Souvenir Sculptures
Lead Research Organisation:
Newcastle University
Department Name: Sch of Arts and Cultures
Abstract
The Souvenir Sculpture research projects ask the questions:
As real visitors to cities, do utilitarian architectural forms alter our perception of the built environment as much as the 'postcard' subjects?
In cities that are marketing themselves through landmark architectural structures, what roles do bus shelters, grain silos, assembly rooms and electric sub-stations play in forming an accurate perception of place?
The research project will examine this perception of the built environment by investigating three UK cities that have been chosen because of their relationship to the European Capital of Culture scheme. The European Capital of Culture bidding process led to a focus on key city centre buildings and architectural structures, particularly in visual publicity material.
The Souvenir Sculpture projects seeks to widen the field of vision by visualising through two and three dimensions architectural structures which are located in the geographical and the visual periphery of these cities. Photographs of architectural structures deemed less iconic will be translated into three-dimensional representations which form the collection of Souvenir Sculptures. The practice-based research will be complemented by text, which will focus on the newly developed Souvenir Sculpture Collection in the context of the origins of the three-dimensional souvenir in establishing vistas of a city and the relationship between perceptions of the build environment and tourism.
The research outcome will be exhibited in national and international public galleries (Kunsthalle DUsseldorf; Renew Gallery, Liverpool; Workspace, Gateshead and Market Place, Glasgow) and as a monograph, published by RPAG, Derbyshire. Additionally, the research will be disseminated through a conference paper for the Archipuncture Programme (2006) organised by the Liverpool Biennial and the Culture Company, Liverpool.
The research is timely for two reasons:
It reflects upon an imaging ("branding") of cities that employs a limited and overused set of vistas of the build environment
It contributes to the current debate on the role of the artwork in establishing new ways of seeing and understanding seemingly banal and overlooked places through photography and sculpture and thus addressing issues pertaining to the construction of collective memory
Through the national and international exhibition, publication of monograph and conference paper, the Souvenir Sculpture project will contribute to a widening of the perception of the build environment to specialist and large non specialist audiences. It brings to the centre of attention architectural structures that are overlooked in the geographical and visual periphery of the three cities: Glasgow, Liverpool and Newcastle.
In so doing, the research project provides new vistas of these three cities, extending the visual representation of architectural structures to those which are not yet canonised and thus contributing to research undertaken in the field of culture and tourism.
As real visitors to cities, do utilitarian architectural forms alter our perception of the built environment as much as the 'postcard' subjects?
In cities that are marketing themselves through landmark architectural structures, what roles do bus shelters, grain silos, assembly rooms and electric sub-stations play in forming an accurate perception of place?
The research project will examine this perception of the built environment by investigating three UK cities that have been chosen because of their relationship to the European Capital of Culture scheme. The European Capital of Culture bidding process led to a focus on key city centre buildings and architectural structures, particularly in visual publicity material.
The Souvenir Sculpture projects seeks to widen the field of vision by visualising through two and three dimensions architectural structures which are located in the geographical and the visual periphery of these cities. Photographs of architectural structures deemed less iconic will be translated into three-dimensional representations which form the collection of Souvenir Sculptures. The practice-based research will be complemented by text, which will focus on the newly developed Souvenir Sculpture Collection in the context of the origins of the three-dimensional souvenir in establishing vistas of a city and the relationship between perceptions of the build environment and tourism.
The research outcome will be exhibited in national and international public galleries (Kunsthalle DUsseldorf; Renew Gallery, Liverpool; Workspace, Gateshead and Market Place, Glasgow) and as a monograph, published by RPAG, Derbyshire. Additionally, the research will be disseminated through a conference paper for the Archipuncture Programme (2006) organised by the Liverpool Biennial and the Culture Company, Liverpool.
The research is timely for two reasons:
It reflects upon an imaging ("branding") of cities that employs a limited and overused set of vistas of the build environment
It contributes to the current debate on the role of the artwork in establishing new ways of seeing and understanding seemingly banal and overlooked places through photography and sculpture and thus addressing issues pertaining to the construction of collective memory
Through the national and international exhibition, publication of monograph and conference paper, the Souvenir Sculpture project will contribute to a widening of the perception of the build environment to specialist and large non specialist audiences. It brings to the centre of attention architectural structures that are overlooked in the geographical and visual periphery of the three cities: Glasgow, Liverpool and Newcastle.
In so doing, the research project provides new vistas of these three cities, extending the visual representation of architectural structures to those which are not yet canonised and thus contributing to research undertaken in the field of culture and tourism.
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Brigitte Jurack (Principal Investigator) |
| Title | Exhibition of the Souvenir Sculpture collection at the Kunsthalle Duesseldorf (Germany) and in the UK, at Arena Gallery, Liverpool during the Liverpool 06 Biennial. |
| Description | Exhibition (solo exhibition) entitled: ich sehe schwarz weiss at Arena Gallery, Arena Studios , Liverpool, during the Liverpool Biennial 2006. Solo exhibition contained 30 new sculptures (portraits of buildings). The same sculptures were also exhibited in the Kunsthalle Duesseldorf , Germany in 2008 as part of the exhibition entitled 'Klasse Kamp' and included in the exhibition catalogue and in a further solo show, that additionally displayed 30 prints, at Globe Gallery, Newcastle (2008) |
| Type Of Art | Artistic/Creative Exhibition |
| Year Produced | 2006 |
| Impact | The success of the intitial exhibition lead to further exhibitions of the work in Germany and the NE of England, reaching a wide range of audiences. The Liverpool exhibition held during the Biennial was seen by specialist and non specialist national audiences , the exhibition in Duesseldorf , in the second most important public contemporary art gallery was seen by both academic specialist and a wide range of non-specialist audiences. Following the success of these two shows the Globe Gallery, Newcastle deemed it important to also exhibit the work in Newcastle. |
| Description | Relationship between memory and place in regards to vernacular architecture in the 'second' cities in Europe in regards to the question of the artist as international globetrotter. Additional finding was in regards to souvenir images, ranging from early prints of vistas of Rome to photograsphs and drawings of overlooked buildings in 'second cities'. |
| Exploitation Route | Publication and exhibition are providing an example of fusing heritage and contemporay art concerns, especially in relation to questions regarding the cultural role of the artist as international globetrotter. |
| Sectors | Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Description | The findings have been used in form of further exhibitions of artworks discussed in the monograph : Irfaran. Exhibitions were held at: Kunsthalle, Duessdorf (Germany) and Globe Gallery, Newcastle |
| First Year Of Impact | 2006 |
| Sector | Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Impact Types | Cultural |