INK UTERO
Collaborative Drawing by Michael Kent, Tom Varley and Thom Walker
5th Dec - 9th Jan
Preview: 4th Dec 7-9
Open Thurs-Sat 12-5
Gallery closed 20th Dec - 6th Jan inclusive
Twelve months ago we first met to draw together at Michael’s studio in Partick. We diluted pots of Indian ink to varying degrees, we cut several pieces of paper from a roll and taped them to the studio walls, we gathered drawing implements - brushes, pens, sticks, reeds. There was a CD player but only one CD. We pressed play and began. We each positioned ourselves in front of a piece of paper and made a start to a drawing, then, after a few songs we swapped places and continued where the previous participant had left off. After a few more songs we swapped again. This pattern was repeated over and over, when a work seemed complete, we put up more paper and started afresh.
The results of this initial experiment were mixed: many of the drawings ended as soaking wet, inky, messy, tangles, others descended into utter silliness, but at least some of the drawings seemed to be working. To create consistency and a smoother synthesis of our individual styles, we decided to introduce some rules: Only one media - ink, no colour, no text, minimal figuration, no smiley faces or Adidas logos, no obscene or slanderous comments about one another, no cartoon fruit.
Over the past year these meetings have become regular and this process has now been repeated many times. A collaborative practice has developed, one that combines each individual’s intuitive responses to marks made by their collaborators and one where the influence of music and discussion is encouraged. At the heart of the exercise is a sense of enjoyment. The collaboration was initiated in order to create a forum for us to engage with process liberated from the responsibility that an artist feels to his or her individual practice, a space for us to ‘make’ for the sheer fun of it. The drawings develop outside of any one individual’s control and vision so it’s pointless to be precious. An area of painstaking detail can be instantly washed over by the next artist to take a turn, while a throwaway mark or accidental drip made by one person can be worked around and supported by someone else.
The work in this exhibition represents a very small cross-section of the drawings that we have produced in the course of our collaboration. To accompany the drawings on paper Ink Utero incorporates a larger work that has been painted directly on to the gallery walls. This work has been produced in response to the other pieces in the show, to the physical environment of the gallery and, as always, to music and discussion.
