museumaker 2011

During 2010 I will be working on a commission with Laura Potter. The project is part of museumaker, a national partnership between makers, museums and visitors involving 16 museums across the country.

Our project will utilise the collections and expertise available across 3 Middlesbrough museums: mima, The Dorman Museum and the Captain Cook Birthplace Museum. Together with local Middlesbrough residents, Laura and I will be using the museum collections as a means to explore issues around commissioning contemporary craft.

There are a number of stages to our project, which we have called Pas de deux. Initially, we will deliver a series of participatory workshops. These will be followed by a participant-driven collaboration, where selected local residents will commission a piece of jewellery for themselves. These commissioned objects will be made twice: one piece will be given to the commissioner and one will be housed within mima’s contemporary jewellery collection.

Workshop 1: 19/05/10

The first participatory workshop took place at mima during May. Laura and I had mapped out a fairly intensive three-hour session, which involved some talking, drawing and pewter casting using cuttlefish moulds. Our marquee-workspace was warm and sunny, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves thoroughly. More details of the outcomes, images of the session, and our plans for the next stage of the project will be made available after the second workshop has taken place.

Workshop 2: 2/6/10

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ENCHANTé - Getting to know Lucinda and Charlotte , 12 -13 July 2010 at the Dorman and Captain Cook Birthplace museums.

Photography Steven Brown

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Work in Progress

Photography Laura Potter Photography Lin Cheung

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Developing the commissions

Having selected our three commissioners, we are now in the process of developing ideas for each ‘pair’ of pieces.

Charlotte is our first commissioner. A soon-to-be 18 year old, she has enjoyed her 6th form year of English Language, Art and Textiles and is looking forward to starting her National Diploma in Fashion Design. Charlotte cites her grandmother (who was a seamstress), Damien Hirst, Cheryl Cole and Balmain as some of her inspirational figures.

Our interviews with Charlotte began in The Dorman Museum, where she identified objects such as Egyptian prints and mineral samples as some of her favourite artefacts, together with prints by artist Viva Talbot.

The second commission is for Lucinda: a solicitor and, more recently, a part-time lecturer in Law. An early interest in the law, social injustice and an independent life has seen Lucinda working as a successful lawyer in London and South East Asia. Her personal interests are many and varied and include Fencing and Viking re-enactments. She enjoys nothing more than, after a hard week’s work, relaxing with her husband in a Viking hut complete from head-to-toe in home-made Viking clothing and accoutrements.

We took Lucinda to the Captain Cook Birthplace Museum, and she was particularly interested in the ceremonial swords, scrimshaw and an ornately carved treasure box.

Our third commission has taken a slightly different route. During the initial cuttlefish casting workshops at mima, participants were so enthusiastic and positive about the ideas and techniques that we have decided to produce new pieces for everyone that took part: a kind of “Collective Commission” for local residents. This group-piece will involve us making a second casting from their cuttlefish moulds, and this process will also create a new ‘object’ for each person.

The “Collective Commission” will be shown at mima in November 2010. Work-in-progress for Charlotte will be installed at The Dorman Museum, and for and Lucinda at the Captain Cook Birthplace Museum, also in November.