Cell Project Space

Initiated by Milika Muritu

 

"An art school can be thought of as an art project. An art project can be thought of as a thinking site, functioning as a springboard from which ideas and concepts can be brought back to the notion of an art school, and give it new form and direction” (Haris Pellapaisiotis, Speaking Thoughts: On an Art School).

 

In 2009, John Reardon founded ARTSCHOOL/UK  and in collaboration with Sabine Hagmann and Johannes Maier, has developed a project which begins from a place of not knowing what artists need to know to make what artists make as art. In this spirit of not knowing, ARTSCHOOL/UK attempts to create an environment in which a range of interests and influences can be brought together.

 

In November 2009 curator Milika Muritu invited Céline Condorelli to consider the framework of an art school in direct relation to Condorelli's ongoing work Support Structures to present Revision, Part II, which will function as the spatial setting for ARTSCHOOL/UK to take place in, as both an art project and a thinking site. The becoming of ARTSCHOOL/UK is an ongoing and dynamic process, which Revision, Part II within the context of Cell Project Space creates the physical framework for. Designed as a 7 unit modular based system, the work is intended to be used in a number of different ways. The mobility of the units will enable physical flexibility, creating opportunity for participants and contributors to invent scenarios and possibilities for how to speak and learn together. A revision of elevation furniture, originally made to be stepped on to reach elevated knowledge, i.e. books in libraries, Revision, Part II will transform the gallery into a learning space, hosting more collective forms of spectatorship, discussion and exchange, and allowing a range of encounters to take place. Each unit can be utilised as a communal desk and bench, or joined up to others to create an auditorium or performance space, with multiple transitional states between the formal and the ad-hoc, between set-ups reminiscent of Greek tragedies to just sitting on the library steps. Condorelli plays with historical contexts of learning but reverses established conventions by presenting an open-ended approach, and with it an invitation for reinvention in which the setting itself is part of a learning process. The work can be flat-packed for easy transportation to the future incarnations of ARTSCHOOL/UK. 

 

 

Background:

 

29th January 2010 Céline Condorelli, ARTSCHOOL/UK  and Cell Project Space discuss and plan proposal ideas for the project 

 

Condorelli initially submitted proposal sketches and a concept for the project. Revision Part II presents a self contained Unit or Module which can be combined, interlinked and discreetly operated in a number of ways to develop a context for chairs, desks, communal workstations, an amphitheatre, lecture podium or screening station. This preliminary part of the project has been developed and evolved by Cell Project Space and their technical team, Stewart Gough, Milika Muritu, Andrew Mason. The work has been adapted with function, comfort and fexibility as part of its key aims. Discussions took place about how contributor (the tutor) and the participator (the student) should be encouraged to take control of their learning space. Support Structure will encourage movement and evolution of the physical space to enable collaborators to develop and change their work space on a daily basis.

 

15th February 2010 

 

Stewart Gough, Cell's Technician and Studios Manager presented a prototype from the original plans and drawings. Céline Condorelli met with Cell's directors Richard Priestley and Milika Muritu, together with intern Jon Hewitt to discuss and develop the work.

 

28th February 2010 

 

Production took place at Cell Project Space's Arcola St Studios, lead by Cell's technician Stewart Gough, and Andrew Mason with the support and help of Cell's internship scheme. Thanks to Grace Wills, Shula Subramaniam, Ana Balesteros, Jon Hewitt, Erifily Missiou, and Verena Schwarz.