LOOSE PARTS

Loose Parts

J o a n n e

L a w s

A textual response to

Anna Spearman’s Exhibition Loose Parts

Roscommon Art Centre

1

Loose Parts

J o a n n e

L a w s

A textual response to

Anna Spearman’s Exhibition Loose Parts Roscommon Art Centre

29th June – 30th July 2021

Loose Parts

Joanne Laws

I

f we were to observe the secret lives of art objects, we would find that they oscillate at different frequencies, depending on their environment. In the studio setting,

sculptures are playfully coaxed into form, through fluid processes of material accumulation and subtraction, testing and reworking. Preceding both narrative and the imposition of meaning, these provisional forms come into being through loops of energetic feedback, according to the experimental impulses and urgencies of their maker.

Conversely, in the more formal context of a gallery or museum, art objects tend to accrue a more solidified and fixed status, by nature of their public display. Here, artifacts are classified, arranged and presented according to the institution’s ontology, which serves to shape our understandings and interpretations of the objects on view.

It is this ambiguous space between loose and fixed – between maquette and venerated art object – that artist Anna Spearman seeks to occupy. Indeed, much of her recent work demonstrates her unwillingness to relinquish the momentum and energy of the studio during the transition to public presentation. Rather, Spearman often carries her studio with her, when installing an exhibition – both literally, with regard to the tools and materials that she brings to the space, and conceptually, in terms of her enduring curiosity and willingness to experiment.

6

7

Loose Parts

Joanne Laws

To this end, many of her artworks have a strong

Though extremely accomplished in many traditional

site-responsive element, coming to life in the arena of

sculptural processes and materials – such as casting

the gallery – a liberating yet nerve-wracking methodology

in plaster, porcelain or wax – Spearman tends to use an

that has yielded some remarkable interventions to date.

assortment of readily available, domestic or industrial

Architectural features like mantelpieces and window

materials, from felt, foil and glazed ceramic, to leatherette,

ledges have previously been harnessed to function

electrical tape and plywood. Like many contemporary artists,

as temporary ‘resting places’ for her seemingly furtive

she seems to subvert notions of material permanence –

sculptures. Playfully subverting the traditional language

perceived as a key obligation of the museum, in preserving

of sculptural presentation, Spearman regularly fashions

collections from decay – by using materials not intended

makeshift plinths from ad-hoc plywood structures,

to last. Unlike bronze or marble, which remain intact for

ramshackle ladders or fabric-covered angular supports,

hundreds of years, many of Spearman’s materials are non-

upon which billowing textile sculptures are draped like

durable, producing transient objects with a lifecycle that

amorphous appendages.

may include degradation. It’s as if Spearman’s sculptures temporarily assume one particular form on the way to

In an effort to retain the urgency of the making

becoming another.

process, many of Spearman’s sculptural forms are endearingly imperfect: unrefined wooden structures

Equally as significant as the materials used is their

are assembled from offcuts; frayed seams are stitched

unexpected juxtapositions – the result of continuous,

and taped, suggesting an ongoing state of repair;

speculative assemblage which conjures tactile interactions

while lumpen forms, teetering on unstable props,

between hard and soft, luminous and dull, reflective

are tightly bound with bandages, as if to fend against

and opaque, until something instinctive is sparked by

existential collapse. Rooted in feminine craft traditions

particular pairings. Among new artworks for Spearman’s

and charactersied by an ethos of improvisation and

solo exhibition at Roscommon Art Centre (29 June – 30

resourcefulness she observed in childhood, this make-

July 2021), frothy pink fur is tenderly enfolded with pleated

do-and-mend sensibility hinges on the physical act of

metallic lurex; rectangular wooden props are taped at the

creating, which the artist finds infinitely soothing.

corners and entwined by smooth serpentine coils; while

8

9

Joanne Laws

10

Loose Parts

11

Loose Parts

Joanne Laws

iridescent forms appear to reflect all the world’s colours in

Even though there are few traces of the human

their mercurial surfaces. Crucially, such material scrutiny

form in Spearman’s sculptures, they do retain an intense

arises from intently observing objects – through collecting,

sense of the figurative, not only in their use of familiar,

handling, placing and arranging them. Spearman’s studio

everyday materials, but in terms of scale, which fluctuates

has become a testing ground for such preoccupations; a

from hand-sized trinkets to objects as large as domestic

place for stitching, cutting, collaging and attaching things

furniture. Indeed, one might argue that perhaps all

together, to see if they will hold.

sculpture relates to the figure in some way, since our bodies must always navigate the three-dimensional

It’s also worth noting that Spearman’s artworks

space around it – a performative act which unfolds over

are rarely given individual titles, since naming suggests

time. Marking a unique juncture in history, Spearman’s

a finished and definite thing, to be isolated for singular

exhibition at RAC offers a welcome reprieve from gallery

contemplation, rather than encountered as constituents

closures and remote engagement with online exhibitions

of a whole. Within the broader installation at RAC, these

– something the contemporary art world has grown

ambiguous objects exist as interchangeable ‘loose

accustomed to during the coronavirus pandemic. Now

parts’ – a term coined in 1972 by British architect Simon

that viewers can once again be physically present, we

Nicholson (son of artists Ben Nicholson and Barbara

are seduced by sculpture’s glorious tactility and by the

Hepworth) to denote the idea that the cultural participation

sense of connection, no matter how fleeting, that can be

of young children comes from playing with open-ended,

activated by encounters with art.

flexible materials that can be transformed in different ways. Many of Spearman’s sculptures embody this sense of playfulness, inviting human interaction through the incorporation of implied handles, wheels, steps or seating, thus suggesting an action that the viewer might undertake.

In this way, the exhibition-making process becomes a form of world-building, creating a place in which to daydream – a space for magical thinking, where sculptural props and totems become abstract signifiers.

12

13

Loose Parts

About Roscommon Arts Centre's Visual Art Writer In Residence Visual Art Writers Joanne Laws and Sue Rainsford are the Roscommon Arts Centre’s Visual Art Writers in Residence for 2021. During this time, Joanne & Sue are invited to write critical texts on selected exhibitions and projects happening across the county.

The intention of this residency is to allow writers to experiment with their writing style and explore new ways of disseminating their work. Their writings will be available at Roscommon Arts Centre and online as they are published.

Joanne Laws is a visual art writer, editor and researcher based in county Roscommon.

She is Editor of The Visual Artists’ News Sheet, where she commissions and develops new writing for an Irish arts readership. Joanne is a member of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA) and a regular contributor to international arts publications including Art Monthly, Art Review and Frieze. Joanne was Assistant Editor of the monograph Derek Jarman: Protest!, published in 2020 by IMMA and Thames & Hudson. Among other professional commitments, Joanne currently serves on the board of directors of Leitrim Sculpture Centre and is programme extern for the Fine Art Department at Sligo Institute of Technology.

Anna Spearman is a visual artist based in Sligo. She holds a BA in History of Art (TCD), a BA in Fine Art (IT Sligo), and an MA in Fine Art: Contemporary Practice (University College Falmouth). She is currently a studio artist at The Model in Sligo.

Anna’s practice is multi-faceted. Her studio practice is primarily concerned with the world of materiality, and the curious and playful language inherent in the processes of both object-making and painting. In tandem, she pursues a diverse socially engaged and collaborative practice which draws on her background in community development and her interest in education. Anna is also a Creative Associate with the Arts Council’s Creative Schools programme.

14

15

Joanne Laws

www.roscommonartscentre.ie 16