Seeding in Sydney

Taking this project to a new city is so much fun, you never now quite what to expect and Seeding Sydney was no exception!!
The project was installed at Gaffa which is centrally located in the CBD, a great alternative venue offering a creative outlet and meeting spot which was easy to access by public transport.
I felt like i dropped in from an alternate universe and it took me a while to orientate myself beyond the key features of the train station and the gallery, so the two walks I had planned were an excellent way to branch out and explore the city street scape.
Luckily the weather was fine and after consulting with Danielle, Clare and Jane we headed off in the general direction of China town.

It soon became apparent that the street sweepers had recently passed through and plastic fragments were proving hard to find than expected.

We headed down smelly back allies but still pickings were rare.

When we set up a work space in China town we soon realised why as we observed roving street cleaners sweeping up foot paths with pan and brooms.

After everybody had got to grip with the seeding process we headed over to Darling Gardens, along the way we found promising results in planter boxes and gardent beds.

We adapted some seating in Darling Gardens, every one worked happily away under the shade, lots of discussion and sharing of perspectives which is something i always enjoy.

This site was one of the more social i have encountered we had several people passing by come over and chat to us about what we were doing.

We returned to Gaffa and while i had some other planning to busy myself with the participants continued working in the gallery. Such a lovely outing!!!

The following day i met Felix and Michelle outside Gaffa and based on the previous days experience  was decided to head over to Pyrmont.

Once again the participants were enthusiastic gatherers but i was little anxious that we weren't finding much good quality waste plastic.
No plastic is a good sign,  but it makes the collecting aspect of the walk take much longer and shortens the making time.

But with some great team work we continued on and set up on the seating of Pyrmont Bridge. This is where the walk got interesting because for the first time in all my time working on this project we were asked to move on, which we did eventually but not immediately!! (no photos sadly too busy dealing with security guard :( )

Wow, seeding Sydney was proving challenging but in good spirits Felix and Michelle continued on and we found a site to set up and work under some Moreton Bay Figs alongside a farmers market.  It was a great spot to work, chat and buy a tasty bite to eat, but after the market began packing up we decided to continue on in search of better material.

After walking around the block I was still surprised how little we were finding, Pyrmont was cleaner than Ponsonby!

Our last set up was a bench seat on the corner of a intersection.



It wasn't too busy with cars, some occasional foot traffic a perfect site for seeding and some more in depth philosophical conversation.

Thanks to all who came along to the exhibition and on the walks, please feel free to explore the process in your own way and I would really love to hear of what you did or how you went about it.

Seeding on its way to Sydney

In preparation for STC in Sydney i was fortunate to receive some coverage from Dhub, here's a link to the article and interview

 http://www.dhub.org/roseanne-bartley-civic-responsibility-jewellery-design/ .

and if your interested in attending the opening or the walks heres the link to Gaffa

http://www.gaffa.com.au/WORKSHOP-May-3rd-May-4thSEEDING-THE-CLOUD-JEWELLERYRoseanne-Bartley

Seeding Rosebank Rd

I was really pleased to hear that Seeding the Cloud is living on in New Zealand!!!!









A previous participant Dorothy recreated the project on Rosedbank Rd as part of the Auckland Festival. You can find a link to her blog post here http://ddelautour.com/2013/03/29/seeding-the-cloud-on-rosebank-road/ .
 
Dorothy & Else-marie

This is a really exciting development, I am thrilled that the project been taking on and shared in someone else's neighbourhood - 'jewellery' as a knowledge space in action. Brilliant!!!!!!!

So great to see the community involved making, looking, talking, learning etc  

Very impressed with the level of organisation!!

More Seeding in NZ

I visited New Zealand again to exhibit a recent series of works and it was lovely to see previous participants 'infiltrating' the exhibition with their version of the Seeding the Cloud. Here is a lovely photo of Alan Preston with his version..........

Seeding Auckland Day 3

Day 3: Another outing in Ponsonby with some very enthusiastic Seeders. Heavy rain delayed our start but we put in a few good hours and came up with some beautiful results.

Ilse-Marie very happy to find $5 

Promising selection of material to work with

We ended up squeezing around the same park table as yesterday.

They were so ideal i thought they had to have been purpose built.

Many thanks to Raewyn, Ilse Marie, Dot, Tatjana

Seeding Auckland Day 2

Day 2: The first ever Seeding the Cloud walk hosted in Auckland - it was fantastic, such a lovely way to experience the city and hang out with new people.
Before arriving in Auckland I timetabled some walks to occur in and around Ponsonby. I thought of these walks as training sessions. I would take people through the process, share my systems, techniques, tooling, rationale, etc in detail and overtime and through my detailed instruction I hoped to build a small army of supporters eager to take the project on and interpret it within there own setting.

As with the workshop I a day earlier I provided participants with a starter pack, although in this instance the tools were to be carried (safely and rather heavily) in a pack on my back.

The walks were scheduled to last for a couple of hours for a small group, no more than five participants (three is ideal). I generally set our with no particular course in mind, and together we look for, pick up, sort, drill and thread the fragments of plastic we find.
 
There are many challenges that present during these outings, however the variables are what  make the process continually interesting for me. In my role as host and trainer I have to take in to consideration how everyone might fair if the weather is too hot, cold, windy, or too rainy. I often begin by asking who has a coat, an umbrella, hat etc.
Initially I lead the group, instructing them on the pace, what we are looking for, I even suggest how and where to look. But as familiarity builds I find the group begins to take on making some of the decisions and those with local knowledge begin to share it.

As with all material supply there are quality and quantity issues to over come. If there is too much plastic we don't cover much ground, not enough plastic and we have to walk too far. These simple factors add to the drama of the process. Will it work or won't it, how much time is required and how much distance is travelled to achieve our necklace. Unfortunately in this training session we don't tend to finish our thread.

I have found its important not to try and preempt the experience, far more fun is to be had by just going out and seeing what happens. If I were to prepare by pre-walking an area to see how much plastic is around or to check out the cafes in the area to see which one might have suitable tables and relaxed staff it would make for a predictable and potentially boring experience. I have to trust that we will find plastic fragments and a place to work where ever we go. If there isn't much plastic, that's good! We just have to walk a bit further and look a bit harder.

I would like to thank my three intrepid and enthusiastic Seeders who joined me on this particular day Allan, Lucy and Fran!!

Seeding Auckland: Day One Indoor Workshop

In preparation for Seeding Auckland I planned a few 'small-scale' public events, located, initially creating a project hub in and around Ponsonby. The events offered over several days were devised to allow for  indoor/outdoor training/making sessions and information sharing sessions. Artist talks were given (at the gallery as a separate event, and combined with the indoor training session) to contextualise the project within jewellery and environmental concerns and to allow for discussion.

Not all jewellers enjoy talking about their work but in relation to this project I feel its an integral component of the project. Its the story telling aspect of it that i think is important for engaging curiosity and its another way to encourage participants that next step, get involved, skill up and potentially take the project on and create something similar or alternatively something else with it.

The  Seeding Auckland events began with an indoor workshop at Art Station, a community art space on Ponsonby Rd conveniently located opposite the Objectspace galleries.  Holding an indoor workshop might seem counter intuitive to the objectives I developed early on for this project, i.e that I gather the material and worked with it in the environment in which it was found.  However I have found offering an indoor option has the potential to attract those who are less aware or experienced in contemporary jewellery, or those who are less inclined to leap into making jewellery in public.  It also has the advantage of allowing enough time to complete a necklace, (which is something that doesn't tend to happen within a similar time frame on the walks I host) and interestingly for me attendees have gone on and continued the project in their own neighbourhoods - which was a key objective of the project!  Working indoors is also the most reliable or weather proof option and fortunately on this day it also suited my state of health.  I was recovering from a cold I had caught on the plane on my way over.

The room we worked in at Art Station was ideal, big tables, natural light from north facing windows (from which we could see the rain lightly falling), handy to toilets and a kitchen for hot drinks next door.  Bookings were light for this event, perhaps due its timing on a Friday and school holidays hadn't started, although interestingly those who did attend were all jewellers.
Most people are fingers and thumbs when beginning the process, no matter what their level of experience.  

Loving Sharon's inclusion of the spoon

 I enjoy giving instruction on my approach to the technique, especially relaying the finer details of what i have learnt from doing this process over and over.  I also love it when others are less concerned with how i do it and begin to innovate - find some expression of their own.

Also loving Cheryls zig-zag threading 

In fact what I notice is everyone manages to come up with some form of variation when they combine the fragments, beads and thread. It doesn't seem to matter how much experience the maker has everyone responds with their own interpretation when it comes to stringing things together - and they seem to find enjoyment in doing so!

Thank you Sharon, Cheryl and Ingrid for a great morning!