Shy Bairns were approached by Orlando Lloyd to run a series of workshops at the Tetley as part of their T
he House That Heals The Soul exhibition.
The House That Heals The Soul
9 FEB 2018 – 22 APR 2018
The House That Heals the Soul is both an exhibition and a functioning publishing studio. Its presentation at The Tetley coincides with the International Contemporary Artists’ Book Fair.
First exhibited in the summer of 2017 at CCA Glasgow, The House That Heals the Soul was developed with artist and lecturer at the University of Leeds, Nick Thurston. Featuring the work of over a dozen international artists and collectives, it focussed on the political and social status of libraries and brought new audiences into the gallery to read, write and publish.
The Tetley presentation will bring together an archive of the publications and conversations generated at the CCA in a library of libraries. It will also make all of the resources, equipment and expertise necessary to produce printed matter available to the public, enabling visitors to self-publish and add to the project’s growing archive. The visual direction of the publishing studio will be led by two Designers in Residence, Jamie Hudson and Orlando Lloyd, and be developed on-site during the exhibition.
Public libraries, like public art galleries, have become some of the last remaining spaces where people can gather without expectation or requirement. As the future of libraries and their buildings becomes increasingly precarious, The House That Heals the Soul proposes the library as a site of resistance, shelter, preservation, creation and restitution. The Tetley presentation will serve as an active resource for visitors to explore the relationship between contemporary art and libraries in dynamically public ways.
Shy Bairns was asked to run a couple of artist-led workshops around the theme of libraries and self-publishing. We arranged to lead two workshops, one in February and one in March, and both were to be based around the idea of library collections and personal collections.
Graphic used across social media to advertise the workshops
The House That Heals The Soul: Physical Collections
24 FEB 2018
The first workshop was based around the concept of physical collections. In advance of the workshop, attendees were asked to gather materials from their own personal collections, whatever that might be. During the workshop, participants presented their collections, which ranged from postcards and film slides, to keyrings, football magazines and badges. Participants were then asked to respond to their own objects, either through written or drawn pieces, with materials supplied by the in-exhibition 'print studio'. This material was gathered periodically throughout the two hour session. Content was curated by the Shy Bairns group and paired to create a series of spreads. The original material was photocopied onto A3 spreads, and then bound using a French fold binding technique to create a large publication. A risograph was also present in the space, and although it was not possible to print the full book using this technique, the covers for the books were printed in two colours.
The House That Heals The Soul: Digital Collections
17 FEB 2018
The second workshop took a similar form to first, but was instead based around the concept of digital collections. This could range from instagram collection and spotify playlists, to youtube browsing history, vine collections and old downloaded files. Participants were again asked to gather their collections prior to the workshop and then respond to the material. This workshop saw more active discussion concerning the material, with participants sharing files and collaborating on their responses. The content was again turned into spreads and bound in the same way to create the second publication.
Feedback from participants of both of these workshops was positive, and many said that it provided them with the opportunity to explore self-publishing in a new context. The Tetley gave us very positive feedback, and commented that our workshops were exactly the kind of artists activities that they were hoping to have in the space. Both of the workshops were booked to capacity and as they were so successful we were offered the opportunity to run more. Although it was not possible for the group to run more workshops we have maintained close links with The Tetley.
These workshops were a new experience for the both the Shy Bairns group and us as individuals, and allowed us to evolve and adapt our leadership skills to better suit a diverse audience group.
