Artists and designers in residence
Artists and designers in residence
Find out what happens behind the scenes of the V&A's Museum Residency Programme which brings together designers, artists, makers, musicians, writers and all kinds of artists in the creative industries collaborate with V&A's world-class resources, including the extensive collections, curatorial and conservation expertise, practical art, design and digital media workshops and experienced educational and outreach staff, to create exciting new projects, research and events for Museum audiences.Discussions collected here come from a rich and diverse number of individual practitioners.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009 - 13:43
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The first thing I did on discovering Google Earth (a few years ago) was to steer to the snaking, ridged vast expanses of a big hot arid desert ‐ probably it was the Sahara.
The second thing I did was to soar over Antarctica. Wild.. remote.. harsh.. spare.. fascinating.. enthralling.. thrilling… ?
It was disappointing. Not the crevasse crazed crisp ice glacial terrain I’d hoped...
Wednesday, December 16, 2009 - 11:54
Thanks to everyone who added work to the giant comic in the Stories for Humans display. I am hoping to get a digital version on the web, so that it will be possible to read the whole thing. Apologies to those I had to weed out! Non-sequiturs, rude pictures, and "I woz 'ere"s were summarily removed.
This is the wall in its final state.
It was sad to...
Wednesday, December 16, 2009 - 00:00
In my second visit to Blythe House I trawl the Asian showcases for skeuomorphic vessels, and turn up dozens of examples; mostly forms emulating Chinese ceremonial bronze vessels, but also pieces which copy rhinoceros horn, and a Japanese wall vessel which takes the form (and even the wood-grain texture) of a carved wooden Noh mask.
Returning to the ceramic studio I begin to explore this...
Tuesday, December 15, 2009 - 17:52
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It has been totally fascinating to witness senior textile conservator, Elizabeth-Anne Haldane's meticulous conservation of this beautiful piece over the last year or so. In this short film she describes some of the processes involved. The images below give a little more detail.
In recent history, small remedial patches (some taken from the original tunic) had been stitched to the inside of the...
Friday, December 11, 2009 - 00:00
In my regular browsings of the ceramic collections I am struck by the number of ‘skeuomorphic’ vessels I encounter. (Skeuomorphism has been defined as ‘the manufacture of vessels in one material intended to evoke the appearance of vessels regularly made in another’ (Vickers and Gill, 1994) and commonly refers to ceramic vessels emulating the forms, and perhaps the value...
Friday, December 4, 2009 - 00:00
The week is taken up with more drawing. I’ve added another element to the mix, a range of textile, print and surface patterns from the museum collections. These have been ‘sampled’ into the identikit drawings, and also into the original, unmixed, head drawings.
I think I’ve gone as far as I can with this idea in 2-dimensions, it’s now time to work out how I...
Thursday, November 26, 2009 - 00:00
Following up my interest in the collection archive material, curator Alun Graves directs me to the central inventory records, and the collection and subject indexes. These are fantastic; old ledgers and card indexes with typed, handwritten and stamped entries going back to the beginning of the collections. I’ve photocopied a selection of these, and begun to incorporate them into my ‘...
Tuesday, November 24, 2009 - 11:18
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The opening to the public of the new Medieval and Renaissance Galleries is imminent! A suite of ten galleries will house a sumptuous array of nearly two thousand objects including this stunning Egyptian Tunic (detail above) in Gallery 8: Faiths and Empires 300-1250. I have been invited to run a short tapestry course drawing inspiration from this piece and the other fabulous tapestries that are to...
Monday, November 23, 2009 - 18:28
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A selection of drawings and designs from the weekend workshop at Birmingham Art Gallery… done by all ages - mostly at the younger end of the spectrum; from age 2 (!) to adult.
Saturday, November 21, 2009 - 00:00
This week I made my first visit to Blythe House, the museum storehouse at Olympia (a real treasure-trove of precious, obscure and wonderful objects) and where the study collection is being housed prior to the opening of phase 2 of the ceramics galleries in summer 2010. The ceramics are fantastic, as was to be expected, and I am particularly taken by a large classical porcelain head (labelled as...