The Plymouth Platform scheme returns for its 3rd year in 2020. Between January and October 2020, the 3 selected artists will be working with mentors to develop their skills and knowledge, to deliver ambitious new projects for Plymouth Art Weekender (25-27 September 2020). Below are the artists and mentors for this year's Plymouth Platform.
Adam Coley + Ben Borthwick
Adam Coley is a performance artist working with public spaces. He orchestrates occurrences of a whimsical nature, drawing attention to the entities within the city by inserting an image of relative absurdity into the everyday spectacle, to indulge in a moment of incongruity amongst the crowd. Most recently, Adam devised ‘Dressing like a Seagull and Pinching People’s Pasties’ drawing inspiration from the heartbreaking urban myth of having one’s dinner stolen by fiendish city dwellers. This year, Adam seeks to give something back to the city; to commemorate all that it has done for him, by honouring one of its most notorious inhabitants.
Ben Borthwick: I am excited about working with Adam because of how his projects occupy and move through the most public parts of the city like the Hoe and in front of the Civic Centre. His performances invite passers by to join with him in absurd activities that draw attention to how we, and other species, use these spaces, opening up ways of thinking about the environment in terms of ecology, architecture, the social and humour. Adam's recent projects use the most public parts of the city like the Hoe and in front of the Civic Centre as key elements so his ideas can only really be tested in situ rather than in the privacy of a studio. I look forward to our 'studio' visits which will surely take place out in the city, and feeling awkward as we test his ideas for the Plymouth Art Weekender commission.
Jodie Saunders + Bram Thomas Arnold
Jodie Saunders likes experimenting with sound. She enjoys the comic potential of re-contextualising familiar sound in unexpected spaces. Her work is often concerned with democratising sound – and the act of making and attending to it – so that the division between artist, musician, participant and audience is blurred and brought into question. She recently created Noise Laboratory, a fortnightly DIY space in Plymouth for sound artists to play, explore and skill-share.
Bram Thomas Arnold: "Jodie's proposal for the Art Weekender has a fascinating potential to bring the often distant subject of extinction into close proximity with the personal stories and spaces of Plymouth. I am looking forward to listening closely to what the future holds for Plymouth through her work with Noise Lab and other experiments."
Sophie Ingram + Sophie Mellor
Sophie Ingram is a creative practitioner and teacher. She studied Fine Art at Falmouth University, graduating in 2012, and achieved a Masters in Publishing at Oxford Brooks in 2015. She has worked across a variety of media over the last decade with a particular focus in mark making, line drawing, collage and printing processes. Her recent work has developed from a growing interest in the aesthetics of the city of Plymouth and the emotional experience of living here.
Sophie Mellor: I am looking forward to supporting Sophie to realise a new body of work exploring future Plymouth landscapes, as well as working with her on her five year plan. Mentoring is a two way relationship and I'm already blown away by the wide range of Sophie's skills, so I may well pick up some new thinking myself, along the way.
Plymouth Platform CAMP Supper Club
29 Jan 2020 | 6-9pm | The Clipper, Union Street, PL1 3LU
Join Contemporary Art Membership Plymouth and Visual Arts Plymouth for the first Plymouth Platform 2020 Supper Club.
The artists and their mentors will all share their recent and current projects.
Bring a dish to share and something to drink.