Clare Thornton

A heightened sense of making

2011-11-07T14:59:00.000-08:00

photo: Russell Basford click on image to view video on Vimeo

Studio works : Aberystywth Creative Units, Summer 2011
Using In All Languages movement vocabulary as a stimulus.
Sculpture, writing, performance

touch - movement - making

Unfurl Programme of Events

2011-09-11T15:06:00.001-07:00

"Extremely compelling piece - beautifully choreographed!"

Unfurl by Clare Thornton
Sat 3 Sept 2011 - Red Lodge Museum, Bristol
Rogelio Vallejo (performer) & Zoe Childerley (photography)

Unfurl extends beyond this Performance Installation to include a variety of free Public Events.

These activities are framed by the Artist's research into depictions of the Fold in paintings, historical interiors and in critical texts. This research was furthered during her inaugural Artist in Residence with the University of Bristol Theatre Collection. Through the production of objects, garments and writing the Artist explores site specificity, processes of display, concealment and transformation.

Mon 26 Sept - Fri 11 Nov - Unfurl Exhibition, University of Bristol Theatre Collection, 21 Park Row. Focusing on the recently acquired Mander & Mitchenson Collection, revealing some unexpected treasures and making new work inspired by its holdings.

Tues 18 Oct, 2 & 3pm – Unfurl Exhibition tours with the Artist & Jo Elsworth, Director, Theatre Collection as part of InsideArts, the University of Bristol Festival of the Arts and Humanities, (free, booking via this link - Eventbrite)

Thurs 3 Nov, 5.30pm for 6pm start – an In Conversation informal discussion about this Residency Project and a wider discussion around artists responding to museums, archive and historical buildings. This will include input from project collaborators and practitioners interested in these fields. (Details to follow). Drinks will be available but admittance free.

Unfurl, performance installation

2011-08-22T04:09:00.000-07:00

UNFURL
Performance Installation

Saturday 3 September 2011, between 1-4pm

Red Lodge Museum, Park Row, Bristol

A Tudor Lodge, the opulent setting for a tableau poised to unfurl. Pleats of delicate cloth, lengths of red ribbon, a model sits waiting for his painter. As the piece unfolds, the artist’s material transforms the scene in our midst.

Inaugural Artist in Residence, University of Bristol Theatre Collection

2011-08-04T08:04:00.000-07:00

photo credit: Nick Smith

I've just started my residency project Unfurl at the Theatre Collection
in partnership with the Tudor Red Lodge Museum

more info

Artist in Residence - Aberystwyth Arts Centre

2011-04-28T11:41:00.000-07:00

I will be in residence in one of these wonderful art units this summer.
Developing my gallery project 'Material Matters'

& studio works around fragile materials & The Fold
more info here

'Salad Dressing - A Cover of Crackers' Performance Re-enactment Society

2011-02-28T05:28:00.000-08:00

Bookwork - Costume - Live Event

A remake of Ed Ruscha's Crackers
by my group PRS in collaboration with:
Tom Sowden,
Samantha Sweeting
David Curtis-Ring
Part of 'Cover-ed', Arnolfini, Bristol
March 5 -April 30 2011

Urban Retreat - Survival Jacket Commission & Survival Kit Bag Workshop, Art Gene, Barrow

2010-09-15T03:28:00.001-07:00

Urban Retreat - A series of artist commissions, activities and events
exploring the edges of urbanism

"Artist Sophie Mellor spent two weeks as an urban wanderer relying on the kindness of strangers and the bounty of the land to house and feed her. Clothed in an especially designed survival jacket by Clare Thornton, she placed herself directly in Barrow's marginalised landscapes, investing in its use and beauty through her interactions with people and place."

As well as making the survival jacket for Sophie Mellor's urban wander, I ran a 'Survival Kit Bag' workshop. Participants brought along three essential items they needed to negotiate their environment. Items included mobiles, oatcakes, knife, spare socks, water bottle, lighter, chocolate, lipstick, guitar, inhaler. We each then made and customized a survival bag to hold our essential items.

Performance Re-enactment Society/AFTERLIVE Exhibition

2010-08-20T05:39:00.000-07:00

---

UNTITLED PERFORMANCE STILLS

A collection of photographic images
capturing participants memories of performance art.
Created with Hugo Glendinning during
'The Pigs of Today are the Hams of Tomorrow' Plymouth Art Centre
a curatorial collaboration with the
Marina Abramović Institute for Preservation of Performance Art.

Nine Trades of Dundee - Artist Commission

2010-07-06T08:50:00.000-07:00

Artist No. 5
Clare Thornton
Textile, Tailoring & Costume

In the Nine Trades of Dundee public art project, nine UK/Eire based artists/makers were commissioned by Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design to develop a project in their second ‘non-art’ trade.

I combined my skills as an artist and seamstress and took on the role of a traveling Tailor and Trimmer, gathering work stories and tools of the trade as I roved the city. A unique Trench Coat and Samples Book were the physical outcome of this process.

The bespoke garment, which I exhibited at Dundee Contemporary Arts/VRC and wore at the celebratory Final Gathering event embodied my encounters with the workers/work places in Dundee’s contemporary textile trade. The coat is now being accessioned into the city’s Mcmanus Museum permanent collection.

To research and develop the project I met with diverse textile workers and asked about the tools of their trade. This process involved a great deal of conversation and social history research. I was later able to draw on a wealth of local textile trade expertise to co-produce the garment. I established links with with three Dundee based textile related businesses Halley Stevensons (Waxed Cotton), Utopia Costumes and Cooper & McKenzie gents’ outfitters.

Girl Racer Rides Again!

2010-04-27T11:26:00.000-07:00

Hosted by Tea & Make
Stitched Up - Victoria & Albert Museum
Friday 30th April 6:30pm - 10pm Free

Girl Racer The 1970's Atari style racing game just got crafty!

Clare Thornton’s fun interactive sewing contest presented during IgFest 2008
Winner Festival Award for Best Use of Technology
Race against the clock in a battle of skill and speed
The ultimate stitch off!

Economy of the Artist - New publication by Braço de Ferro

2010-03-02T12:33:00.000-08:00

The Economy of the Artist
Featuring an interview with me
undertaken by Porto based artist/producer Isabel Carvalho
with whom I collaborated on a bookwork project Minor Breast

The Pigs of Today are the Hams of Tomorrow

2010-01-04T09:26:00.000-08:00

Performance Re-enactment Society (with Hugo Glendinning) present
UNTITLED PERFORMANCE STILLS
21st - 24th January 2010, Live Laboratory Symposium, Royal Williams Yard
Associate Curator Marina Abramovic & Curator Paula Orrell
Plymouth Arts Centre

http://www.plymouthartscentre.org/eshot/eshot12_11_09/PRS.htm

DIY Shades of Bristol @ Craftivism, Arnolfini Dec '09 - Feb '10

2009-12-06T18:22:00.000-08:00

Pleats & Folds - Charmed I'm Sure

2009-09-14T12:52:00.000-07:00

Click on Text to Enlarge

Two is one, One is none

2009-08-25T08:02:00.000-07:00

A little description can be found at:
http://www.creativeskills.org.uk/VisualArtsMovImagePubArt

DIY Shades of Bristol

2009-08-17T09:20:00.001-07:00

DIY Shades of Bristol A city-wide colour mapping project investigating everyday notions of Do-It-Yourself culture and colour associations relating to home and neighbourhood. The ‘map’ produced will be a limited edition swatch book recording the personal shades and DIY top-tips shared with the artist through over 60 conversations and encounters across Bristol. The swatch book and a selection of self-mixed eco-paints will be presented at Arnolfini and then (re)distributed through participants and their networks. The eco-paint mixing day is a free open studio activity (supported by Naturepaint) and the artist is also creating a special Family Event Mash Up.

DIY Shades of Bristol will be presented as part of Craftivism, Arnolfini
Bristol Dec '09 - Feb '10
Curated by Zoe Sherman/Relational

"Do it yourself, often referred to by the acronym DIY, is a term used by various communities that focus on people (called do-it-yourselfers or DIYers) creating or repairing things for themselves without the aid of professionals.

The notion is related in philosophy to the Arts and Crafts movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Many modern DIY subcultures take the traditional Arts and Crafts movement's rebellion against the perceived lack of soul of industrial aesthetics a step further. DIY subculture explicitly critiques modern consumer culture, which emphasizes that the solution to our needs is to purchase things, and instead encourages people to take technologies into their own hands to solve needs.

The phrase "do it yourself" came into common usage in the 1950s in reference to various jobs that people could do in and around their own houses without the help of professionals. A very active community of people continues to use the term DIY to refer to fabricating or repairing things for home needs, on one's own rather than purchasing them or paying for professional repair. In other words, home improvement done by the householder without the aid of paid professionals.

In recent years, the term DIY has taken on a broader meaning that covers a wide range of skill sets. Today, for example, DIY is associated with the international alternative and hardcore music scenes. Members of these subcultures strive to blur the lines between creator and consumer by constructing a social network that ties users and makers close together. There are various communities of media-makers that consider themselves DIY, for example the indymedia network, pirate radio stations, and the zine community."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Do_it_yourself

Girl Gang

2009-07-27T10:25:00.001-07:00

Saturday 1st August at 14:00
Meet at Clifton Suspension Bridge Museum
Limited to 8 places - booking essential - women Only

You are dangerous but are you armed? Girl Gang challenge you to come down to the woods and get tooled up. Each participant will make and take away a bow & arrow.

Book your place: daringgirlgang@gmail.com
part of Plan 9 Presents: The Summer of Dissent

Pleats & Folds - Exhibition Opening 16th April 2009

2009-04-02T11:29:00.000-07:00

PRESS RELEASE
A collector of private stories and curious about the memories we tenderly fold into personal objects, British artist Clare Thornton has created a series of new works for her solo exhibition ‘Pleats & Folds’ premiering at Galleri Soft.

The works in this mixed media exhibition are a distillation of personal stories gathered during a UK residency at Arnolfini Art Centre, Bristol. Comprising textile, sculpture and video works, the installation hints at the memories people shared with her - stories carried deep within and upon the body.

The pieces in this installation suggest an eclectic range of influences and inspirations. In a decorated, Baroque inspired, Ruff collar piece - which forms the centrepiece to the exhibition - one can see an interest in theatrical costume, body adornment and craft processes. The miniature silver charms adorning the collar represent the ’soft’ objects that people brought to the artist. Through interview and audio-visual documentation the artist unwrapped the stories associated with each item. To go full circle those participants will be given the corresponding silver charm at the end of this project – a gift for a gift.

The abundance of curves and folds moving throughout the installation create an impression of tracing, hinting at overlapping story lines (and lines of enquiry); at one moment open and fully on view, and at the next moment hidden and curved back in on themselves. There is a desire to both share yet protect the precious and private tales gifted to the artist.

These new works form part of an ongoing series of experimental pieces. ‘Pleats & Folds’ is a collection of works investigating story/time lines, body memory and the processes of working with personal objects laden with meaning. The artist intends to next create a bookwork drawing together this body of research materials, as well as to produce a new video installation for the British Live Art Festival – Inbetween Time/ What Next The Body? in Winter 2009.

Pleats & Folds

2009-01-05T03:18:00.000-08:00

www.tekstilkunst.org/soft/exh-thornton-en.php

Performance Re-enactment Society II

2008-11-30T10:05:00.000-08:00

Done any good books lately? As part of the show The Cover of a Book is the Beginning of a Journey, the Performance Re-enactment Society (PRS) invited visitors to take part in a series of enactments in response to the book works in the exhibition. Over five occasions they carried out a selection of instruction-based works, realising other people’s art and creating original versions.

The Performance Re-enactment Society is an occasional collective of artists, archivists and researchers, who use documents and memories to revive past art experiences and create them anew. Their collaborative performance re-enactments are acts of conservation and transform past works into new events.

In its current constellation the PRS are Paul Clarke, Clare Thornton, Tom Marshman (all Arnolfini We Live Here Associate Artists), with participants and guests.

ACTS INCLUDED:
Douglas Gordon’s Three Steps to Heaven (1996)

Unfurl (Alison Knowles, 1979)

Question Marks (Julius Koller, 1996).

do it! (Hans Ulrich Obrist, 1993 - 2005).

Minor Breast

2008-11-06T09:19:00.000-08:00

Isabel Carvalho and Clare Thornton (ed.)
Various authors

Minor Breast is a collaboration between artists Isabel Carvalho and Clare Thornton. The project developed through their shared interests in community, collective production and a desire to get to the very heart of the matter. Minor Breast is a collection of contemporary reflections and strategies for surviving lost love, heartbreak and getting through moments of crisis. Gathered through an international female network of friends, family and contacts, Minor Breast focuses on asymmetries, relationships, sharing of intimacy and feminism. It seeks to be a creative and honest public platform. Participants were invited to share with us the advice that got them through. Whether passed on by another or learned through direct experience we sought creative and poetic contributions to surviving the hardest of times and navigating the interwoven highs and lows of life/love/work.

2008 / 11.5 x 16.5 cm / 48 p. / b/w

Pleats & Folds - Residency at Arnolfini, Bristol

2008-09-06T09:48:00.000-07:00

In September 2008 I undertook a residency at the Arnolfini through their 'We Live Here' Live Art programme.

During the residency I held a series of public Open Studio and workshop sessions that fed into the R&D for my project 'Pleats & Folds'. I was joined by Norwegian artist (and regular collaborator) Jan Steinum and a small local group of participants who I met and worked with on Tom Marshman's The Invitation project.

Introduction:
In Pleats & Folds I explore hidden narratives and layers of memory through a process of unwrapping stories associated with 'soft objects', working towards a new mixed media installation piece inspired by the personal stories gathered during this research period.

My practice revolves around narrative, site, history and the making of meaning and I+ use the costumed/adorned body as a possible site/tool for exploring these concerns. I experiment with objects, photography, text, textile & performance for video.

Using the Ruff/Collar in Baroque Northern European portraiture as a starting point to my investigations into status, symbolism, control and the individual in society I was curious to construct a Ruff piece that might carry markings/motifs within it reflecting the contemporary personal narratives I captured during the residency.

Wilderness Ranch

2008-07-21T10:58:00.000-07:00

Developed in collaboration with Jan Steinum during a TOAH Residency at TOU Scene Stavanger, Norway.

Wilderness Ranch explored landscapes of the body and environment.
The conceptual spine of the work concerns border crossings and the territories of culture, gender, geography and space.

Performance, video and sculptural works explored moments of tension, resistance, and release, investigating site, emotional landscapes and the thrill of ‘in-between’ positions.

TOU Scene invited us to present the outcomes of our residency process in August 2007 & we used the venue’s 1000sqm beer halls space to show the new works.

Steinum and I have collaborated together since 2003, supporting each other to produce solo yet complimentary installation pieces.

Looking for the Black Redstart

2008-07-21T10:45:00.001-07:00

Platforms Commission, The Public, West Midlands (2005)

The Story of the Artist…Looking for the Black Redstart

In Spring 2005 I was invited by curator Trevor Pitt at community arts agency The Public, to consider the Birmingham to Wolverhampton Metro tramline for the “Platforms” public art programme. The question: “What did this public transport route mean to me and how would I creatively respond to it?”

One morning as I travelled on the Metro from Birmingham to The Public’s office – going against the main flow of passengers/commuters at that time of day, I began to consider the land either side of the tracks. This was a nature ‘corridor’ cutting through the industrial conurbation of North Birmingham and the Black Country. The tram was quiet and I was the only person to get off at Trinity Way station. I stepped onto the platform and was struck by the sound of birdsong. Here was thriving nature in the midst of an urban & industrial area.

Given that birds/wildlife was to be a thread running through this project located in the Black Country area of the West Midlands, a trip to the local Nature Reserve (run by RSPB -Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) seemed the logical next step. This is when things gained focus and momentum. I learned about one of Britain’s rarest birds - the Black Redstart. I liked the name immediately. I was attracted to it’s nicknames: the “bombsite bird” and “power station” bird. This was a bird that thrived in urban industrial landscapes nesting in disused factories, building sites, areas under regeneration and change. The Black Redstart was a curiously appropriate mascot for the Black Country - a post-industrial area undergoing considerable change economically and in terms of urban regeneration.

A sighting of this rare bird is highly prized. The quest to find the Black Redstart had begun – a conceptual journey as much as a physical one. This project was to become an urban adventure. I began to go out along the metro line with binoculars, maps and recording equipment and began to document this performance/ research with photographer Cath Tarbuck.

The idea then grew that as sightings of the Black Redstart had been recorded along the metro line (aswell as the local canal network) a visual record of my search for this bird could also be publicly presented along the route. We approached Viacom who supported our proposal to use a number of the poster/advertising boards at Metro stations. These large photographs were a kind of visual ‘hook’ to the transitory, passing audience/metro tram passengers.

I was also keen to make public performance actions during the project, and for two days during Birmingham’s Fierce! Festival 2005 (www.fiercetv.co.uk) I ‘performed’ my adventure along the Metro route - hopping on and off the trams at peak commuter times, chatting with fellow passengers and metro staff who asked me what I was doing and sharing with me what they had seen on their own journey’s…

Through my discussions with curator/producer Trevor Pitt we arranged free picnics and ‘rambles’/nature walks. To create social events and engage with more people, drawing in local bird/wildlife experts to share their knowledge and enthusiasm. These activities complimented the performance interventions and were intended to offer a relaxed social space in which people could meet and take an active part in the project.

Thus I was joined by local ‘adventurers’ who also armed with binoculars, accompanied myself, Morgan (Wildlife Trust) and Peter (RSPB) along the path running alongside the metro tracks.

A ‘Looking for the Black Redstart’ photo album creatively documenting these performances, nature walks and picnics has been produced, capturing the participation by local people and documenting the surprising wildlife secrets to be discovered amidst this urban sprawl.

An invitation to exhibit the outcomes of the project was made by Bilston Craft Gallery – situated near the Metro route. For this small-scale exhibition in January 2006 I created new textile and print works to compliment the billboard posters, photo album and a contextualizing video interview produced by Fierce!. I was interested in trying to translate into the ‘soft’ medium of fabric and stitch my journey and my passion/curiosity for research (for example cartography, wildlife books, geological data – hardcopy and digital archives). I am particularly interested in how artists and scientists communicate their ideas and findings about the world they live in.

The Bilston exhibition pulled together the project elements. In ‘Looking for the Black Redstart’ I wanted to investigate ideas about journeys, physical/geographic, mental and urban landscapes and sparking a curiosity for the everyday. I wanted to look at local public transport networks in a different way and invite local people to join me on this journey.

Following the Bilston Craft Gallery exhibition, in April 2006 I was invited to present the project in an entirely new context at the Dorchester Festival (south west England). The theme for that year’s festival was art and ecology. The Dorset region is rural rather than urban/industrial. Whilst the exhibition in the Dorchester Town Hall presented the works as they were shown at Bilston, naturally the rambling/nature walks element was re-designed to respond to this new location. Having made contact with the local Wildlife Trust Roadside Verges project worker and the local RSPB representative we researched several possible walking routes leading us out of the town centre. Rambling is usually associated with rural environments (that’s why the first Black Country urban rambles had been so surprising and novel intervention in that industrial locality). In order to surprise and creatively disrupt the rambles in the Dorchester area we stuck to roads rather than paths cutting through fields and woods and our surprise destination was infact the local sewerage works – not a conventional area of local natural beauty or obvious wildlife hot spot.

These gentle disruptions were all part of the process of inviting participants to look differently at their local environment and neighbourhood. Key to ‘Looking for the Black Redstart’ participatory public art project is the desire to inspire curiosity in the everyday and an active engagement in local issues and concerns by the artist and participants.

Performance Re-enactment Society

2008-07-21T10:01:00.001-07:00

A Darkside Live Art event, Arnolfini, Bristol December 2007

Developed with Tom Marshman, in collaboration with live art archivists Bex Carrington and Julian Warren, costume designer Pam Tait and director/research fellow Paul Clarke.

"Tom Marshman and Clare Thornton have a mission - to breathe new life into performance archives through an evening of re-enactment and ‘tableau vivant’. Marshman and Thornton want to hear from ticket rippers, ushers, back-stage crew, box office staff - all those who help to create the magic on stage (and that includes the audience)! We salute the unsung heroes. We ask you to step out from the darkness and join in the fun of recreating a memorable performance moment - a moment that you have witnessed on stage, at Arnolfini or any other performance and music venue. We invite participants to remember or invent a favourite moment and to recreate it for a photograph. These images will be collated at the end of the event and added to the Arnolfini Archive.

We are dedicated to rendering your performance memories live once more. All welcome, come with your memories and we will provide the rest.

Clare Thornton is an artist and curator currently living in Bristol. She works with personal and collective narratives and exploring ways in which these can be distilled into public art works. Clare is working with the NRLA Video Archive (Live Art Archives) at the University of Bristol.
Tom Marshman works in Bristol & London and creates solo experimental theatre works."

www.tommarshman.blogspot.com
www.performancereenactmentsociety.blogspot.com

Hardcore Soft

2008-07-21T08:15:00.000-07:00

Curator: Clare Thornton
Norwegian National Museum for Art, Architecture & Design

An interdisciplinary exhibition presenting works by artists who employ their “soft” craft as a sharp edged tool with which to make public their investigations into cultural politics and social consciousness – addressing attitudes towards community, conflict, class and the political body.

The exhibition opened in Union Scene, Drammen in 2006 and toured throughout Norway to art and culture spaces.

Artists: Brett Alexander (AU), Rachel Dagnell (N/UK), Bjorn Kjelltoft (S), Anita Hillestad (N), Trevor Pitt (UK), Meave Willey (UK), Fine Cell Work (UK), War Rugs Inc. (US)

Home & Away

2008-07-21T08:05:00.000-07:00

In Spring 2006 artists Thornton, Storm & Dagnell started open/free creative workshops at the International Kultursenter & Museum, Oslo (also a satellite group at Masala Textilverksted, Drammen). These creative meetings continued over a six month period and resulted in a group exhibition - opening at IKM Gallery in September 2006. The exhibition platformed the work of all participants: a mixed media installation of personal and collective creative responses to the project theme 'home' - incorporating video, photography, sculpture, textile and text.

The exhibition toured to Union Scene, Drammen in November 2006

Hjemme og Borte Project Participants:

IKM, Oslo
Lena Sinika Aas, Rachel Dagnall, Aida Dukic, Hilde Erdal, Elisabeth FahlstrØm, Zahra Sayyad Far, Hansine Finvik, Tone Gronneberg, Linda Sofie Harnes, Jorunn Huser, Tanja Karlsen, Camilla Storm, Siri Eriksen Sveen

Masala Tekstilverksted, Drammen
Fatemeh, Masroora Iqbali, Haiyan Liu Jonsrud, Aishei Salih Khorshid, Monica Koroma, Haifa Al Kuzai, Maassoumeh, Meryem, Hilde Vistnæs

Further participants joined us for the ‘Cook-in-Zine/Cook-in-Tunes' workshop. This open drop-in meeting was held at IKM Kulturverksted in June 2006.

Corset Cut

2008-07-21T07:43:00.000-07:00

“Corset Cut” 2003 (UK/Norway)
4mins/silent/single play or loop/4:3

Corset Cut is a performance for video, shot in one take.
This short film features the artist being cut out of a corset by her mother.
The corset is an exact copy of a British Edwardian design worn around 1915, a period of heightened activity for the Suffrage Movement. Thornton was at this time also engaged in a series of works exploring women’s history and pioneering women figures in the later 19th early 20th centuries from fields of science/technology, espionage and aviation.

The film was originally shown in a gallery environment as part of a solo mixed media installation entitled 'Somewear in Particular', Galleri G.U.N. Oslo June 2003.
In this context the film was projected as a loop onto the inside of the corset piece which was suspended at chest height from the gallery ceiling.

Other screenings of this work:
Anagram of Ideas, Atelier Nord, Oslo, Norway
'tv-tv', Chamber of Public Secrets, Copenhagen, Denmark
Filmmor Womens International Festival, Instanbul
PSi # 12 ‘Performing Rights’ Queen Mary, University of London.