Category: Professional Practice Development

This year I was part of the Catalogue Committee for our end of year publication to accompany our Degree Show. Initially we started thinking about fundraising and how we might raise money through an auction, clothes sale or bake sale, but in the end we did not need as much money as we initially thought. We had already done one clothes sale however, so we decided to use the money for an opening night celebration for the students and staff etc.

One of our main jobs on the committee was to find, meet and work with a designer to develop the visual layout of the catalogue. We were recommended Andra Priboi as she was already working with other students and had a good variety of publications and work in her portfolio. We set up a brief meeting where we explained the job and the deadlines, we also gave her some initial ideas about colour layout etc. Later on she gave us samples of her own thoughts and ideas and we discussed them as a group and then again with Andra so she can realise the final product.

Another part of my role was to review statements from fellow students and format them for the catalogue design. This was a challenging task as they were all so different and needed different levels of editing. However, I never edited too much of the statement other than grammar, I wanted their statements to be true to how they reflect on their work and practice. After all it is everyone’s catalogue and should not represent just the committee’s preference.

There were many challenges throughout, mainly to do with the short amount of time we had and the difficulty of organising multiple people to a single schedule. It was also at times hard to have conversations around design and layout as some members had strong opinions and compromise was difficult, whereas others were sometimes not vocal or expressive enough.

In the end we worked through the issues together problem solving with meetings and using WhatsApp to stay in contact and on top of deadlines. This was also a useful resource, as well as OneDrive, for exchanging files and keeping information synchronised.

Below is my Artist CV with as much relevant information as possible, viewing myself like this really shows me where my gaps in knowledge and practice are. This will hopefully allow me to focus and develop these in the future.

Jonny Bennett

Contact Information

Location: Leicester based

E-mail: jonny-bennett@outlook.com

Instagram: @lativ_si_tra

Blog:

Biography

Mixed media artist currently practicing painting, sculpture and installation to explore ideas like, subconscious expression, culture, sustainability, and memory.

Based now in Leicester, have lived and worked in Peterborough and Stoke-On-Trent
 

Education & Awards:

Winner of DMU Graduate award – LOVE Art 2021

Bachelors Degree in Fine Art – De Montfort University

Extended Diploma in Art & Design – Stamford College
 

Exhibitions:

Weird Garden in Leicester Gallery – 26th May 2022

World of Emotion in Atkins Gallery – February to March 2022

Ways of Seeing in De Montfort Shop Front – February to April 2022

SEED Grant Workshop in Leicester Gallery – February 26-27th 2022

LOVE Art Exhibition Open call in Leicester 11/2021

 – Won the DMU Graduate Award

Ourwoods Independent Exhibition in Charnwoods -May 2021

Party in the Car Park in Stamford College – May 2018

One World Week in Stamford Arts Centre – October 2017

Publications:

1:1 Collective Exhibition Catalogue

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Commissions:

Nil

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Collections:

Nil

This is the team that were part of the collective SEED Event in the Leicester Gallery at DMU. The event ran over the weekend of the 26th/27th of February and was dedicated to exploring creative applications of discarded waste from the fashion industry. It was an event to not just raise awareness, but examine practical skills and methods that could be used to develop future workshops for members of the community.

When we arrived we were met with 8-10 large bags of off-cut fabrics from a local warehouse, all of these would have ended in landfill or in expensive recycling processes (which are sometimes just as bad for the planet as landfill), we also had several large bags of collected donated and unusable clothing we gathered ourselves from the community and local charity shops.

We set out to explore various ideas but these were not collectively, each individual had their own approach and we allowed everyone to act on these ideas. Some were concerned with linking it to artistic practice such as painting, others wanted to make visual representations or link it to their own artistic practice. Others wanted to upcycle the clothes into improved garments, practical and experimental, or create more conceptual representations of the scale and effect of the waste.

For me this involved making an installation that displayed two things, the beauty of some of these discarded and unwanted clothes, as well as the scale and complex nature of this issue. There were many other thoughts and notions that governed me such as I wanted to make the display feel nostalgic and familiar but also uncanny and eerie. This was achieved by reflecting a wash line and classic notions of families hanging washing together, but also by sewing all of the clothes together and tying/pegging them down in unorthodox ways.

On the second day we set out to resolve outcomes which involved people finishing their individual pieces and refining the display of the installation generally, as well as documenting the outcomes. This was an enjoyable process and it was great to see the variety we had been able to achieve in a short and focused time period.

In the end the main installation featured the hung display of conjoined waste clothing, this domestic feeling was added to by the presence of duvet covers and cushions, some homemade, that were displayed as though in some sort of blanket fort or den. There were also several items of clothing and bags that were made by other students which were displayed on the wall and worn by other members of the team.

My reflection/assessment is that the project was overall a big success for its first event, we had a decent amount of interest from passersby so expanding this project is definitely a goal of mine. I think we succeeded well at exploring varied ideas and seeing what worked and what was less effective, we also managed to agree on this mostly and it was good to see the group connecting and working collectively.

In the future I would like to develop this into a recurring project that can be done anywhere, one that allows people to explore creativity with discarded waste but also learn practical skills of sewing and editing/repairing clothes. I would also like to transform this into an accessible resource to allow others to explore this idea beyond just myself and the team.

I would also like to see DMU embrace the ideas and notions raised by our project and look into how they can bring sustainability into the university community. For example a university exchange where leaving students can gift or sell items to arriving student to discourage everyone from buying brand new everything for no reason.

An immense thank you to Mary, Sam, Chloe, Isobelle, Nathan, Helen, Nico and Issy for modelling. Also to DMU and the SEED Grant committee for allowing us to realise this project.

A group of us this year decided to reach out to galleries and try to host our own group show, initially this was done by just getting in touch with galleries via e-mail, going in to talk to them, reaching out at openings or when shows are on. Many of these methods were unsuccessful since a lot of galleries already had busy show calendars. We eventually found a gallery in the centre of Hinckley that was available in February of 2022.

After finding the gallery we assigned various roles to advertising, marketing, curation and funding etc. Unfortunately over the course of the year many of the members on those teams dropped out and we were left in a situation where we had to find solutions to the outstanding issues, this involved repeating some of the duties that had already been completed. I was part of the funding team and when we lost other team members it became clear we would have to self fund in order to allow everyone the freedom and time they need to complete their studies.

We decided to self fund and chose a general theme to allow each artist more freedom instead of having to make a specific piece of work for the show and its context. There was then a period of a month or two while people completed their pieces before we needed to collect each work. In the meantime we went around and tried to see everyone’s work and get statements about the work. This was to aid in curation of the space and to ensure the artworks looked as cohesive as possible despite their variance.

The final steps were gathering work and organising transport to the gallery this was done by car and train and mainly by our leaders Jasmine and Catia. In the end the exhibition was installed and up for 3 weeks before it was dismantled, which I helped with in a minor way.

The main lessons I have learned from this experience are around managing expectations and building in buffers for mistakes or unexpected issues. Also I would not organise an exhibition for as many people (Around 26+) since it becomes a difficult logistical task. I think a group of 6-10 would have been enough to divide responsibilities whilst also maintaining a small enough group to be able to manage and communicate with.

The positives were that we received some good feedback and some of us even sold work, the gallery were also very complimentary and said if there were ever any future exhibitions we had in mind to get in touch. We were also able to finish and realise a diverse show where everyone’s work shined individually and we all achieved a lot as a group and a collective.

In November my lecturer approached me and some others regarding a SEED Grant that DMU had access to, roughly £5000 total to give away to small projects based around the UN’s sustainability goals.

https://sdgs.un.org/goals – Link to UN website regarding sustainable development goals

We discussed which of the 17 goals we would try to address, since the grant is small and our time as 3rd years is limited. However we still wanted to have a significant impact so we chose Goal 12: Sustainable Consumption and Production as our focus.

As a group we then discussed several ideas and notions eventually deciding that the fashion industry was a good target (since people predominantly wear clothes) consumption of fast fashion has increased over the years and new branding and marketing strategies virulently advertise to younger people who are more likely to partake in this fast paced consumer culture.

My lecturer at that point told us that even though charity shops say they recycle unusable clothes that in actual fact they end up being shipped to other countries to become part of their second hand fashion economy, even though they will be sold at high price, also contributing to the decline of smaller native/indigenous clothes making groups/companies.

At this point we settled on this as the focus of our application and brainstormed what sort of action we could take, as fine artist we decided making a creative outcome would be most interesting. I added that if we approached it from a craft based perspective we could make useful objects or mementos that the public could take with them as a way of raising awareness.

The group was interested in this idea and I also pointed out that if we made some sort of instruction or legacy package (that would explain to others how to make creative outcomes from unusable fabric) then our project would have a continued sustainable impact. It would also encourage others to build on our small SEED grant and be even more ambitious to raise awareness of have a positive impact.

We drafted a project proposal including evidence of the issue and of the need to raise awareness around the hidden costs of the fashion we consume, I also at this point suggested the name of our project could be Cheap Trends – Hidden Costs. We also spoke to Hugo in the Leicester gallery regarding using the space to make and display the outcomes over a weekend, this was to coincide with the weekend of DMU’s Teaching Festival.

We also had a meeting with Anna one of the student members of the committee just to clarify that our proposal was along the right lines and to see if our proposal would meet the criteria for the grant. She was enthusiastic about the project and encouraged us to submit an application, also stating that this information on the fashion industry was new information to her as well.

I decided to put some work into an Open Call in Leicester known as LOVE Art, it is run primarily by Phil Hackett with a team of curators and artists who examine curate and display the work, as well as democratically decide which piece is assigned one of the 12 awards given at the end of the exhibition.

I chose to put 3 pieces forward and payed the subsequent entry fee, this was stressful since I have never submitted work before and I had to use some older paintings as newer ones were still in development. I did not feel that confident but I was glad that I submitted something and made the effort to try.

A week or so later I heard very last minute from a friend that I had been selected (emails had been going to spam folder of course) and I needed to bring the work wrapped so that it could be stored by the end of the next day. Again this was stressful and unforeseen but fortunately I was able to wrap and get the work to LCB Depot in time.

Eventually the show opened up and I went to see it with some other students some who had submitted some who had not, we went around all of the venues LCB Depot, Orton’s Brasserie, The Curve etc. Manhattan 34 was sadly closed for a private event. We saw everyone’s work including my own that had ended up in 3 different places, the arrangement in most cases was brilliant however the lighting in The Curve was less than ideal.

I ended up having a conversation with a man about my work at Orton’s Brasserie, my piece was on display with another and was right next to his table where he was dining. He asked me a few questions about the context and motivation and what I was doing, he then wished me luck after his friend invited me for dinner, I assume as a joke! They were all very complementary and grateful to have spoken with me and the feeling was mutual.

I saw the exhibition a number of times again with other friends who had work as well as with my parents. Eventually it came to closing night which coincided with the Last Friday event in the Cultural Quarter (where galleries are open later to the public than usual), LCB has its own version with street food and music. I attended with a number of my friends and classmates and it was a really good turnout, we spoke to each other about winning and a few of us decided we didn’t want to so we didn’t have to face the spotlight.

In the end I did win an award, for which I am grateful even though in the moment I was overwhelmed, for my piece Toxicity. It was my favourite of the three I put in so I am glad it won but in the presence of so much other great work it felt like the award belonged to others more than me and I felt bad that they were not acknowledged. In truth a few other students at DMU also won awards.

On reflection I can appreciate the honour of being acknowledged for the effort I put in even though it was older work I still did the work, which at the time was difficult and a great achievement. I am also grateful for everyone’s kind words to me even when I felt undeserving, I appreciate the support and want to carry this sense of community appreciation and support forward with me.

I plan to apply for more open calls as well as maintain contact with LCB in order to be involved in future events. I am also looking forward to some other projects and exhibitions I have that are on-going.

Above are my 3 pieces, Toxicity which was shown at LCB Depot, Wanderer which was shown at Orton’s Brasserie and Perspective which was on display at The Curve.

Below are pictures of some of the artwork of my classmates and artists from around Leicester and beyond.

This is a screenshot of the prize winners page and a link below.

https://www.loveartexhibition.co.uk/2021-prize-winners