OPENING EVENT: SATURDAY 6 MAY 12pm – 4pm
TOOLS FOR THE FUTURE is a site-responsive sculptural project for Gerald Moore Gallery, exploring relationships between philosophical aesthetic enquiry and kinesthetic learning.
A term used by sculptor Constantin Brancusi to describe objects with embodied potential, TOOLS FOR THE FUTURE utilizes the gallery space and the objects installed within it as a working studio. The gallery space deviates from its default function of display, towards a more active function of use. Its spaces become a 'public tool' supporting engagement - socially, conceptually and critically - used for the duration of the project as a site for participation, collaborative learning and site for material experimentation in which sculpture and making becomes the stimulus for philosophical aesthetic enquiry.
Throughout the project, the gallery/studio plays host to a series of philosophical enquiry workshops, engaging with school groups associated with the Gerald Moore Gallery, initiated by artists George Charman and Jake Garfield. Philosophical discussions and practical workshops that take place in the studio during the project will support research and development toward a proposed 'conversation pit' (a social space for public use) to be sited in the Gerald Moore Gallery garden in summer 2017.
George Charman (b.1983) lives and works in London. He received his BA (hons) Fine Art from Surrey Institute of Art and Design, Farnham (2005) and his MA Printmaking from the Royal College of Arts, London (2008). He is a lecturer at University for the Creative Arts and associate lecturer at West Dean College.
Charman has been the recipient of awards including: Second Prize, Jerwood Drawing Prize (2009), Soho Sculpture Prize (2014), Shortlisted for Mark Tanner Sculpture Prize 2014. Residencies include: Acme Fire Station residency (2010/15). Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, Omaha USA (2013), Architectural Association Visiting School, Mexico (2015), Time and Space Residency, Southend-On-Sea, (2016-17). He has received Arts Council England funding for solo projects including: Once Again and Always New, Acme Project Space, London (2012) and Artichoke House, West Dean College (2014); and collaborative projects, Time To Hit The Road, Land Art Road Trip (2014) and Trackingshot. 1: Desert Sessions (2016/17).
http://www.george-charman.co.uk
