Rhona Taylor: Confined Spaces

Confined Spaces is a visual art project that began as a series of installations in the cells of an old prison near the Mull of Kintyre. It’s now documenting the work that artists are making during the Covid-19 lockdown.

A project that began as an exhibition in a former prison on the west coast of Scotland has been relaunched, looking at the work that artists are making during the Coronavirus lockdown. Confined Spaces started as a pop-up exhibition in a former Victorian prison and police station in Campbeltown, Argyll, in 2016. Eleven artists from around the UK created site-specific work that was then installed in the cells and other spaces of the building.

Now the project has reopened, and has reached out to artists around the world who find themselves trying to make work while their studios, galleries and workshops are closed during the lockdown. Rhona Taylor, who organised the original exhibition in Campbeltown and is now the vice-president of the Society of Scottish Artists (SSA), decided to reopen the project after a conversation with colleagues about how they could support members during the lockdown.

Rhona said: “The original exhibition in 2016 was all about exploring ideas around confinement and imprisonment, and all the artists had to think in a very different way from if they had been installing work in a gallery. The logistics were also quite difficult. It’s what people are having to do now, but with added pressures. Most studios and workshops are closed, and people are having to juggle so many things and deal with all the uncertainties. People have also had future projects postponed or cancelled, so they might have lost some of the focus that they need to make work.

“Hopefully this will provide a bit of that to people, and keep them connected and involved with something until things get back to a better footing. This is a very open project – any artist based anywhere in the world can take part by signing up. I know that some people won’t be able to make any work at the moment for lots of reasons, but hopefully this project might help a bit, and the outcomes will hopefully be really interesting.”

Initially the project will post details of the work artists are making or planning on social media and online, but in the longer-term it’s hoped that more will come out of the project, potentially including collaborations and exhibitions.

To get involved email Rhona at contactconfinedspaces@gmail.com or sign up at confined-spaces.org.

Follow the project on social media: Insta: spacesconfined / FB: spacesconfined / Twitter spaces_confined. 

CuratorSpace are currently featuring articles by artists, curators and organisations who want to share their experiences of responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, whether that is artists using their practice as a way of exploring new boundaries of isolation, or as a way to connect more broadly with their communities. We are also interested in hearing from curators and organisations who are offering support to artists.

Contact us at louise@curatorspace.com to share your story. 

 

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