Liz Clifford

London visit with fellow UCA MA students. 12th November 2019.

“Between Inside and Outside” by Anna Maria Maiolino. Photo by Liz Clifford

We started by looking at four works by UCA PhD student Martha Todd at The Freud Museum in North London – part of a show to celebrate the centenary of Freud’s publication “The Uncanny” which runs until 9th February 2020. Martha works in clay and porcelain with found objects to create hybrid “well-loved” dolls. With mirrored eyes, they reflect uncannily back at the viewer. Missing parts have been replaced. Casts of the artist’s fingers and repurposed forks become legs. “Love Funnel Deluxe” is an assemblage of glazed slip-cast earthenware and antique vacuum hose, with humorous as well as creepy and overtly sexual connotations.

Martha Todd. “Love Funnel Deluxe” 2014
Photo by Liz Clifford

Not only did Martha give us a really interesting talk about her work and the processes involved in making it, but we were also able to tour the museum and ask questions of the curators. In answer to questions about Feud’s vast collection of ancient artefacts, archaeology began to emerge as a theme of the day for me. Freud used objects with his patients as a way of explaining what was happening. Archaeology was used as a metaphor for psychoanalysis. The words excavated are merely fragments. Nothing is intact but can be painstakingly pieced together.

Up the road at Camden Arts Centre, Cypriot artist, Christodoulos Panayiotou is showing his work, The Island, until 5th January 2020. He uses experience of the archaeological site at Kourion in Cyprus for two floor pieces, making a critique of the practice. In “Spoil Heap”, he has made a complete terracotta tile floor with earth from an archaeological excavation site. This displaced earth is usually discarded and considered waste material. The artist has given it new life and invites the audience to walk on it once again. “Mauvaises Herbes” is a mosaic that records the surface of the excavated and then reburied site of an ancient mosaic at Kourion, complete with the weeds that grow in the disturbed soil. Once the ancient remains have been uncovered and recorded they are often reburied to help preserve them for when another generation may or may not want to rediscover them.

Christodoulos Panayiotou “Soil Heap” 2015
Photo by Liz Clifford

Christodoulos Panayiotou “Mauvaises Herbes” 2019
Photo by Liz Clifford

Los Angeles artist, Mark Bradford, at Hauser & Wirth in the West End until 21st December offered a really visceral contrast to Panayiotou’s cool approach. Bradford’s paintings are vast, layered, distressed, vibrant and energetic surfaces. He uses an array of found materials, collaged, cut into and then stripped away to create grids and map-like images alluding to repressive urban infrastructure with a stunning sense of colour. Layering and stripping away again making me think of archaeology.

Mark Bradford. Detail from his show “Cerberus”
Photo by Liz Clifford

The real highlight of the day came with the discovery of Anna Maria Maiolino at The Whitechapel Gallery. Her show “Making Love Revolutionary” runs until 12th January 2020. Although she was born in 1942 and has been working since the 1960’s, it is the first major UK exhibition of this Brazilian artist. I immediately felt an affinity with her pieces in clay, plaster and cement. She uses the process of preparing clay as a language in her work. The first piece in the show is a table of unfired clay, made on site as the show was being installed. The artist has hand moulded and rolled the clay into repetitive forms that resemble both food and excrement. They are left to dry out over the course of the exhibition, alongside a larger piece made of a pile of clay strands on which gravity also works to render cracking and collapse. There is a cycle of use of earth and the return to earth happening here.

Anna Maria Maiolino “Modelled Earth”
Photo by Liz Clifford

Using clay and plaster, Maiolino creates a series of works that elevate the plaster mould to the status of artwork. The voids left by removed clay are an absent positive. Opposites are embodied in these works. In some, parts of the clay remains. They are records of a process and a trace of a past presence. Below are my shots of pieces from the 2012 series “Between Inside and Outside” and “From the Earth – Poetic Wanderings”.

Materiality of earth seems central to Maiolino’s work and these pieces allude to the mould-making, fossil-making process of sedimentation. Subtle earth colours stain the work she casts in cement and the clay leaves its colour on the plaster giving the pieces a calm, timeless quality. Certainly a feeling of time well beyond that of the human imagination. Geological time. Not archaeology this time, but perhaps palaeontology.

Intervention: Rubbish Cairns.

Here is an update from the Byway cairns project. It’s a month on since my last post charting the growth of these collections of salvaged detritus. Autumn is setting in, so leaves have been adding themselves to the cairns, alongside the collected waste.

I have been reading Jane Bennett’s “Vibrant Matter” in which she argues for a theory of vital materialism, where non-human actants are able to display their agency. Her writing has struck a cord with me in reference to this work. Both piles have grown and shifted. I have collected more rubbish to add to them but gravity and the elements have also been at work. Some items have disappeared completely, others have blown away a little, or have started sliding downhill. Rubbish Cairn No.2 is the more dynamic of the pair. It is sited on a steeper slope, further up the hill from the first, and is harder to reach.

I’ve also started making a short film about the walk along this Byway, with which I hope to bring the location and the activities of walking and collecting into my studio practice. There will be ways of projecting the film within or onto elements of installation. I am currently experimenting with installation ideas in a series of models which incorporate my photographs of detritus with topographical contour imagery. Below are examples, using red Fimo figures to give a sense of scale.

Being Human at The Wellcome Collection.

This exhibition is the newly installed permanent display at The Wellcome Collection in London, subtitled “exploring trust, identity and health in a changing world”.

It is divided into four loose categories – Genetics, Minds and Bodies, Infection, and Environmental Breakdown. Thought-provoking and varied work, by artists reflecting on the human condition and raising questions about the future, is interspersed with scientific objects.

Batoul S’Himi. “Un Monde Sous Pression” 2012 – 2014
Photo by Liz Clifford

I was initially drawn to the Environmental Breakdown section where three works in particular stood out for me. Moroccan artist Batoul S’Himi’s “Un Monde Sous Pression” translates as A World Under Pressure and uses two empty gas cylinders and a pressure cooker cut through with a map of the world. These items are dangerous but are common domestic cooking apparatus in Morocco. By this choice of materials and the use of the map, the artist alludes to the fact that those most vulnerable to climate change are those from the developing world, especially women and children.

Yinka Shonibare. “Refugee Astronaut III” 2019
Photo by Liz Clifford

Yinka Shonibare’s Astronaut is well over life-size. We are forced to wonder who they are, why they are travelling with an assorted array of domestic equipment slung into a net on their back. This would appear to be a forced exile rather than heroic exploration, as it has a distinctly unscientific feel. Antique, or simply just old, domestic objects are being carried and Shonibare uses his signature printed fabric for the “suit” and “air tanks”. The work asks us to consider how many of us will become refugees as environmental breakdown displaces populations. The Wellcome has published an interview with the artist on their website which makes really interesting reading. Here’s the link. https://wellcomecollection.org/articles/XYofFREAACQAp-Vl

Latai Taumoepeau, Deborah Kelly and collaborators.
“No Human Being is Illegal (in all our glory)” 2014 – 18
Photo by Liz Clifford

Australian artist Deborah Kelly works collaboratively in open workshops. In 2014 she produced a series of collaged portraits that reflect the subject’s identity, concerns, dreams or life story. In this portrait, Sydney-based Tongan artist, Latai Taumoepeau wanted her body collaged to highlight the effects of climate change on small island nations. In particular, to reflect the realities of climate change on vulnerable Pacific Island communities, including her relatives in Tonga, who are already living with the devastating impacts of king tides, contaminated water tables, degraded reef systems, tsunamis and hurricanes. By collaging with images of marine life and island geology she also draws attention to the fact that many islanders will refuse to leave both their sovereignty and the bones of their ancestors, and will therefore perish.

The placing of scientific instruments and prosthetics in the display alongside the work of artists adds depth to the show and poses questions as well as providing insights. The prosthetics are displayed with labels that use quotes from their users which allow us to connect with real lives. The ultraportable genetic sequencer used by the NHS, on the left, is displayed in the same case as a DIY biohacking kit that is available for sale on the internet, raising uncomfortable questions about trust and accessibility. Who will purchase this kit and what will they use it for?

Artworks in the Genetics section tend to explore our wonder at what is possible as well as our wariness of the technology. To make her fictional 3D printed portrait, above, Heather Dewey-Haborg sequenced DNA from discarded cigarette butts, hair and gum to find genetic markers that influence physical appearance. How much of our identity do we carelessly give away everyday?

One of the most beautiful works in the Infection section is Rogan Brown’s Magic Circle Variation 2018, below. Made from layers of laser cut paper the work uses imagery of the microscopic fungal, bacterial and viral forms that make up our microbiome.

In the Minds and Bodies section preconceptions around physical disability and mental health are challenged. Below is “Accessible Icon” by design activists Brian Glenny, Sara Hendren and Tim Ferguson Saunder. Originally they stencilled their dynamic version over existing static ones as an act of protest in Boston, USA. Then they released their icon free of charge and it is now used officially across the world.

This section also includes another collaborative project. Over 6 months, 15 young people with staff from the Mildred Creak Unit, Great Ormond Street Hospital, imagined how different experiences and environments could support healthy minds. Their resulting installation titled “Oh My Gosh, You’re Wellcome…Kitten the vacuum cleaner with muf architecture/art” is a form of writing desk populated with votive objects and inscribed with hopes, dreams and wishes. It is full of imaginings of a place that would create better mental health for us all.

Being Human is a carefully curated and thought-provoking show in a non art gallery venue that aims to engage a wide audience. It was certainly buzzing with visitors while I was there. Entry is free and the Wellcome puts on tours of the show for groups.

The Wellcome Collection is a free museum and library that aims to challenge how we all think and feel about health.

It is at 183 Euston Rd, London NW1 2BE. It is open Tuesdays to Sundays 10am to 6pm. The nearest tube is Euston.

All photographs by Liz Clifford.

Generations and Nations – Curatorial Play

Our first group show on the MA Fine Art at UCA Farnham. Each artist produced a work on the theme in a week and the group worked together to install the show within an hour on Monday 7th October.

1st iteration in curation of Generations and Nations. Left to right, work by Charlotte Dennis, Wasim Asghar, Elizabeth Davies, Meng Zhang, Jan Lee, Lucy Bevin, Dana Phillips,
Janet McWilliam, Dawn Langley, Mike Kelly, Tianxing Wang, Soniya Purwal, Noelle Genevier, Robert Adlam, Nadine Senior and Liz Clifford.

Negotiation was needed between the artists to ear-mark appropriate space for each work. Once set up we took turns to briefly explain our piece to the group. My response was a partial floor-piece. An AO sized photographic print rising up the lower part of the wall. Objects that featured in the photographs were placed on the paper between the images. Before installing I asked the group to walk over the paper, the pavements featured in the images. A faint series of footprints marks the work. Those footprints themselves answer the theme, as well as the materials of the pavements and their provenance. The layers that make up the history of Farnham and its people as well as the history of those who mined, worked and transported the materials. The hierarchy of those materials is reflected in the elevation of cast iron and stone to wall display whilst the images of ceramic tile, brick, tarmac, concrete and mud are on the floor. The scavenged ceramic tile and bottle top are placed next to their respective images. The bottle top is from Barr drinks, a Scottish drinks company, who produce Strathmore water and Irn-Bru.

Clockwise work by Jan Lee, Robert Adlam, Noelle Genevier, Nadine Senior, Michael Palmer and Liz Clifford.

Our next task was to re-hang the show. We all had to alter some aspect of how our work was displayed in order to make the show work better as a whole, as well as in terms of experiment for our own work. Negotiation and and teamwork was needed to achieve this in a short time.

2nd iteration. Clockwise from the bottom, work by Liz Clifford, Elizabeth Davies, Meng Zhang, Wasim Asghar, Dawn Langley, Dana Phillips, Janet McWilliam, Noelle Genevier, Lucy Bevin, Tiancong Zhang, Jan Lee, Mike Kelly, Soniya Purwal, Robert Adlam, Charlotte Dennis and Tianxing Wang.

Some work was radically altered and other pieces simply tweaked. Lucy’s piece was suspended in the middle of the space, swapping it’s spot with Dawn’s which became a wall-piece. Meng dispensed with the plinth to make a floor piece, while Wasim stood that plinth upright to raise his piece to eye-level. Tianxing decided to suspend his box form at head height so that it could be viewed from the both inside and outside. Charlotte and I both decided to roll our sheets and stand them on the floor.

2nd iteration. Charlotte Dennis and Liz Clifford.

Charlotte’s image had been printed on Grafolac film so that it was translucent and relatively strong. The image could be viewed both through the tube and on it. On the other hand, I had printed on poster paper and at the larger scale of AO. Consequently, my piece was really too flimsy due to the thinner material and its additional size. The images were partially visible from the outside, but not convincingly so. I placed the found objects on the floor inside my tube. These lowly materials, at the bottom of the hierarchy of materials photographed, on the floor next to the images of them. The audience could walk around the work and peer into it but the objects on the grey floor were not very visible. It would be worth thinking about lighting, from above or below, to make objects and images more visible. Experiments with the Grafolac film or tracing paper may lead to possibilities for shining light through the images, making projections and layering. Comparing the two setups of the work, I think the first was more successful, although the second has definitely raised areas for further investigation and had the advantage of allowing circulation around it.

Intervention: Rubbish Cairns, Byway 745.

To get round the problem of being too selective with what objects are worthy of taking back to the studio, I’ve decide to work with collecting on site. Since August I have been picking up every piece of plastic waste I find on the Byway and have made 4 distinct piles to the side of it. They are growing gradually, reminiscent of cairns or way markers. Sometimes the material is deranged by the weather or perhaps by other passers-by. I’m hoping that others will add to my piles, as walkers traditionally do with stone cairns.

These 2 pairs of photographs show a month’s growth.

I intend to document the evolution of these cairns by posting images of them here each month. At this stage I don’t know how long the project will last or what I will do with the collected material.

Plastic finds on the Byway.

I’ve started recording where I find the plastic fragments used in my work with a simple photograph on my phone. The location and date is logged. An objective record akin to forensic evidence. However, I can’t help myself making an aesthetic choice. I’m drawn to the jewel like quality of colourful vehicle reflectors pressed into mud and chalk, whilst passing over real “rubbish” such as empty plastic bottles and larger strips of black plastic trim from vehicles. This detritus stays put but needs collecting and to be used in some way.

Byway 745

Hampshire County Council BOAT No 745 Byway Open to All Traffic is an ancient sunken lane in the Hangers of East Hampshire, within The South Downs National Park. It is used by walkers, horse riders, cyclists, 4 x 4 drivers and motorcyclists, primarily for recreation. Very occasionally, it is used by someone who works on the land. I walk this track almost daily. On my walk I find and collect detritus left by other users. I also record damage done by the vehicles.

These images record an oil leak that drew a line along the chalk.