making conversation / making connection

Dailymade #130107

Making sculpture can be at times very physically demanding, but gardening is worse and I’ve a sore back to prove it! I travelled to East Sussex yesterday to help out my old friend Julian Wild to plant a hornbeam hedge, and the digging and raking is wot done it.  Still, a few yoga stretches and the improvisation movement class I'm attending tomorrow with Florence Peake at Siobhan Davies will put this right I’m sure.  After spending the day working in the clearing of a wood, we rounded it off with a quick pint  in the village pub talking about art and work before I caught my train back to London.

Indeterminate System by Julian Wild
japanned hardwood, 270 x 170 x 90cm

Dailymade #130909

We discussed making by instruction, something I've been thinking about in recent projects, made more pertinent since I've started working on a 'teach-yourself sculpture' book (see previous post). We also discussed the idea of creative collaboration (see also collaborating with myself and don't tell me, show me!) which led me to suggest to Julian that we develop a piece of work by exchanging something we've made, or maybe even an idea, then transforming it in some way, before handing it back and repeating this process.  It’ll be something of a game of creative chinese whispers, a conversation through making, until both of us have a sense that something have been achieved or resolved, even if it's only a reflection on the creative journey we’ve travelled.

Another World Wide Web
Powerhouse Museum, Sydney

Making the Connection by Julian Wild
Ironbridge

My reasons for wanting to partner with Julian may not be so obvious; he works almost exclusively in metal these days, I work in anything but that.  Julian mostly creates large scale sculptures with a leaning towards the monumental, I tend to make ephemeral objects and installations, often as a result of collaborative processes that have a performative element.  Despite these differences, we share a common visual language, as illustrated in the works pictured here. In short, our work demonstrates an interest in pattern and geometry, mostly explored through the use of lines, whether welded, assembled or woven. I'm excited to see what this process will generate given the differences in our material approach.

Making the Connection by Julian Wild
Cass Sculpture Foundation

Panoramic Pathways
Nottingham Castle Museum

So, let's get this creative conversation going.  Below is what I’m handing over to Julian, not an object but an instruction.  Let's see what comes back...

Dailymade #131114