Sedimentary Memory 2015: burnished Bideford Black pigment on paper with shellac
(right) Tool 2015: pebble found near Bideford Black seam, used to burnish drawing. In collection of Burton Museum and Art Gallery. Photograph by Matt Austin
2015: Pebble found near the Bideford Black seam on the North Devon Coast -used to burnish the drawing. Photo by Julian Smith
2015 (detail). Photo by Matt Austin
Sedimentary Memory (detail)
Photo by Matt Austin
Sedimentary Memory and Tool (2015) are responses to Bideford Black, a naturally occurring carboniferous pigment once mined in North Devon.
This drawing is an exploration of layers of memory; geological and physical. A large sheet of paper was compressed, expanded and covered with Bideford Black and shellac before burnishing extensively with a sea pebble found near the seam of this remarkable pigment on North Devon’s coast.
Nine Artists were commissioned to spend a year exploring the rich history and associations of this extraordinary substance, including Sam Treadaway; Neville + Joan Gabie; Corinne Felgate; ATOI; Tabatha Andrews; Lizzie Ridout; LittleWhitehead; Luce Choules; Liberty Smith, culminating in an exhibition
‘Bideford Black: The Next Generation’ (3rd Oct 2015- 15th Nov 2015 at Burton Art Gallery). This was a Burton Art Gallery project produced by Claire Gulliver, Warren Collum, Flow Contemporary Arts, and funded by ACE and Torridge Disctrict Council.
Aesthetica magazine exhibition review; http://www.aestheticamagazine.com/review-of-bideford-black-the-next-generation-burton-art-gallery-and-museum-devon/
Film trailer for Bideford Black – The Next Generation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A56DMcmTzcs