1 – Islington Mill, Manchester. Submitted April 11 2011. Declined May 12 2011 To the Residency Awards Committee at the Islington Mill, Manchester:
Thank you for taking the time to review my application for a 4-6 week Artist Residency at the Islington Mill for this coming Autumn. I look forward to the opportunity to work with you to help to develop and inform your seasonal program, and hope that the following brief biography and proposal may assist in your decision-making process:
In my practice as an artist, I utilize the intersections of architecture, mythology and sexuality to define new structures of decentralized power, heritage and identity. By applying the principles of otherness and inversion which are inherent to ‘queerness’, my work investigates the paradigms of sobriety, structural preeminence and heteronormativity in our daily environment by introducing gestures which draw parallels to the the processes essential in the construction of new identities and mythologies; the ‘queering’ of architectural codices by their inversion, ridicule and exposure is the start of a fragmentation of the power structures that they represent, and the construction of the queer - or queered - identity, mythology and/or built environment.
Having recently completed a year-long residency at Flux Factory in New York City, I have have become intrigued by living in scenarios which in their transience are more conducive to the investigative practice outlined above. As Project Manager and architect prior to a full-time life as an artist, the act of living in and working on communal and community-based projects was essentially a practicum in the development of a my present focus. I believe that these alternative models of living and experiencing the world are symptomatic of a larger ennui at conventional modes of living experienced by many individuals, particularly within the artistic community.
To this end, I would utilize a residency at the Islington Mill and its related screenings and discussions to create dialogue within the Mill and Manchester’s community related to the ‘queering’ of living - exploring ‘quirky’ and ‘campy’ personalities by screening classics like Quentin Crisp’s ‘The Naked Civil Servant’ and ‘Auntie Mame’ starring Rosalind Russell; alternative modes of living such as Canadian Artist Geoffrey Pugen’s ‘Utopics’ video suite about people from around the world who attend a retreat in the woods in Canada to discover their ‘inner animal’; and a screening of my upcoming collaboration with the activist media collective Paper Tiger Television called ‘The Little Mermaid Singalong’, as well as the recent Flux Factory project ‘Fluxolis’, both which deal with personal and institutional mythologies outside of the societal norm.
During my residency at the Islington Mill, I would like to continue to focus my practice on the construction of my own mythology and cultural history: Conducting research into a long list of queer predecessors both known and unknown, continuing a practice of self-portraiture through representational and non-representational imagery and text, and further local research into Manchester’s punk and queer-core cultural scenes of the 1980’s, exploring the queer identity and its impact on space. A resulting exhibition would be a combination of this research and production and a presentation of the learnings/discussions from the community lecture and screening program as facilitated by the Islington Mill.
I thank you sincerely for your consideration in this presentation and look forward to your response.
Warmest Regards,
Matthew-Robin Nye
IMAGE LIST
NyeMatthew-Robin01: ‘Self-Portrait (2011)’, 2011. Mixed media installation, dimensions 7’ x 5’ x 3’.
NyeMatthew-Robin02: ‘Queer Bedfellows’, 2010. Installation, dimensions variable.
NyeMatthew-Robin03: ‘Be the Best Person in the Entire World for 25 Cents’, 2010. Mixed media/performance.
NyeMatthew-Robin04: ‘This is a Story for You, Young Man’, 2010. Excerpt image from fairytale. Digital Collage and text .
NyeMatthew-Robin05: ‘Club of the Sons’, 2010. Installation, 16’ x 8’ x 8’.
NyeMatthew-Robin08: ‘Unlocked Doors’, 2011. Production Image/Digital Collage for proposed installation.
1 – Islington Mill, Manchester. Submitted April 11 2011. Declined May 12 2011 To the Residency Awards Committee at the Islington Mill, Manchester:
Thank you for taking the time to review my application for a 4-6 week Artist Residency at the Islington Mill for this coming Autumn. I look forward to the opportunity to work with you to help to develop and inform your seasonal program, and hope that the following brief biography and proposal may assist in your decision-making process:
In my practice as an artist, I utilize the intersections of architecture, mythology and sexuality to define new structures of decentralized power, heritage and identity. By applying the principles of otherness and inversion which are inherent to ‘queerness’, my work investigates the paradigms of sobriety, structural preeminence and heteronormativity in our daily environment by introducing gestures which draw parallels to the the processes essential in the construction of new identities and mythologies; the ‘queering’ of architectural codices by their inversion, ridicule and exposure is the start of a fragmentation of the power structures that they represent, and the construction of the queer - or queered - identity, mythology and/or built environment.
Having recently completed a year-long residency at Flux Factory in New York City, I have have become intrigued by living in scenarios which in their transience are more conducive to the investigative practice outlined above. As Project Manager and architect prior to a full-time life as an artist, the act of living in and working on communal and community-based projects was essentially a practicum in the development of a my present focus. I believe that these alternative models of living and experiencing the world are symptomatic of a larger ennui at conventional modes of living experienced by many individuals, particularly within the artistic community.
To this end, I would utilize a residency at the Islington Mill and its related screenings and discussions to create dialogue within the Mill and Manchester’s community related to the ‘queering’ of living - exploring ‘quirky’ and ‘campy’ personalities by screening classics like Quentin Crisp’s ‘The Naked Civil Servant’ and ‘Auntie Mame’ starring Rosalind Russell; alternative modes of living such as Canadian Artist Geoffrey Pugen’s ‘Utopics’ video suite about people from around the world who attend a retreat in the woods in Canada to discover their ‘inner animal’; and a screening of my upcoming collaboration with the activist media collective Paper Tiger Television called ‘The Little Mermaid Singalong’, as well as the recent Flux Factory project ‘Fluxolis’, both which deal with personal and institutional mythologies outside of the societal norm.
During my residency at the Islington Mill, I would like to continue to focus my practice on the construction of my own mythology and cultural history: Conducting research into a long list of queer predecessors both known and unknown, continuing a practice of self-portraiture through representational and non-representational imagery and text, and further local research into Manchester’s punk and queer-core cultural scenes of the 1980’s, exploring the queer identity and its impact on space. A resulting exhibition would be a combination of this research and production and a presentation of the learnings/discussions from the community lecture and screening program as facilitated by the Islington Mill.
I thank you sincerely for your consideration in this presentation and look forward to your response.
Warmest Regards,
Matthew-Robin Nye
IMAGE LIST
NyeMatthew-Robin01: ‘Self-Portrait (2011)’, 2011. Mixed media installation, dimensions 7’ x 5’ x 3’.
NyeMatthew-Robin02: ‘Queer Bedfellows’, 2010. Installation, dimensions variable.
NyeMatthew-Robin03: ‘Be the Best Person in the Entire World for 25 Cents’, 2010. Mixed media/performance.
NyeMatthew-Robin04: ‘This is a Story for You, Young Man’, 2010. Excerpt image from fairytale. Digital Collage and text .
NyeMatthew-Robin05: ‘Club of the Sons’, 2010. Installation, 16’ x 8’ x 8’.
NyeMatthew-Robin08: ‘Unlocked Doors’, 2011. Production Image/Digital Collage for proposed installation.