Curator Lauren Cookson interviewing project partner Kate Freeborough
Lauren: Kate, I see you working as an artist/magpie; very obsessively embellishing specific spaces with your practice. It is particularly relevant to this project that for your last exhibition SHELL at Spode Factory, Stoke-On-Trent, you chose a secluded corner of the site for your work. What was the reason for this?!
Kate: The Spode Factory, being a heritage site, holds so much history. Building 6 where “SHELL” was shown was full of character within the fabric of it’s walls. However, I am always drawn to smaller details of a space. The intricacies. These details are usually found in forgotten corners. While the centre of a room may be cleared, but the corners attract dust and decay, which acts as a historical account.
The particular corner I chose to work in at Spode had obvious unique shapes in the infrastructure of the building but I was also drawn to it because it was hidden from initial view. I prefer my work to be “happened upon” as opposed to it being the first thing the audience sees. This highlights the subtleties of my practice whilst asking the viewer to find the significant within the insignificant details of the space.
Over the few weeks that these tiny ceramic balls infiltrated the decay in this corner they began to collect dust and grime from the room. Previously foreign, they were, over time, merging with the space and becoming a part of its history.
“The soul of all this old dust from corners forgotten by brooms”.
Lauren: You see text and words as a very relevant part of your practice- your artist statement is a work of art in itself. Why did you feel a text piece was the right contribution to this project?!
Kate: I love the fact that you see my statement as a work of art, thank you.
The use of text in my practice began with collecting quotes. I wrote my final 3000 word written work on my Masters using only appropriated quotes to contextualise my practice. These were presented as a giant mind map. I still collect quotes as I feel that other people are often able to articulate my thoughts more concisely, even if I am taking their words out of context.
I am a process based artist, therefore any products, photographs, or films I refer to as documentation of the work. Text has become another level of documentation, used to preserve my experiences and memories. This in turn has become a new medium for me to work with. Also being a conceptual artist, I find that text helps me to clarify my practice, whether that is through my own words or words appropriated from others. The text piece I wrote for this project acts as both a documentation of past work and a clarity to my processes as an artist.
Lauren: In your piece you talk about a corner being a private space, where you can experience the solitude of practice. Do you prefer to work in this way oppose to the collaborative nature of a busy studio space?!
Kate: Working in a corner or private space is something that I have always done when creating. Creating work is meditative for me. I still manage to find that quiet through my processes whether I am working in solitude or in an extremely busy space. I become completely inward and lost in my work.
The gallery space (whether conventional or unconventional) acts as a studio for me. It is where my making and doing takes place. With this in mind, any artists who may be working in a space simultaneously to me, I regard as audience. Although I love to talk through concepts, ideas, and processes I see my work as autonomous, which, in turn, could explain why I am drawn to these private corners.
Lauren: How do you see this project infiltrating into your future practice?
Kate: I have investigated many aspects of my practice in great depth, as is the nature of being an artist, however, I have never before questioned why I choose to work privately or in hidden spaces (corners). When investigating this project I reminisced on recent exhibitions and events, finding that, even when creating live work, I always found a corner or private space to work in. By analysing my way of using and being drawn to corners I have become more aware of this aspect of my practice.
As I mentioned previously, working in text is a fairly new development for me so having the opportunity to create a text piece for this project has developed the impetus to create in this area more.
Kate: The Spode Factory, being a heritage site, holds so much history. Building 6 where “SHELL” was shown was full of character within the fabric of it’s walls. However, I am always drawn to smaller details of a space. The intricacies. These details are usually found in forgotten corners. While the centre of a room may be cleared, but the corners attract dust and decay, which acts as a historical account.
The particular corner I chose to work in at Spode had obvious unique shapes in the infrastructure of the building but I was also drawn to it because it was hidden from initial view. I prefer my work to be “happened upon” as opposed to it being the first thing the audience sees. This highlights the subtleties of my practice whilst asking the viewer to find the significant within the insignificant details of the space.
Over the few weeks that these tiny ceramic balls infiltrated the decay in this corner they began to collect dust and grime from the room. Previously foreign, they were, over time, merging with the space and becoming a part of its history.
“The soul of all this old dust from corners forgotten by brooms”.
Lauren: You see text and words as a very relevant part of your practice- your artist statement is a work of art in itself. Why did you feel a text piece was the right contribution to this project?!
Kate: I love the fact that you see my statement as a work of art, thank you.
The use of text in my practice began with collecting quotes. I wrote my final 3000 word written work on my Masters using only appropriated quotes to contextualise my practice. These were presented as a giant mind map. I still collect quotes as I feel that other people are often able to articulate my thoughts more concisely, even if I am taking their words out of context.
I am a process based artist, therefore any products, photographs, or films I refer to as documentation of the work. Text has become another level of documentation, used to preserve my experiences and memories. This in turn has become a new medium for me to work with. Also being a conceptual artist, I find that text helps me to clarify my practice, whether that is through my own words or words appropriated from others. The text piece I wrote for this project acts as both a documentation of past work and a clarity to my processes as an artist.
Lauren: In your piece you talk about a corner being a private space, where you can experience the solitude of practice. Do you prefer to work in this way oppose to the collaborative nature of a busy studio space?!
Kate: Working in a corner or private space is something that I have always done when creating. Creating work is meditative for me. I still manage to find that quiet through my processes whether I am working in solitude or in an extremely busy space. I become completely inward and lost in my work.
The gallery space (whether conventional or unconventional) acts as a studio for me. It is where my making and doing takes place. With this in mind, any artists who may be working in a space simultaneously to me, I regard as audience. Although I love to talk through concepts, ideas, and processes I see my work as autonomous, which, in turn, could explain why I am drawn to these private corners.
Lauren: How do you see this project infiltrating into your future practice?
Kate: I have investigated many aspects of my practice in great depth, as is the nature of being an artist, however, I have never before questioned why I choose to work privately or in hidden spaces (corners). When investigating this project I reminisced on recent exhibitions and events, finding that, even when creating live work, I always found a corner or private space to work in. By analysing my way of using and being drawn to corners I have become more aware of this aspect of my practice.
As I mentioned previously, working in text is a fairly new development for me so having the opportunity to create a text piece for this project has developed the impetus to create in this area more.