ATAM event next Friday 7pm

To close the Self Assembly project, we are joining forces with the digital arts festival A Thing About Machines for a little event in the Project Space in the City Arcade on Friday 25 at 7pm. (Not as originally advertised, 4-8pm.)

This is your last chance to ponder the artworks made, talk to the artists who made them and experience the art project about a shop, in a shop.

Expect lively debate, strange Scando refreshments and possibly a bit of impromptu hacking of any remaining Ikea product that we haven’t yet played with.

Shop Life

Mark Hancock making

(Just to confuse the reader, I wrote this last week! Sorry, took a long time to get round to posting it)

This is the third week in the Self Assembly Project Space  and we’ve settled into a bit of a routine. I make the coffee, Mark buys the biscuits and we’ve got into the habit of sharing our plans and ideas for domination of the art world. It’s got to the stage now when we’re seriously thinking of renaming the project the Art Job Club.

The public seems to be a bit more used to us as well. The shop window has been a really effective way of attracting attention as we made an eye- catching domestic scene using Ikea products that had been slightly modified. We have had an article in the local paper (the Coventry Evening Telegraph) which explains about Self Assembly in Ikea and in the shop, so hopefully people will begin to understand what’s going on. It’s true, that few people have ventured in so far, despite our welcoming smiles. In all honesty, I didn’t really expect a big response as I guess it’s not clear to people what we’re doing, or why it’s relevant to them.

It’s been a subject of debate amongst the team as to how much the project should be about engaging with the public.  I think it’s something most art projects in the public realm face; is it enough to be visible and accessible to the public, or should there be a more direct interaction between audience and artist?

Self Assembly Exhibition opening tonight

Coventry Ikea

The Self Assembly exhibition opens tonight in the foyer of Coventry Ikea, 2 Croft Road at 6pm. There will also be an opportunity to visit the Self Assembly Project Space at 35 City Arcade to see work in progress.

Life In The Self Assembly Project Space

Hi I am Matt Boynton one of the artists making work in the project space. I am a recent Fine Art graduate from Coventry University and this is the first art project I have taken part in since graduating, so its very new and exciting to be making art outside of the uni bubble. My practice usually centers around the act of drawing, in particular very repetitive, intricate and intense line drawings. This way of working is something I have been developing over the past few years and has become part of my artistic identity.

My Piece of work for the project space is born of a concept thought up by my friend and fellow project space artist Louise, which was to remove the functionality from our IKEA products. After many hours of walking around IKEA I eventually decided I would remove the functionality of a RUTBO floor lamp by drawing over its paper shade and obscuring the light. The lamp has been a challenging object to work with as it is not the easiest surface to draw on due to its delicate paper surface, but still fun. I am also documenting the process of drawing on the lamp and hoping to create a small animation showing the lamp being engulfed by a mass of intricate lines. I am also currently trying to get my head around whether it is important for me to completely cover the lamp or allow some spaces, would it be a failure if i didn’t cover it during the project? I’ll let you know soon, I’m sure I’ll change my mind many times on the matter in the coming days.

Self Assembly Project Space Opens

The Self Assembly Project Space opened today quietly, but with determination.

Self Assembly Shop Window

Matt, Mark, Josh and Ryan unpacked their domestic artifacts and got down to the business of reinventing them.

Day 1 Self Assembly Project Space

The artists will be making periodic contributions to the blog about their progress over the next three weeks.

Self Assembly Project Blog

This blog explains the art project Self Assembly, taking place in Coventry, UK between 25 August and 27 September 2009. The project explores the notion of ‘Ikea Hacking’ and  involves an Exhibition and a Project Space.

The live element to the blog will be updates of work being made in the Project Space.