So.... I have spent a lot of time today resolving what I want to make. I have attached a model. I think I want to make it either out of perspex entirely or perspex and wood and will make it about 4ft high. What do you think?

I was waiting to find out what space we get to decide on the piece but I think as we still haven't heard I have to just go with what I want to make and make it less site specific. 

I am hoping the piece will work really well with your pyramids and I have kept it triangular for that reason.

Do you want to collaborate on a piece as well or shall we collaborate in how we install the works together and help each other to install? I feel already that the works have been defined by our conversations so far. 

Maybe how we install the pieces can really control how the viewer walks around the space as well? How we position the works will hopefully make a huge difference. 

I did some more drawing last night and today. What do you think? I have been experimenting with drawing both digitally and on paper. I have tried to go for the rough but also ordered idea that you said you liked. I feel the digital one reflects the idea of our correspondence more. I think I would like to submit the digital one alongside one of your drawings for the mutual.

Yes might be a little tricky but could definitely be worth it. Do you have the gss membership yet? 
I think I am going to pre order my perspex and make it once I get up to Glasgow. 
Breaking down the form could work really well. I am hoping to make a couple of small sculptures that will compliment your sculpture but also contrast it. I will know much better once we get the a ok on the space. 
Yes I am not sure about the drawing either. I like the idea of layering it though.  
I will work on adapting your drawings below tonight. 

Yes maybe we should chose to send one image each and then maybe one that is layered? Could be interesting to show how we work separately and also collaboratively?

Hey Susie,

Yes I think that's a good idea, it might be a little tricky given that we are just meeting up a week before the show, but if we were to work on elements of our work together by adding to them in Glasgow as with my pyramid piece I think that could be interesting? Maybe because your work is slightly more minimal it would be more do-able that way? Because I work with wood and perspex it can take some time to angle all the different plains and sides of each piece.

I have begun work on the plant pyramid piece but as we spoke about, I think your style would compliment it's form especially by using contrasting materials to the organic plant life, and in a more urban environment beside a natural intervention such as in the riverside spots we have applied for this could work really well. If you want I could break down the structure into a form that is more congruent with your style?

I think we could maybe do better on the collaborative drawings for the Mutual Charter pamphlet, I'm just not sure if this is a clear representation of either of our styles. I love the free and unrestricted, yet at the same time deliberate and structured approach to these hand-drawn sketches I saw on your blog here and especially here.

Maybe if I were to adopt a more rugged approach using charcoal we could layer some of those? I have also been working on this sketch as an idea for another installation but I think the forms could compliment your drawing style if you adapted them in your own way? Maybe instead of layering the drawings we could simply show the final result of a visually responsive set of drawings?

Hi Jen, 

Good week? I like the idea of you using sheet metal. Yes we should  work on it together. I think it would be great.
I think Carrie and I decided as the council already had reservations about the shelter that we should just focus on sculptural installations instead. Is that ok?

I have attached some digital images where I have layered our drawings over each other. 

What do you think?

Here is a drawing I have done in response to the one you posted a few days ago.

I was thinking about working with hardwood for the protruding section of the sculpture I'm working on for GI and I think it would be too expensive and maybe tricky to get on site as it will be about a meter across and quite heavy.

Instead, I was thinking of using sheet metal or making a hollow concrete facade sloping down to a point with small geometric sections cut out with plant life sticking out through it or perhaps keep it simple in contrast to the plants covering the pyramid section. For this I might have to make a mold and set the concrete up here or if we used perspex and metal, or wood, it might be easier to work on it together?

Have you had any more thoughts on the shelter piece if the council give us the go-ahead?

Look forward to seeing your response!

Jen

The Void by Susie Olczak and Jennifer Argo is a public art project commissioned by Glasgow-based art collective The Mutual as part of The Mutual Charter in association with Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art 2012.

 

The Mutual, an artists’ co-operative, comprises more than 150 early career creative practitioners. Created to bypass the economic restraints typically encountered by emergent artists, The Mutual encourages collaboration, placing emphasis on mutual support as a means to realize ambitious ideas.

 

Drawing inspiration from Glasgow’s history of socialist investment in guilds and unions, The Mutual: Charter is a series of fourteen simultaneous live and online events and exhibitions commissioned for the fifth edition of the Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art, 20 April 2012 – 7 May 2012.

 

Taking place every other year, and combining some of the characteristics of a conventional arts ‘biennial’ with a more event-based experience, Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art is a unique event in the international calendar with one of the most groundbreaking and dynamic presentations of contemporary visual arts practice.  Since its inception in 2005 the Festival has brought together the key organisations in Glasgow’s diverse artistic community, presenting unique events and special commissions rooted in the achievements of the local artistic community, while drawing on important international developments in contemporary art.  Glasgow International 2012 takes place in 2012, the Year of Creative Scotland, a chance to spotlight, celebrate and promote Scotland’s cultural and creative strengths on a world stage. The Year of Creative Scotland is a Scottish Government initiative led in partnership by EventScotland, VisitScotland, Creative Scotland and VOCAL.

 

The overall attendance at the 2010 festival was 153,182, which represents an increase of 71% on the 2008 Festival. The number of unique visitors was 16,237, an increase of 27% on 2008.

In 2010 Susan Philipsz won the Turner Prize for her groundbreaking sound work, Lowlands, which was commissioned by the 2010 Festival.

 

Background, and primary practical details and considerations related to executing the project

 

Sculptor Susie Olczak and installation artist Jennifer Argo come together for the first time with the project Void. The project will bridge our specialist subjects of sculpture, installation, illustration and photography, and our complimentary practices which deal with minimalism, geometry, space and time. Void will then be presented to the public as part of GI as an outdoor installation.

The artists are aware of Glasgow City Council’s Stalled Spaces scheme and would like to use Glasgow International Art Festival as an opportunity to bring vibrancy and cultural input into spaces that are currently void of such. Another option is to add artistic interventions to public spaces to further enliven them at a time when the city will be full of people who are drawn to the city on an international basis over the duration of the festival. The work will exist on an ephemeral basis capturing the way we regard and are affected by our transcendental surroundings.

 

The sculptures will be built off-site in artists’ studios and workshops. Coming from experienced and technically skilled backgrounds, we can ensure the sculptures will be stable and secure. During GI itself the work will be brought into the public realm, to a site that demonstrates a crossover between the urban and natural influences of each of the artists work. The work will build upon ensuring a sense of cultural richness and artistic diversity at a space along the Kelvin or the Clyde ,where tourists at GI will undoubtedly venture; promoting Glasgow as a city which fully embraces the creative cultural sector. We plan to place the structures either on raised areas, or areas that are sectioned off or out of the way of public footpaths so that they will not be a tripping hazard and will be in optimum viewing spaces.

 

All the sculptures will be managed by the artists and a team of Mutual volunteers who will check regularly to ensure over the short time it is up it is kept in good condition and is not being misused.

The work is going to be up for around ten to eighteen days during GI, with installation from the 16th April. We both hope the work will have lots of benefits to people in Glasgow. We are choosing spaces in the city which are often overlooked and are lacking in any artwork rather than choosing existing art spaces or galleries in order to try to reach the public in a way that art does not always manage to. We strongly believe that by bringing artwork into the public realm it benefits society and helps to create a talking point and for residents to be proud of their city. It also becomes a focal point for visitors of a city.

 

Description of the works proposed

 

As the build of final sculptures is currently underway, we have attached examples of previous and ongoing work to give you an impression of the style and technical features of our final outcomes. We aim to install a small group of sculptures, two sculptures created independently and one collaborative piece. For this, we are hoping to create a freestanding small-scale sculpture (no more than 1 metre high) that combines both our styles of work. Combining Jen’s drawing style and pyramid forms(see below - A), with Susie’s minimalist and geometric sculptures using Perspex wood and metal (see below - B).The work will be made of plastic, metal and possibly wood and will be free standing with appropriate fixing or weighting into the ground surface upon which it is placed'

The sites we are most interested in are shown below (C).



Site permitting, Susie would also like to try to create a lightweight pavilion structure. For example in the above site she would attach lightweight material to the railing and the white fixing in order to create a tent like structure. It will be small enough so that no large groups can congregate beneath it and Susie hopes that it will become a welcomed addition to the space.  If we are not able to work in such a space she will bring up some small scale sculptures to complete the installation alongside the collaborative piece and Jen’s piece.

 

Jen’s piece will be comprised of a pyramid structure, with a protruding geometric wooden beam emerging from one side of the piece. The sculpture will be roughly 1 metre long and 60 cm tall, and 60 cm across in diameter.  The inner framework of the pyramid structure with be made from strong wooden beams 44cm square, covered in plywood for the shell, with stacked wooden moats/shelf units layered up the sides of the pyramid. All this will be screwed securely and coated in waterproof lining to make sure the structure will endure the outdoors. The moats/shelves will be filled with soil and plant life, hiding the entirety of the inner structure and creating a plant life facade. The protruding structural element will be an asymmetrical piece of hardwood, to offset the organic forms of the plant life and create a balanced composition in keeping with the pyramid form.

I have responded to your drawing from a few days ago. It is something I noticed on wednesday and decided to do a drawing about it.
I like your hardwood idea. Would we carve it together?

Susie