Landscape : Islands is a unique collaborative project exploring the connections between craft and digital practices focusing on ceramics and sound in relation to landscape and islands. Taking place over 14 months, during 2015-2016, the project started when ceramist Kay Aplin and sound artist Joseph Young undertook a residency at Scalloway Booth in Shetland in August 2015 to research their collaborative work In A Shetland Landscape, an installation at Shetland Museum and Archives April-June 2016. They took this as the starting point for a series of exhibitions, events and an international residency programme they jointly curated. Together they have been exploring the many different ways of combining ceramic and sound art practice to produce outstanding contributions to this new area of artistic research.
Contemporary Ceramics about Landscape
In May 2016, 11 artists who live on or come from islands, and whose work responds to the landscape around them, exhibited in a group show at The Ceramic House and the brand new In Camera Gallery, a white cube space in the garden, accompanied by a curated programme of improvised sound performances. See Landscape : Islands – Contemporary Ceramics about Landscape exhibition photographs here.
Sound art events
Accompanying the exhibition, Joseph Young, in partnership with Aural Detritus, curated a programme of sound art performances during the exhibition, including collaborative performances by Paul Khimasia Morgan and Dan Powell and Steve Beresford and Blanca Regina.
Residency programme for sound and ceramic art collaborations
This was followed over the summer by an international artist residency programme for two pairs of artists working in sound and ceramics who have not previously worked together to collaborate in making new work for an exhibition curated by Aplin and Young at Phoenix Brighton during Brighton Digital Festival in September 2016. This was accompanied by a series of performances and artist talks at The Ceramic House and Phoenix Brighton. See Landscape : Islands residency description and photographs here.
Landscape : Islands on tour
A touring version of In A Shetland Landscape transferred to In Camera, also as part of Brighton Digital Festival, and then a combined exhibition toured to Guildhall Museum, Rochester and Dover Arts Development project space in September-October 2016, in collaboration with 51 Zero. See Landscape : Islands on tour description and photographs here.
A catalogue/artists book documenting the project and featuring critical essays by Paul Scott and Conall Gleeson is available for sale, accompanied by a CD of ‘In A Shetland Landscape’, produced in collaboration with Portuguese netlabel Green Field Recordings.
PDF of catalogue/catalogue for sale here
Film here