A site-specific installation entitled Reformed Character by Matt Durran will measure 19 1/2 feet by 19 1/2 feet. photo: rod morris
From May 6th through 9th, the 2011 COLLECT art fair will return to London’s Saatchi Gallery for what will be the eighth annual fair featuring art and design objects that the organizers call “contemporary craft.” In addition to the 37 galleries that will be present at this years fair, show organizers The Crafts Council will introduce “Project Space,” a non-selling showcase of exciting new work. This year, seven artists working individually and collaboratively, including British glass artists Matt Durran and Rosa Nguyen, will be a part of the “Project Space” project.
COLLECT was established in 2004 at the Victoria and Albert Museum, and in 2009 the fair was relocated to Saatchi Gallery, a fitting location that mirrors the fair’s apparent move from decorative into more contemporary art. In an interview with the GLASS Quarterly Hot Sheet, Crafts Council events producer Dani Wells said that there was a need for an alternative space that would allow artists an opportunity to make work free of commercial concerns, or the space limitations of the main selling area.
“What we want to do is have something more accessible and to look at individuals and collaboration,” said Wells. “To work on projects and new things and show installations that aren’t necessarily possible to have on the first floor.” The exhibition “Project Space” is seen … “as an additional curated area to complement the galleries section of the fair,” says COLLECT spokesperson Matt Railton. “It will have a completely different feel to the rest of the fair.”
Two of the seven artists chosen to occupy Project Space will be exhibiting installations primarily made with glass.
Artist Matt Durran has spent a number of years developing techniques for working with self-mined obsidian glass. Having shown at COLLECT before, he said that the introduction of Project Space will give him the opportunity to create a unique experience for himself and the patrons that cannot be had in the main gallery.
“What’s interesting about the project space is that I am able to achieve an uninterrupted view into the world I want to create” said Durran. “I think this is a unique opportunity for the artist to have a dialog with himself and not be directed by the curator or gallery.”
The work he plans to bring to COLLECT will be an installation specifically built for the fair accompanied by individual supporting pieces. “The work has evolved from an initial installation that I made for the British Glass Bienniale 2010. The installation will have an illusionary quality; a trick on the mind,” said Durran. “I want the viewer to be challenged as to what they are seeing and hope to make the occasion a special one for them.”
Glass artist and ceramicist Rosa Nguyen plans to install an evolving piece titled Living Wall within “Project Space.” Working primarily with glass, ceramics, and natural elements Nguyen has also created a large-scale installation created specifically for COLLECT.
“Performing” a piece for the first time, Nguyen’s installation will speak to cultural influences including “our holistic relationships with the natural world, environmental issues and draw from oriental philosophies and my past training in Traditional Chinese medicine and Shiatsu therapy,” she said.
“The installation will change at regular intervals over the four days and brings together, in a wall, composition unique hand made ceramic and glass objects with botanical elements,” said Nguyen.
For more information about COLLECT 2011 and Project Space visit http://www.craftscouncil.org.uk/collect/.
—Alica Forneret
IF YOU GO: COLLECT 2011: May 6 – 9
Saatchi Gallery
Duke of York’s HQ
King’s Road
London
SW3 4SQ