Common Ground

In 2019 Gareth Proskourine-Barnett was selected for the Common Ground Residency at the New Art Gallery Walsall. The residency coincided with TNAGW’s year-long celebration of sculpture in all its forms, marking the 60th anniversary of Sir Jacob Epstein’s death. Gareth was in residence in the Artists’ Studio between 4 June – 14 July 2019 and this culminated in a post residency presentation of work in progress from 16 July–25 August 2019.

Gareth's approach to the residency focussed on an investigation into the possibilities of the .obj file and the potential of new technologies on sculpture. Working in collaboration with creative coder Ben Neal, Gareth developed a live feed where a rotating concrete fragment was subject to a stream of oil - the flow of liquid determined by the value of oil on the futures market in real time. The project also included CNC machined polythene blocks and a series of digitally manipulated and 3D printed fragments. The work continuing an ongoing investigation into ideas around the echo, the unseen, absence and an aesthetics of disappearance; informed by my research into automation, post capitalism and the politics of space.

Common Ground is an artist residency hosted by The New Art Gallery Walsall and supported by Eastside Projects in Birmingham and Primary in Nottingham. It aims to catalyse new relationships between artists and organisations in the East and West Midlands.

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