Preview: Spike Island Open Studios

One of the bolted-down highlights of Bristol’s annual visual arts calendar returns at the very end of this month.

Spike Island’s Open Studios sees the artspace’s dozens of resident artists and creative tenants throwing open their doors over the first May Bank Holiday weekend, inviting art lovers and strolling families alike to wander the building, explore the artists’ working environment and learn what they do.

As ever, the 2016 Open Studios will feature a full programme of performances, exhibitions, pop-up kitchens, tours, screenings, and more. Opening night celebrations on Friday April 29 (6-9pm) will be followed by a party in the sculpture yard with DJs. Spike’s galleries will also be open, allowing visitors to see the current exhibition by artist Michael Beutler – who’ll also be hosting a special family workshop working with DIY machines.

More highlights for this year’s Open Studios include a makeshift cinema, outdoor bingo-driven fitness activities, disruptive public service announcements, stairwell installations of light and sound, and live molten rock casting (read on for more on that). And, as ever, there’s plenty of splendid food and drink on site, brought to you by some of Bristol’s best street food traders.

We grabbed a quick word, below, with two of Spike’s resident artists who’ll be opening their studio doors and revealing their unique artistic methods.

Spike Island Open Studios Apr 29-May 2. For more info, visit www.spikeisland.org.uk/events/activities/spike-island-open-studios-2016

Artist profile Jo Lathwood

Tell us about your artistic practice.
I trained in fine art sculpture, and my practice ranges from large-scale installations to smaller conceptual pieces. I am curious about how things are fabricated, and I use a wide variety of materials to reveal forgotten methods. These alchemical processes have led me to learn how to make my own pencil leads and bronze, as well as creating sculptures out of tree resin.
Play is essential to my work and development. It is often through experimentation that I find new ways of working. My current project ‘Is it Magma?’ explores how to use molten volcanic rock to create a new body of work.
Themes in my work include natural phenomena, structures and movement. I want to engage the audience through a common memory and share ideas through visual language.

What can visitors to your studio during Open Studios expect?
In my studio (no. 19) there will be a showcase of new work in collaboration with Solveig Settemsdal (another Spike Island artist) and some work in progress from the ‘Is it magma?’ project.
On Monday afternoon (May 2, 3-5pm), I will also be doing a live lava pour in the sculpture courtyard, so visitors can see some molten rock – and understand better how I have been creating some of these new artworks.

What do you think the Open Studios achieves, both for artists and visitors?
For artists it’s an opportunity to preview new ideas and talk to a wide range of people. I have built an environment that inspires me, and I find great satisfaction in sharing the functionality of this space with others. Open Studios also allows visitors to see a wide range of art practices and processes. I think it’s really important for the public to have access to art studios.

www.isitmagma.com / www.jolathwood.co.uk

Artist profile Ben Rowe

Tell us about your artistic practice
I grew up fascinated by the aesthetics of science fiction film and television props from the 1980s and 1990s. Mechanical, robotic and part-organic objects, sometimes functional but always mysterious, inform my sculptural works. My works are made from black Valcromat, I utilise the particularities of this material to sculpt forms that recall talismanic objects from an unknown, perhaps dystopian, future. My sculptures are very labour intensive, crafted by hand with no digital design. My finished ideas are only part-planned in my mind and each sculpture evolves more freely through the process of making.

What will visitors find in your studio?
I plan to show new pieces that I have been working on over the past year. I am just finishing the last one and hoping to get it finished in time for the Open. I also have my workshop on show for visitors to see the space in which the finished pieces were made for the public to see me at work.

What do you think Spike Island Open Studios means for the artists at Spike?
Spike Open provides a great platform for all the artists at Spike to showcase their work to a large public audience. It provides a space where the public can meet the artists and talk about the work in a relaxed environment, a very different context to that of a gallery where the artist is not present. It’s also a space for the artists to see other artists’ work, and to start the groundwork for possible future collaborations/ exhibitions etcetera.

And what about visitors: what do you think it offers them?
Spike Open allows the public to see behind the scenes, they can explore the building seeing spaces they don’t normally have access to. They can see a range of different artworks, from a diverse range of artists and practices, all in one place. Seeing the spaces where the works are made allows visitors to explore more deeply the artists’ inspirations and starting points. They can meet the artists and talk to them to learn more about the artworks and artists, and to discover the wealth of amazing activity that goes on here.

www.benrowe.org