respond/reply brings together artists Phyllida Barlow, Caroline Wright and Helen Rousseau and poet George Szirtes and is funded by the National Lottery through Arts Council England and Ipswich Turnstone Revenue Fund. The project has progressed from an exchange of drawn and written material between Caroline Wright and Helen Rousseau, begun in 2007. Both artists use drawing as a fundamental tool in their practice whilst also employing other methods of enquiry; for Caroline this encompasses live and site specific work and Helen works with sculpture and installation.
The project examines the potential of relationships between drawing and writing that operate beyond a critique of the work and/or its processes. There are two strands to the investigation - one being the resulting drawn and written works and the other the conversations and dialogue around those processes and outcomes. Meetings with all four participants provide opportunities to discuss material first hand. These discussions then continue through postal and virtual project space exchanges. The artists respond to the writing in visual form and this prompts a further written reply and so on.
A lively discussion took place in the Town Hall Gallery in Ipswich in October 2010 as part of the project. The four protagonists talked about the project background and the research areas they had been uncovering to date .The project will be made accessible to audiences in London and East Anglia during 2010/2011 through a variety of other public platforms including exhibitions and talks. A publication is planned to conclude the project.
Early stages of the work in progress can be seen at
www.respondreply.blogspot.com
