Thursday 2 August 2018

The Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize

Last years's Jerwood Drawing Prize Exhibition

I have posted on the Jerwood Drawing prize before, but things have changed and the prize has new sponsors, it is now called the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize. It is however still led by founding Director Professor Anita Taylor from Bath Spa University who is a long time supporter and champion of excellence in contemporary drawing practice. This competition is an essential part of the UK drawing calendar and because it is a touring exhibition there will usually be a venue not too far away from where you are. This year's Jerwood exhibition is however still touring, so if you are in the South West you will be able to see the exhibition at the Drawing Projects space in Trowbridge. 
The project was founded in 1994 as the Rexel Derwent Open Drawing Exhibition. It was known from 1996 until 2000 as the Cheltenham Open Drawing exhibition and was supported by a private benefactor, Westland Nurseries, The Summerfield Trust, CHK Charities and Rootstein Hopkins Foundation. Most recently, the exhibition has been known as Jerwood Drawing Prize with 17 years of significant support from Jerwood Charitable Foundation from 2001 until 2017. Trinity Buoy Wharf Trust became the principal benefactor in 2018.
I’ve just been informed that I am a shortlisted exhibitor this year, so those of you that take an interest in the drawing matters that I try to put forward in this blog and who are UK based have a chance to see what I actually do.
The Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize winners will be announced in September 2018 which is when the exhibition will open. 

My entry for this competition was the looped animation below. It was drawn using the most basic animation technology, using a dip in pen and ink, I drew directly on sheets of A4 tracing paper bought from a stationers. I photographed each frame in daylight and because it took so long to do the light conditions changed during the day, so that as the animation moves on the lighting varies according to what time of the day I was working. The sound was processed using Garage Band, I used feedback generated by trying to record and play at the same time from the same computer, once again a very basic way of generating a discordant soundtrack. As the animation ends it goes back to horizontal lines representing a calmer sea, these lines are echoed by the ones that begin the first few frames of the animation, the looping of the MP4 then results in an idea of the endless nature of the issue. Not just as something related to what is going on now as refugees attempt to cross the sea, but as something that has always been the case, every war, every famine, every natural disaster, will result in displaced people and as an island nation if these people are to find safety here at some point on their journey they will have to cross a sea. 

Garry Barker: 'Boat at Sea' Pen and ink animation
Check out these earlier posts on the Jerwood Drawing Prize




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