Aphra O’Connor – Scantlings

Scantlings is a new solo exhibition from artist Aphra O’Connor, which celebrates the enduring local boat building industry through a range of sculpture, print and ceramic works.

The exhibition follows the construction of a new fishing vessel at the Parkol Marine engineering site in Whitby. Each stage of construction has been documented by the artist, and the works reference the various techniques employed in the boat building process.

Items discarded during the building have been collected together and reimagined in abstract three-dimensional collages. Through this, O’Connor sets out to capture the nuances which lie behind the rough and heavy labour which takes place on the yard. In a similar vein, ceramics feature as a method of recording the imprints of the found objects. By indenting and creating repeating patters on ceramic, O’Connor seeks to open a dialogue between the traditional nature of making and more industrial modes of manufacture.

The systematic approach to assembly and the reliance on the prefabricated is played upon in ornamental prints, whose designs isolate and focus on the many forms hidden within the structures of the boat yard.

Scantlings is a natural progression of O’Connor’s interest in the manufacturing heritage of the North East. In a time of severe difficulty for British production, this exhibition offers a wink to both local history and the surviving industry.

Happy New Year

I’d just like to wish all my readers a very Happy New Year and thank you for taking the time to visit my blog. 2016 has been a pretty fruitful year for me, I started the year curating The Black Path exhibition at the House of Blah Blah gallery and finished the year with the release of the music from the project.

 I’d like to thank all the people who have helped and inspired me throughout the year and look forward to continuing in 2017 where we will see the start of a new project and hopefully an exhibition in 2018.

 All the best for 2017

Gavin

I wish you a merry Christmas,

And a happy New year,

A pantry of roast beef,

And a barrel of beer

*

Trad – Cleveland

Source W. Henderson 1879

 

Tonight is the New Year’s night, tomorrow is the day,

And we are come for our right and for our ray,

As we used to do in old King Henry’s day.

Sing fellows, sing Hagman heigh!

*

If you go to the bacon fitch, cut me a good bit,

Cut, cut and low, beware of your man;

Cut and cut round, beware of your thumb,

That I and my merry men may have some.

Sing fellows, sing Hagman heigh!

*

If you go to the black ark, bring me ten mark,

Ten mark, ten pound, throw it down upon the ground,

That I and my merry men may have some.

Sing fellows, sing Hagman heigh!

*

Trad – North Yorkshire

Source W. Henderson 1879

The Black Path – The Album

 

Linear Obsessional is proud to release this compilation of pieces that almost accidently refer to the demise of the once great steel making tradition on Teesside, in the North East of England.

“The Black Path” was an exhibition held at the House of Blah Blah in Middlesbrough in January 2016. This CD is a recording of sounds, music and poetry from that exhibition.

The download includes a 24 page PDF booklet of notes, photographs from the exhibition, and an essay by Alistair Nixon.

released October 21, 2016

https://linearobsessional.bandcamp.com/album/the-black-path

The Black Path is an ancient route. It has been many things: the northern boundary of an Anglian Kingdom, a medieval sailor’s trod, and a convenient path to work for the steelworkers of Middlesbrough.
The Black Path Project commenced in early 2015 as collaboration between Chris Whitehead and Gavin Parry, they soon realised that a number of other artists in the area had also created work based around the path. They then set about contacting artists and asking them if they would be willing to join the project with a goal of producing an exhibition. Once assembled, they approached the House of Blah Blah, who were very enthusiastic about the project and agreed to work with the group.
The goal of the project was to present a contemporary response to the Black Path, at the time no one could have predicted what events unfold over the following months in terms of the collapse of the steel industry. This project now has an added poignancy; it has accidentally captured the end of an era.
The exhibition and show features, field recordings, paintings, photographs, sculptures and music, all created as a response to the Black Path. The exhibition commences with a performance by two groups of musicians, Ammonites and Warped Freqs. both of who have written music especially for this occasion.