year 9, barking abbey school & katy binks present: “bad destroyer”
click on image to play movie.
credits
year 9, barking abbey school
teachers:
niamh murray & jean hart (hlta)
and special thanks to:
ed firth, luca pinna & philippa edwards
they say “if you build it, they will come”. well, she’s building it
katy binks loves cities! she’s fascinated by the events that occur within them, whether they’re complex, simple, or even mundane. katy’s able to capture and repackage a city’s rhythm in her work. she’s got a few gems to pull reference from having spent large chunks of time in south korea, singapore and most recently china. her latest ‘hub’ is london. katy uses the disciplines of drawing, printmaking and installation to map geographical landscapes of cities. don’t expect these landscapes to be literal depictions though, because katy’s architecture stems from the collisions of different experiences, memories and perceptions of cities she’s lived in… and anticipations of ones she hopes to in the future.
katy’s residency at the gift shop starts on monday february 23rd through to march the 7th. during this time, she’ll be creating an installation exploring the concept of ‘city’. she will fuse the piece (which is planned to occupy the whole gallery space) with the gift shop through the use of recycled material from 2a east mount street itself as well as material from within whitechapel.
katy’s installation and residency is an open invitation to collaborate in the creation of the piece. both the public and members from the arts community are welcome to participate and create certain parts of the landscape (check back later on this week for the post that’ll show you how). through time lapse photography, an accompanying film will be unveiled and shown from march the 5th through to the 8th. until then, if you’re in the city, stop by and participate in the residency that’s aptly named “our city”.
some stuff you need to know: because of the nature and size of ‘our city’, we anticipate that from march the 5th, we will have to limit the number of people who can explore the installation at a given point in time (as you will literally be climbing over buildings ala king-kong). for people’s safety and to protect the installation, if you plan on attending during the evenings of the 5th through to the 7th, please e-mail info@thewhitechapelgiftshop.com with name, number of people in your party and time you’re anticipating on arriving.
the gift shop will be open to everyone from 12:00pm – 5pm from february 23 – march 04 except for thursday february 26 when a private workshop is being held.
on march 05, the gift shop will open from 7 – 9pm
on march 06 – 07, the gift shop will open from 12:00pm – 5pm
at the gift marketplace tomorrow….
there will be treats to share and things made by people and given by people and some of their drawings and some of their stories and probably a film and maybe some 5-aside and possibly some drumming and most definitely a RAFFLE and some screen prints and some questions and a stall and photos and stuff on the walls.
and much much love.
skills / verity here
skill
an ability to do an activity or job well, especially because you have practised it
this is what a skill is according to the cambridge dictionary. i’ve been playing tennis with this term in my head for the last few months or so, ever since i wrote the proposal for this residency. i’ve been thinking in terms of personal skill sets, professional skill sets and what we feel are relevant skills for specific professions. for example, “i” as the “artist” historically shall be depicted with having a wealth of practical, aesthetic, artisan skills. ”i” can paint, “i” can sculpt, “i” can draw.
one of the questions i have been asking at the market is “what skills do you have?”. the responses are mainly skills that are used to generate money, professional skills. it seems that there is no place at the market for personal skills (a few have been revealed: parenting, studying etc)
i decided to ask my network as “the artist” to email any skills that they think i have. these are listed below unedited:
friendly, helpful, approachable, warm, organised, good with idea’s, technically good (making things / using equipment), organisation, working with different types of people, understanding a brief and responding, good lollypop lady, attention to detail, consider a range of options, determined, committed, following things through, believing all is possible, lots of energy, communication skills, being able to talk to people of all walks of life, curiosity, asking questions, interest in surroundings, social engagement, involved, caring, kind, motivated, proactive, imaginative, a visionary, hard working, excellent at making time for friends, a communicator to all, problem-solving, adaptable, energetic, inventive, sarcastic
pertinacious, insiting, communicative, perceptive, ironic,
photographing, printmaking, scribbling, filming, listening,
knitting, socialising, kissing, communication, partnerships, relationship management, strong artistic practice, photography / dark room, video / editing, design & layout, screenprinting, drawing / illustration, typography, photoshop, after effects, final cut, indesign etc, project planning, idea & concept development, organisation, liasing with suppliers/services, presentation, partying, falling over, writing stuff, making beautiful art, making clever art, getting shit done, will power, being there for her chums, cutting funky shapes on the dance floor, colouring in, spelling, socializing, finding a shoe bargain, organiser, film maker, artist, party maker, diy supremo, emphatic nature, dvd maker, determined sensibility, vegetarian shepherds pie, video post/production and all technical aspects involved, communicating with/expressing herself to/eliciting information from people with diverse backgrounds/ages etc, organising her time superbly so as to dedicate as much time and commitment (as is humanly possible!) to a variety of competing projects, sinking glasses of red wine, cheering up weepy friends, keeping her cool whilst in meetings, mixing & matching a variety of dresses, tights and accessories, creating compelling videos that blend sound, image & trajectory to great effect, throwing shapes on the dancefloor, good at talking to people, collating information, laughing, laughing while talking, developing rapport, providing support, representing others, managing time, attending to detail (colour cataloguing) , meeting goals, making decisions, capacity to laugh in face of adversity and encourage others to do so, having composure, joke-telling, collage-ing, attending events and visiting places, approaching people, a fantastic eye, paint, draw, mend, make people laugh, dancing, singing, tribal dancing, jazz hands and guiness drinking, advisor, confidante, a good eye, team-builder, loyalty, dancing, lipstick wearing, getting things done, galvanising people.
this list was compiled by friends, family, colleagues, academics, artists and pretty much anyone that happens to be on my mailing list. what i find interesting is how skills and personality qualities appear to have some duality, or is that now in our contemporary digital society having particularly personality traits does indeed class as being skilled.
i am going to present a list of the first fifty “skills” that “i” as the artist, received and take them to the market as currency. so far i’ve managed to collect an array of goods for my stall, some plants were delivered to me by patrick the flower seller, in return for some tea and chat this week and fabric was given to me by izi as a gift (i’ll document and update everything collected in due course).
i’m amazed at how many “gifts” i have been given. most of the conversations that i’ve been having have been centered around the current economic climate and frustrations about their personal situations, even when i’ve offered to swap a skill for something, most have refused and insisted i take it as a gift. i’ll see if a hard list will make any difference this week.
‘world famous in whitechapel’
whitechapel market is not the easiest of markets to navigate despite the straight forward run down whitechapel high street. it doesn’t bend on you like that of electric avenue nor does it gradually test your leg muscles like the rise of portobello’s. the continuous swarm of people and the relentless commercial vibe makes it, at times, an uncomfortable or almost unwelcoming street in the east end – especially if it’s not your norm. “does not apply” if you are verity-jane, who has become a bit of a local celeb as she completes the first week of her residency at the gift shop.
in a matter of days (snow filled ones at that), she’s managed to win the trust of many of whitechapel market’s proprietors / stall owners / customers. she’s greeted each time she ventures down the market with warmth, smiles and curiosity about what she’s found out so far. her residency aims to explore a skills based exchange within a predominantly monetary one. the challenges around this are of course heightened with the current economic climate; but so too are the rewards; one of them being, a street where everyone knows your name.
verity-jane continues her residency this week collaborating with the amazing people within whitechapel market, and testing the skills exchange premise. the results of the exchange will be on show on february the 14th in the gift shop accompanied by a video portrait of the market.