Shoreline debris retrieved from the North-Northumberland coast, adapted to enable mark-making processes developed for a week long artist in residence project at a primary school (coincidently the school I attended) The project involved working with pupils to create artwork for an exhibition at the Berwick Gymnasium Gallery. The school is located a stone's throw from the beach where I spent much of my childhood.
Lawnmower roller suspended via a length of monofilament with a pencil inserted into one end. Spinning the roller offers infinite variations of looping marks. The tension of the monofilament, sharpness of pencil and force of rotations are all determining factors in the marks transcription to the paper.
Plastic strip with a hole drilled through one end with a marker pen inserted in. The plastic can be pulled in arcs via a length of twine to create waves. Paddle with four marker pens inserted into pre-drilled holes. The creation of perfect circles is possible by leading the paddle around the paper in a clockwise motion via a length of twine.
Cast-iron, sash weight suspended and taped to an indian-ink marker, the nib when pressed expels ink – forcibly spinning the weight, sprays cascading ink onto the paper.
The accumulative nature of the mark-making references the never-ending glut of plastics washed ashore daily. Many of the objects had been adapted by by fishermen when I found them; a testament to resourcefulness. There is a performative element to the mark-making processes, surrendering to the unconscious, allows the maker to tune into flowing forms, as outlined in Theodor Schwenk's, 1965 book Sensitive Chaos - 'FlowingForms in Air and Water', “the flow of water can turn out to be curvilinear, gliding, meandering, oscillating,rhythmically ebbing and flowing, going forth and returning”