Aled Simons and Mark Leahy, ‘Scavenged Home’, (2021), digital animation with audio, 2’ 30”
Sticking bits of things together for now: we began with a conversation, talked about collecting, stickers, taxonomy, and about making work, and the things that get in the way of making work – we also talked about Artex covered ceilings and finding a “studio” or somewhere to make stuff; subsequent exchanges included some mail-art collages sent from Dublin to Swansea, and discussion of grottoes, skins, Stonehenge, Welshness (sort of) and Irishness (a bit) and somewhere in there a sense of the legacy of colonialism … these things have fed into a short animation that curls together hermit crabs, National Trust properties, appropriation and occupation, language, accidental layering and a relationship of belonging and memory;
Over recent months I have been part of the Exchange project, which has involved 60 artists from 6 artist-led groups across England. 10 members of CAMP (Contemporary Art Membership Plymouth) were each paired with a partner from another organisation, and I have been working with Aled Simons of g39 in Cardiff. The project comes to a close on 30th July with The Summit – a sharing of some outcomes and a conversation about the sharing / collaboration / exchange process.
