d i s - l o c a t i o n d a d - l e o l i - Culture Colony

d a d - l e o l i
Cefnogwyd gan
Alex Thibault | Quantum Glass
Ashley McAvoy
Richard Collins
Pete Telfer | www.culturecolony.com
Pryfysgol Morgannwg
For further information of how to find us please visit our website
Am ragor o fanylion a gwybodaeth am sut i ddod o hyd i ni, ewch i’n
www.newport.gov.uk/artgallery or call neu ffoniwch 01633 656 656
ARDDANGOSFA
MEHEFIN 25 - MEDI 10 2011
AMGUEDDFA AC ORIEL GELF CASNEWYDD
SGWAR JOHN FROST
CASNEWYDD NP20 1PA
Diolchgarwch Emma Geliot & Shaun Featherstone
Cychwynnwyd gan Amgueddfa ac Oriel Casnewydd
AGORED LLUN - IAU 9.30 - 17.00
GWENER 9.30 - 16.30
SAD 9.30 - 16.00
RHAGOLWG
GWENER
MEHEFIN 24 2011
18.30 - 20.30YH
EXHIBITION
25 JUNE - 10 SEPTEMBER 2011
NEWPORT MUSEUM & ART GALLERY
JOHN FROST SQUARE
NEWPORT NP20 1PA
OPEN MON - THURS 9.30 - 17.00
FRI 9.30 - 16.30
SAT 9.30 - 16.00
d i s - l o c a t i o n
Supported by
Alex Thibault | Quantum Glass
Ashley McAvoy
Richard Collins
Pete Telfer | www.culturecolony.com
University of Glamorgan
Thanks to Emma Geliot & Shaun Featherstone
i n s t a l l a t i o n / v i d e o
a n d r e w c o o p e r
www.andrew-cooper.org
Originated by Newport Museum & Art Gallery
PREVIEW
FRIDAY
JUNE 24 2011
18.30 - 20.30 PM

His – Story / Her - Story
It’s difficult to define a typical Andrew Cooper work by the way it looks, but
the thought behind it and the exceptionally high quality of the execution is a
trademark of his practice. Cooper’s explores processes and techniques that can
deliver the vision for any particular project, frequently going in new and exciting
directions.
In this exhibition Cooper adds two new installations: Dis-Location and No-
Where, to We Are History, originally shown in New York. He creates multistranded
stories, imaginary histories and some surprises with his use of blownup
negatives, suspended and projected through glass. To this he adds multiple
screens, subverted audio that contradicts the images it accompanies, and even
CCTV footage of the audience as they pass through the work.
For We Are History Cooper used old photographs, found in a biscuit tin, which
had some association with his family, but he was unclear what, or who the
people in the pictures were. So he set about creating their stories, leaving space
for viewers to add their own imaginary narratives to these hazy personas, while
weaving in a soundtrack of extracts from the letters of Welsh émigrés in the US.
The ghostly images, with the accompanying sounds, often from unexpected and
disorientating directions, begin to create their own narratives, through the prism
of the viewer’s own memories and experience. Cooper is happy for audiences to
add their own interpretations as they move through his installations.
This theme of dialogue continues with No-Where, in which the sound contradicts
the vision and sets up a conversation between the photographic protagonists
and the audience in an increasingly hypnotic to-and-fro of repeated words
and layerings of meaning. to-and-fro of repeated words and layerings of
meaning.
Dis-Location is the realisation of Cooper’s ambition to make his work
more interactive and to draw the viewer in - for the work to become more
Dis-Location is the realisation of Cooper’s ambition to make his work more
interactive and to draw the viewer in - for the work to become more complex and
simultaneously more basic and visceral. Here, through the use of some techno
wizardry (Priva-Lite glass), the screens when activated become opaque as the
image appears and then switch to their translucent state, creating ghost images
of the viewers and incorporating them into the action.
These works, though seemingly different from each other, seem to be natural
stopping off points on a journey as the artist continues to reflect, assess and
assimilate the themes, motifs and techniques that he has been developing
throughout his career. Cooper has earned a great deal of admiration and respect
for his ability to work across many media and processes, to deliver projects that
reflect his intensely empathetic take on humanity and the world around him.
Emma Geliot 2011
Cooper studied at the Royal College of Art, London. He worked with renowned
sculptor Eduardo Paolozzi, Pentagram Design and EPRArchitects. Relocating to
Cardiff he moved his studio practice to tactileBOSCH Studios in Llandaff North.
Since moving back to Wales, he has secured a number of prestigious
commissions and awards from arts & business bodies: including Artworks Wales,
British Gas, The Royal British Legion and British Rail. In 2007 he was invited to
exhibit at kingston Sculpture Biennial, NY. USA and was also presented with the
Purchase Prize Award by the University of Glamorgan. He continues to exhibit
both nationally and internationally at the Johns Hopkins University, USA, 2008
and the Senedd, National Assembly for Wales Building, 2008. In 2009 he was
granted a Creative Wales Award by the Arts Council of Wales.
Ei stori ef / Ei stori hi
Mae’n anodd diffinio gwaith Andrew Cooper yn ôl ei olwg, ond mae’r meddwl
sy’n mynd i mewn i’w waith a’r safon uchel yn nodweddiadol o’i waith. Mae
Cooper yn archwilio prosesau a thechnegau sy’n gwireddu gweledigaeth ar
gyfer unrhyw broject, yn aml yn newid cyfeiriad am un newydd a chyffrous.
Yn yr arddangosfa yma, mae Cooper yn ychwanegu dau ddarn mawr, sef ‘Dis-
Location’ a ‘No-Where’, at ‘We Are History’ a ddangoswyd yn wreiddiol yn Efrog
Newydd. Mae’n creu straeon aml-haenog, hanesion dychmygol a rhai pethau
i beri syndod, wrth iddo ddefnyddio negatifau wedi’u chwyddo yn hongian ac
yn cael eu taflunio trwy wydr. At hyn, mae’n ychwanegu nifer o sgriniau, sain
sy’n gwrth-ddweud y darluniau, a hyd yn oed ffilmiau CCTV o’r gynulleidfa wrth
iddynt basio trwy’r gwaith.
Ar gyfer ‘We Are History’ mae Cooper yn defnyddio hen ffotograffau a
ddarganfuwyd mewn tin bisgedi. Mae ganddynt ryw gysylltiad â’i deulu, ond nid
yw’n eglur beth yw’r cysylltiad hwnnw, na phwy oedd y bobl yn y ffotograffau.
Felly aeth ati i greu eu straeon, gan adael bylchau i’r ymwelwyr ychwanegu eu
naratif dychmygol eu hunain i’r cymeriadau aneglur. Ar yr un pryd mae trac sain
o ddarnau o lythyron o ymfudwyr Cymreig i’r Unol Daleithiau yn chwarae. Mae’r
delweddau ysbrydol, gyda’r sain yn gyfeiliant, yn aml o gyfeiriadau annisgwyl,
yn creu eu naratif eu hunain, trwy brism atgofion a phrofiadau’r ymwelwyr. Mae
Cooper yn hapus i’r gynulleidfa ychwanegu eu dadansoddiadau eu hunain wrth
iddynt symud drwy’r gwaith.
Mae’r thema o ddeialog yn parhau gyda ‘No-Where’, lle mae’r sain yn
gwrthgyferbynnu â’r delweddau ac yn cychwyn sgwrs rhwng prif gymeriadau’r
ffotograffau a’r gynulleidfa mewn deialog yn ôl ac ymlaen hypnotig o eiriau
wedi’u hailadrodd a haenau o ystyr.
Mae ‘Dis-Location yn gwireddu uchelgais Cooper i wneud ei waith yn fwy
rhyngweithiol a thynnu’r ymwelydd i mewn i’r gwaith er mwyn iddo fod yn
fwy cymhleth ond, ar yr un pryd, yn symlach ac yn fwy angerddol. Yma, trwy
ddefnyddio technoleg glyfar (gwydr Priva-Lite), mae’r sgriniau’n anhryloyw wrth
i’r ddelwedd ymddangos ac yna’n mynd yn dryloyw, gan greu delweddau fel
ysbrydion o’r gwylwyr, ac felly’n eu cynnwys yn y gwaith.
Mae’r gweithiau hyn, er eu bod yn ymddangos yn wahanol i’w gilydd, yn
ymddangos fel arosfanau ar siwrnai wrth i’r artist barhau i fyfyrio, asesu a
chymathu’r themâu, y motifau a’r technegau sydd wedi bod yn datblygu
trwy gydol ei yrfa. Mae Cooper wedi ennyn edmygedd a pharch am ei allu i
weithio mewn amryw gyfryngau a phrosesau gwahanol, i greu projectau sy’n
adlewyrchu ei agwedd llawn empathi at ddynoliaeth a’r byd o’i gwmpas.
Emma Geliot 2011