Getting ready for Antifreeze with AirSpace Gallery and friends - 1st part

Group proposal for the event :

'As a group we are interested in exploring the notion of value exchange. We have made works in response to the Sunday Car Boot Fair that happens weekly in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, on the same street as the AirSpace Gallery.There are all types of people to be found at the fair, and as a group we infiltrated the site and made work in response to the people, objects and conversations to be found there.The finished pieces highlight themes of resourcefulness (working with available resources), and the fact that other peoples junk and waste can be re-used and made into something useful, that can be appreciated once again and put back on the market. Other themes include ideas of trade, waste, environmental concerns, the importance of exchange in its broadest sense and the ability to make and sell products in the recession. Questions about the value of objects come to mind i.e how antiques and art are valued (what makes something precious and valuable- it's age, the artist/maker, the materials it's made from?), and whether rubbish/ found materials can become more valuable when put in the context of 'art'.'

Links to the project :
http://annafrancis.blogspot.com/2009/06/preparations-for-antifreeze.html
http://antifreeze2009.blogspot.com/
http://www.contentsmayvary.org/events.html

For this project I went to the Hanley car boot sale (which I call "Sunday Market") with my small camera. While looking for frames, I kept taking random pictures, holding the camera as if I wasn't using it. I actually took 150 !

Here are the frames I bought. I like their diversity in style and I will look for some with even more character next Sunday.

Below is also a selection of the pictures. One thing I like about them is that they reflect the diverse communities of Shelton, the area where I live and where the car boot takes place. I also like the funny/witty ones or the more tender or the esthetically pleasant ones.

Here my role as a photographer is in the choices I make for selecting the photos as I didn't have any control over taking them. However, next time I might be directing their randomness : I have started to look at how to match frames and images and new meanings and readings will appear through the combinations.... I'm starting to have more and more ideas and getting very much into the whole project !


FRAMES





RANDOMLY TAKEN PHOTOS - a first selection





























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