I always feel an affinity with words and publishing, despite seeing visual art as the world I live and work in. So when the opportunity for House of Prints to facilitate a symposium alongside a project about writing and visual art, I was only too keen to say yes.
Synesthesia is a project that I started in my ‘day job’ with colleagues at the University of Plymouth during one of the lockdowns in 2020. It investigates the transcending power of words in helping people experience art – something that seems plain and old, in the world of Virtual Reality and online exhibitions. The interest in communicating and interpreting art, its messages and its physicality, without sharing physical space is not new to me, it’s a challenge I always had as an art producer committed to non-urban settings and as the director of an online platform that tries to interest people with a very physical process that is printmaking. As Synesthesia II comes back with exciting new writers and new artists – presenting and talking about art in new ways, I’m more than pleased to instigate this symposium.
Parallels / Encounters, although responds to and forms part of Synesthesia II, is run relatively independently by myself as House of Prints, and Gary Marshall-Stevens of Unit 3 – a brilliant artist programme in Cornwall. It spreads over two long mornings (10am – 2pm) on the 30th of June and 7th of July 2022, and will be online for anyone who’s interested to attend.
In this two-part symposium, we will look at the parallel of art and words in contemporary visual art practices and how they come together in forms of publication. We have two wonderful chairs for each of the panels: Mark Leahy for the writing panel in Part 1 and Hugh Frost for the publishing panel in Part 2. They have put together some of the most interesting practitioners in those subject areas. DATEAGLE ART, the curator of Synesthesia II is hosting the lunchtime speed show – a fast-paced showcase for people to share their experiences, work and work in progress. A practical workshop will conclude each part of the symposium – with Ella Frears getting us to write with exciting short-form poetry, prose and text in Part 1, and Emily Juniper offering us the chance to make a small booklet in Part 2.
We invite you to join as an artist, writer, maker, curator, reader, gallerist, or anyone otherwise connected to this field.
You can find more information here: https://synesthesia.online/Parallels-Encounters and book to attend the event via this page too.
Looking forward to seeing you there.
Tonia