CHANNELLING ANDY

Breathe Residency
Chinese Arts Centre
Manchester, UK

Time-based work | 2006

In Channelling Andy I worked with a group of knitters to create a series of paintings. I do not knit, but wanted to develop a project involving people with skills that I don't have. Recycling plastic bags as the yarn, knitted covers were made to fit over monochromatic paintings.

Participants included Matthew Bamber, Andrew Hardman, Brigid Marsh, and Stephen Maxwell. The project also engaged each of their personal networks in the production. Artists are the best resources for each other, and utilizing the social economies of the knitters in rendering this project was one of the key components.

Over the course of three months, all activities took place in the Breathe studio at the Chinese Arts Centre. Channelling was my project for the open studio, which coincided with the opening of the British Art Show, a biennial national survey show of contemporary British artists. The public was welcomed to join in.

Matthew Bamber not pictured.

Photos by Jess Emmett and Ken Chu

CHANNELLING ANDY, THE CLOSING

Breathe Residency
Chinese Art Centre
Manchester, UK

2006

first image | installation view
The studio was cleared for a formal presentation, and a closing reception was held for the finished works. Each participant knitted a smaller individual work (20”x20”), and then collaborated on a large-format piece (30"x70").

second image | installation view
The title referenced the social network in Andy Warhol's Factory; and how this multidisciplinary group was able to invent and sustain its myth and legacy.

third image | Cuddle Painting: Andrew Hardman

fourth image | Cuddle Painting: Brigid Marsh

fifth image | Cuddle Painting: Matthew Bamber

sixth image | Cuddle Painting: Stephen Maxwell

TWELFTH

A digital video for the BBC Big Screen
Manchester, UK

Video-based work | 2006

Installation view
Twelve was a continuous video piece constructed of pictures of the people each of the artists interacted with in the course of a twelve-hour day. Each person was photographed twice: once in a relaxed state and then again in exuberance. The images were compiled together alternating the drab and joyous of the same person to create a digital flipbook.

Twelve served as self-portraits through the documentation of our constructed communities. It was a work that looked to take the emphasis off our cultural heritage so we could be seen, holistically, as full citizens.

It premiered on Chinese New Year, and was screened five times daily for a month.

Participants included Amy Cham, Debbie Chan, Nina Chua, Jess Emmett, Kazuko Kuroda, Ying Kwok, Kwong Lee, and Yuen Fong Ling.