Participants from drawing workshops on trains and organisers, Robert McCormack and Council baby, show work in The Glasgow School of Art’s Reid building.
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| Image: taken on the subway during one of the the workshops Image copyright: Robert McCormack |
Conditions of Carriage, a documentation of two experimental drawing workshops attended mainly by participants with “non art” backgrounds, is being shown in the Reid Building at the GSA this month. The project which was led by Robert McCormack and Council Baby, was staged on the iconic Glasgow SPT subway in 2022 as part of the Close of Play: Climate Emergency and Creative Action series
During the workshops, at each subway station, participants were tasked with a variety of drawing exercises to carry out in transit. Experimental drawing developed the 24 participants’ speed and accuracy across the two sessions. The exhibition includes several sketchbooks and drawings resulting from the workshops, documentation of the sessions, and artworks that respond to the unusual space.
In addition to learning practical skills, Scottish sculptor, Council Baby, delivered a talk to participants about her train ticket sculpture The Best Thing to Come Out Of Edinburgh is the Train to Glasgow, which was exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy in 2021. The artist cites her daily commutes on this route as an inspiration. Not content with simply submitting to the necessity of this journey, Council Baby allowed these overly-familiar surroundings to motivate her, which resulted in her own drawings and poetry. The mundanity which fills every carriage and this ardent desire to create ended up having an immeasurably-positive impact on her mental health. Through the prospect of this form of self-sustainability, Council Baby poses the question: ‘can we sustain anything, if we can’t sustain ourselves?’ The non-verbal language of art can radically open up our own mental well-being and re-centre us in the present.
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| Image: workshop participant shows a drawing made on the subway Image copyright: Robert McCormack |
Workshop leader, Robert McCormack, pitched the moving subway as a site for the drawing workshop as a way to engage with alternative modes of teaching and learning. Viewing the subway as a site of artistic interest emerged from his days as a student at The Glasgow School of Art, where he would draw passing commuters on his way to the studio. In order to accommodate the fast-paced, ever-changing environment, drawing techniques from Art Educator, Betty Edwards, were naturally embedded into the workshop design. Through drawing extensions, blind drawing, sketching with the non-dominant hand, and responding with continuous line, subjects were able to be recorded quickly and accurately. Workshop activities were delivered in response to participants’ needs, time constraints, and the complex infrastructure of a place of transit.
Quotes from Participants
‘Really enjoyed the workshop, the experience of drawing and capturing the sights amd sounds of the subway, and the people. Striking up conversations with other passengers. As a regular car driver, I was intrigued by the subway and the areas that we were introduced to that I would not have seen otherwise’
‘I enjoyed it. It was dynamic and we moved a lot. The tasks were really interesting. I would never try to do something like that myself. It was definitely a step out of my comfort zone.’
‘I learned that drawing does not always need to be precise. It can flow depending on what, how you are drawing.’
The workshops and exhibitions are kindly supported by the Glasgow School of Art Exhibitions and the Glasgow School of Art Sustainability.
Ends
For further information, images, and interviews contact:
Robert McCormack, 07307627646 / rob.mcc@live.co.uk
Lesley Booth, 0779 941 4474 / lesley@newcenturypr.com
Listing
6 – 21st January 2023
Reid Building, The Glasgow School of Art, 162 Renfrew Street, Glasgow G3
Conditions of Carriage
Curated by Council Baby and Robert McCormack
Documentation of two experimental drawing workshops led by Robert McCormack and Council Baby, which were staged on the iconic Glasgow SPT subway in 2022 as part of the Close of Play: Climate Emergency and Creative Action series
Open Monday-Saturday, 10am– 4.30pm
Notes for Editors
In 1995 French anthropologist Marc Auge suggested that ‘a space which can not be defined as relational, or historical, or concerned with identity will be a non-place’ (Auge,1995,p78). A non-place is an architectural hangover, where strangers intersect, always with another destination on their minds. Typically associated with movement, non-places include airports, hotel chains, retail outlets, or train stations (Auge, 1995) The workshop hopes to wrestle and reckon with the non-place. To energise people. To transform the boredom of the commute into a site of artistic exploration. How does one navigate this territory with all its loops, stops, and drops? Through the act of recording and drawing participants challenge the notion of the solitary, while promoting an impactful stimulus for the mind. As a result, the impersonal reconciles with the personal.
List of References
Auge, M. (1995) Non-Places, Introduction to an Anthropology of super modernity. London, New York: Verso Books, 78-111
Edwards, B. (1979) Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, How to Unlock your Hidden Talent. London: Harper Collins Publishers, 2-25
Stenhouse, L. (1975) An Introduction to Curriculum Research and Development. London: Heinemann
ABOUT THE CURATORS:
Robert McCormack is an artist, curator, and educator living and working in Glasgow. Recent curatorial projects include Graduate Drive-Thru, an exhibition staged on the top story of a car park, and Open Cut, a graduate exhibition at Transmission gallery. Robert holds a fine art degree from the Glasgow School of Art and an Alt Masters from the New Art school where he worked under Artist Karla Black. Alongside his projects, Robert works at a Special Education school that supports and informs his practice.
Council Baby’s work is inspired by guises and obsessed with contradictions, Council’s work starts as poetry or drawings that stem from negative experiences or hurtful words to create sculptures and installations, turning pain into a positive outcome. Council’s work is autobiographic paired with sarcastic titles that create a coping mechanism to the works often serious meaning. As a child, Council was and still is fascinated by the 2002 film ‘Catch Me If You Can’ and the potential to wear whatever hat you wish – sometimes wearing more than one hat at once (both in a literal and metaphorical sense).
This exhibition is supported by GSA Exhibitions and GSA Sustainability following workshops in 2022 which were part of GSA’s Close of Play: Climate Emergency and Creative Action series, which was set up to explore the ways in which creative actions and multi-disciplinary practice can address climate emergency, sustainability, and climate justice.