Constellations is a free learning and development programme for nine UK-based artists who are working with socio-political issues, community-oriented practice and/or public contexts. Conceived by UP Projects and delivered in partnership with Flat Time House, the programme supports artists to develop their practice, collaborate with others, access new networks.
Constellations is a partnership between UP Projects and Flat Time House.
The eight artists for Constellations 2019/20 were Amanda Ramasawmy, Angharad Davies, Dunya Kalantery, Edwin Mingard, Hannah Kemp-Welch, Katie Fiore, Mai Omer and Miki Holloway. To read the artists full biographies, please click here.
Over the course of the 2019-2020 the participating artists attended workshops led by Rosalie Schweiker, Kathrin Böhm, Torange Khonsari from public works, Davina Drummond, Daniel Fernández Pascual & Alon Schwabe from Cooking Sections, Samaneh Moafi from Forensic Architecture and Topher Campbell. The group also devised self-led sessions and programmed three public events.
2019-20 Public Events
During the second iteration of the Constellations progamme, the group devised and presented a range of public events across London.
Flat Time House, 18th January 2020, 4.30 - 9pm
‘Doing your homework - Eating your dinner - Drawing a picture’
This event was hosted by the Constellations group 2019-2020. It included a screening of films from the London Community Video Archive introduced by Ed Webb-Ingall, a meal for participants and a publication launch.
Children from Belham Primary, the school opposite Flat Time House, visited John Latham’s studio home. In explaining Latham’s thinking to the group, Curator/Director Gareth Bell-Jones focused on how, to an eight year old, each of the rooms of the house relates to different states of being: rational, instinctive and intuitive; ‘ doing your homework – eating your dinner – drawing a picture’
The Constellations group followed the same approach.
Marking the end of ten months working together, the cohort considered modes of collaboration in relation to public and private space within the context of FTHo as both a living sculpture and a domestic setting. Films from the London Community Video Archive were screened, a communal meal served, and a publication was launched on the day, dealing with themes of public/private, the domestic and socially engaged practice. Ed Webb-Ingall of the LCVA introduced the archive.
Contributions by Amanda Ramasawmy, Angharad Davies, Dunya Kalantery, Edwin Mingard, Hannah Kemp-Welch, Katie Fiore, Mai Omer and Miki Holloway.
You can download the event publication below,
A publication responding to the themes of public/private, the domestic and socially engaged practice assembled for 'doing your homework - eating your dinner - drawing a picture' at Flat Time House.
Written and produced by Amanda Ramasawmy, Angharad Davies, Dunya Kalantery, Edwin Mingard, Hannah Kemp-Welch, Katie Fiore, Mai Omer and Miki Holloway, 2020.
London Community Video Archive
Based at Goldsmiths, University of London, the London Community Video Archive preserves, archives and shares community videos made in the 1970s/80s in London and the South East. With an overriding commitment to social empowerment and to combating exclusion, 'Community Video' dealt with issues which still have a contemporary resonance — housing, play-space, discrimination, youth arts.
Barbican, Life Rewired Hub, 30 October 2019
Three unique workshops were held at the Life Rewired Hub at Barbican on 30th October. Through collaboration, co-creation and peer-to-peer learning methodologies, each workshop explored the implications of an accelerated, networked lifestyle on human relations. The workshops were as follows:
Workout body, by Mai Omer and Miki Holloway
A set of literary and visual provocations which focused on collaborative actions, their raison d’être and potential outcomes. Through these provocations, we invited participants to reflect on the differing group dynamics present in their lives, and had them create fictional or realistic narratives of their own.
100% sleep: I’ve let the data giants into my private life and now I track my dreams through electricity, by Angharad Davies, Edwin Mingard and Katie Fiore
Salt water is a natural Wifi and GPS blocking technology. The sea shanty workshop attempted to disrupt the digital by inviting the waters of the Barbican lake to turn saline, thereby interfering with the multiple tracking technologies that encircle the centre.
Show me the face of your digital voice, by Hannah Kemp-Welch, Dunya Kalantery and Amanda Ramasawmy
From virtual assistants to supermarket checkouts, the digital voice is embedded in our cities. But who does it belong to, who does it speak for and what imprint does it leave on us? We listened together in this practical workshop, to test the strategies of these machines.
Art Night, Gasholder No.8, King's Cross, 22 June 2019
Through an intervention that circled the perimeter of the Gasholder Park in Kings Cross, the Constellations group invited audiences to engage with both a private and a public space. A text-based artwork directed participants to walk from the Gasholder Park to a new location and in doing so encouraged a dialogue on permission, tolerance and publicness.
2019-20 Initiatives
During this year, the programme has been showcased as part of the following initiatives:
New Contemporaries annual open call, 9 December 2019 – 27 January 2020
Recognising the merit and value of alternative programmes of study, New Contemporaries open call invites submissions from number of non-degree awarding programmes including Constellations alongside Syllabus, Open School East, School of the Damned, TOMA and many more. From 2019 the New Contemporaries open call accepts submissions from eligible Constellations participants for the 2020 exhibition.
South London Gallery, Fire Station, 7-8 September 2019
On 8 September the Constellations programme participated in an ‘alternative’ university fair as part of Working it out, a weekend of pop-up events at the South London Gallery Fire Station aimed at young people considering a career in the arts. We explored new learning models from across the UK in a fair for organisations running alternative arts programmes outside of academic institutions.
Constellations 2019-20 Schedule
Workshop led by Daniel Fernández Pascual & Alon Schwabe from Cooking Sections, 13 November 2019, held at Cubitt
Workshop led by Topher Campbell, 29 October 2019, held at Barbican
Workshop led by Samaneh Moafi from Forensic Architecture, 28 September 2019, held at Goldsmiths
Workshop led by Kathrin Böhm, 16 July 2019, held at Whitechapel Gallery and Company Drinks
Workshop led by Davina Drummond, 15 July 2019, held at Flat Time House
Workshop led by Torange Khonsari from public works, 15 May 2019, held at Flat Time House
Workshop led by Rosalie Schweiker, 9 April 2019, held at Flat Time House and offsite across London
Constellations is generously supported by Constellations Patrons and UP Supporters. To find out more please visit our Support Us page
