Adar 2012

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Adar 2012

To coincide with BBC Springwatch return to Ynys Hîr RSPB Reserve, Capel y Graig will be hosting Adar 2012. The Exhibition brings together works by Denis Curry, Maria Hayes and Maura Hazelden that explore the relationship between birds and humans.

Adar will be opening with an evening of music and performance with Julie Murphy, Lou Laurens and Cangen at 7pm on Friday 1st June 2012. The Exhibition continues 11am – 6pm Saturday 2nd of June – Friday 8th of June. (closed Sunday) Capel y Graig is situated in the village of Furnace on the A487, 12 miles north of Aberystwyth and 6 miles south of Machynlleth.
For parking follow signs for Dyfi Furnace car park (opposite side of the bridge to Capel Y Graig) or Ynys Hir car park – http://goo.gl/maps/BbXx

Denis Curry testing ‘The Human Powered Wing’, a variable- geometry ornithopter claimed to be the first such machine to initiate propulsion solely by means of the wing movements. 

My Slade School studies included Leonardo – I wondered how far he might have got using modern research gear, cameras etc.
My prototype derives from both birds, – chiefly the swan – and insects. The machine has accomplished the first stage – movement from rest in still air.
I am working on the second stage – acceleration.
Denis Curry

Maria Hayes’s recent work explores what happens when analogue observational drawing processes are integrated in a digitally assisted drawing environment.

In ‘Charlie Bird’ she videos and then draws a birds movement, revealing the drawing process.

In 2012 ‘The Big Draw’ recognises her participation work with a ‘Drawing Inspiration Award’.

Reconcile | Cysoni [3]
Blodeuwedd: made of flowers by a man for a man. Banished as an owl. Some say she wants to be flowers again, I say she needs to be flowers & owl. Soft feather float her, meadowsweet inside is brittle, winter flora, beyond spring.
I collect English & Brythonic plant names, naming her fully, making her whole
Maura Hazelden

Julie Murphy is a singer songwriter and member of Welsh folk innovators fernhill. She writes songs at the piano at home in the Welsh countryside and has just released a new solo album; “A Quiet House”, her first for 10 years.

“She possesses a voice of stark, spectral beauty that recalls Shirley Collins and Sandy Denny. Her singing is hypnotic and trance-like, a serene stream of sound finding majesty in minor-key melancholy.”
The Guardian

Cangen is a newly-formed vocal group based in north Pembrokeshire. Led by Lou Laurens, their repertoire ranges from Lou’s arrangements of traditional songs to contemporary composition, blues, world, and renaissance music. They made their debut at the Acapella Festival 2012 in Narberth. For Adar, they will play with birdsong motifs; presenting songs about birds, and bird-human interactions.

I’ve Got You Under My Skin


The Rhôd Artists Group are developing a collaborative work and research project at The Tannery, Machynlleth from Monday 13th February to Sunday 11th March.
The title of the exhibition is an ‘exquisite corpse’; the sum of each artist’s own title for the show (above) they would ideally have liked to curate within The Tannery if curation was not shared with 9 other people.
The process will be mostly undertaken behind the closed doors of the gallery where it will offer the artists an opportunity to work in a site-specific way, interacting with each others work and allowing the project to change and develop in situ.
You can follow the groups’ postings here as the show progresses and the artists curate the show and discuss their particular interpretations of the processes.

The exhibition will open with a closing event on the Friday 9th March when members of the public will be invited to the gallery to see the current position of the work. This will be followed by a walk and talk around the show on Saturday 10th March in the morning and in the afternoon a discussion with the artists using video projections.
There will be a skype event on February 29th when the group will discuss the show with each other and any who wish to join them.

The process is being documented through the web on the Rhôd Blog and through the Culture Colony platform.

My contribution will be a number of activities documented and presented through the web connecting artists, locations and resources.

  • In the Tannery I will be introducing a number of record sleeves (the by-product of Vinyl Flooring in Cardigan) to be used as a resource for processing by the group.
  • Records in the Corn Exchange Gallery, Cardigan will include live webcam and an interface to connect to the other locations.
  • Capel y Graig will connect through location recordings and webcasts – other artists are invited to contribute to this, more details to follow…