JANE PICKERSGILL
Overview - an interest in Marc Auge’s propositions (Non- Places: Introduction to an anthropology of Super-modernity) motivated me to apply for this residency in Canary Wharf – for me, the ultimate non-place in London.
It is a sterile homogenous business environment with particularly large, open, dull exterior spaces between tower blocks. The 'estate' is largely pedestrianised and though this generally facilitates human contact and increased 'street life' pretty much every possible activity in the 'street' is monetised and commoditised and lingering is discouraged except in cafes. Many people working in this non-place only seem to go outside for a few minutes; to smoke or to buy food. The building of residential properties on the site will probably not impact on this lack of communal life as they are simply more tall blocks of luxury apartments.
The residency did not change my antipathy to the environment however, it did make me start to look closer for redemptive qualities, both aesthetic and also anthropological. I noticed neglect and small 'rebellions' or interventions by users, especially on the less noticed edge-lands of the estate. I also found inspiration in the patterns and effects of mundane environmental and architectural detailing.
This residency was initiated by Andrea Coltman, alumni of Wimbledon MFA, following on from her Bank Street Residency in the same vicinity last summer. It's rolling title is 16 artists 6 weeks. The residency started on Aug 22nd and ran until September 29th 2017.
Benefits of working in a residency:
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responding to the workspace, site specificities and the environment
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identify its relevance to individual artists' practice
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identifying key themes coming out of discussions / site responsive work
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collaborating; looking for opportunities to exhibit with residency peers
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sharing peer skills and knowledge
Some activities :
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health and safety induction, which involved individually answering a detailed questionnaire
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security induction; checking of identity documentation and fingerprinting for the rigorously enforced entry point to the site.
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walking tour of the facilities, including our 'outdoor' working area.
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walking tour of the construction site accompanied by construction site manager
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discussion on photography permits
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visit to the marketing suite and an hour long presentation about the Canary Wharf site; it's history, development, management.
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individual presentations to each other, the residency artists - on the 'bones' of their practice and what they hoped to achieve, and found interesting about the residency opportunity
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introduction to the 'studio' room we have been allocated and its limitations, no running water, bland white interior, few resources allowed to be used. It is mainly for presentations and collaborative working
Observations :
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the site is proud of its health and safety record and makes strenuous efforts to keep it by rigorously enforcing rules, those transgressing get suspensions and can be issued with a lifetime ban from all Canary Wharf Contractor's future building sites.
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conditions are much better than I expected - welfare facilities are good and cleanliness, safety on site is prized.
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despite appearances on site there are many nationalities working here. All notices are in English only. Other nationalities use translation facilities and managers to communicate.
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the marketing presentation was mostly impressive for the views from high up on One Canada Square (the flagship buidling of Canary Wharf) and for the suite of models dating back to the first part of the development and incorporating future proposals.
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I was personally unaware of the extent of infrastructure funding which CW had provided for the area. This financial pledge was obviously part of the original decision making process to give the company the rights to developing the docklands site.
 Getting Started |  The Wharf - feature |  Marketing suite visit - models |
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 Artwork transformed into outfit |  Animating the white space |  Photography |
Reflections and observations :
'Getting started' activity was a terrific and fun way to find out more about how we work and about how we can work with limited resources and facilities - steps included
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individually going to one of the other artists, telling them something we liked or which defined us
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then in pairs we told the other artist an idea we would throw out of the world (pulling it from 'out of the box') like 'brain storming'
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separating into 3 groups we took a communal approach to working on blank paper - accepting sharing resources and having them removed from time to time
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to animate the white box of a room we had been allocated, we then installed the paper works in various ways and presented to the other groups - one group did a performance involving the work, one peer wrapped part of our work around me as 'art to wear'
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we then went out into the estate, found an item or photographed something we liked or which related to our practice
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we explained individually ( one artist to another ) what the item meant to us and why we picked it
'Critique' workshop - how to help peers develop their work through discussion. Approaches involved:
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observational - where the viewer simply comments on the piece they are viewing in regards to materials. The artist cannot respond or answer questions but simply listens to the observations raised.
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a 'shit sandwich' approach - in which the piece is commented on in 3 segments starting with something particularly good, moving on to the negative or weak aspects which need further work, then finishing with positive news again - about potential improvements or paths forward
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a structured critique which might focus on curation, materiality and the concept of the piece and involve questioning the artist about all of these elements.
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an important element of the workshop for me was to learn how to bring audiences into your work at an early stage, not just when the work is finished but in progress, to benefit from the viewer input.
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at the end we each gave a short presentation about our making intentions for the residency and beyond. This helped us establish who we might collaborate with during or after the residency finishes in week 6. It was also agreed that we would show work emanating from this residency in 2018.
 Macro photos of details - folded |  Surfaces juxtaposed |  Paper mobile |
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 Paper mobile detail of thread |  Hanging clamp, thread, sticky note |
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