Date/Time
Date(s) - 16/05/2014
5:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Location
Undegun
Categories No Categories
Artist Talk by Stefan Gant at Undegun
Friday 16th May @ 5.30pm
Oriel Wrecsam Off-Site Project, Supported by Arts Council of Wales
Event Details
This summer Oriel Wrecsam presents three outstanding artists in a timed and guided experience in an unusual space in the centre of Wrexham. The work is housed in space not usually accessed by the public and each artist explores aspects of place. Stefan Gant is the first in the series
Stefan Gant Tug of War Drawing Project Supported by the Arts Council of Wales Tir Tynnu Rhaff (Tug of War Land) Tir Tynnu Rhaff is a 28ft x 3ft cast in graphite and resin of the ground in Llanybidder, Sir Gâr following a National Welsh Tug of War contest. The ground, containing the remnants of heel marks, ridges and hummocks narrates the Tug of War events generated through a one day culmination of competitive activity from teams across Wales. Derived from a plaster mould taken from the location, the resulting cast realised over an eight month period is both monumental and pays homage to the event, elevated on steel pins. The foot marks embedded in the cast act as a story telling device, revealing the struggles and episodes of the days events made by teams across Wales. The cast depicts strong geological connotation whilst equally a remnant of the raw human event. The traces left by the actions when reviewed closely expand enquiry through the topography of the welsh landscape made by its communities in new visual formats.
Lloegr y.e. Cymru (England vs. Wales) Video Documentary (Slow Motion) Duration 20 minutes The multi-camera video production portrays England (Oxney Vines Cross TOW Club) against Wales (Clwb Tynnu Rhaff Llanboidy, Sir Gâr) in a National Tug of War Competition. The slow motion portrayal depicts temporal ideas concerning the past, fragmentation, tension and deep cultural rivalry. Importantly, the piece plays with the link and connectivity between these two ancient cultural adversaries and essentially the psychology of human nature. The identity of the winner is cut short, alluding to a continued questioning. The piece formed part of a year-long project travelling with Welsh teams and communities, recording and exploring the relationship between expanded notions of drawing and the activity of the tug of war contest. This video was a highlight of the project, creating new visual manifestations. The video is considered a drawing, portraying notions of line, tension, boundaries, territories, gesture, physicality and performance, re-suggesting what drawing can be. The low pitch sounds carry deep-rooted notions of masculinity in its rawest form generated through the slowing process. The sound accentuates ideas of weight and force, though also embraces agricultural sounds, inherent to many of the rural participants.
Pwyso (Weigh-In) Duration 6mins (Silent) The video installation depicts the initial ritual stage of weighing-in prior to a Tug of War contest. Teams are collectively weighed into associated weight classes and finally ‘stamped’ or ‘branded’ through an approval stamp. The video documents the context of this act whilst the process of undressing and shedding clothing presents strong, evocative and almost sacrificial elements to this ritual sport. The video is monochromatic, silent and is soley engaged in visual observation, analysis and re-presentation. Notions of drawing are expanded though the mark given by the official and leg of the receiver.
