Shape/Language/Story
Mixed Media
RE:FORM
2021, Florence Arts Centre, Cumbria
‘Shape/Language/Story’ was developed from ‘Found Constellations’ a 2017 project which explored Cumbria’s industrial and railway heritage. In that work I created 12 unique shapes by joining up lines between the map coordinate points of disused train stations throughout Cumbria. I always wanted the shapes to be used again and RE:FORM became the perfect way to do that.
I saw the project as a chance to experiment and move the shapes beyond their original digital format. I also relished the chance to push my own boundaries by working with with wire for the first time and experimenting with language and writing.
In making this work I’ve been thinking about the relationship between text and images, and the fact that the history of written language ultimately leads back to pictures through pictograms and hieroglyphs. How does language affect our interpretation of images? Our brains are always seeking to ‘join up the dots’, to see patterns and more than anything to tell stories. In naming the shapes I wanted to explore this further.
RE:FORM is a collaborative project which asked members of Art Crit North Cumbria to make a new piece of work in response to a unique shape. The 12 shapes were part of a 2017 artwork ‘Found Constellations’ by Amy Story which explored Cumbria’s industrial and railway heritage.
Art Crit North Cumbria are a group of artists from different backgrounds and disciplines who help each other to develop artistic practice and projects through open and constructive feedback and collective knowledge. #ArtCritNorthCumbria
Art Crit North Cumbria Exhibiting Artists: Alison Critchlow / Amy Story / Anne Waggot Knott / Carlie-Rose Bush / Caroline Dalton / Catriona Archibald / Dave Gowers / Dorothy Ramsay / Laura M R Harrison / Leo Ponton / Steve Meyfroidt & Kym Coratin / Susan Young / Vega Brennan
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Take a look round the RE:FORM exhibition, video footage: Leo Ponton
I saw the project as a chance to experiment and move the shapes beyond their original digital format. I also relished the chance to push my own boundaries by working with with wire for the first time and experimenting with language and writing.
In making this work I’ve been thinking about the relationship between text and images, and the fact that the history of written language ultimately leads back to pictures through pictograms and hieroglyphs. How does language affect our interpretation of images? Our brains are always seeking to ‘join up the dots’, to see patterns and more than anything to tell stories. In naming the shapes I wanted to explore this further.
RE:FORM is a collaborative project which asked members of Art Crit North Cumbria to make a new piece of work in response to a unique shape. The 12 shapes were part of a 2017 artwork ‘Found Constellations’ by Amy Story which explored Cumbria’s industrial and railway heritage.
Art Crit North Cumbria are a group of artists from different backgrounds and disciplines who help each other to develop artistic practice and projects through open and constructive feedback and collective knowledge. #ArtCritNorthCumbria
Art Crit North Cumbria Exhibiting Artists: Alison Critchlow / Amy Story / Anne Waggot Knott / Carlie-Rose Bush / Caroline Dalton / Catriona Archibald / Dave Gowers / Dorothy Ramsay / Laura M R Harrison / Leo Ponton / Steve Meyfroidt & Kym Coratin / Susan Young / Vega Brennan
Take a look round the RE:FORM exhibition, video footage: Leo Ponton