2 Nov 2005 – 8 Feb 2006
During his residency Ken Chu conducted various projects collaborating with Gtr Manchester-based artists who with the work Chanelling Andy created a cultural network of individuals who’s skills and creative input informed and shaped the outcome of Ken’s projects and the production of work. Projects included TWELVE and The Curio Shop Network.
Ken Chu’s artwork investigates human economies— as in the Bruce Mau definition of economy, i.e. systems, networks, etc. The content in his art is informed by his work as a community organizer. Curio Shop will take place weekly in the form of discussion groups, with topics of conversation being led by participants. He will work with local British Chinese artists in facilitating a cross-cultural dialogue with other artists of colour. Curio Shop recognizes that artists are the best resources for each other, and will look at mapping this professional and personal eco-system. Ken is available for lunch, and the studio will also be open anytime by appointment during the months of the residency.
- Curio Shop Arts Network is a group of contemporary East Asian artists and arts professionals who have built their practices in Manchester. Participants include Amy Cham, Debbie Chan, Nina Chua, Jess Emmett, Kazuko Kuroda, Ying Kwok, Kwong Lee, and Yuen Fong Ling. Curio Shop is the project of Ken Chu, the Breathe Artist Resident at the Chinese Arts Centre.
- Channelling Andy
A process-based work by Ken Chu, Visual Artist based in New York, USA.
Channelling Andy will take form with the artist working alongside a group of knitters to create a series of paintings. “I do not knit, but am interested in developing a project with others who have this skill”. Using recycled plastic bags as the yarn, the knitters, men included, will knit sleeves to fit over monochromatic paintings. Channelling Andy will also engage each of the knitter’s personal and professional networks in the process. The participants will knit individual smaller works, and collaborate on a large format piece to be exhibited at the culmination of his residency. The public will also be encouraged to join in. The title, Channelling Andy, references the social economy that evolved from Andy Warhol’s Factory; and how this network can serve as the art form. - TWELVE
Broadcast Live – Sat 28 January 2006 @ 5pm
A project for the BBC Big Screen (Manchester) by the Curio Shop Arts Network.
Twelve is a continuous video piece constructed of pictures of the people each one of us interact with in the course of an ordinary day. Each person is photographed twice: once in a relaxed state and then again in exuberance. The images are compiled together alternating the drab and joyous of the same person to create a digital flipbook. Twelve serves as self-portraits through the documentation of our constructed communities. It is a work that looks to take the emphasis off our cultural heritage so we can see ourselves, holistically, as full citizens, and to acknowledge the value of our social economy.
Biographies of participating artists:
KEN CHU is an installation artist. He has presented his site-specific work internationally with community-based arts organizations, alternative art spaces, and major art institutions. Ken coordinated Dismantling Invisibility: Asian & Pacific Islander Artists Respond to the AIDS Crisis at Art in General, New York, NY, and Public Mirror: Artists Against Racial Prejudice at the Clocktower Gallery of P.S.1 Museum. He co-founded Godzilla: Asian American Art Network (1990-2001), a group of New York-based Asian and Pacific Islander visual artists and arts professionals who established a forum that fostered information exchange, mutual support, documentation, and networking through regular meetings, a newsletter, and exhibitions. Ken has also worked in arts philanthropy since 1996, and was the program director for visual arts and emerging fields at the Creative Capital Foundation for the past seven years.
MATTHEW BAMBER studied Visual Arts at Salford University finishing his degree in 2001. He has a studio in Islington Mill, Salford, where he mainly specialises in painting. He is part of the artist duo Rambo 2 & 3, who have exhibited work and staged performances across various local venues. Most recently Matthew collaborated on Ken Chu’s All We Were Saying at Apartment. He has worked at Cube, and is presently at the Chinese Arts Centre. Originally from Chorlton in Manchester, he now lives in Stockport.
ANDREW HARDMAN has worked as an artist and designer since leaving Stockport College in 1995 where he studied illustration. He exhibits work and stages performances with the art group Rambo 2 & 3. Most recently he participated in Ken Chu’s All We Were Saying. All was a bed-in aimed to mark the Civil Partnership legislation being introduced in the UK on that day. Andrew is currently studying History of Art at the University of Manchester.
BRIGID MARSH is a primary grade school educator with a specialty in working with early-year children. She has been based in London, Coventry, Manchester, and Stockport. She is also an early-years tutor with Life Long Learning, a program that assists young children, their parents, and carers on various short courses and activities. Currently Brigid works part-time at a job share in a reception class in Brinnington. Brigid learned to knit from her mother, and has continued with this passion into her adult years. She assisted with her daughter’s thesis show at Stockport College, knitting a sculptural work with fuse wire. She takes special delight in inspiring others with her craft, and has taught many how to knit. Brigid has two super grown-up children, and has lived in Stockport for the last 20 years.
STEPHEN MAXWELL is from Manchester. He is an artist, and enjoys working outdoors. He has exhibited in non-traditional venues including parks, hospitals, roundabouts, etc. He likes to talk to people.
