Site Works: Line & Thread

The Gallery, University College of the Creative Arts, Epsom.
26 January – 2 March 2007

Like the thread in a woven fabric, the drawn line acts as a link or pivot connecting people and places.

During the refurbishment of a new gallery at University College of the Creative Arts, Epsom, Mitchell Bould present drawings and documentation from recent projects. The transitional space of The Gallery refurbishment is harnessed to investigate and represent the active role of drawing.

The project has been made possible through contributions from a broad range of people including: Trish Bould, Kathy Oldridge, Belinda Mitchell, Colin Harper, Rae- Sarah Weedon, Ben Ford, Steve Teague, Dan Keeler, Hazel Boundy, Matt Grover, Dave Gibbons, Sarah Oakley, Nick Gorse, Lucy Gundry, Lesley Millar and the technical support team at UCCA Epsom: Sabrina, Lauren, Jack, Tony, Andy and Dave.

The exhibition brings to light fragments of a collaborative process and investigates how architectural drawings, which appear precise and linear, are deeply textured and interwoven with the many activities that go into making a building.

Line & Thread
At an initial meeting to discuss the possibility of an exhibition at Epsom, The Gallery was discussed as a linked space, performing ‘not just as an exhibition space’ but as an active space, connected to the wider community and the work of the University. This idea of a performative, active space has informed the development and presentation of the work.

During the refurbishment we have had the opportunity to develop and try out ideas and to build our knowledge of the space.

The exhibition explores ideas about construction and drawing through its theme line and thread and is presented in two parts:

Entrance space
Finished works from our projects ‘Site Works’ and ‘within the social fabric of a building: a dialogue through construction’

The Gallery
The ‘loom’ is shown alongside installed works developed for the gallery by working alongside the redevelopment. This work explores the idea of The Gallery as a space which is becoming.

One of the difficulties with action is that when the action stops we are left only with a residue or trace of the experience. In The Gallery we attempt to present an exhibition that leaves room for further occupation and actions by the viewer or participant.

The work, ‘notes on collaboration’, reveals fragments or leftover’s of exchanges that took place. Where as, the ‘table’ sets out foundations as a place of production and invites participation through further actions.

The video ‘drawing’ is an attempt to return past actions and ideas. We hope that through the exhibition, the idea of The Gallery as an active space will continue to develop.

The work on show in The Gallery will be further developed through the activities of a workshop on the 5 Feb.

 

Mitchell Bould is a collaborative research practice formed in 2000 between Trish Bould and Belinda Mitchell. Their work has been developed through collaborative projects undertaken with a broad range of people including: Oxford Archaeology; Architects' Department; Hampshire County Council; Llewellyn’s Building Contractors; the staff and pupils of Osborne School and students from the University of Southampton and the University of Portsmouth.

Individual works included in the exhibition have received funding from: the Arts and Humanities Research Council, Arts Council England, University of Southampton, Hampshire County Council, University of Portsmouth, Oxford Archaeology, Winchester City Council, and University College of the Creative Arts, Epsom.