Pile of Bricks 2011
Catherine Cartwright, Exeter, UK
| 'Pile of Bricks'
is directly inspired by Julie Bruck's
poem 'March 9, 2007 Al-Mutanabbi Street, Baghdad'.
I pared down Julie Bruck’s poem to the words that describe
the objects found by the man in the poem who searches for his teenage
son in the bombed devastation of Al Mutanabbi Street. The words
of the objects; 'pink plastic flower, a pair of glasses, and a book
with crisp, white pages' were deeply moving to me and became etched
on my mind. I aimed to create a book that could be handled and played
with while the words were thought about, and in a form that would
reflect on the impact of the bombing. The bricks are screenprinted
MDF blocks that can be handled, built up and knocked down, for example
as a house of cards, or layered as a pile of bricks. The paper-version
of the book can be handled or hung. The feet movements on the back-side
of these brick prints suggest the street's living, daily activity
and contrasts with the deadened bombed-out pile of bricks. I am printmaker-artist whose practice encompasses notions of freedom and containment alongside an investigation of human rights. My work enables me to learn about, digest and consider current issues of human rights while exploring the seemingly endless possibilities to the medium of printmaking. I work across printmaking choosing the methods most appropriate to the work in progress. This may be monotype, drypoint, collagraph, screenprinting, a combination of these and encompassing text, stitch, and collage. I enjoy collaboration across art form and on the past two years I have created work with artists in performance art and film (Politics in Print 2009), dance (Collective Perspectives 2011), and animation. I am a Director, Tutor, Education coordinator for Double Elephant Print Workshop, Exeter, UK. I am active within Exeter's international community and I am currently supporting the set up of the Centre for Human Rights and Social Equality (Exeter-based). I am organising a 'Reading-Performance' of 'The Story of Al Mutanabbi Street' to mark the 5 years since the bombing. It will take place on 5-3-2012 at Double Elephant Print Workshop, turning the workshop and its printing accompaniments into a performance space that plays its role in the creation of the printed word and image. Dimensions: Box - 30cm (length) x 19cm (width) x 10cm (height) contains 7 'bricks' of 28cmx16cm Medium: 1 MDF version/ two paper versions  catherinecartwright.devon@yahoo.co.uk www.catherinecartwright.co.uk |
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