Glynn Vivian Art Gallery - On Air

Glynn Vivian Art Gallery - On Air

An archive of Glynn Vivian Art Gallery talks, interviews, guides and music, ranging from historical to contemporary subjects, led by artists, curators, educators and historians. Glynn Vivian Art Gallery is is part of the City & County of Swansea and is supported by the Arts Council of Wales and through grant aid from CyMAL.

  1. Audio introduction to Last Supper by David Cushway

    Jun 11

    Audio introduction to Last Supper by David Cushway

    Last Supper is a film by David Cushway, made in 2012, duration 33 minutes 50 seconds. This film tests the boundaries of ceramic practice and discourse. Thirteen volunteers sit at a long rectangular table with a white tablecloth on the mezzanine of the Glynn Vivian’s grand atrium space. Behind them is the building’s imposing Edwardian Baroque style architecture. Covering the walls either side of participants are glass vitrines filled with the vast ceramics collection. It is the architecture that reminded Cushway of The Last Supper painting by Leonardo da Vinci, which depicts the last supper of Jesus and his twelve apostles, inspiring him to directly reference this in the positioning of participants throughout the film. Each volunteer takes it in turn to hold and talk about a ceramic object that they selected from the Glynn Vivian’s permanent collection. In doing so, Cushway addresses the ‘touch taboo’ within the museum context and thus within the film we witness the participants’ intimate experience with their chosen object, an experience that would normally be off limits. This is highlighted through the juxtaposition of the ceramics collection in the background stored safely behind glass; protected, removed and unavailable for any tactile inspection or experience. In order to reveal alternative narratives and observations about the objects and to culturally embed the work within its location, no direction was given to the volunteers on what to say about their chosen objects and their reasons for selecting them. The noise of the standard working day continues in the background of the film- telephones ringing, doors banging, someone whistling and general chatter. Of the work, David Cushway said: “This body of creative practice illustrates the development of my aims to provide a model of engagement with the ceramic object and museum collection; one that critiques museum and curatorial practice, whilst fulfilling the criteria of new models of practice developed within the post-disciplinary, post-studio arena where clay and ceramic have no physical presence. “The intimate experience that is afforded by touch is explicitly demonstrated within the film, and sheer joy and excitement of the experience is communicated, not only within the dialogue of the participants but through their actions and reactions to their selected objects. This invigorating emotional display reanimates the objects and thus engages the museum’s audience in new and significant ways; a process that develops new knowledge and experience, not only in terms of the participant, but also within the institution itself.” David Cushway’s work is underpinned by a fascination with clay as a medium; the history of clay use is the history of humanity; it is the material that binds us to the earth that we inhabit. His practice operates in the arenas between art and craft and is often a direct comment upon the difference and indeed common ground between the two.

    3 min
  2. Audio introduction to Come As You Really Are by Hetain Patel

    Jun 11

    Audio introduction to Come As You Really Are by Hetain Patel

    Come As You Really Are is a film by Hetain Patel, made in 2024, duration 12 minutes and 2 seconds. The film explores the outstanding creativity and passion that people put into their hobbies. Depicting a range of hobbies from across the country from freestyle dance to wild swimming, cosplay, gardening, miniature railways, radio-controlled airplane model making, felting, car modifiers, collecting, miniature pottery, miniature origami and nail art. Patel wanted to bring together these seemingly disparate hobbies and connect them visually through a non-linear cinematic narrative, using colour, texture and shape to connect by way of visual storytelling, with hobbies reappearing throughout the film. The shot of car wheels spinning, for example, transitions into a shot from above of a mini pottery wheel spinning; girls dancing and leaping into the air becomes planes in flight, reflecting the feeling of freedom in the air. There is also the physical connection of hobbies appearing together through handmade objects that toured around the country to each shooting location; miniature origami, pots, a Warhammer figure and felt rabbit. These created a sense of the unexpected, such as the scene of the miniature origami horse positioned on the knuckles of the car modifier holding his steering wheel. In their juxtaposition they create moments that could be seen as humorous or strange but reflect the reality of unexpected connection. The film adopts the artist’s trademark style of combining high-end cinematic production with scenes from the everyday, to showcase ephemeral pastimes and handcrafted objects in a visual language usually reserved for Hollywood films and luxury advertising. Hetain Patel devised the nationwide project Come As You Really Are with Artangel, which was made up of 13 regional presentations across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales from Summer 2024 – 2027. Formerly known as ‘The Hobby Cave’ the project began with a nationwide call-out inviting members of the public to share the activity to which they dedicate their spare time. Within the nationwide presentations, standing shoulder to shoulder with handmade submissions by hobbyists were new and existing works by Patel. Come As You Really Are, 2024, the new film made for this project was the central part of the nationwide exhibitions, reflecting ephemeral pastimes that might not otherwise have been possible to represent. Somerset Road, 2024, a Ford Escort tufted by the artist in the pattern of his grandmother’s living room carpet, was also created for the exhibition. These time-consuming handmade objects directly echo the manual labour often carried out by migrant communities such as Patel’s family, while their hybridity points towards the new possibilities that emerge when we challenge and defy convention. Come As You Really Are presented a variety of hobbies that showcase an individual's freedom of expression and ingenuity, and in doing so broadens our perception of who gets to be called creative and where the impulse to create stems from. At the heart of this project is a nationwide community of people whose labours of love are a lens through which the artist presents an alternative portrait of the UK. Alongside Glynn Vivian, other partner organisations involved in the project were: Factory International, Manchester; Grundy Art Gallery, Blackpool; Museum of Making, Derby Museums Trust; National Festival of Making with Blackburn Museum & Art Gallery; Wolverhampton Art Gallery; Barnsley Civic; Inverness Museum and Art Gallery; Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art, Sunderland; CCA Derry~Londonderry; Hospitalfield, Arbroath and Tate St Ives.

    7 min
  3. Cyflwyniad sain i Come As You Really Are gan Hetain Patel

    Jun 11

    Cyflwyniad sain i Come As You Really Are gan Hetain Patel

    Ffilm 12 munud, 2 eiliad a wnaed gan Hetain Patel yn 2024 yw Come As You Really Are. Mae’r ffilm yn archwilio creadigrwydd a brwdfrydedd neilltuol pobl sy’n ymroi i’w hobïau. Mae’n dangos amrywiaeth o hobïau o bob rhan o’r wlad, o ddawnsio dull rhydd i nofio gwyllt, gwisg-chwarae, garddio, mân reilffyrdd, modelau awyrennau radio-reoledig, ffeltio, addasu ceir, casglu, mân grochenwaith, mân origami a chelf addurno ewinedd. Nod Patel oedd dod â’r hobïau cwbl wahanol hyn ynghyd a’u cysylltu’n weledol drwy naratif sinematig anunionlin, gan ddefnyddio lliw, gweadedd a siâp i adrodd stori weledol wrth i hobïau ailymddangos drwy gydol y ffilm. Mae’r olygfa sy’n dangos olwynion car yn troi, er enghraifft, yn arwain at olygfa uwchben mân olwyn lestri’n troelli; mae merched sy’n dawnsio ac yn neidio i’r awyr yn arwain at awyrennau’n hedfan, gan adlewyrchu’r ymdeimlad o ryddid. Mae cysylltiad corfforol hefyd rhwng hobïau sy’n ymddangos gyda’i gilydd drwy wrthrychau o waith llaw a deithiodd o gwmpas y wlad i bob lleoliad ffilmio: mân origami, llestri, ffigwr Warhammer a chwningen ffelt. Creodd y rhain ymdeimlad o’r annisgwyl, megis golygfa o fân geffyl origami ar gygnau rhywun sy’n dal yr olwyn lywio wrth addasu car. Mae cyfosod y rhain yn creu eiliadau a allai fod yn ddigrif neu’n rhyfedd, ond sy’n adlewyrchu realiti’r cysylltiad annisgwyl. Mae'r ffilm yn dilyn arddull adnabyddus yr artist o gyfuno cynhyrchiad sinematig o safon uchel â golygfeydd pob dydd i arddangos hobïau byrhoedlog a gwrthrychau o waith llaw mewn ieithwedd weledol sydd fel arfer yn nodweddiadol o ffilmiau Hollywood a hysbysebu eitemau moethus. Creodd Hetain Patel y prosiect cenedlaethol Come As You Really Are gydag Artangel, gan gynnwys 13 o gyflwyniadau rhanbarthol ledled Cymru, Lloegr, Gogledd Iwerddon a'r Alban rhwng haf 2024 a 2027. Dechreuodd y prosiect, a adwaenid fel The Hobby Cave gynt, drwy alw ar aelodau o'r cyhoedd ledled y wlad i rannu’r gweithgaredd y maent yn rhoi o'u hamser hamdden iddo. Ledled y wlad, bu cyflwyniadau o waith llaw gan y rhai hynny sy’n dilyn hobi penodol ochr yn ochr â darnau newydd a blaenorol gan Patel. Rhan ganolog yr arddangosfeydd hyn oedd Come As You Really Are (2024), y ffilm newydd a wnaed ar gyfer y prosiect hwn, gan adlewyrchu diddordebau byrhoedlog na fyddai wedi bod yn bosib eu cyfleu fel arall. Crëwyd Somerset Road (2024), sef Ford Escort wedi’i bwytho gan yr artist yn ôl patrwm y carped yn ystafell fyw ei fam-gu, ar gyfer yr arddangosfa hefyd. Mae’r gwrthrychau hyn a wnaed â llaw dros amser yn adleisio’n uniongyrchol y gwaith corfforol y mae cymunedau mudol megis teulu Patel wedi ymgymryd ag ef yn aml, ac mae eu natur hybrid yn cyfeirio at y posibiliadau newydd sy’n dod i’r amlwg pan fyddwn yn herio confensiynau. Cyflwynodd Come As You Really Are amrywiaeth o hobïau a oedd yn dangos rhyddid mynegiant a dyfeisgarwch yr unigolyn, gan ehangu ein canfyddiad ynghylch pwy sy’n greadigol a tharddiad yr awydd i greu. Mae cymuned o bobl ledled y wlad yn ganolog i'r prosiect hwn, ac mae eu llafur cariad yn galluogi’r artist i gyflwyno portread amgen o'r DU. Ochr yn ochr ag Oriel Gelf Glynn Vivian, cymerodd y sefydliadau partner canlynol ran yn y prosiect: Factory International, Manceinion; Oriel Gelf Grundy, Blackpool; Museum of Making, ymddiriedolaeth Derby Museums; National Festival of Making gydag Amgueddfa ac Oriel Gelf Blackburn; Oriel Gelf Wolverhampton; Barnsley Civic; Amgueddfa ac Oriel Gelf Inverness; Oriel Celf Gyfoes y Gogledd, Sunderland; CCA Derry~Londonderry; Hospitalfield yn Arbroath; a Tate St Ives.

    7 min
  4. Audio introduction to A Day at the Hunt by Ingrid Murphy

    Jun 11

    Audio introduction to A Day at the Hunt by Ingrid Murphy

    A Day at the Hunt by Ingrid Murphy, made in 2016, is a white and gold ceramic Staffordshire flatback with interactive companion film linked by QR code. It is 33 cm high and 20 cm wide and depicts Ingrid and her father Brendan as two hunters. The uncanny likeness was created through the 3D scanning & 3D printing of Ingrid and her father's heads and slip casting them onto a replica of the original Hunter flatback from the 19th Century. A flatback is a sculptural decorative figure that is three dimensional from all sides except the back, which is flat, designed to be positioned on a mantlepiece. Ingrid and Brendan's heads have been printed in proportion to the rest of the work, and don't seem out of place. Both figures are wearing traditional hunting costumes, consisting of knee length tunics, knee high boots, sashes across the body, and hunting horns. There are gold leaf highlights at the top of the collars of the coats, the top of the boots, belt buckles, and hunting horns. In the background between the two figures is a textured old tree trunk. Brendan is seated on the left, he has short, cropped hair and looks to be quite elderly, with a kind and thoughtful face. He gazes directly ahead, his left hand on his knee. Ingrid stands on the right, she has short, bobbed hair, and her body is turned towards her father, her eyes are gazing down at him in admiration. Her right arm is raised, holding up a square sign, onto which a black QR code is printed. The piece is interactive, as when you scan the QR code, a five-minute companion colour film plays of Ingrid and Brendan visiting the Hunt Museum, Ireland, in June 2016. The car journey with her father was central to this work. Initially, Ingrid had thought it would be about the museum visit, but watching the footage she realised it was actually about the journey, because that was their life together. The light-hearted film is punctuated with humorous interactions between father and daughter. For instance, there is a miscommunication when they pass a shop called Mace next to a church; Ingrid is looking at the shop and Brendan is looking at the church and she speaks about Mace and he comments on Mass. They get lost on the journey; there are touching moments of Ingrid’s dad just being himself, he walks into a room and looks around as if he’s going to say something amazing. Then he says ‘Jesus, they got new carpets I’d say’, oblivious to the beautiful objects they are surrounded by on the walls. On the drive home, a farmer is trying to catch cattle which have escaped a field onto the road. Brendon was a butcher and in Ingrid’s family there is a running joke whenever something happened with cattle, they would always say it was their revenge, they were coming back for him! Ingrid Murphy's work focuses on augmenting ceramic artefacts with a range of interactive technologies. She exploits and plays with the boundaries of ceramic material to create innovative and playful interactions and experiences. She uses sound, humour and autobiographical elements, creating engaging and playful ceramic works, which also bring to life the deeper historical and social histories of ceramic objects and their intended uses. A Day at the Hunt was commissioned by the Hunt Museum, Ireland, to be part of the Irish Contemporary Ceramics Collection. A version of this work was acquired by Glynn Vivian Art Gallery through the Wakelin Award 2022 in partnership with the Friends of the Glynn Vivian, selected by Swansea based artist and lecturer, Catrin Webster.

    5 min
  5. Cyflwyniad sain i A Day At The Hunt gan Ingrid Murphy

    Jun 11

    Cyflwyniad sain i A Day At The Hunt gan Ingrid Murphy

    Mae A Day at the Hunt gan Ingrid Murphy, a wnaed yn 2016, yn ffiguryn Swydd Stafford ceramig gwyn ac aur sy’n cynnwys côd QR rhyngweithiol y gellir ei sganio er mwyn gwylio’r ffilm sy’n cyd-fynd ag ef. Mae'r ffiguryn yn 33cm o uchder ac yn 20cm o led ac mae'n portreadu Ingrid a'i thad Brendan fel dau heliwr. Cafodd y tebygrwydd anhygoel ei greu drwy sganio ac argraffu pennau Ingrid a'i thad ar ffurf 3D a defnyddio castin slip i'w rhoi ar ffiguryn gwreiddiol heliwr o'r 19eg ganrif. Mae ffiguryn yn ffigwr addurniadol cerfluniol a chanddo dri dimensiwn o bob ochr heblaw am y cefn, sy'n wastad, wedi'i ddylunio i'w roi ar silff ben tân. Mae pennau Ingrid a Brendan wedi'u hargraffu'n gymesur â gweddill y gwaith, ac nid ydynt yn ymddangos yn rhyfedd. Mae'r ddau ffigwr yn gwisgo gwisgoedd hela traddodiadol, sy'n cynnwys tiwnigau pen-glin, esgidiau pen-glin, sasiau ar draws y corff a chyrn hela. Mae aroleuadau haenau aur ar ben coleri'r cotiau, pen yr esgidiau, byclau'r gwregysau a'r cyrn hela. Yn y cefndir rhwng y ddau ffigwr y mae hen foncyff gweadog. Mae Brendan yn eistedd ar y chwith. Mae ganddo wyneb caredig ac ystyriol a gwallt cwta ac mae'n ymddangos yn oedrannus. Mae'n syllu'n uniongyrchol o'i flaen ac mae ei law chwith ar ei ben-glin. Mae Ingrid yn sefyll ar y dde. Mae ganddi wallt cwta ac mae wedi troi ei chorff tuag at ei thad wrth i'w llygaid syllu arno'n llawn edmygedd. Mae ei braich dde yn yr awyr, gan ddal arwydd sgwâr â chôd QR du wedi'i brintio arno. Mae'r darn yn rhyngweithiol a phan fyddwch yn sganio'r côd QR, bydd ffilm liw 5 munud o hyd sy'n cyd-fynd ag ef yn dangos ymweliad Ingrid a Brendan â The Hunt Museum yn Iwerddon ym mis Mehefin 2016. Roedd y daith yn y car gyda'i thad yn ganolog i'r gwaith hwn. I ddechrau, roedd Ingrid wedi meddwl y byddai'n ymwneud â'r ymweliad â'r amgueddfa, ond wrth wylio'r deunydd sylweddolodd ei fod yn ymwneud â'r daith mewn gwirionedd, gan mai dyna oedd eu bywyd gyda'i gilydd. Mae'r ffilm ysgafn hon yn llawn sgyrsiau digrif rhwng y tad a'r ferch. Er enghraifft, mae camddealltwriaeth wrth iddyn nhw fynd heibio i siop o'r enw Mace ger eglwys; mae Ingrid yn edrych ar y siop ac mae Brendan yn edrych ar yr eglwys. Mae hi'n siarad am Mace ac mae e'n siarad am offeren (mass). Maen nhw'n mynd ar goll ar y daith; mae eiliadau emosiynol lle mae tad Ingrid yn ymddwyn yn naturiol. Mae'n cerdded i mewn i ystafell ac yn edrych o'i gwmpas fel petai ar fin dweud rhywbeth anhygoel. Yna, meddai, ‘Jesus, they got new carpets I’d say’, yn hollol anymwybodol o'r gwrthrychau hardd ar y waliau. Wrth yrru adref, mae ffermwr yn ceisio dal gwartheg sydd wedi dianc o gae i'r ffordd. Cigydd oedd Brendan ac yn nheulu Ingrid mae jôc barhaol pryd bynnag y byddai rhywbeth yn ymwneud â gwartheg, y byddai pawb yn dweud eu bod wedi dod i ddial arno! Mae gwaith Murphy yn canolbwyntio ar ychwanegu amrywiaeth o dechnolegau rhyngweithiol at arteffactau ceramig. Mae hi'n manteisio ar ffiniau deunydd ceramig i greu rhyngweithiadau a phrofiadau arloesol a chwareus. Mae hi’n defnyddio sain, hiwmor ac elfennau hunangofiannol, gan greu gweithiau ceramig diddorol a chwareus, sydd hefyd yn dod â chwedlau hanesyddol a chymdeithasol dyfnach gwrthrychau ceramig a’u defnydd arfaethedig yn fyw. Cafodd A Day at the Hunt ei gomisiynu gan The Hunt Museum yn Iwerddon i fod yn rhan o Gasgliad Crochenwaith Cyfoes Iwerddon. Cafodd Oriel Gelf Glynn Vivian afael ar fersiwn o'r gwaith hwn drwy Wobr Wakelin 2022 mewn partneriaeth â Chyfeillion y Glynn Vivian. Fe'i dewiswyd gan Catrin Webster, artist a darlithydd yn Abertawe.

    5 min
  6. Audio introduction to Wavy Gravy by Alex Duncan

    Jun 11

    Audio introduction to Wavy Gravy by Alex Duncan

    Wavy Gravy is a 2014 film by Alex Duncan, duration 1 minute 10 seconds. This silent film was created from found and reworked video footage, depicting a sea of undulating forms with wave movements that track from the top of the screen to the bottom. It is not immediately clear what the multicoloured abstract mass is made from, its repetitive movement instead giving an almost sculptural quality. The scene is in fact an upside-down densely packed tsunami wave pool swimming experience, with bodies rising and falling, engaged with their own weightlessness and loss of self within the swell, exploring realities and artificialities of motion and perception. The proximity of something fun and something ominous occurs. Alex Duncan said: “I am fascinated by where and how we place ourselves in the world, what we react to as human beings and our relationship to materials, objects and situations. “What is real and what is imitating the real has always fascinated me, and how subjectively, we respond to something that is both, or rather, something that sits between these two diverging states”. Within the Glynn Vivian’s collection, the companion work, Like Swimming, is an installation of cast concrete ‘life-saving flotation aids’. Their surfaces bitten into and scratched at, contrasting the levity of youth with the uncertainty of real life. Swansea-born, Alex Duncan graduated from Swansea Metropolitan University in 2007 and gained his master's degree from the Royal College of Art in London. Making work that intersects sculpture, drawing, video and installation, his work has been exhibited both in the UK, notably the Whitechapel Gallery, V&A, MOSTYN, Camden Arts Centre and Ferens Art Gallery; and internationally, including Milan, Italy; Bilbao, Santander; Spain and Mauritius.

    3 min
  7. Cyflwyniad sain i Wavy Gravy gan Alex Duncan

    Jun 11

    Cyflwyniad sain i Wavy Gravy gan Alex Duncan

    Mae Wavy Gravy yn ffilm o 2014 gan Alex Duncan, sy'n para 1 funud 10 eiliad. Crëwyd y ffilm fud hon o ddeunydd fideo a gafwyd ac a ail-weithiwyd, sy'n darlunio môr o ffurfiau tonnog gyda symudiadau tonnau sy'n llwybro o frig y sgrin i'r gwaelod. Nid yw'n glir yn syth o beth y gwnaethpwyd y màs haniaethol amryliw hwn, yn lle, mae ei symudiad ailadroddus yn rhoi ansawdd sydd bron yn gerfluniol iddi. Mae'r olygfa mewn gwirionedd yn brofiad nofio mewn pwll tonnau tswnami wyneb i waered, gyda chyrff yn codi ac yn disgyn sy’n rhyngweithio â'u hysgafnder eu hunain ac yn colli'r hunan o fewn yr ymchwydd, gan archwilio realiti a natur artiffisial symudiad a chanfyddiad. Mae rhywbeth hwyliog yn digwydd ar yr un pryd â rhywbeth drwgargoelus. Meddai Alex Duncan, "Mae ble a sut rydym yn gosod ein hunain yn y byd, yr hyn rydym yn ymateb iddo fel bodau dynol a'n perthynas â deunyddiau, gwrthrychau a sefyllfaoedd yn fy nghyfareddu. Mae'r hyn sy'n real a'r hyn sy'n dynwared y real bob amser wedi fy nghyfareddu, ynghyd â pha mor oddrychol rydym yn ymateb i rywbeth rhwng y ddau gyflwr gwahanol hyn". Mae'r gwaith sy'n cyd-fynd â hwn, Like Swimming, sydd yng nghasgliad Oriel Gelf Glynn Vivian, yn osodiad 'cymhorthion arnofio achub bywydau' haearn bwrw. Mae crafiadau ac olion cnoi ar eu harwynebau, gan gyferbynnu ysgafnder ieuenctid ag ansicrwydd bywyd go iawn. Graddiodd Alex Duncan, a aned yn Abertawe, o Brifysgol Fetropolitan Abertawe yn 2007 ac enillodd ei radd meistr o'r Coleg Celf Brenhinol yn Llundain. Mae ei waith sy'n croestorri cerfluniau, arlunio, gwaith fideo a gosodiadau wedi cael ei arddangos yn y DU, yn enwedig Oriel Whitechapel, V&A, MOSTYN, Camden Arts Centre ac oriel gelf Ferens; ac yn rhyngwladol, gan gynnwys Milan, yr Eidal; Bilbao, Santander; Sbaen a Mawrisiws.

    3 min

About

An archive of Glynn Vivian Art Gallery talks, interviews, guides and music, ranging from historical to contemporary subjects, led by artists, curators, educators and historians. Glynn Vivian Art Gallery is is part of the City & County of Swansea and is supported by the Arts Council of Wales and through grant aid from CyMAL.