B arts Blank Space Mini Residency

Taking the learning from B arts CARE: R&D Commissions, we wanted to provide an open commission, an opportunity that enables creative growth and space for the work to change over a period of time.

The ‘Blank Space’ mini residency brief is an opportunity for an artist/artist collective to explore an issue they are personally interested in. It might be a new thought, inspired by recent events, or one that they have been pondering on for some time. Artists were encouraged to think about including community voice, or an option for the audience to participate in the conversation. Examples of themes could include: environmental issues, social change, food justice, inequality, mental health.

The first round of Blank Space Residencies was planned to run March - October 2021, and was coordinated by B arts Creative Producer and co-founder Hilary Hughes. Hilary sadly passed away in September, but the project continues.

We will be announcing more about each of the artists and their work at the start of each residency. Watch this space!

Why ‘Blank Space’?

This is an opportunity for artists to take time to explore an issue or theme of their choice. The artist has freedom to work with this space in any 2D medium and adapt/develop/change the work between a set time period.

The building is in a very visible space, and on a major bus route, meaning the work will be seen by hundreds of people each day. This is a great opportunity to experiment with new work and exhibit publicly.

Commissioned Artists:

To date, B arts have commissioned 3 artists or collectives as part of the Blank Space project: Good Will Inc, Jon Paul Green and Anastasia Mamlouk. Find out more about the artists and their work below!

Advice For Artists: Small Commissions

"In this short film, we share some tips for artists applying for small commissions. Originally recorded during a feedback session for unsuccessful applicants for one of our Blank Space commissions, we've decided to share it because we think it has useful advice for any artist and any commission!"

Good Will Inc

April - June 2021

About the Artist:
Good Will Inc are a new artist collective, formed during lockdown, working anonymously,composed of two artists/activists in Stoke on Trent. With backgrounds in Photography,Collage, Writing and Theatre, Good Will Inc’s goal is to create work that provokes not onlygenuine discussion but affects real change of hearts and minds.

About the Work:
Who Am I? was a dynamic collage piece that was captured using time-lapse photography across a 3 month period. The finished work is available to watch below. The collage featured word art, poetry and photography taken from public archives and from personal collections of the artists friends and family.

Jon Paul Green

July - September 2021

About the Artist:
Jon Paul Green is a graphic designer and multidisciplinary artist based in Stoke-On-Trent. Having produced works that range from site specific installations, interactive performance art, gorilla advertising, typography, collage and adhoc monument maintenance, Jon Paul continues to explore and develop his practice through a diverse range of projects.

About the Work:
For myself, and I’m sure this is will be true for many others, mental health issues that seemed insignificant have been amplified by a year of lockdowns and uncertainty, in turn this has highlighted just how important it is to engage with a wider community. I wanted to create a series of 3 vibrant billboard style posters with positive messages centred around the topics of Mental Health and Inclusivity.

The messages were short and succinct and promote inclusivity, positive mental health and wellbeing.

The first of the three typography-based designs was “HOORAY” a simple universal statement that I thought summed up the nations thoughts as this was posted on the weekend when all Covid restrictions had been lifted. The yellow was hand painted using the worlds brightest yellow pigment paint, the feeling being that a brighter future called for the brightest paint.

The second was “GAUDEAMUS” loosely translated from Latin to mean "So Let Us Rejoice"

Due to the tragic and untimely loss of B-Arts founder Hilary Hughes, the space during the month of October was used to pay homage. It was an honour and a privilege to be asked to write some accompanying words for her picture. She truly was a “Rebel with a cause”.

Anastasia Mamlouk

November 2021

About the Artist:
“My name is Anastasia. I am a self taught painter who is captivated and inspired by nature and the natural world. I see painting as a platform for expressing and spreading positivity. I often combine poetry and positive affirmations within my imagery, allowing the viewer the opportunity to interact and connect with my work in various ways.”

About the Work:
”Be kind to yourself 🦋

During the last 2 years I lost the ability to let my creativity flow. This was due to my mental health deteriorating from the chaos that surrounds us all. I recognise that so many of us are struggling right now, and I wanted to use this opportunity to help not just myself, but more so to uplift as many others as possible who may also be struggling. I decided to focus my mural on positive mental health awareness, in hope that I could create a ripple effect of positivity within the community.

The poem I wrote along the edges reads:

“Grow your wings and fly away, beyond old limits that once made you stay.”

I wrote this hoping to encourage people to grow beyond the negativity that consumes us when we battle with our minds. And instead, to be free to love, to be kind to ourselves and one another. As ultimately love is the only thing that can heal us all.”

You can hear more about Anastasia’s art work in her recent blog, ‘Be Kind To Yourself’.

Alex Norcop

February - March 2022

About the Artist: Alex Norcop is an artist and printmaker based in North Staffordshire. He is part of the Radical Art Collective.

About the Work: A Letter To Power

His work for Blank Space takes inspiration from the Diggers, were a group of rural communists from southern England who flourished in the mid 1600’s. They were a splinter group from the Levellers and were led by Gerrard Winstanley and William Everard. They believed in a radical system of land ownership and cultivation, and in an ecological interrelationship between hymns and nature. They are often seen as the roots of radical socialism and anarchy in Britain.

We are sharing a video created by Alex, which shows some behind the scenes footage of Alex creating the artwork for Blank Space. The video also contains “A Letter to Power, In heartfelt anger from, The Revolting Beasties”:

"We the beasties hereby put forth this thing: in aim to seek freedom for all persons on this land of earth we inhabit.

The Revolting Beasties are the outcasts, the creativities, the activists, anyone who dreams or works for change and hopefully: the people. We are individuals and collectives, non apathetic, who through many different angles strive for a better world and radical change. For a more equal, more satisfying world where we have control over our own lives, not in conflict with another but in unity on the earth without a few covetous, proud men who seek to own it as their own. The resisting rebel creatures look up at the night sky with fire in their heart, knowing that the day will come.

The Grey Skies, they are always present, they come in many forms. The capitalist system imposes many grey skies unto the people. They are strong, resilient and hard to clear. Capitalist grey skies must never starve people of land, divide into parties and take away what is right. They must never have full control of our minds and our bodies.

The Factory Inside, gone are the days of earning your bread, we work and ache for just not enough. Tyrants will always get their cut. So far gone and a must to survive, money controls our every live. Thirteen hour shifts seems ok.

The Beasties are here to make a say.

A letter to the government, our lords and land owners, to the CEOs and to the rich, to those few who have power at this time.

In heartfelt response and in anger

Yours Insincerely

The Beasties are here to make a stand

You can hear more about Alex’s art work in his blog, ‘A Letter to Power’

Derrick Egblewogbe

May - August 2022

About the artist: Derrick Egblewogbe is a Creative strategist, Graphic designer, Film maker and Photographer, based in Staffordshire. He enjoys mixing different forms of media to deliver a message to audiences. Originally from Ghana, West Africa. He moved to the UK when he was 13 and has since been using his experience living in multiple cultures to influence his work. He enjoys mixing elements of design such us typography with film and photography to clearly communicate his ideas to audiences.

About the work: Are You My Ally?

During the 2020 civil rights movement, there was a rise in white allies taking steps to educate themselves on their privileges and ways in which they could support the black community. A few months later, the strong presence of the allies had disappeared, which felt like the black pain was just a trend to be followed and dropped once a new trend showed up.

‘Are you my ally’, is a short documentary, about the experiences of black people living in Stoke on Trent and its surrounding areas. It aims to find the best ways allies can continually help support the black community meaningfully.

Artist Derrick Egblewogbe reflects on the work he created for his Blank Space residency in 2022. In the film he talks about his process creating the physical artwork "Are You My Ally?" which was installed on the side of B arts building for 3 months. He also discusses the hour-long documentary of the same name which is created alongside the piece. In the film he interviews members of the Black community about allyship and their experiences.

Lindsey Vigurs

September - October 2022

About the artist: Lindsey Vigurs is an artist and illustrator living in Stoke on Trent. She holds an MA in printmaking from University of the Arts London. Printing is her passion, fuelled by a love for the DIY aesthetic, and inspired by sculptural junk and discarded treasures. Before launching her personal art practice she worked for a number of arts organisations in the north, including Arts Council England, Creative Partnerships and The Royal Northern College of Music. Since 2013, she has been a full time freelance creative person working on big commercial campaigns for the likes of the BBC and undertaking wildly uncommercial personal projects in her messy studio. More recently, Lindsey has been home educating her two children as well as working as an artist. This new shift in her responsibilities has led to a fascination in the intersection between parenting and art creation, and how one affects the other. Lindsey is autistic and neuroqueer. Outside of art, her passions are horror films; folklore; flora and fauna; fungi and foraging.

About the work: IT’S OKAY TO DECAY

"In the last few years I have been inspired by The Good Death movement and in 2018 my sister, Katy, and I started a side project under the name of Dead Good. Katy is a death-positive practitioner and funeral celebrant and together we became particularly interested in DIY acts of remembrance. In January 2021 my dad, Peter Vigurs, was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. The work Katy and I did together in the preceding years gave us perspective and strength as we accompanied our dad on his journey of dying. As a family we worked together and found radical ways to prepare for each of our end of life journeys without morbidity or fear. It was even, at times, fun. My lovely dad died in February 2022 as I was planning this installation. He was buried in woodland in a hand woven willow coffin. My whole family has a gentle yet practical approach to dying and I want to share with others that it is possible to LIVE FULLY by embracing death as an integral part of the human experience."

Photo credits: Lindsey Vigurs, Emily Andrews & James Attwater

More Lego

Martin Gooding

January - March 2023

"More Lego" is a digital graphic artwork is a piece by B arts in house artist and producer Martin Gooding.

Martin says,"I was tasked with exploring young peoples views and ideas around Climate Change. We used The Lost Post Office as a means to creative consultation allowing us to collect ideas from our audience. The results were full of joyful ideas for the future but also sadness, worry and pressure. The work aims to remind people that it's bigger than littering and recycling we need hope (and pressure on big polluters)."

We love it and hope it brings you a boost of joy and colour to a tough January and February.

Let us know what you think and what do you think we need more of?

You can read more about More Lego in Martin’s blog here - https://www.b-arts.org.uk/more-lego

Queer-as-Stoke

Paul Sammut

May - July 2023

About the Artist: Paul Sammut

Paul Sammut is an artist and curator whose practice takes a research-based, affirmative approach with a focus on narrative forms, marginalised cultures and archival practices. Sammut has worked collaboratively under the name P.A.S.T. Projects with curator Alexandra Terry, run the DIY queer project space White Cubicle Toilet Gallery and is currently a member of the queer publishing focussed collective Strange Perfume.

An accredited Relational Dynamics Coach with a focus on working with artists, Sammut regularly holds coaching sessions and artist’s surgeries to aid in project development and realisation, both independently and for various institutions and organisations. From 2019-2021 Sammut curated Comic Velocity: HIV & AIDS in Comics, an expansive programme for the New York-based non-profit Visual AIDS, which included producing a series of podcasts, an exhibition, commissioning new works, and a publication.

About the work: Queer-as-Stoke

A response to B arts’ Blank Space Mini-Residency call out, Queer-as-Stoke began as an idea for a map of Stoke-on-Trent and the surrounding area, locating places and stories of LGBTQIA+ significance. As I collected stories from speaking to locals past and present, and researching online and in physical archives I realised that it wouldn’t be possible to pin point all of the relevant points on to a map, and that the information would be elaborated on with related drawings. The form of the work mimics a previous project for which I created an LGBTQIA+ archive for my hometown, which comprised of brief information points connected to objects I had both found and created. With Queer-as-Stoke the objects were replaced by drawings and anchored centrally by the outline of Stoke-on-Trent.

Due to this being a ‘mini-residency’ I knew that there would be a limit to the stories I would be able to collect, but I was elated to learn about the numerous people and groups that have been established in and around the area, often morphing from one organisation to another, and partnering with other nearby groups. As ever there was a gender imbalance in recorded information I found, which was challenged when I heard from women from the area who told me of women’s groups that weren’t explicitly for queer women but became points of connection, for example the local women’s football team.

I am curious for the reception of a project in such a public place and the responses elicited. My hope for the work is that it can be a joyous site for intergenerational conversation and, in demonstrating the long history of the LGBTQIA+ community in the area, helps to normalise the diversity of minority experiences.

I am Disabled and…

Daisy Hvnter

July 2023

"Hiya! I’m Daisy, the next blank space Artist for B arts. You can find me on @daisyhvnter and see more of my work and projects that I’ve worked on. I am a disabled and autistic artist who specialises in digital collage and mixed media installations.

My blank space mini residency will be a collaboration between myself, B Arts and the disabled community in Stoke, Staffordshire and beyond. I like to create pieces that amplify the voices of the disabled community to share our stories, experiences and to counteract the negative narrative around disability that the media can often encourage.

My piece for blank space will be a celebration of disability, identity and disabled joy.

Watch this space for more to come and how you can get involved"

Reflection

Rebecca Hughes

January 2024

REFLECTION

 Through the blank space project I wanted to create an encouraging and positive illustration for the winter, I wanted to encourage spending time with the people around you, spending time with your loved ones, neighbours, giving time to others and causes you believe in. I believe that through difficult times, like winter can be, it’s important to connect with others instead of isolating yourself, and I wanted to share this through the illustration. I also wanted to encourage getting outside in nature through the imagery of the piece, even in the coldest months of the year, which I find helps my wellbeing.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Rebecca Hughes is a local illustrator, artist, and workshop facilitator who has been working as a freelance illustrator since graduating from Hereford College of Arts in 2023. Rebecca runs art workshops and illustrates private commissions, as well as keeping up a personal practice with a focus on nature and identity. Under the name Kitsch Illustration, Rebecca also runs an online shop selling art prints and other merchandise. You can see more of Rebecca’s work at Kitschillustration.com or on instagram as @KitschIllustration .