On Reflection

This week our Level 2 students were invited to join a number of other artists and students from Edinburgh and Sunderland for part of  a three day creative residency at The Haining  , Selkirk to work on ideas surrounding 'Reflections' and glass as a medium.

The idea seemed to me to be very much about responding to the location and creating very experimental almost ethereal 'art' works.The artists taking part ranged from sound artists, to sculptors, glass artists and everything in between. The university students came from courses in architecture and glass.

It was a very enjoyable day and we were  fortunate that the weather was so sunny. 
Our students form Borders College are just starting out on their creative lives and this opportunity  certainly placed them outside of what they usually associate with creativity and making art...an important and useful learning curve!

What is so very good about events like this one, apart form meeting new people and discussing ideas is the provision of time and the 'permission' to explore, experiment and respond in the knowledge that what is important is, that  it will be alright...out of small kernels of ideas come more resolved things that will grow and travel hopefully or not? 

Experimentation is key, and the idea of impermanence is central to this way of working......most of the work made during the artists time at The Haining will exist through documentation and memory. I only managed to see part of what everyone else was doing but no problem there as a selection of work made on the residency will form part of Reflections an exhibition of contemporary glass, at The Haining, Selkirk from 20th of April -8th of May.

 I took a series of photographs on the day ....my idea was a simple one and centered around the notion of how to disrupt or intervene with the environment around me through using some reflective materials in the process.

 A simple but  interesting thing to do!

I have been thinking about what I could do with these images and one idea would be to have them printed onto( Japanese) tissue paper, set them on the water surface and watch them dissolve...maybe I will.

Thanks to Niall Campbell and Inge Paneels for arranging our visit.