Membranes
Interactions & Intentions between Bodies, Biomes & Technologies
exhibition at @HyphaStudios 29th Feb - 7th April 2024
About
MEMBRANES is an exhibition of painted, woven, film-based and sculptural works, curated by art-science practitioner Dr Jennifer Crouch.
Exhibiting artists: Becky Lyon, Georgina Hopkin, Molly Bonnell, Fawziyah Rahman, Ella Justine Frost and Jennifer Crouch.
The MEMBRANES events program includes workshops, talks, performances and evolving art pieces. See below for collaborators and speakers.
MEMBRANES was made possible by the support of HYPHA STUDIOS and Get Living
50 Celebration Avenue London E20 1DW
Private View – Thursday 29th February 2024, 18:00-21:00
Open from Friday 1st March - Friday 7th April 2024
Tuesday - Sunday from 12:00-18:00
Artworks
& Gallery Audio Guide
PLAY TO HEAR GALLERY AUDIO GUIDE
on sound cloud, created by Becky Lyon
ATMOSTHEORY
Becky Lyon
The English language is showered with weather-flavoured lexicon that embodies both physical and emotional effects-affects - “creating an atmosphere”, “blowing hot and cold”, “temperate”, “a load of hot air”, “feeling incensed”. Atmostheory is a series of score cards that invite us to reflect on our personal lived experience, expose uneven effects that have been intentionally 'clouded over' and imagine possibilities for re(air)conditioning to the world otherwise.
Printed acetate, jewellery chain, reflective film, torches
elasticfiction.co
instagram.com/elastic_fiction
RE-CORPOREALISING DATA
Jennifer Crouch
Corporeal matter as perceived by MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) straddles definitions of substance, organism, subject and object. MRI interacts with the body through nuclear magnetic resonance and electrodynamics, bringing us into contact with the body’s multiple ontologies: person, patient, body, organism, cellular, molecular, atomic and subatomic. Being largely isolated from how computational technologies work, there is an increasing incentive to make their internal processes visible.
By interacting with the physics that makes MRI possible they create art objects as scientific devices offering a materials-led contribution to the realm of aesthetic visualisation of MRI and the body. Jennifer’s sculptural, woven, drawn and painted work draws on the mathematical and physical processes of MRI. Sculptural ‘phantoms’ investigate the interface between body and machine. These semi-figurative constructs are made from tissue-mimicking materials and scanned at The Francis Crick Institute and the Future Technology Centre and experience of medical treatment for cancer. Jennifer’s weaving practice is an embodied method to investigate how analogue signals in MRI are transformed into a digital biomedical image. Drawing, illustration, diagrams and paintings chart the entanglements and constellational nature of my artistic practice with MRI help me to map the relationality of the different aspects of my practice.
MERGER (05:31)
Ella Justine Frost
Merger (05:31) is made using granular synthesis, images of the artist's body with the mirror effect in Photobooth and quotes submitted from (self-defining) women and non-binary folk in intimate situations with their partners. The quotes in the video are what they heard.
Science fiction was a substantial influence on the project. The film seeks to highlight the alienation one can feel with another but also touches on the arbitrary nature of sex, the comedy of it and if we are lucky, the beauty of it. The film debuted at a sold-out show with Hysteria Collective at Hackney Picturehouse in London in 2015. Stills were shown in the V&S Gallery in Mexico City in 2016.
DRIP TIME
Molly Bonnell
Viscous fluids, fluid time.
Time bends, stretches, slips, oozes, races, and mutates, especially for those with chronic illnesses and disabilities. Referencing Spoon theory and ‘crip time’, these sculptural works consider our relationship with medicine, disability and care.
Crafted in sugar and modelled after the glass apothecary bottles historically found in pharmacies, these vessels are a representation of the medications and treatments I take in a week to remain alive. ‘Care’ in the form of liquid is pumped through a series of tubes, which are drip-fed onto the vessels, transforming and ultimately deteriorating into a gooey, sticky, melted, puddle.
Routines of health are often diminished or made invisible in order to exist in a society that has not made space for illness, disability or otherness. These sculptures aim to give space, agency and absurdity to these routines.
PASSING THROUGH
Fawziyah Rahman
According to Tantric theory, which emerged in the 1400s from India, the universe consists of all there is, and therefore creation is not the appearance of new matter but rather the transformation from one state to another. The egg, itself a symbol of life and infinite potential, is passing through a stretched yet softly yielding membrane. Tantric themes of contradiction and the ideal of the unity of opposing forces are embodied through the downward motion of gravity of the egg and its stillness, simultaneously situated inside and outside of the membrane.
The concept for the piece was conceived during Rahman’s MA course in Art and Science, where she began making sculpture, as an articulation of the potential of what could be created from the workshops at the university that Rahman suddenly had access to. The sculpture is the result of experiments in mould-making, casting and metalwork, landing on this combination to materialise symbolism portraying intimately engaged components of contrasting qualities. It shows a suspended moment between imagination and materiality, conception and creation, the solid and the surreal. The piece is an encapsulation of feminine energy, which according to Tantra, a major influence of Rahman’s, is the divine creative force that perpetuates life as we know it.
ORGAN CAKE
Georgina Hopkin
Georgina’s collection Organ Cake creates a balance between the planned and the chaotic. By drawing inspiration from images of dissection and swollen objects, she creates bulging, anatomical pieces that are playfully decorated with an abundance of pearls, crystals, beads and velvet trim. The intestinal jewellery intended to be worn outside the body, or to be admired as autonomous sculptures. These humorous pink creations, combining soft and hard materials, provoke confusion: do they look like delicious treats or disgusting body parts?
Artists
@oozing_thru
Ella Frost (they/them) is a dual heritage, London-Bajan video editor and visual artist concerned with analogue technologies and home videos. Some of the themes explored in their work include family, friends, community, identity, grief, water, science fiction, queer nightlife and culture, and the natural world (particularly sharks). Frost’s morbid interest in vampires relates to their on-going and concurrent exploration of mortality, power, race and sex. They occasionally use a collaging editing style in their video and artistic storytelling process to create work that has been described as lo-fi, sensorial, intimate and arresting. They are currently studying an MA in Visual Anthropology at Goldsmiths.
Ella co- founded art collective and publication Black Fly Zine which centres the lives and experiences of Black and Brown people in regard to their sexual health. They live and work in Leyton, East London.
@georginahopkinjewellery
Georgina (she/they) is a contemporary jewellery designer and maker, who is very driven by material exploration, and the combination of hard and soft materials. Georgina likes to play with the idea of interaction and engaging with jewellery, taking on a playful and humorous approach to her autonomous, wearable artwork. Georgina graduated from Central Saint Martins with a first class BA honours degree in Jewellery Design. Her love of jewellery began where she found it to be the perfect combination making 3D objects in product design, and working on the body in fashion design.
@jennifer.crouch Dr. Jennifer Crouch (she/they) is a multimedia art-science practitioner working in sculpture, textiles, illustration, drawing, installation and painting. Informed by their background in physics and medical illustration their work investigates the multi-scalar nature of materials, sensations, places, objects and processes. Jennifer’s work as a lecturer, teacher, author and public engagement professional informs their practice through creative workshops. They were awarded their PhD in 2023 from the University of Portsmouth, which merged their interests in bodily matter, embodied knowledge and MRI physics through sculpture and weaving. Jennifer is the curator and communications designer for MEMBRANES
@elastic_fiction
Becky Lyon (she/hers) is an English-Jamaican artist working at the intersection of art and ecology. Her art practice dwells in the sticky places between bodies, sensing, power relations, rhythms, feminist philosophy, softness, edges and urban ecologies. She is interested in art practice as a tool for forging renewed relationships with ecology which she tunes into as a sourcebook for co-flourishing in times of ruin and growing liveable worlds. Her work manifests as tactile installations, rituals, photographic objects, handmade moving images and words-as-material. She has exhibited in London, Berlin, Italy and India.
She is the founder of Ground Provisions - an artist-led, schooled-by-the-forest for grown-ups hosting participatory gatherings, walks and events for different audiences. She founded Squishy Sessions, an art research collective exploring the intersections of tactility, touch and care. She has an MA in Art & Science from Central Saint Martins and an MA in Art & Ecology from Goldsmiths University. In September 2024 she will commence a PhD in Art at Goldsmiths University. She is a volunteer London National Park City Ranger.
@faw3iyah
Fawziyah Rahman (she/hers) is a London raised-and-based multidisciplinary artist working across sculpture, image, performance and videography. Through a lens of intersectional identities, her work hinges around lived experiences such as healing, the subconscious, sex and death. Rahman maintained a self-taught painting practice whilst working as an emergency department nurse through the pandemic. She is currently expanding practice across new experimental media as a scholar in MA Art and Science at Central Saint Martins
@molly_bonnell
Molly Bonnell (they/them) is a multidisciplinary artist, facilitator and researcher based in London. With an emphasis on participatory and social practice, their work investigates the ways in which we care for ourselves, our planet and our communities. A chronically ill Disabled person, their work explores the complicated relationship between the human body and the systems society has constructed to maintain it, often collaborating with others. They are interested in the materiality of our everyday lives and discovering ways to translate traditional art and craft processes into accessible mediums. They completed an MA in Material Futures at Central Saint Martins in 2020.
Events
29th Feb 2024
multiple dates
workshop and event by Fawziyah Rahman and Natalia Mesa
Wednesday 13th March 2024
A two-part workshop with Monique Todd and Ella Frost
Wednesday 20th and 27th March
Saturday 23rd March
Tuesday 26th March as part of the Art-Science Symposium on Tuesday
Thursday 28th March from 17:30 as part of the Art-Science Symposium on Thursday
a workshop exploring multi-sensory interactions facilitated and led by Dr Ruth Alison Clemens and Samar Nasrullah Khan
Friday 27th March as part of the Art-Science Symposium on Friday
Saturday 30th March
at 13:15 as part of the Art-Science Symposium on Saturday
30th March
Sunday 31st March
16:00 - 17:00 as part of the Art-Science Symposium
Friday 5th April
13:00 - 16:00
Sunday 7th April
14:00 - 17:30
Art-Science
Symposium
26-31 March 2024
Tuesday 26th
17:30 - 18:30 Self-guided tours with our immersive audio
18:30 - 20:30 Strandline performance // Jane Scobie
Wednesday 27th
18:00 - 20:30 VAMPIRES & Membranes PART 2: Ella and Monique explore folklore and ‘soucouyants’.
Thursday 28th
17:00 - 17:30 Self-guided tours with our immersive audio
17:30 - 21:00 Print your PhD workshop Dr. Jennifer Crouch
Friday 29th
17:00 - 17:30 Self-guided tours with our immersive audio + complimentary hot drinks
17:30 - 19:00 Meet a researcher: Print your PhD exhibition and chats
19:00 - 21:00 Always Fluid But Never Fluent workshop with Dr Ruth Alison Clemens and Samar Nasrullah Khan
Saturday 30th
Our Saturday event will begin with complimentary hot drinks and a gallery tour, throughout the day we will host numerous events, several experiences, events, workshops, discussions and performances. As this is a day-long festival we understand if you book for one session and have to leave, there are different ticket types to choose from: individual events and whole day.
12:00 - 13:00 Self-guided tours with our immersive audio + complimentary hot drinks
13:15 - 13:45 The Body Keeps the (Atmospheric) Score with Becky Lyon
14:00 - 16:00 Neurosoup workshop with Dr Jennifer Crouch
16:00 - 17:00 (Bio) Resonance (Syn)thesis with Guski and Ember
17:00 - 18:45 Dr Mandeep Gill Sagoo, Syza Sulaiman, Anaab Hashmi and Jerald Barrion from King's College London: Synthetic Anatomy and Brain Phantoms
19:00 - 20:00 Artists talk with Fawziyah Rahman, Molly Bonnell, Beck Lyon and Dr. Jennifer Crouch. Panel discussion chaired by Adrian Holme, lecturer from MA ArtSci at CSM.
20:00 - 21:00 〰️ FEI b2b Alfred 〰️ membranes set
Sunday 31st
12:00 - 13:00 Self-guided tours with our immersive audio + complimentary hot drinks
13:00 - 16:00 Phantom-making (body casting) day workshop
16:00 - 17:00 (Bio) Resonance (Syn)thesis with Guski and Ember
Evolving Works
BLOOD and MEMBRANES
Skin is a boundary that separates the bodies physically, divides us spatially and lets one feign security in knowing where one body ends and the other begins. Blood that expels cyclically is less easy to stabilise. Menstrual blood is a site for a multitude of attitudes both societally influenced and deeply personal that can range from realignment, relief, frustration, disgust and curiosity among many. Expanding from a personal questioning of the potential uses of menstrual blood, this collaborative sculpture between Ged Boden, Robbie White and Ella Frost experiments with associations between blood, soil, nourishment, and collective rhythms and symbiosis. Agitating anxieties of blood mixing and how that relates to gender fuckery, sexual intimacies and rejects the ‘pure’ ludicrousy of race.
Found materials
Organic matter
Potato sacks
Vegetable nets
Suction packs
GED BODEN
Ged Boden (b. 1987, Liverpool) is an artist and organiser working with performance as a portal to gentle and thoughtful togetherness. Ged is in an agroecological boi band and they also work as an access support worker and a bag packer for an organic fruit and veg scheme. Ged lives in London, where they organise with the London Renters Union and Trans Action for Housing Justice.
London-born Robbie White (b. 1989) is a visual storyteller working commercially as a set, prop and food stylist. Artistically Robbie likes to play with various mediums like sculpture, lighting design and floral design and explores themes surrounding
His specific interests are homoeroticism and porn and the politics of intimacy and censorship. Robbie is interested in spatial design, colour and materiality and how they impact the everyday. Robbie is also adept at world-building and conceptualising. He lives and works in East London.
STRANDLINES
The strandline is the membrane between the sea and the land. Twice daily in the intertidal zone, the space between the land and the sea a line of debris is washed up. This line is created by the incoming tide, it is pulled up by the moon and at the point it loses energy it deposits shells, feathers, seaweed and organic material. This deposition changes constantly and is testimony to the ocean natives living in the sea. Human action is warming seas resulting in storms, and floods are becoming more frequent changing the composition of the strandline and the intertidal zone damaging this fragile membrane.
Strandline Performance 26th March 18:00
15-minute performance of the Strandline Deposition by @janescobieartist @faw3iyah @julietwilliams1708
Jane Scobie
She/hers
Jane is a multi-disciplinary environmental artist whose work explores the fluid boundaries between the organic and inorganic, the human and the nonhuman. Her current research is focussed on the Intertidal Zone as a witness to changing climate. By listening to the sea and ocean natives we can envision new relationships and different ways of working with the coastline. Jane is currently studying for an MA in Art and Science at Central Saint Martins.
With Thanks
Hypha Studios
Get Living
Adrian Holme (CSM)
Dr Mandeep Gill Sagoo (Kings College)
Syza Sulaiman, Anaab Hashmi and Jerald Barrion (Kings College)
Gus Robins (Guski)
Wanbo Li (Ember)
Dr Ruth Alison Clemens
Samar Nasrullah Khan
Sophie Zhu (DJ FEI)
Jane Scobie
Juliet Williams
Robbie White
Ged Boden
Lucie Gourment (UCL)
MA Art & Science (CSM)
Natasha Fontenelle, curator of our sister exhibition TWENTY-FOUR/SEVEN
and contributing artists TWENTY-FOUR/SEVEN