'SUBSTANCE'
Portsmouth Artists Book Event 2018 at Aspex
Portsmouth
Sunday 18th
March 2018 – 10am until 5pm
‘Substance’
is an exciting curated event bringing together multiple artistic disciplines inviting
visitors to participate in the process of making and telling 'stories'.
‘Substance’,
is a one-day event exploring artist’s books as a multidisciplinary art form, presenting
stories, poems and bold statements in an amazing array of forms from the page
to performance, installation and sculpture.
‘Substance’
is proudly presented by David G Kirby in association with Aspex
Portsmouth.
‘Substance’
is the first national Artist’s Book event to be held in Portsmouth and a first for Aspex.
‘Substance’
features established UK
and international artists and students from a broad range of artistic
disciplines; writing, poetry, illustration, printmaking, spoken word,
performance, sound and sculpture.
‘Substance’
will showcase straightforward 'traditional' printed, bound book arts - handmade
low tech 'zines, self publishing poets and writers; spoken word, sound and
performance based artists; experimental, sculptural and site specific
interactions designed to spark conversations and stories that both challenge
and reinforce ideas of what constitutes a 'book'.
The Artist’s
Book is a key medium
for the exploration of form and function. Distilled down, one idea of a 'book'
is a container, a vessel for storing - well, contents... in the hands of
artists, the container has become as expressive and meaningful as its contents,
creating an astonishing diversity of artefacts and expression – from the
conventional, traditional and historical, to more experimental, imaginative and
exploratory. The material form of the container has evolved from the tradition
of spoken/cultural memory, to sheets of paper, to digital media, to esoteric
'cloud' storage.
The intention is for artists and visitors to engage and interact, to generate
narratives through those conversations, and in the course of the event to see, and
hear those dialogues transformed and re-presented. Visitors to the event will
experience a few of the processes of how narratives and other content can be
generated and contained, encapsulated in forms that can be taken away and
relived elsewhere.
Event curator, Dave Kirby says “My aim with 'Substance' is to present a
slice across the current genre of artists books; to focus on relationships
between forms of content - archive/narrative and its [re]presentation/
retrieval. What comes first, the contents or the container? How does one even
begin to make a 'book'?
Dave
Kirby is a
multidisciplinary artist from Southsea. He has been involved with artists books
for more than 25 years. A seasoned exhibitor at artists book fairs and events,
Dave’s work is held in national and international collections.
Aspex
Aspex
recently retained Arts Council England, National Portfolio Organisation status
enabling it to continue enriching Portsmouth
and the surrounding area's cultural and creative environment. Aspex Visual
Arts Trust is delighted that ACE continues to recognise the important
work we do.
Aspex has
been supporting emerging artists, exposing the creative process, and engaging
new audiences with visual art for 35 years.
Delivering an
exciting and varied programme of exhibitions, off-site projects and
participation events, the aim is to make the appreciation and creation of art a
more inclusive activity.
Aspex has a
track record of supporting sensational artists early in their careers. Artists
such as Mona Hatoum, Richard Wilson and Susan Collis, all now
internationally-acclaimed, received support from Aspex.
Key
projects like EMERGENCY, an open submission biennial exhibition, put new work
by new artists centre-stage.
Aspex
participation programme, recognised by the arts industry as one of the best in
the country, provides activities for everyone from toddlers through to
pensioners. The work they do with children with Special Educational Needs and
Autism has been described as exemplary.
The BA Illustration course at the University of Portsmouth have very kindly agreed to host two lectures and workshops with Substance artists. The first will be on November 17th with Guy Begbie. Look out for more details of these events in the coming weeks.
Dr Maureen O'Neill is a senior lecturer on the BA Illustration course at the School of Art and Design at the University of Portsmouth and curator of The Ministry of Books.
