Sheffield Hallam Curators Forum

SHCF forthcoming exhibition at the End Gallery, Sheffield

2008-04-19T10:41:00.010+01:00

PRESS RELEASE

Sheffield Hallam Curators Forum presents

‘Defamiliarization’

The End Gallery,

Sheffield Hallam University,

Psalter Lane Campus,

Sheffield,

S11 8UZ.

Tuesday 6^thMay 2008 – Private View 6pm - 8pm

Wednesday 7^th May – Friday 9^th May 2008 – 9am – 4pm

‘The purpose of art is to impart the sensation of things as they are perceived and not as they are known.’

(Shklovsky 1917: p. 12)

Sheffield Hallam Curators Forum invites you to their thirdexhibition exploring the theme of defamiliarization. SHCF, all of whom are students on the MA Contemporary Fine Art at Sheffield Hallam University, have used Viktor Shklovsky’s text Art as Technique* and his concept of defamiliarization to facilitate a debate of its continued relevance to artists, curators and theorists in the 21^st Century.

This research has involved exploring curatorial strategies at Site Gallery, Sheffield as part of the Freedonia Salonseries and collaborating with Chelsea School of Art (UAL) and Essex University MA students at The Gallery, Wimbledon (UAL). The exhibition at the End Gallery marks the third stage in this project and will involve new work fromDavid Thomas Crawley, Diana Ali, Xin-Shu-Li and Cameron Craig in the main space and documentation and research material from the project on the mezzanine.

David Thomas Crawley

David’s project Photo Booth focuses on the rejected passport picture. Has the subject sat the right or wrong way? Have they completed the application form correctly? If identity is unique, how much of the essence of an individual do the stringent regulations of the passport office allow us to capture? The images captured sum this up in a poetic way akin to the text ‘Art is thinking in images’.

Diana Ali

Diana’s work substitutes one form for another through artist’s responses locally and globally playing with re-introduction and re-representation.

Xin Shu Li

The video work presents the curator’s own perception about alienation as one part of defamiliarization, which was extracted from her life studying abroad in Sheffield.

Alienation, 3 video screens, different countries, different cultures, Chinese artist.

Preservation

In this new collaborative work Craig and Gumpoltsberger playfully invite the Viewer / Reader / Audience of the artwork to engage with the philosophical notion of “defamiliarization”.

Felix Gumpoltsberger

Virtual rooms in my everyday life are nothing new, but it’s a new experience to use a “chatroom” as a media for artwork.

Text and language in the context of the anonymity of chatroom conversations,

offer many possibilities to play with identity and configurations of truth and exaggeration.

Cameron Craig

Technological advances offer new ways in which we humans can communicate.

At times this can provide tremendous possibilities. At others it reduces face to face contact.

This installation in a public place explores this paradox.

*Lemon, LT et al. (1965) ‘Russian Formalist Criticism Four Essays’ University Press of Nebraska (1917) ‘Art as Technique’ is arguably one century later still a key text in a debate of the role of contemporary art.

click here for directions

Psalter Lane Campus layout - The End Gallery is situated at the Main Entrance

Further information will follow. If you are interested please email us or keep an eye on this space.

e: sheffieldhallamcuratorsforum@yahoo.co.uk

SHCF wish to thank Chelsea College of Art (UAL) and the Gallery, Wimbledon College of Art (UAL)

2008-04-18T20:13:00.012+01:00

'One Night Stands #1' although a short exhibition it did exactly what it set out to achieve.

SHCF feel that their hosts, namely all Chelsea students and especially Tilly the Gallery Manager at Wimbledon's College of Art helped no ends to set the exhibition up! All MA students pulled together and helped in whatever way they could. David felt that the exhibition although quite stressful at times, really had a feeling of excitement through producing and in the placing of the works created by David, Diana, Xin-Shu, Cameron and other invited artists.

SHCF are working hard on their concluding exhibition to be held at the End Gallery, Sheffield Hallam University, Psalter Lane on Tuesday 6th May - Saturday 10th May 2008. All in the group feel absolutely shattered but intend this to be a show to be proud of! This is the first year that SHU have offered the curating option as part of MA Contemporary Fine Art under the watchful eye and support from their tutor Jaspar Joseph-Lester. A real inspiration!

SHCF look forward to working on the remaining 2 events of 'One Night Stands' with Chelsea College of Art (UAL) and Essex University. Check out www.1nightstands.blogspot.com

'One Night Stands #1'

2008-04-10T17:09:00.022+01:00

Images

David Thomas Crawley, Andy Roe, Diana Ali/Tom Mills, Cameron Craig, Xin-Shu Li/Xiao Bai

Monday 14th April 2008. 6pm - 9pm

The Gallery, Wimbledon College of Art, Merton Hall Road, London, SW19 3QA

(click here for directions)

Multi Map

A provocation, time specificity, a key word - infinite.

Just words, a mixture of vowels and consonants types on a page, could be any page in any order, yet when re-read the power within these words is their very essence, the poetics of what they are, simple yet complex.

They invite the reader to invest imagination! Their beauty is what they offer, a world beyond the typeface.

It is this poetry that the Russian Formalists wished to free from the page, ridding the text of the shackles of author and manipulation by authority or those who sort to control.

Viktor Shklovsky et al. and their notion of 'defamiliarization' is explored in 'Art as Technique'. A seminal essay on the poetics and mechanics of the written word in 1917. It is this essay that the MA Contemporary Fine Art students from Sheffield Hallam University have chosen to explore and to facilitate debate and discussion on its continued relevance to artists', curators and theorists in the 21st century.

With an overarching theme of 'defamiliarization' running through their research the artists' and curators from Sheffield Hallam University have used imagination to respond to the provocation set by their hosts.

'One Night Stands' is a series of three events hosted by the MA Critical Writing & Curatorial Practice students of UAL Chelsea College of Art and Design in collaboration with curating students of Essex and Sheffield Hallam Universities.

The SHCF artists/curators will exhibit their new work with their invited artists' in response to 'infinite' and 'time specificity'. This event will be part of an ongoing collaboration with MA curating students from UAL Chelsea and Essex Universities.

'One Night Stands' Wimbledon College of Art, London.

2008-03-19T22:35:00.023Z

One Night Stands #1

Monday 14th April 2008. 6pm til 9pm

The Gallery, Wimbledon College of Art, London.

Three teams of curators, three provocations, one space.

Curated by:

David Thomas Crawley, Diana Ali, Xin-Shu Li and Cameron Craig.

Hosted and organised by:

MA Critical Writing & Curatorial Practice, Chelsea College of Art & Design

Featured artists:

David Thomas Crawley and his selected artist Andy Roe

Diana Ali and her selected international artists.

Cameron Craig and his selected artist Felix Gumpoltsberger.

Xin-Shu Li and her selected artists Xiao Bai from Beijing, Harry Xie from Hong Kong and Mei Mei from Australia.

Arts Council England PR

Artabase

SCHF images from Site Opening

2008-02-26T21:29:00.005Z

SCHF meet Chelsea and Essex students

2008-02-23T10:04:00.009Z

SCHF are now working on their next exhibition with students from Chelsea - MA Critical Writing and Curatorial Practice and Essex - MA in Gallery Studies & Critical Curating titled 'One Night Stands'.

They are continuing with their theme of 'defamiliarization' after giving a brief talk and introduction to all students on their first salon held at Site Gallery, Sheffield. This is the first time that all students from the three institutions had met, all coming from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines. A discussion was held and agreed that a series of three events will be hosted by Wimbledon College of Art (UAL) with a title 'One Night Stands'.

SCHF will be the first to exhibit and curate work by chosen artists at the first event to be held on Monday 14th April 2008 at Wimbledon.

Thank you to Site Gallery for the first SHCF event

2008-02-17T21:06:00.011Z

We would just like to thank all whom attended our first SHCF event held at Site Gallery, especially to Carol Maund for the superb venue, Victor Simno for the technical help on the night and to Michael Corris for the stage of 'Freedonia', artists that were involved Katy Woods, Becky Shaw, Steve Dutton and Mohd Zahuri Khairani.

We intend our next event to held at Chelsea School of Art, London on Monday 14th April 2008.

SHCF - Salon at Site Gallery

2008-01-24T12:18:00.001Z

The newly formed Sheffield Hallam Curators Forum invites you to attend the first Freedonia Salon at Site Gallery on Tuesday 12th February 2008. For this event SHCF has taken Viktor Shklovsky’s notion of ‘defamiliarization’ as a starting point for considering specific concerns in contemporary art practice. The curators, all students on the MA Contemporary Fine Art at Sheffield Hallam University intend to use Shklovsky’s text ‘Art as Technique’* to facilitate a debate and discussion on his continued relevance to artists, curators and theorists.

Over the coming months The Sheffield Hallam Curators Forum will produce three events. Following the Freedonia Salon at Site Gallery, there will be a one-night event at Chelsea College of Art (UAL) on Monday 14th April 2008. This event will be part of an ongoing collaboration with MA curating students from Chelsea College of Art (UAL) and Essex University. The final exhibition in this series will take place at the END Gallery, Psalter Lane, Sheffield on Tuesday 6th - Saturday 10th May 2008. The curatorial concepts explored through these three events will be discussed and debated by invited artists, curators and SHCF in a live panel discussion at the END Gallery on Wednesday 7th May 2008.

*Lemon, LT et al. (1965) ‘Russian Formalist Criticism Four Essays’ University Press of Nebraska(1917) ‘Art as Technique’ is arguably one century later still a key text in a debate of the role of contemporary art.

Freedonia Salon was initiated in October 2007 by Michael Corris to provide an informal space for conversation about art between staff and invited students of Sheffield Hallam University. The Salon will continue with a programme of events during 2008.

RSVP: sheffieldhallamcuratorsforum@yahoo.co.uk