Jay Snelling - Pyramid

Pyramid

Welcome to the Dwell exhibition and book. For a whole month we will be taking each artist's page and transforming it into a 3 dimensional dwelling. Each one of these small sculptures will be exhibited in public on the London streets.


Today's paper sculpture comes from Jay Snelling in the form of this neat square-based pyramid.
Jay first exhibited with Collect Connect in the Fab Fridge show at the Bath Festival last year.
Jay is 'a teacher and a doodler' and now we can say Jay is a sculptor too!

Jay's net was placed on a tree alongside the Regents canal on the way to Victoria Park.
Each side of the pyramid has a different image on it and I chose to photograph the pyramid with the starry side  to the fore. The different images on each face of Jay's pyramid remind me of the idea that four of the five regular space filling solids (also known as the platonic solids) namely the tetrahedron, cube, octahedron, and icosahedron are associated with the four elements, respectively fire, earth, air and water. (The fifth solid, the dodecahedron will be featured in later posts). Jay's pyramid is half an octahedron whilst the tetrahedron is a four sided pyramid made up of four triangular faces.
'Pyramid' is a fun net to construct and you can colour each side in however you like.


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Don't forget to have a look at the next Collect Connect project, 'The Art of Caring' exhibition at The Rose Theatre in Kingston-upon-Thames. The theme is Caring/Care and it is FREE to enter.

To buy the Dwell Book for £6 then follow this LINK.

Eleanor Bedlow - Container Dwell

Container by Eleanor Bedlow

Welcome to the Dwell exhibition and book. For a whole month we will be taking each artist's page and transforming it into a 3 dimensional dwelling. Each one of these small sculptures will be exhibited in public on the London streets.

Eleanor Bedlow at work

We keep up our theme today for all things East London, from Dean Reddick in Walthamstow to Eleanor Bedlow in nearby Leytonstone. Both are active and well known artists in their respective communities but Bedlow's journey didn't start in the capital city. She grew up in Kagawa Japan before moving to London at the age of 11. She gained a degree in Fine Art from Falmouth College of Arts in 2005 before studying observational drawing at the Prince’s Drawing School in 2008.

Lift - Eleanor Bedlow

She first came to our attention when she exhibited the brilliant 'The Lift' along the seafront at the Brighton Open in 2011. We welcomed her back into the fold last year for FAB Fridge in 2014 but in between she has filled her working life with many exhibitions, curating and experiencing foreign cultures. Although Eleanor Bedlow is best known for her imagined worlds it was the real world experiences that caught my eye during her 2 month teaching residency at the International Institute of Fine Arts in Modinagar, India.

Page 15 Dwell: A book of nets
Eleanor Bedlow

We were all really chuffed she chose to publish a net with us for the Dwell project because her work has a sensitivity to her surroundings and how the memories of these places stay with us. Her dwelling is unique to the book as it requires no glue or sticky tape, just good old engineering and plenty of skill. Although it looks simple it is one of only 7 nets in the book that has received a COMPLEX rating from Dean. For me it reminds me of the open wooden structures we find in gardens and public parks. It's floor is crazy paved and I imagine a miniature band striking up a tune whilst families play on scorched grass and over-excited dogs dig under rose bushes.

Don't forget to have a look at the next Collect Connect project, 'The Art of Caring' exhibition at The Rose Theatre in Kingston-upon-Thames. The theme is Caring/Care and it is FREE to enter.

To buy the Dwell Book for £6 then follow this LINK.

AL.

Magnetic Art alive in Bath



Stephanie Wilkinson's magnetic artwork

It was a little damp around the edges but luckily our magnetic art is all waterproof and our art is bright enough to catch the eye of eager Art hunters across Bath. If you're looking for something to do over the next week or so then head down to the stretch of towpath that runs from Pulteney Bridge to Churchill Bridge (red route on our map). Here you'll find more than 320 magnetic artwork dotted on railings and benches if you look hard enough.

Bath Map -
Red Route is where we
 placed the magnets

If you find a magnet then it will include the name of one of our 124 artists and possibly their twitter address too. If you would like more information about your artist then visit our Artists page where you'll find a link to their website.

FAB Fridge crew

Our intrepid band of artists' donned their waterproofs and took the plunge into Bath's cultural melting pot on the 24th May 2014. If you want to find out where they placed them then check out the slideshow below. Along for the ride was Maria Lopez, Jack Gardner, Ginny Reddick with Kim and Kez, Jessamy and Natalie Low, Effra Aye-Maung-Hider, Maria and Bryan Benge, Alban Low and Dean Reddick.

We had a wonderful time in Bath and were made very welcome by everyone at Fringe Arts Bath. It was amazing to see the diversity of Art on display at the various hubs around the city and we hope they will have us back again in the future. If you would like to exhibit with us in the future then drop us a line at collectconnect4@gmail.com and we'll get back to you.

From us all at CollectConnect,
Thank you.

Kim Reddick 2010 magnetic masterpiece

ps. If you think they've all gone then have another look. This year we found a magnet by Kim Reddick that had been in place since 2010!

FAB Fridge Exhibition 2014 - Bath here we come!

All the magnets have been cut up and sorted into alphabetical order. Our motely crew of artists are making their way to Bath, some have arrived already for the big party tonight. Dean Reddick, Bryan Benge and I will be travelling over tomorrow morning and meeting at
11.30am at Bath Spa Station, 24th May 2014.
So please come along if you would like to help place the art on the streets.

Dean Reddick
Placing magnets 2010

There will be a healthy crowd of us, and plenty of children so all welcome. If you've never encountered one of our exhibitions before they are unusual in their inclusivity and ingenuity. We have been exhibiting both in and more often out of the gallery environment over the past 4 years. Placing art right under the public's noses and inviting them to pick it up and take it home.

Our exhibitions are free to enter and our artists are free from rejection as at least one of their works will be exhibited. We started exhibiting in this way to provide a platform for people with mental health issues to show their work without the usual stresses and expense of many open submission exhibitions. Since then we have placed over 4000 artworks on the streets from more than 1000 artists. We have crossed international boundaries and hopefully a few cultural ones too.

Sorting the magnets

Keep your eyes peeled over the next few weeks for Art in unexpected places around Bath.

If you have picked up a magnet and want to find out a bit more about your artist then check out our Artists page where you'll find a link to their website. Please get in touch with your artist, they would love to hear from you, and find out where you picked up their Art.

Alban Low

Susie Mendelsson - Specimens of humanity

Susie Mendelsson - Specimens of humanity

With the FAB Fridge exhibition less than a month away we are taking the opportunity to get to know some of our artists. Our exhibitions are run by artists themselves, who share both the pleasure and pain of their fellow practitioners when it comes to displaying their work. So who could be better to write something about the FAB fridge art but one of the other (120+) artists in this exhibition.
Here Theo Wood writes about ............

Susie Mendelsson
Specimens of humanity

Susie Mendelsson -
In the frame 1

The twisted diminutive ‘specimens of humanity’ are cramped within the containing spaces of their cells/houses/boxes..the light casting brightness on parts of their bodies and throwing deep shadows.  There’s an atmosphere of confinement even though the front of the ‘containers’ is open. And the creatures (who seem to be female) are shrunken in the space with their strange hands in front of them. One of the containers has what looks like a chimney above it asking the viewers to decide..is there a fire in there? Does it keep the creature warm or is there a more sinister purpose?



Susie Mendelsson -
In the frame 5

Susie Mendelsson is a figurative artist influenced by the German Expressionists as well as medieval art. Much of her work is motivated by psychological states of trauma and anxiety. Her work explores the universal theme of being a wife, mother and woman. Her current project is Purdah.

T.W.


We'll be displaying Susie's and Theo's artwork in magnet form on the streets of Bath as part of the Fringe Arts Bath Festival. Come and join us on the 24th May from 11.30am (Bath Spa Rail Station) onwards when we'll be placing the magnets on metallic surfaces throughout the city. The magnets are free to pick up and take home so it's the perfect opportunity to start a collection on your fridge.
If you can't be there in person then follow us on twitter at @collectconnect4 and #fab14.

Getting Ready for FAB Fridge

Dean Reddick and magnets

Submissions are now closed for FAB Fridge 2014.
We're just downloading and logging in the last few entries and I think we'll top 300 mark.
This will be the second largest Contemporary Magnetic Art Exhibition ever, so very excited about the event itself.
It's not all about quantity and this year has seen a swathe of exciting new artists join our rank with some truly inspiring artwork. Of course it goes without saying that we couldn't do this without some of our old hands too, whose devotion to the cause is uplifting.

Over the next week we'll be updating our artist lists with names and links. Then getting the images ready for the printers in 32 image sheets. These are turned into magnets and shipped back to us in May, all ready to cut up and prepared for the streets of Bath.

Over the next month we will be writing about some of our CollectConnect artists, so please keep dipping in and out.

On the 24th May we will be meeting at Bath Rail Station at 11.30am. We will then be walking around Bath placing magnets on metallic surfaces.


Francesca Albini - Chips

Follow us on Twitter - @collectconnect and @albanart
or hashtag #fab14 where we'll be posting some photos of the magnets.

Hopefully we'll be stopping for a spot of lunch and doing just what one of our new artists Francesca Albini has drawn.

Alban, Dean, Stuart and Bryan.

Exhibit at the Fringe Arts Bath Festival

Fab Fridge 2010
Dean Reddick (middle)
Holly Hinchcliffe (bottom)

Thank you to Stuart Simler for leading the Cardboard City exhibition throughout December. It was a poignant and exciting installation that brought together 25 artists along the banks of the Thames in London. We are still deciding whether to run Dean Reddick's 'Book of Nets' before our big CollectConnect Open. When the core of CC decided to work together, not only did we agree upon our ideals but also that we would have a big open exhibition that was not themed, and give an opportunity to all of you out there.

This year we have been fortunate enough to have been awarded one of the coveted curatorial slots at the Fringe Arts Bath festival 2014. We hope you will get involved by sending us your artwork and as always it is FREE to enter.

Visit the Submit Art page to find more instructions.

On the 24th May 2014 we will exhibit your magnetic image on the streets of Bath. The public are free to pick up your work and take it home. Who knows on which fridge your art will ultimately be exhibited.



Tracy Ferris - Sun

If you have never exhibited in this way before it is easy. Send us an email at collectconnect4@gmail.com with an image and your name and title of artwork. We operate a first come first served policy and may close early if we fill up before the 25th April deadline. We have space for up to 500 magnetic images.

Submit up to 3 images.
Your work and name will appear on the designated FAB Fridge site.

Any questions please get in touch....Bryan, Dean, Stuart and Alban

AL.

 

Stuart Simler & Tete de Alencar - Finale

As you might have guessed this is our last entry to the Cardboard City exhibition.

The Tate Modern, London

The final doors on our Social Advent calendar have been opened. It has been a long road and we fittingly pay tribute to the man behind this intervention and introduce another new face to the fray.

Tete de Alencar's door &
the Golden Hinde
 

First we open Tete de Alencar's submission beside the Golden Hinde, which was the galleon of Sir Francis Drake. Then we reveal our final Social Advent outside London's Cathedral of Modern Art. Housed in the old Bankside Power Station it is a great example of how to change a redundant space into a gallery. Here at CollectConnect we are adept at doing just this, finding and transforming public spaces, often I might add without millionaire backers.   
 

The Penultimate door

Tete de Alencar studied in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil before moving over to these fair shores. She studied in Wales (Coleg Menai), Liverpool (John Moore's University) and finally in London (Central St Martins). As a truly international artist she has exhibited worldwide and draws her inspiration from complex social issues embedded in contemporary society.

Tete de Alencar -
'OCD and the Silver Spoon dialogue!'

She is a perfect fit for the Cardboard City Exhibition with her playful ideas that experiment with what is revealed and in turn, what is concealed.

“What you see is never what you are going to get…the real work is usually hidden and sacred in a container - a disguise to protect the real art piece, transforming it into an enigma.  It’s an ancestral magic, an ancient tactic...they will have to be aware that breaking the spell and revealing what is inside, involves a kind of death of the piece and transforms it into ordinary gold…”

Stuart Simler

The final door belongs to Stuart Simler who has devised and organised this exhibition. All the artists we have spoken to over the past month would like pass on their thanks and Christmas wishes to him. He is a man who feels passionately about the themes behind the Cardboard City and the ethos that we at CollectConnect are so proud of. During the final planning stages the Southwark Police Force advised us against this exhibition but Stuart was undeterred and he wrote us,

Stuart Simler - ‘Outside Looking In’

"I do think though that this particular project theme encompasses many of the mission objectives of collect connect and instead of giving into these fears created by government democracy come propaganda we do what we set out to do, which is to highlight these fears and share them with everyone"

We were suitably galvanised.

Thank you for visiting these pages over the past month and being a part of the exhibition even if you have been unable to see the artwork in situ.

Now for a little break from blogging and exhibiting. We'll be open again for business in the New Year where we'll be revisiting our first ever street-art exhibition, the one and only FAB Fridge.

We have been awarded one of the coveted curatorial platforms at the Fringe Arts Bath Festival in May 2014. It will be an open submission with 500 spaces up for grabs so get involved -
FAB FRIDGE Call out

Have a wonderful Christmas from all of us at CollectConnect,
Bryan, Dean, Alban and Stuart.

AL.