On Saturday 5 July, we hit the Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow, to facilitate the last of the Summer Programme [synonym] sessions with guest host artist — Maria Soroniati. Our writing cohort were immersed in Ciara Phillips’ Undoing It as they discussed the themes of life and death, investigating the in between highlighting its equal standing with the beginning and end.
The writing enthusiasts and ourselves were taken on a creative journey through Phillips’ process guided by Soroniati. As we tagged along with our host through GoMA’s Gallery 3 space, we absorbed Phillips’ act of endeavour indicated through synaptic lines, formulaic structures, and numeric signatures.
Feeling like we stumbled into Phillips’ sketchbook, the walls were papered with etches, scrapes, and scribbles, though it could also be described as an artist’s work station. Both interpretations point to the ‘in between’; the place of development for both conceptual and practical happenings.
The writers had their investigative caps on and did us the honour of sharing their finds. They highlighted the architecture of the gallery space used in tandem with this focus on life and death, beginning and end. In the first cube room parallel to the entry way was a large rectangular work, its skin canvas camouflaged with a wooden pattern. The black board is like an echo chamber, devoid of life except for one handwritten phrase “Being a human being” followed by a ‘()’ shape. Collectively we saw a vaginal shape, a space where conception occurs, but our artist host also noted it as a parenthesis which tends to contain material in between.
To continue on with the exhibition, we entered a rectangular space corridor, a “tunnel” our writers described. It was decorated with fragmented cuttings, collages, and other materials found on a work bench. Parallel to this patchwork wall was a singular canvas, similar to the “Being a human being” but instead is red. On it are measurements, lines, and drawings demonstrated by the artist’s handwriting. One of our writers, who is a practicing printmaker, shared their admiration for the practicality of the hefty process of making these works – highlighting that itself is a patchwork process to produce this piece.
In the last room, the wallpaper flips into a white colour with heavier and more notable black smudges, etches (a lot of parenthesis found across the wall). One wall reminiscent of the work bench / drawing board is now structured, with lines linking each piece. Featured amongst it is an easter egg of the artist themself who can only be seen from the left side of the small rectangular work. Another piece found on this wall is Toni Morrison who is quoted, describing the importance of sharing ones knowledge onto the next, to “free” the other as she puts it. On another wall, same orientation as “Being a human being ()”, begins with “Death to the Artist”. Concepted, developed, and finished. But in that final piece, the artist retorts poetically to the death letter. She writes that she must join “the dancers”, but she still has a “fee” to get, leaving the gates behind and on to continue her process (to which she has already decided only to use ultramarine).
Through these explorations we created maps to document our experiences of the room – our thoughts, movements and emotional response. It was with these individual drawings and writings that we began to piece them together as one big ‘score’, together composing a piece that would enable a collaborative creation. Collaging to create a ‘work in progress’ process of doing and un-doing.
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Final ‘work in-progess’ graphics by A-J Reynolds
Text, exquisite poem – plain text.
We would like to thank our wonderful host Maria Soroniati for making this such a special and fun session for July.
Thank you also to the GoMa for accommodating us and allowing us to use their amazing studio space for the afternoon.
Stay tuned for the further development but Maria, of the poems created during the session.
We have also announced our next [synonym] session for 24th August in collaboration with FEMME Gallery. Tickets can be booked here.
Gal bag. 