HOUSE MEETING - Public Discussions

HOUSE MEETING - Public Discussions

House Meeting poster.

Steven Alan, Gema de Castro, Katie Fiore, Ty Locke, Jo Murray, Rosalind Russell, Melanie Wheeler, Jake Wood

Public discussion 1: 6:30pm, Thursday 6 June, 2019
Public discussion 2: 6:30pm, Wednesday 12 June 2018
Private view: 7pm, Saturday 15 June 2018

House Meeting is an exhibition & series of conversations that will present the work of the Crate Programming team 2019-2020, and begin to open up some of the questions that will be explored throughout the upcoming programme.

As programmers, the exhibition will not only present all of the programming team artists’ individual and diverse practices, but will also provide an opportunity to question what it means to be an artist-curator, and how organising can be a key part of artist practice today. The show itself will be an experiment in curation, actively shifting and changing throughout the exhibition period.

‘House Meetings’ will take place at set times within the show, providing space for the team and members of the public to gather, chat, and discuss some of the issues facing artists today.

Together we will discuss: How do we continue to sustain a meaningful practice in times of precarity? What are the barriers to creativity? What is a sustainable practice? How do we make/produce? What is the function of the arts space in the community? How can we utilise our research and practice in a way that will benefit wider society? What does it mean to collaborate and why is working together important? How can we work together to create a caring and supportive network?

Crate’s newly expanded programming team are focused on experimenting with collaboration, taking risks that push the boundaries of artistic practices and enabling space for research without the pressure of prescribed outcomes. We are committed to strengthening our output, audience and working spaces beyond traditional exhibition platforms, and engaging with the public and private spaces that surround us.

About the artists:

Steven Alan is a photographer and zine-maker from Margate, Kent. He studied photography at Canterbury Christ Church University in Broadstairs and is currently working as a freelance artist, self-publishing his work, organizing and curating exhibitions, events and workshops in and around the South East of England. Steven joined Crate’s programming team in 2019 and will be leading on Crate’s forthcoming ‘zine fair, publications and anthologies
cargocollective.com/khanswrath

Gema de Castro (born in Toledo, Spain) is an independent curator based in UK. She studied MA Curatorial Practice at the UCA (Canterbury, UK) 2018, BA in Humanities 2016 & Diploma in Education Modern Foreign Language 2012, (University of Castilla-La Mancha, Toledo-Spain) Illustration and Graphic Design 2006 (School of Arts, Toledo-Spain).
gemadecastro.wixsite.com

Emily Demetriou (b.1993 Nicosia, Cyprus) is a multidisciplinary artist/ curator, who’s work involves performance, writing, sound and video. Her research is focused on institutional critique, critical pedagogy, collectivism and radical happiness- trying to reach a more socially engaging, collaborative and participatory practice. Emily also works as part of duo collective Panicattack, with Turkish artist/curator Naz Balkaya, which was chosen as part of Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2018. Panicattack has been curating the series of performance happenings Razzmatazz since 2015, supporting and engaging with emerging and marginalised artists.
panicattack-duo.squarespace.com

Katie Fiore (b.1993, Chatham) is a multidisciplinary artist whose work may manifest in forms including text, sound, video, photography, digital collage, readings, collaborative workshops and exchanges. Through obsessively documenting and re-assembling collected fragments of our physical and digital worlds, she aims to excavate the in-between spaces and the margins that give way for resistance and love. She is drawn to the cracks and tears, the familiar out of joint, borders and portals, language and iconography, echo and haze, and ghosts of the future. Katie joined Crate’s programming team in 2019 and will be running the in house exhibition programme aimed at developing curatorial skills within team.
katiefiore.co.uk
 
Ty Locke experiments with everyday objects, mostly in a light-hearted, playful manner, changing them slightly to remove their familiarity. Within his practice he explores different types of tedious processes, setting himself mundane rules to follow to create absurd, dysfunctional objects. He uses what’s to hand to create and impose processes onto familiar reference points. Ty Was a recipient of the UCA-Crate Graduate award in 2018 and will be leading on our UCA partnership over the course of the year. He will also be having a solo show during the
Year, in preparation for his MA next year.
www.tylocke.com
 
Rosalind Russell’s research focuses on the queer posthuman body and our physical connection to technology, non-human bodies and queer futurity. Working with film she creates movement pieces which display themes around queer phenomenology, sexuality and non-linear time. She makes work because she is interested in digital philosophy and how our human bodies are connected to technology which is inherently linked to sexuality. As an artist she prioritises collaboration and working with queer performers. Rosalind joined Crate in 2019 and will be leading the CPD programme.
 
Mel Wheeler is an artist and alumnus of Open School East. Melanie is an artist and curator with a multidisciplinary research based practice that focuses on using art as a means for encouraging community engagement and experimenting with; alternative pedagogies, fiction writing, sound, installation and curation. Mel joined Crate’s programming team in 2019 and will be leading on future residency programmes.
melaniewheeler.land

Jake Wood is  an artist currently studying in his first year at UCA Canterbury (BA fine art). Previous to this he undertook a two year Extended Diploma Course at UCA Rochester and was nominated for the UAL Origins Award to be shown in London. Jake joined the Crate programming team in 2019.