into the tank 8

into the tank 7

into the tank 6

into the tank 5

into the tank 4

into the tank 3

into the tank 2

into the tank 1

ready

new flyers

our new flyers have been designed

thanks to red Z design for their generous sponsorship

our tank

we finally have our tank sorted - we'll be collecting it on the 4th sept

everything is coming together now

moot hall

our venue during the wirksworth festival has been confirmed.

come and see us at

moot hall, chapel lane, wirksworth, derbyshire, de4 4ff

11th - 12th september

you can confirm your attendance on our facebook event

inner calm, outer chaos

lots of obstacles to overcome.

we will stay calm.

press release

the quality of being nothing 

'things are either devolving toward, or evolving from, nothingness'

Mawby and Hosaka reunite during the Wirksworth Festival, to continue their investigation into the theme of nothingness.

In their previous project they tackled the theme by limiting themselves to a stack of white paper as their only material to explore the moment at which something ceases being nothing and emerges as a recognized form.

Confronting the natural desire to constrain things to their natural form, the artists will take all the art pieces created during their previous project and submerge them into a tank of water.

Through the destruction of their creations they will begin to question whether they are causing a premature end to their transient lives, or enabling a beginning to a new life, allowing the chance for something to emerge from and into nothingness.

"In releasing our pieces from the constraints of their current form we can embrace the value of potential, as they once again become alive with possibilities."

devolve

we met in nottingham today to write our proposal for the wirksworth festival, we think it would be great to do the next stage of our project during the festival in september.

the quality of being nothing 

'things are either devolving toward, or evolving from, nothingness'

This project began as a three week exploration on the point at which something comes into being, the moment at which something ceases being nothing and emerges as a recognised form.

Limited to a stack of white paper in an empty room we began to investigate our theme.

Everyday we found ourselves performing the same action: approaching the plinth, removing a single sheet of paper, and returning to our desk to translate the thing conceived in our mind into some actual form.

This action became almost ritualistic, and the paper became almost sacred, each piece containing the potential to become something significant.

This process inevitably came to an end, and we then found ourselves faced with the point at which something ceases to be.

The remnants of our three weeks are currently contained in three cardboard boxes, the individual pieces now existing as lonely figures, devoid of their true meaning. The invisible connections between the individual pieces are now lost, their silent interactions no longer occurring.

We often deny the fact that things are impermanent, holding on to objects that provide evidence of our existence, convincing ourselves of our own significance in order to avoid a feeling of existential anxiety. An object is more than just its physical being, it is the container of the invisible. The carrier of history, knowledge and emotions. An object can comfort our insecurities, soothe our desire to be remembered, and ease our fear of forgetting or being forgotten.

It is this anxiety and fear that we now aim to explore.

Inverting the plinth to become a water tank we will begin a process of taking a single piece of our work, walking to the tank, and submerging the piece into the water. All the pieces of artworks made during the three-week period of the residency will eventually dissolve into pulp. Confronting our natural desire to maintain things in their current form, we are able to once again challenge the concept of nothingness and experiment whether it is possible to transport the contained emotion that they previously represented.

Through the destruction of our creations we are questioning whether we are causing a premature end to their transient lives, or enabling a beginning to a new life, allowing the chance for something to emerge from and into nothingness.

In releasing our pieces from the constraints of their current form we can embrace the value of potential, as they once again become alive with possibilities.

eastern influence

looking through a book on wabi-sabi it was interesting to see how many of the eastern philosophies and aesthetics related to our project.


in particular the idea that


'things are either devolving toward, or evolving from, nothingness'


we now know what we need to do with all the pieces we created during our three week residency...


..allow them to devolve

presentation

we were pleased to be asked to do a short presentation on our residency during the visual arts network (van) meeting in derby.
we made a slideshow of photos and decided that we would just talk our way through the photos rather than script the whole presentation.
it went really well, people asked some good questions and we got lots of nice feedback afterwards.

review

Review of 'The Quality of Being Nothing'

by Susie Cochrane

this review can also be seen here a-n magazine review

Empty shops are a sign of the times, an unpleasant reminder of the recession and often leaving a hole in what was once a lively high street. But in Derby, a gutted office has been transformed – into a place of growing excitement, creative activity and the subject of public intrigue.

For three weeks, young graduate artists Chie Hosaka and Anna Mawby have been in the process of transforming a bleak, grey-carpeted space through a collaborative residency for Synapse Festival. In the last few days before the closing event, 67 Wardwick is no longer a sad reminder of its previous purpose, but an artists studio alive with ideas. Beginning with only a stack of A3 white paper with which to work, discussion began between the two around the premise of what it is to 'be nothing'. As one might expect, philosophical ideas began to develop and then to sprawl onto paper, and then onto the walls. Sculptures, printed line drawings and trailing, thoughtful reams of text have created an entirely paper-based body of work that now frames the space. Directed by white arrows through a mass of small, delicate works, it seems that the amalgamation of everything that has been created is entirely intended. A sense of the oppressive nature of the initial empty space is visible in the handwritten words 'blankness', 'alone' and of course, 'nothingness'. But through this, something else began to emerge.

Having never met before, Hosaka and Mawby were two artists with shared interests already existent in their individual practices. Their common fascination with human vulnerability is seen reverberating around the room, not least through the frequently appearing image of a solitary figure, sometimes engulfed by and other times wandering into the vast expanse of white from which he has been cut. Through this figure and other representations that encroach upon the rapidly disappearing floor space, Hosaka and Mawby explore what it is to be faced with nothing, and the point at which that miraculous change occurs when nothing transforms into something.
Embarking on this ambitious project must have been a daunting prospect. Having acquired the unconventional venue through the Empty Shops Project run by Derby County Council, an air of expectation would have been induced not least by the entirely transparent way in which their work would be on display. The shop is glass-fronted, on a busy central street, and open to anyone. This might be what makes 'The Quality of Being Nothing' so exciting, as it is artwork not only subject to daily feedback from the public but it also removes the distinction between studio and gallery. There is none of the polished, finalised and removed atmosphere of work that has been refined in private.
What has been created embodies the discursive and open nature of the premise. Two-dimensional paper has also moved into three-dimensions in the form of boxes, tunnels and tiny hidden interiors. Building out from their raised working area at the back of the shop, it seems ideas that began entrenched in a negative, even dystopian perspective (writing 'we hardly exist in this world'), grow into something more hopeful. The recurring phrase 'nothing is everything' acts as a release from the fear of nothingness; it suggests a state of acceptance, freedom, a universal accord. In conversation with Chie Hosaka it became clear that the collaboration itself dictated the manner in which the artwork developed. The artists would spark ideas from each others creations, making for a dynamic and pragmatic creative process. None of what has been produced throughout the three weeks has been planned as such; the sheer dynamism of the project and of the artists has built up to a body of work in which certain themes are nevertheless discernible.
As Hosaka admits, her obsession with ladders has become an integral part of the exhibition. Leading lonely figures away from their static positions, or trailing wistfully upwards to previously unchartered ceiling panels, the countless rungs point towards a sense of mobility. They suggest a purgatorial place of being, where, similarly to the work of the artists themselves, choice and decision will prove the only means of progression. Also frequently appearing are peculiar multi-legged organisms, running across pages or stepping nervously ahead – perhaps due to the lack of distinguishing facial features in their morphed bulbous heads. What perhaps first came to mind on viewing these oddly assimilated figures was the bizarre yet highly intelligent 'Nowhere Man' of The Beatles animated film Yellow Submarine (1968). Rambling incessantly in rhyme and churning out philosophies, artwork and musical compositions in the Sea of Nothing, his globular form would certainly not be out of place in the intelligible visual discussions played out here.

'The Quality of Being Nothing' has brought together a number of exciting and diverse elements. The venue, the artists and the concept driving the work make for a unique exhibition. There is no easy conclusion here, as how can one conclude what is essentially an ongoing discussion around a state no individual can truly claim to have experienced first hand. This is no place for finality, for definitive answers – it is a courageous step into a complex and rich area of thought. The closing event will demand a certain curation of the shop space, and it is possible that this will bring the exhibition into yet another curious, fleeting phase. This feels like the start of something exciting, and perhaps most appealingly, I just couldn't say what.