missing you already
Altered postcard from Pont De Neuf, Paris
April 2017
Part of a new body of work in response to Brexit with Power Up Creative Resistance
Category Archives for research
How Far Are you Prepared to Go? /I am The Work of Your Life, You Are The Work of My Life
How Far Are you Prepared to Go? /I am The Work of Your Life, You Are The Work of My Life
Images from a newspaper collaboration with artist Pete Davies responding to Victorian writer and activist Edward Carpenter and the site of the Commonwealth Cafe on Scotland Street, Sheffield, which he ran between 1887 and 1888 as a radical social space for people to gather, share ideas and organise.
The publication was commissioned as part of the Simple Stories programme, a year-long series of Sheffield based events, actions and exhibition actions, curated by the Poly-Technic, aka artists Steven Pool and Kate Genever
50 printed copies were produced and distributed at an informal launch event which took place outside the site of Commonwealth Cafe, which now exists as a karaoke bar, in July 2016.
The online edition is viewable here
Blogposts on the development of the collaboration on the Simple Stories website here
Wur at Oastler Market in Bradford – a residency and collaboration
7th – 18th July 2014
‘Wur’ in Scots means two things: ‘we are’ and ‘our’
What is the relationship between’ I’ and ‘we’?
Can creativity connect and empower us?
I’m interested (among other things) in ideas of identity, community and exchange. From 7th – 18th July I will be resident at Oastler Market in Bradford, inviting market users to collaborate with me to explore these questions through creative play and conversation, in a collaborative period of research.
Wur will attempt to be an active laboratory for collective enquiry – a common space for all to explore and share creativity, knowledge and experiences. Everything done there will be collectively owned by all who take part.
Over a fortnight I’ll host a wide range of creative and social activities in Wur space, including exploring stories and memories with personal and family photographs through collage and assemblage, making self-published zines, gift actions and conversations.
This is an open invitation to join me in Wur space. Drop in for as long or short a time as you like, each week day between 11am and 3pm; or if you have an idea for an activity or conversation you’d like to do or try out, get in touch with me at Jeanmariemcewan@gmail.com. Activities will change each day, and a diverse group of people coming in to play and contribute. All are welcome.
A zine documenting these activities will be produced and circulated freely to market users following the residency.
The idea for this residency grew out of ‘Wur blog’ ) a collective multi-author blog about gift, exchange and generosity which I set up in 2012.
To find out more about the ideas behind the project and to follow the residency as it develops, visit the the microblog at http://wuratoastlermarket.wordpress.com/
Grateful thanks to Bradford Metropolitan Council and Bradford Markets for supporting the project.
Slideprojector play
Playing with found family slides, drawing and projection
WE ARE ALIVE AGAIN at Dark Matter Institute, Oastler Market, Bradford
A selection of images from a site responsive installation commissioned by Art in Unusual Spaces for Dark Matter Institute, a temporary gallery at Oastler Market in Bradford which took place on 15th May 2014.
Comprising of collections of archival family photographs, posters, makeshift dioramas, assemblages, collages, everyday objects, zines, found props and projections, this work evolved from an experimental period of making at the Fabric Arts Lab (Bradford) earlier this year exploring performative and collage processes in working with personal and family archival materials. Market users were invited to ‘tamper with the work according to their needs, to perform a story for that moment, or that day.’
Jean McEwan 