Artists & Makers

Introducing the Artists & Makers involved with 'Nothing about us without us is for us.' We're adding info all the time, so click on the names highlighted in orange for more on what they're up to...

Alexandra Bowie
Colin Thomas Begg
Fiona Fleming
Geraldine Greene
Grant Leckie
Ingrid Shearer
Jim Ferguson
Kate V Robertson
Martin Campbell
Matt Baker
Now Now Girls
Belinda Gilbert-Scott
Sophie Manhire
Steven Anderson
t s Beall
Tam McGarvey

Alexandra Bowie

After graduating from GSA's Painting Department in 2009, Alex has worked as a Community Artist for various Organisations in the South West of Glasgow, and most recently as an Art Teacher in Patagonia, Argentina. She is fascinated by the creative empowerment which art in a community context brings.
 
Alex has been working with participants at a weekly drop-in held by Govan and Craigton Integration Network. The majority of the participants at the drop in are Asylum Seekers and Refugees, and represent the new communities which have come to Govan in the past years. The group has been looking into ancient forms of communication in their home countries and native languages to develop their own set of symbols. They are currently in the process of making their own set of maritime signal flags using their symbols to send a message accross the Clyde at the event on April 28th.

www.gcin.org.uk

Colin Thomas Begg

'I'm based at the Kinning Park Complex and am part of the team who run the building. I work as a freelance artist, mostly on public art and community based projects. I also draw.'

'I'm working with Bel Scott on a series of workshops at the Kinning Park Complex to create the missiles for The Govan Charm Offensive: a bombardment during which these big bombs of love will be fired across the Clyde, showering the far side with good wishes, using trebuchets (medieval siege weapons) built by the Galgael.'

www.kinningparkcomplex.org

Fiona Fleming

'I am a Glasgow based visual artist and I enjoy working in various media, from sculpture to mosaic to origami to animation. I love group work and collaboration and I'm obsessed with symbolism and the visual languages which are all around us in plain sight but need a little decoding for the uninitiated.'

'I'm currently working with a group from Platforum, a mental Health Organization based in Govan whose members are very inspiring in their level of peer support for one another. We are exploring the messages of support people exchange to counter feelings of being isolated and overwhelmed, and to assert the visibility and presence of a marginalised group.

We will project simple images with deliberately course brush marks and enlarge these for painting onto our flags, as we want the obvious 'imperfect' work of a human hand to be evident in our finished flags.'

Geraldine Greene

'I am a visual artist and designer who collaborates with communities on creative projects in the public realm. I work with people to enhance the spaces in which they work, live and play through an interdisciplinary and participatory design process. I am currently Artist in Residence at The Portal in Govan, creating graphics with local people for a shopfront improvement project through silkscreen printing workshops.'

'Inspired by the The Portal Senior Film Group's 'You Play Your Part', I am celebrating the role played by Govan women in politics over the last 100 years with the 'Bead & Blether' women's group. We are creating a series of iconic images representing key political figures and related messages on signal flags, projecting a strong message across The Clyde. The images will be created through a stencil art and silkscreen printing process, referencing contemporary political poster campaigns and diy culture.'

http://www.flickr.com/photos/geraldinegreene/

http://twitter.com/#!/geraldinegreene

http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=691235780

Ingrid Shearer

Ingrid is an archaeologist with Northlight Heritage, an independent charity which investigates the past for the benefit of present communities and future generations. She has a particular interest in Govan having contributed to the Govan Burgh Survey and conducted historic walking tours of the area for Doors Open Day. She is currently working on the redisplay of the medieval sculptured stones in Govan Old Church (http://thegovanstones.org.uk). She is really excited to be involved in the project.

'River Patter: Voices of The Clyde' Govan has long been a vibrant, multi-cultural hub. From its early origins as the creative, spiritual, administrative and royal centre of the Kingdom of Strathclyde, Govan has played host to many languages and many voices.

Staged near the site of the ancient assembly point of ‘Doomster Hill’, this action aims to celebrate the many voices of the Clyde, both past and present. It will include speakers and translators of as many languages as we can gather together for the day, creating a ‘Babel’ on The Clyde.

http://www.northlight-heritage.co.uk/



Jim Ferguson

Jim Ferguson is a poet and prose writer based in Glasgow. Born in 1961, Jim has been writing and publishing since 1986 and is presently a Creative Writing Tutor at John Wheatley College in Glasgow's East End. His collection 'the art of catching a bus and other poems' is published by AK Press, Edinburgh. He was the 2011 'Poet Laureate' of the Scotia Bar, Glasgow. His most recent book is a short monograph on Robert Tannahill entitled 'Tannahill: The Soldier’s Return with an Introductory Essay by Jim Ferguson.'

For 'Nothing about us...' Jim will be writing flash fiction inspired by our Govan Timeline, and other messages for distribution to all comers.

http://www.jimferguson.webeden.co.uk/#

Martin Campbell

 

A community focused hands-on build project - A raft will be built out of found materials from the Clyde. A focus for exchanging thoughts, ides, memories and desires..... we build relentlessly.

www.ragandboneworkshop.co.uk

Rag & Bone Workshop on facebook

@partywitmarty

Matt Baker

Matt Baker makes artworks in the public domain, developing participatory and collaborative techniques through projects ranging from temporary events/installations to large-scale permanent artworks and cultural strategies for programmes of urban change.

In 2011, Baker was awarded the Saltire Society Award for Art in Architecture in Scotland between 2009-11. 
Since March 2011 he has been resident artist within the Riverside community in Govan - see here
From 2006-2010 Matt was the City Artist for Inverness – his work there placed the creative community at the centre of a dialogue about the contemporary identity of the Highland capital. Temporary artwork interventions, public debates and unlikely partnerships were the hallmark of the residency, which ultimately evolved into acclaimed public art organisation IOTA (now core funded by Highland Council). 

Baker was also Lead Artist from 2000-2005 for the award-winning regeneration of the iconic Gorbals neighbourhood in Glasgow. The project is widely recognised for its pioneering work in applying a socially-engaged art methodology to a large scale public art programme. More than 30 local, national and international artists were commissioned to work within the context of a place undergoing wholescale re-construction. 

The project 'Nothing about us without us is for us,' is led by Matt Baker in collaboration with t s Beall.

Artist website
Artist Blog

Twitter: _mattbaker

Steven Anderson

With an aim to coordinate a vocal aspect for Nothing About Us Without Us Is For Us, Steven is currently in the process of meeting up with various people in and around Govan and Partick who sing either in groups or individually. Discussions around world folk voices, religious voices, protest voices, participatory voices and Glasgow voices, and trials of oral sound beside, over and on the river will lead to an experimental presentation of live vocal performances on the 28th April.

Steven Anderson is an artist based in Glasgow with strong family links to Govan. Having studied at GSA and DJCAD, Steven works mainly in creating performances which present alongside each other; the unaccompanied voice, invited audience participation and archival artifacts. Most recently Steven created a performance event featuring Scots oral traditional singers and contemporary artists who use their voice as medium, within the site of Enlightenment portraits at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. This was followed by an exhibition and performance at Peacock Visual Arts in Aberdeen. Previous to this he had shown work at Catalyst Arts in Belfast and as part of Instal'10 at Tramway in Glasgow.

www.stevenanderson.info

t s Beall

Image: Launch of the Govan Armada I (2010), awards ceremony with winners and judges 2010

t s Beall is an artist who works with a variety of media to examine how landscape and place are both imaged and imagined.

Recent public artworks experiment with different models of collaboration, and how community action can offer playful counterpoint to gentrification and development. Her moving image work explores how the camera and digital media have shifted our notions of place, and how inaccessible landscapes are imaged by modern technology.

The project 'Nothing about us without us is for us,' is led by t s Beall in collaboration with Matt Baker.

http://www.glasgowinternational.org/index.php/artists/view/ts_beal/

www.astonesthrowaway.co.uk

http://www.stillstatic.tv/