force creativity! Being away from anything familiar really made you think about yourself as a person, who you are and who you want to be- something we didn’t expect! The peaceful and undisturbed surroundings were AMAZING and the way Trina and Daniel have set up the centre in a very relaxed and informal manner means you are free to work as and when you please. We were so inspired by the beauty of the place as well as the sounds and movement from the river, weather, trees and wildlife. There was thunder and lightning like we’d never experienced before, frogs as loud as horns, the biggest cockroaches we've ever seen, an orchestra from nature every night and the most beautiful coffee, pineapple and chocolate we’ve ever tasted!

Since leaving Peru we have been developing new work from ideas inspired by our time there which we did not have time to realise whilst we were there. We are currently looking at creating sculptural work from handmade paper we made whilst working with local artisans in Lamas – looking into the techniques of paper engineering and origami. We are also developing a sound and film piece made from the footage and recordings that we took as we travelled around Peru and during our daily walks around San Roque de Cumbaza where we were based. This new work will form the basis of the exhibition we are hoping to deliver in March 2012 (date and place tbc). We will post more information about this exhibition as soon as we have it!

Since our last posting we have been in contact with Lima University’s sculpture department and Axis Arte (www.blog.pucp.edu.pe/blog/axisarte ) whom we met just before our return to the UK. We are organising an online exchange between students from Lima University and Newcastle University and will be using the theme of sustainability within traditional art forms as a starting point from which to develop a relationship. The students will share ideas and thoughts around this subject and also discuss the differences and similarities between how art courses are taught in the UK and Peru.

Our next stop on the Transporter journey is to Berlin in August 2012 where we will be artists in residence in Kunst-Stoffe, an arts organisation that looks at the creative re-examination and re-use of recycled materials. While we are there we will make work inspired by our travels so far and immerse ourselves in their culture.

We will add more info to our blog as we develop this project so keep checking in with us and remember our Flickr account (http://www.flickr.com/photos/67813410%40N05/ ) where we have recently added some video footage of local artisans singing about their passion for the work that they do!!

Our Artwork/ New ideas - how has this developed our arts practice?

It was quite a struggle to spend lots of focused time on making artwork when there was so much to take in and adjust to in Peru. We were out of the studio for 1 week in Chazuta and also spent a lot of time organising the Lamas event, updating the blog etc. That said, the inspirational surroundings and unique culture of the place meant that you couldn’t help but want to respond creatively to it.

Land Art/Natural Sculpture: We experimented with our first land art pieces which was exciting. There was a real sense of connection between the people and the environment where we stayed and this definitely rubbed off and made you think of how disconnected we are to our plants and animals in UK. We tracked a dried up channel from the main river near our studio and installed a pink line of petals from the Palmarosa tree along where the river use to run- the contrast of the bright pink petals against the mossy green rocks looked amazing. Weirdly, 4 days before we left there was a terrible storm and the river broke its banks filling the dried up river bed and washed away our Palmarosa line. The locals said the last time the river had done this was 11yrs ago and then again 100 yrs before that!

Film/Sound work: We also captured a massive amount of film and sound footage. The jungle was so filled with life and the staggered noises of frogs, crickets, bats, dogs and cockerels created a sound piece every night! Ants and butterflies were great to try and capture too- we are going to use our footage to develop an installation which will attempt to recreate our experience.

Ceramics: The potential of ceramics is also something which became clear when we worked with the ceramicists in Chazuta. It was so refreshing to be hands on with the material and we began making casts of the local environment. We want to continue this in the UK and any other travels to build up a giant clay picture of different places. We also want to explore the idea of the boundary between practical pottery or craft and when it can become art - thinking about pushing the material to its limits or creating a pot which doesn’t function as a pot etc. We are looking at sourcing clay in the UK and if there are places to collect and prepare it ourselves as the ceramicists in Chazuta do. We also used the process of making wishing pots in the plaza to interact with the local community in the village- this was an interesting experience and something the local children found intriguing!

 
 

Weaving: We met someone in the village who wove with discarded plastic sourced from the nearby town who had ingeniously taught himself to make baskets. Chumbie weaving (colourful belts hand woven from cotton) is also a beautiful and skilful indigenous craft and both methods have inspired many ideas in us to do with weaving different materials to create vessels of some kind. We had visions of creating a giant water catcher installation.

Natural pigments: We collected lots of stones from the river which we have crushed to create painting pigments and plan to test these out back in the UK and see what we can find locally which can be used in the same way.

Paper Making: Having made our very own paper in Chazuta we are now looking to sculpt with the sheets in some way, the paper is so thick and has such a tactile quality that we are going to experiment in 3D with it to see how far we can push the material

As well as the skills and crafts we were also inspired by the people we met and worked alongside. Sachaqa Arts Centre allowed us to work alongside a variety of artists, all unique in their artforms, experiences and ideas and all of whom made our time in Peru the fantastic journey that it was.

Lena Huber is a photographer and writer from Switzerland. Lena really inspired us by her refreshing approach to life, a free spirit and one of those rare people in life that can truly be inspired and interested in anything that she comes across. http://www.sachaqacentrodearte.com/page3.php

Jaime Miranda a sculptor from Lima, Peru. Jaime recently studied at Chelsea College of Art, London and has an amazing talent as a sculptor. Jaime was a great person to talk to about anything and everything and put us in touch with some fantastic people in Lima. We really hope to work with Jaime again in the future. www.jaimemiranda.com/index.htm

Trina Brahman, painter and founder of Sachaqa Centro de Arte, originally from Bradford, England Trina was very inspirational to spend time with and allowed us to see and understand different ideas on life. Trina paints visions that she experiences using natural pigments and attributes these experiences to living in the jungle, feeling a close connection to nature is important to her work. Trina has a unique approach to painting and really believes in her art, the centre and the life she is building in the highlands of Peru with her husband Daniel Lerner and baby Jacob. http://www.sachaqacentrodearte.com/page3.php

HELLO and INTRODUCTION to theTRANSPORTER project

Hello, welcome to our blog for the Transporter Project!

We hope we can provide an interesting read for those of you who wish to follow us on our adventure - due to start officially in 2 weeks time when we'll be flying off to Peru! See below for more info.... and if you would like to see more images of our research an artwork then please follow us on flickr too

Background:

As artists having grown up during the introduction of the world wide web, the digital age and globalisation, we feel it is just as important to value and utilise the local, handmade, personal side to creativity. We know that the desire for the original and bespoke is a growing market as people begin to understand the impact mass production is having on the environment and local business. It is this interest in getting back to basics, valuing tradition, learned artforms, skilled crafts and working with the environment around us, that has led to the development of 'Transporter'. We want to look, learn and develop new work that goes back to the artist as maker and collaborate with others to raise the profile of local traditions that make an area, place, and country unique.

Overview of project:

The project will allow Suzanne Hutton and Sam Taylor to be artists in residence at Sachaqa Art Centre (SAC) in Peru and deliver an engagement programme. We will conduct research, create new work and explore sustainability; looking at customs, traditional arts practices and skills and their relationship to the environment. We will spend time with SAC's founders, their resident artists and the local communities sharing skills, knowledge and inspirations in order to develop our own arts practises. From this research and dialogue we will create new collaborative art works whilst working on a variety of other projects in Peru.

On our return to the UK we will evaluate our time, continue to develop work in the studio, curate an exhibition and related talk and deliver a number of creative sessions and presentations to artists and students at The Shed Gateshead, Gateshead College, Newcastle University and International Centre for Cultural and Heritage Studies (The En-compass Project) in order to pass on knowledge and gain feedback on what we have learnt. The idea is that this is the 1st Phase in an ongoing research project to collate information about traditional crafts, skills across the world and compare creativity within cultures, whilst highlighting issues around sustainibility and the environment. There is also a FlickR page set up called 'TRANSPORTERproject' which will hopefully act as an online sketchbook where others can comment on our finds.

Main aims of TRANSPORTER project:

• To develop our artistic practise through collaboration with artists (in residence, local artisans and community members), developing new skills in local indigenous artforms and crafts

• Develop links between young people and artists from different countries

• Share and transport knowledge between artists/communities and countries

• Learning new ways of seeing and doing through cultural exchange, researching intangible cultural heritage

• Assisting with development of eco village as a way to research and create new work

• Highlight and raise the profile of sustainable arts practise and people’s relationship to their environment.

• Experiment and promote collaboration across cultures and art form.

• Produce a publication and exhibition as a legacy

• Promote further development exploring the idea of sustainable arts practise and learning from traditions.

• Develop rednile’s international links and Factory Nights programme

This project has been funded by Arts Council England with additional support from rednile projects, Sachaqa Arts Centre Peru, VARC and Newcastle University.