Posted on Leave a comment

#365LoveNotesToSelf in “Love and Loss” – Inside Job Collective’s Biennale 2022 at Tate Modern

My #365LoveNotesToSelf project was selected this year [2022] to be exhibited in Tate’s staff biennale, themed “Love and Loss” which is scheduled 16-23 March 2022 in Tate Exchange – Level 5 at Tate Modern.


Note to Self: It’s that time of year again and maybe it’s the weather or maybe a condition of surviving the past two years… but I’m sure I’m not alone when I say, I am (again) in a deep blue funk. So this Valentine’s Day, I’ve decided to reiterate my #365LoveNotestoSelf project from 2017-2018 in which I attempted to alleviate a depressive episode by making a self-portrait every day for a year. The aim was, then as it is now, to give myself a loving gift: an envelope of time full of a kind of “love note to me”, by which I will remind myself daily of what love looks like – by gazing in a mirror and drawing what I see. 

For in order to really see, one must make the time to look deeply. 

I’ve chosen to create self-portraits (instead of, say, making selfies on my iPhone) because in these creative sessions, I must really look in order to draw what’s looking back at me…and maybe, after another 365 of these love notes in a row, it will become easier day-by-day to see through any of the dark days with a dose of self-love, with positivity, confidence, and joy. 

For the “Love and Loss” exhibition at Tate, my intention is to share a new self-portrait every day in keeping with my daily online visual journal of sorts on Instagram: @kelisefranclemont. So who knows how I’ll be feeling on the day!


Exhibition Details:

Tate Modern
Level 5, Blavatnik BuildingBankside
London SE1 9TG

Dates and Times
16–23 March 2022 12.00 – 18.00

Free with All Tate Modern Collections Route ticket. Advance booking is recommended ​

More info and to book free tickets: https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/inside-job


More about the 2017-2018 project: https://kelisefranclemont.com/2017/02/14/365-days-of-love-notes-myself-to-me/ 

#365LoveNotesToSelf, Day 365/365, 2017-2018, collage of 365 prints each around 2×3 cm, collage approximately 1.5 m x 1.5 m.
Dimensions of each original drawing, painting, or photograph varies from as small as several centimeters to 1.5 m.
Posted on Leave a comment

“Object Self (part 2)” with Olga Suchanova – Digital 3D augmented reality portraits

In a collaboration with visual artist Olga Suchanova, in “Object Self“, Kelise and Olga use digital technology to create 3D augmented reality [AR] portraits as a personal expression of self.

Much like old-fashioned painted miniatures, these digital portraits, too, can be carried in the pocket, yet with the avant-garde medium of AR and viewed through the frame of the smartphone screen, a digital portrait becomes 3D sculpture that can be placed anywhere and viewed from all sides.


Darling, you are a work of art.

To see our growing collection of “Object Self” portraits, scan or tap this QR code (sketchfab.com)


More info

Kelise and Olga will demonstrate how these AR digital 3D sculptures are made during the Object Self workshop as part of  Tate Staff Biennale 2019 on

  • Wednesday 28 August 2019 – 2:00P to 6:00P – Level 5, Tate Exchange
  • Sunday 1 September 2019 –  12:00P to 4:00P – Level 5, Tate Exchange

Responding to Tate Exchange’s theme for year 3, Movement, The Inside Job Collective have been invited to take over Tate Exchange and pull together the work of staff across all Tate sites into one exhibition. The exhibition showcases the often-hidden skills of staff members at Tate and allows you to see the impact of working with Tate’s collection has had on their practice.

Approaching the different strands of Movement through varying mediums, there will be a dynamic series of live performances, workshops, installations, film and 2D works, as well as an evening of specially curated music and performances from staff for the August edition of Uniqlo Tate Lates.

About the Inside Job Collective

The Inside Job Collective are a group of Tate Staff who organise and curate an exhibition dedicated to the many creative talents of their colleagues.

Helen Dixon, ‘Big Blue no 4’. Image courtesy the artist and Inside Job Collective.


“Object Self” is supported by Vectary 3D, the leading online 3D design tool on www.vectary.com.

Posted on Leave a comment

Make your own story with Corduroy Dog using AR (demo/instructions)

Scan (or tap) the QR code with your smart phone and you can take my childhood memory of Corduroy Dog with you and make your own story. Keep scrolling to share your story, find out“how to” and see a demo, or to watch the film.

Apple or Android (Vectary viewer) – Safari browser recommended

Android/other smartphone (Sketchfab viewer)


Share your story

Some hashtags and @’s:

#digitalart #digitaldesign #interactiveart #augmentedreality #virtualreality #ar #vr #corduroydog #dogsofinstagram #digitaldogs #petstagram #toystory #toydog #velveteenrabbit

@kelisefranclemont @vectary3d @tate @tateexchange @insidejobcollective


how to (PDF)

Click to View/Download Make-your-story-with-Corduroy-Dog (PDF)


Demo


watch the film

 

Posted on Leave a comment

Corduroy Dog (or, How Memories Become Real), 2019, digital film and AR object, dur. 21m13s (feature short)

A story of how a childhood memory became Real. The main character, Corduroy Dog, is made in virtual 3D from the memory of a precious childhood artefact, and becomes the main character in the re-telling of a favourite bedtime story.

Mock-umentary (duration 21m13s), digital film and digital/AR memory object (Corduroy Dog). Directed, filmed, and edited by Kelise Franclemont. Reading from “A Velveteen Rabbit” (1922) by Margery Williams.

As seen in Tate Staff Biennale 2019


Corduroy Dog was made real by Vectary 3D.

http://www.vectary.com

Posted on Leave a comment

‘Corduroy Dog (or, How Memories Become Real)’, 2019, digital film and digital/AR objects (trailer)

Here is the story of how a memory and a seminal artefact from my childhood became Real.

Mock-umentary (duration approx. 20 minutes), digital film and digital/AR memory object (Corduroy Dog). Directed and edited by Kelise Franclemont. Reading from “A Velveteen Rabbit” (1922) by Margery Williams.

Feature short coming soon (28 August 2019)!

Posted on Leave a comment

“Object Self (part 1)” with Olga Suchanova – Digital 3D augmented reality portraits

In a collaboration with visual artist Olga Suchanova, in “Object Self“, Kelise and Olga use digital technology to create 3D augmented reality [AR] portraits as a personal expression of self.

Much like old-fashioned painted miniatures, these digital portraits, too, can be carried in the pocket, yet with the avant-garde medium of AR and viewed through the frame of the smartphone screen, a digital portrait becomes 3D sculpture that can be placed anywhere and viewed from all sides.

To see our growing collection of “Object Self” portraits, scan or click this QR code:


More info

Kelise and Olga will demonstrate how these AR digital 3D sculptures are made at Thames-Side Studios Open Studios weekend on Saturday 15 July 2019, 12-4pm (Unit 5, Studio 5-225). 

Thames-Side Studios is home to an impressive array of more than 500 creatives and the Open Studios event is a unique opportunity to meet the makers, talk about what they do, and to buy directly from their studios.

The array of creative practice at TSS includes painting, drawing, fashion design, carpentry, jewellery, millinery, photography, printmaking, ceramics, sculpture and installation, tailoring, leather work, picture framing, stained glass making, writing, upholstery, illustration, textiles, conservation and restoration, lutherie, graphic design, furniture design, film and video, skin care, architecture, wood working, laser cutting, clock making, product design, book binding, and much more…

Click the yellow thumbnail to read more…


“Object Self” is supported by Vectary 3D, the leading online 3D design tool on www.vectary.com.

 

 

Posted on 1 Comment

I was a thing (the poet objects) with Mosab Abu Toha, 2018, poet object and plinth, in Passion for Freedom Fest 2018, London

as seen in 10th anniversary Passion for Freedom Festival 2018, Royal Opera Arcade Gallery, London. From 1-12 October 2018.

Kelise Franclemont and Mosab Abu Toha, ‘I was a thing (the poet objects)’, 2018, poet object and plinth, in Passion for Freedom Festival 2018, London. Photo credit Kelise Franclemont.

A mysterious black cube-shaped poet-object slowly extrudes a long strip of paper that gathers in a growing pile. The text contains poems, one-line reports, and other thoughts by Mosab Abu Toha, a poet in Gaza. Every now and then, another few lines of text come out as Abu Toha shares his poetry and prose with UK viewers real-time via the Internet, even while remaining entrapped in Gaza City, presuming of course, electricity supply is available to his neighbourhood.

It is clear to the audience that it was Abu Toha’s poetic voice coming from the box he is in, only to realise it is British artist Kelise Franclemont who made the box. Poetic on all sorts of levels, and problematic, and could be seen as a manifestation of AND a critique of (among other things) the colonial past between Britain and Palestine, still in place today, and still affecting both artists…but in vastly different ways. For instance, complete freedom of speech is only afforded one of the artists, while the words themselves can only come from the artist who is not completely free.


About

“I was a thing” is collaborative effort between British-American artist Kelise Franclemont and Gazan poet Mosab Abu Toha.

Mosab Abu Toha is an author, English teacher, and founder/director of the Library and Bookshop for Gaza, a project which gained international support through a humble crowd-funding appeal, resulting in a growing library of English, Arabic, and other volumes made available to the Gazan public. Along with the hundreds of books and periodicals, Abu Toha and his small staff offer a range of English classes, creative writing and literature clubs, and other activities.

Kelise Franclemont is a visual storyteller offering objects or experiences about remembering and identity, often considering the immutable line between Other and Self. In the making, she will often appropriate materials, objects, or other more ephemeral cultural artefacts such as ritual, using documentary tactics to remake these artefacts into a new narrative, or into a newly-contrived situation based on some truth, allowing the viewer to discover truths of his or her own.

Links

  • About Passion for Freedom Festival 2018 – 10th anniversary festival, exhibition, and awards event “…dedicated to shared values of free expression, and the power of art to inspire, awaken and shake the world”. From 1st – 12th October 2018.Click to view/download more info:
      
  • About Library for GazaSince 2017, offering  “…a safe space for people to meet and exchange ideas and experiences [with] books lending, reading section, study halls, meeting room, children’s activities, along with seminars and organised lectures delivered by international guests…” 

Posted on Leave a comment

‘degas dreaming of women in the bath’ (infinite drawing series), 2018, ink, wax crayon, and pencil

as seen in ‘Green Matters’ – a contemporary postcard art show, at Frogmill Papermill, Apsley
4-16 March 2018

degas dreaming of women in the bath” (2018, ink, wax crayon, and Prismacolor pencil on tracing vellum and cartridge paper) is an “infinite drawing” of sorts that can be opened and folded in a variety of ways to get a new and surprising image with each arrangement of the pages. The drawing, on a single sheet of paper is double-sided and can be viewed beneath a semi-transparent paper, and/or folded to present a new perspective sized from A6 up to A3.

A response to the idea of the female nude frequently being the subject of the male gaze, here I’m reclaiming and expressing my own sensuality yet still leaving the way open for the viewer to choose his or her own “gaze” for themselves.


More links and info

Exhibition details: “Green Matters” – a contemporary postcard art show is on at Frogmore Papermill, Peter Ingram Gallery, Fourdrinier Way, Apsley, HP3 9RY from 4th through 16th March 2018. Free entrance; step-free access. 

Open hours:

5th through 16th March 2018

Monday through Friday 11-4PM

PV:

Sunday 4th March 2018 1-3PM

Curated by Clare Timmis

Posted on Leave a comment

‘Prayer for Rain’, 2017, copper, hologram, and sound (dur. 28m07s, looped)

Prayer for Rain“, an installation of copper, hologram, and sound is part of “Stations of Water” exhibition, with nine contemporary artists commissioned to create artworks, including sculpture, painting, installation, and film, in conjunction with justwater2017.org, at St. Paul’s Cathedral, London. From 25 September to 27 October 2017.

Kelise Franclemont, ‘Prayer for Rain’, 2017, hologram, copper, and sound, in ‘Stations of Water’ at St. Paul’s Cathedral, London. Image courtesy the artist. Photo credit Graham Lacdao.

A single drop of water which seemingly emanates from the copper basin on the floor, travels up the pipes, to be released skywards one precious drop at a time.

It is through faith that this drop becomes the carrier of hope, as it gently floats upwards in glittering repose, taking with it prayers within all of us, whether we are creatures of land or sea.

Along with the simple act of faith in raising one’s gaze to the sky, actual “water prayers” from all over the world can be heard, beseeching whomever will listen, to revere this priceless life resource, seek rescue when we are overwhelmed, or beg relief from the peril when the rains won’t fall.

Click to view/download “Prayer for Rain” exhibition map/guide:


More INFO about “Stations of Water”

Exhibition details: Stations of Water” opens 25 September through 27 October 2017 at St. Paul’s Cathedral and crypt, St. Paul’s Churchyard, London, EC4M 8AD. Paid entrance; step-free access.

Please note the exhibition is included with paid entrance to St. Paul’s Cathedral during sight-seeing hours:

Monday to Saturday
8:30AM to 4:00PM (last entrance)


Special thanks are owed to voice-over artist Vicky Tessio (for sharing her lovely voice on the soundtrack by reciting two Catholic prayers in Spanish) and to author and director of Library for Gaza, Mosab Abu Toha (for sharing his poem “Dejected they stand…” which appears on the hologram prism).

Posted on Leave a comment

‘Salat ul-Istisqa’a [Prayer for Rain]’, 2017, installation of hologram and sound

Kelise Franclemont, ‘Salat ul-Istisqa’a [Prayer for Rain]’, 2017, copper, acrylic, and sound, in ‘Water Stations’ at Emmanuel Church, West Hampstead, London. Image courtesy the artist.
When water is scarce, an ancient Bedouin tradition calls the faithful to beseech God for healing rains. This Islamic ritual is known as “Salat ul-Istisqa’a”, rising to heaven one drop at a time.

“Salat ul-Istisqa’a [Prayer for Rain]” is a response to the number of documentaries from 2013-2016 about the irreversible water crisis in Gaza. 2020 is rapidly approaching, the year when experts fear that the fresh water supply in the region’s underground aquifers will be damaged beyond repair. Even now, experts fear the worst has already happened as ordinary people who live, work, and raise families within view of the Mediterranean, are dying of thirst.

Gazan resident Awatef Al Afifi complains with evident frustration, “This water is unsuitable for [washing] hair, or for showering children or adults. Or washing your face.”
“This [water] is diseased,” she gestures, “we can’t drink it or use it for cooking.”
Throwing her hands up again, “It’s not safe,” she exclaims, “we can’t use it for anything, wa laa ishi [not anything].”
In another part of Gaza lives another family, 100 meters from the sea shore. Equally frustrated, Um Adham Bakr states matter-of-factly, “Saline water is harmful for the children; they become sick. The last time I stayed about 6 days in hospital with my eldest son. The doctors tell me that he had something more dangerous than meningitis; he was taken to the intensive care unit. Blisters had appeared on his body, blisters that were mainly caused by salt water. As you can see, the water is salty and their hair has been damaged. The boys have undergone several surgeries and rashes appear all over their bodies.” And resignedly,
“There’s nothing to do. We are tired of this.”

“Salat ul-Istisqa’a [Prayer for Rain]” is part of “Water Stations” an exhibition in which seven artists convene to honour World Water Day with sculpture, installation, film, and painting, at Emmanuel Church in West Hampstead from 19th through 31st March 2017.

Click the thumbnail to view/download more info:
Posted on Leave a comment

‘The Life and Death of Bierzigster Iarhgang’ – collaboration with Marcin Czarnopyś for Connect:Katowice project

Reposted from ConnectKatowice.com, the following describes a recent and ongoing arts collaboration with Polish artist Marcin Czarnopyś…

The artists

Project description/intent

Wrocław (Poland), November 2016/1856

One late afternoon in November, Marcin and Kelise wandered into an old bookstore in Wrocław’s main town square. A book, dated 1856 on the ragged spine and gently reeking of cigar smoke, fell into Marcin’s hands: “Neueste Nachrichten aus Dem Reiche Gottes”, or as Google Translate suggests: “Latest News from the Kingdom of God” by Bierzigster Iargang. As we thumbed through the contents, a postage-stamp sized portrait of a woman fluttered from between the pages:

kelisemarcin_proj_stmt_image01Intrigued and 40 złoty poorer, the book was ours.

Who was Bierzigster Iargang? (We called him “BJ” for short). The final pages of the book revealed some of his story:

BJ was born in Przemyśl (Marcin’s home town!), to a German/Polish family that owned several coal mines in the Silesian area. A religious and righteous man, yet troubled by the corruptions that accompany great wealth, BJ received a series of heavenly visions over the course of a year – which he called, “Neueste Nachrichten aus Dem Reiche Gottes (Latest news from the kingdom of God)”, wrote them all down and published in a book of the same title. This was directly followed by a spiritual calling to go to New York (where Kelise’s family originates) as a missionary, and he traveled to America around 1856-7, leaving his wife and six daughters behind until he could get settled and send for them to join him.

But in New York, he seems to have disappeared, presumed dead, shortly after he arrived and his family never heard from him again.

Our project aim is to unravel the mystery about the life and death Bierzigster (BJ) Iargang, and to discover the truth about what connects his story to Marcin and Kelise.

kelisemarcin_proj_stmt_image02

Proposed outcome

Currently we are working with an installation of found objects, text/prints, photos, and video which will present our research into BJ’s life as well as present the found connections between him, Marcin, and Kelise, (and particular, the artists want to unpick already discovered common ancestry between Marcin and Kelise).

Timeline

  • June to Nov 2016: Kelise and Marcin communicate via email and regular post to become acquainted and discuss project ideas.
  • Nov 2016: Kelise visited Marcin in Wrocław, to work together and progress one or more project ideas
  • Dec 2016: Kelise and Marcin present work in Connect:Katowice in London at Hornsey Town Hall with Kelise to deliver talk/workshop around their project which both worked on together to develop (working ideas include: a book-making workshop, souvenir exchange, story-telling, etc.)
  • Dec 2016 to June 2017: Marcin and Kelise continue to work over email and regular post to develop the project
  • June 2017: final work(s) and/or documentation presented in Katowice, Poland

Click the link for more about the collaboration between Marcin and Kelise – “stories between the UK and Poland

Posted on Leave a comment

‘Automatic Running (drawings between my feet and my smartphone)’, 2016, digital drawings (slideshow)

At first glance, this is simply a different way of drawing, in which I am performing the act of drawing, but not making the marks with my hands, but rather with my feet. I.e, By carrying a smartphone whilst exercising, through use of an app called Nike+Running, I create a recording of the activity – the route, the distance run, and the time elapsed from start to finish. Thus, the running activity is recorded as a line drawing superimposed over the satellite imagery of the location.

I made the gesture, the movement with my body, and Nike+Running software made the mark.

At another level, these drawings question the agency and intention: who really is the author here?

Automatic_Running_drawings_2015-03-27_21-1km_lg

These abstract images are also about recording and memory in that, much like marks on paper, these digital drawings are the only record of my having been there at that moment, in that place. But wait… current technology and insta-culture allows another means to state “I was Here”… through a smart phone and social media.

Symbols begin to emerge from abstract shapes, asserting themselves with hashtags…suggesting a deeper meaning, they try to become something more than just the length of a line… a starting point, an ending point, a shape, an object, an animal…


More links and information

 

Have a look at the digital slideshow of the Instagram drawings on Vimeo [6:19 minutes, looped] – as displayed on an iPhone 6/6s

Posted on Leave a comment

Duo show ‘Fragments and Traces’ about time, memory, and travel – Platform 1 Gallery, Wandsworth Arts Fringe

Fragments and Traces: l’invitation au voyage

Kelise Franclemont and Antonia Jackson  explore memory, travel, and passage of time through paintings, installation, and new media. Throughout each day, along with the exhibition of artworks, Antonia and Kelise will engage visitors in trading memories and creating new ones in an ongoing make-one/take-one souvenir postcard exchange.

Fragments and Traces: l’invitation au voyage” is in conjunction with Wandsworth Arts Fringe 2016, a festival of creativity and performance throughout the borough from 6 to 22 May 2016.

Fragments_Traces_e-flyer_02b

One subsequent weekends at Platform 1 Gallery are two more shows:  “Transcending” from artist Ema Mano Epps with Verica Kovacevska and Norman Mine, and finally, “Fragment” by sculptor Anna Flemming.

Click the flyer below to see more details:


More links about “Fragments and Traces”

Event details: Fragments and Traces” presents during Wandsworth Arts Fringe 2016 from 5 to 8 May 2016  at Platform 1 Gallery on Wandsworth Common Station, Platform 1, Wandsworth Common, London SW12 8SG (entrance to the station and Platform 1 Gallery from Jaggard Way). Free admission, step-free access.

Private View: Thursday 5 May, 5:30 to 8:30 pm

Opening hours:

Friday 6 May, 12:00 pm to 6:00 pm
Saturday 7 May, 11:oo am to 5:00 pm
Sunday 8 May, 11:00 am to 5:00 pm.

Platform1Gallery_logo2   WandsworthFringe_logo

Posted on Leave a comment

‘The Promised Land (in amazing stereoscopic vision)’, 2016, digital video and stereoscopic goggles

Kelise Franclemont, 'The Promised Land', 2016, HD digital video on iPad with stereoscopic goggles and sound, duration 1:40 (looped). Image courtesy the artist.
Kelise Franclemont, ‘The Promised Land’, 2016, HD digital video on iPad with stereoscopic goggles and sound, duration 1:40 (looped). Image courtesy the artist.

The “Promised Land”, the land of milk and honey, the place where all good things will come to the chosen people and the true believers. In London, the “Promised Land” is not just for immigrants and dreamers, those who aspire to wealth and privilege that can be had in the capital, London is already here for the posh and the prosperous. This great golden city belongs to the movers and the shakers, the 1% who can afford to live in high-rise flats and work in their downtown shiny offices.

Not everyone is so lucky in the lottery of birth and not everybody finds the better life they seek when they get to “The Promised Land” they keep hearing about from their parents, friends, and politicians, tales that have been told since the Industrial Age…the sounds of building a high-rise contrasts starkly with the images in a different story of broken promises, dead-ends, and forgotten dreams.

Kelise Franclemont, ‘The Promised Land’, 2016, HD digital video on iPad with stereoscopic goggles and sound, duration 1:40 (looped) – EXCERPT

If the video does not auto-play, please click here.


‘The Promised Land’ was recently exhibited in ‘Fast Forward/Rewind’ – Chelsea Alumni Summer Show 2016 at Punctum Gallery, Chelsea College of Arts, from 18-22 July 2016.