All good things must come to an end

My time on the AA2A scheme is coming to an end, so to round it all off we are preparing our own Plymouth AA2A Summer show at The Council House.

At our last group show AA2A; Pilot in March, I gave away 50 disposable paper balaclavas for the public to take away and send me photographs of their encounters. I felt it was only necessary to show these images at the summer show as documentation of how the project has developed since my time on the scheme. Audience participation has always been at the heart of the experiment, but this time the work is truly theirs.

Thank you Jess & Ryan for your encounter.

I will be setting up for the show next week which will open up to the public very soon...

It's been a while...

...but the experiment still continues.

The last two months have welcomed so much change and has kept me very busy making plans for these changes. 

I have been meeting with dancers Olivia & Laura who have been incorporating dance with the restrictions and limitations of wearing the conjoined balaclava. I wanted to see what happens if I conduct The Balaclava Experiment on people who require intimacy in their work or lifestyle.



 Their relationship really interests me. In practises, the ladies have told me how their dances are about closeness and working in unison. However, once the conjoined balaclava was introduced, they saw this as a tool to challenge how close they could really get. This experiment allows all of us to look at the relationships we share. Their actions remind me very much of my own artistic collaboration with April Grosvenor.

 

I have been setting them little goals and tests to try using different balaclava props which we hope to start documenting soon. They have been such wonderful ladies and I am so excited to see what happens!

 

 

 

 

Meet Olivia and Laura.

 

 

These lovely ladies are helping me with a new kind of balaclava experiment involving dance...



Watch this space.

They just keep on coming in.

Thank you so much to Zinzi and Sam for sending me this beautiful photo of The Balaclava Experiment taken on Dartmoor.

 

Look closely.

Another thank you to Joe and Phoebe for sending me their encounter.

 

I look forward to checking my email lately.

 

I receive images like this.

 

Thank you Tim and Gabby for taking part in The Balaclava experiment!

AA2A PILOT

Last Friday was the private view of PILOT; AA2A Group Show at University of Plymouth.

Here are some highlights of the evening in photographs;

 

 

 

 

Thank you so much to Zinzi Graham for taking such amazing performance photos throughout the event.

It was a fantastic evening with a live performance from Lee McDonald and meeting lots of people through the medium of a balaclava. I particularly enjoyed interacting with Tabatha Andrews' Listening Object which obscured sound and jaded perception.

 

I have been receiving photos from participators of The (Disposable) Balaclava Experiment which I will be putting on here soon. So pleased to have been a part of the AA2A scheme and looking forward to our next group show this summer.

 



Let the experiment begin!

 

PILOT will showcase Plymouth University's AA2A resident artists from 24th -28th March. Come visit Roland Levinsky Building, Project Space 101 between 11am and 5pm, with a private view on Friday 28th, where you shall see works by myself, Lee McDonald, Tabatha Andrews, Sally Hall and Gabrielle Hoad.

 

In the run up to the AA2A show, I have become inspired by the props and playful presentations of Franz Erhard Walther. I wanted to use this opportunity to experiment with how to present my balaclavas and see what happens when I leave my audience to activate my work.

 

Bruce Nauman's use of instructions for Body Pressure has also influenced the way in which I have conducted my experiment.

 

On the right hand side of the suspended balaclava is a set of things to consider; 'Silence. Do not verbally communicate/Focus on where various parts of your body touch this person.' On the left hand side of the balaclava lies another set of things to consider; 'Speak. Discuss your feelings no matter how awkward this may be/Avoid all bodily contact with this person.'

 

Depending on where you are standing, this could get interesting...

 

And don't forget to take home your very-own-handmade-disposable-paper-balaclava to continue the experiment at home! You can even send me the photos at kayleighhillartist@gmail.com

 

Come and be part of the experiment.



I spent most of my lazy Sunday browsing through newspapers.

 

Disposable balaclava anyone?



I have recently returned from an inspiring day trip to London as part of my mentoring scheme at South London Gallery. I came away thinking about the placement of objects and how something can become 'activated' by interaction. I'm really excited to project these ideas at my AA2A show in March with a 'Franz Erhard Walther-esque' style environment...
I also managed to check out SLG's latest Richard Fleischner and Uri Aran: Five Minutes Before exhibitions.

My favourite balaclava interaction of the week has to be the one below; some people find it harder to look into each other's eyes than others.

Happy Valentine's Day



With all of the awkwardness that comes with wearing a conjoined balaclava, staring deeply into somebody's eyes and inhaling their exhalations, it also makes for quite a cute couples' photo. Naww! Just one of the few couples I approached in the lead up to Valentine's Day to become part of the experiment. Look out for more coming soon...

Poke Bonnet.

A friend sent me this image over the weekend.. Before doing my research, I truly believed this could have been some sort of genuine 'courting' device.

Disappointingly, it's not.

'The poke bonnet was fashionable at the beginning of the 19th century, and consisted of a small crown and wide brim to shade the face. From 1830 through to the 1840s, the shape of the brim became more tubular in shape and increased in size until the wearers face was only visible from directly in front.'

The image above is a French satire print on the poke bonnet in the 1810's; 'Les Invisibles en Tete-a-Tete'. The bonnets were called 'invisibles' in France because the face of the wearer was virtually concealed except from the front.

I believe the poke bonnet could have a revival.
Bonnets and balaclavas.

Twins are the best models for my conjoined balaclava.

Friday was the last day of the AA2A Welcome show at Artspacefour, so what a better way to meet the students, try on headgear and have tea and cake! It was great to see lots of people getting involved and wearing the balaclavas. This was also a great opportunity to test run a NEW PROTOTYPE BALACLAVA.
I have been back in the textile studio this week, designing and creating individual balaclavas which can be attached/detached from one another. I have been thinking about ways to make the experience more inviting for the public to get involved before jumping, er..., head on into it...






It still had an awkwardness to it, but people were less reluctant to take part. I believe this will be an interesting prop to work with; watch this space for more experiments.

During the Welcome show, I received images from participators who interacted with the pop-up balaclava installation. Here are some of the images from the duration of the show.

                                                                                                                                                                         

                           

Check out my AA2A profile page.

http://aa2a.biz/pg/profile/kayleigh13

It will have all the latest info from what I am doing at University of Plymouth, including the most recent 'balaclava pop-up' opportunity photos.

Come one, come all!

Today I started installing an interactive 'pop-up balaclava' opportunity at the Royal William Yard with the AA2A artists of University of Plymouth.

For the next six months, I will be an artist in residence at the University of Plymouth and continue working on The Balaclava Experiment. Today's installation is a small welcoming exhibition to introduce ourselves and our work to the Fine Art students based at the yard. Although I am hoping my installation will allow me to connect with the students, I am also hoping it will allow them to connect with each other...

Here are some of the students having a go with the balaclava! I have left instructions asking wearers to send me photos of their interactions, so watch this space as I will upload any images I receive. I'm looking forward to checking my inbox at the end of the week...

Want to get involved? The' pop-up balaclava' is currently at the Royal William Yard, Artspacefour (opposite the bakery) so if you want to send me your interactions, please send them to kayleighhillartist@gmail.com and you might see yourself on here.