I have recently explored multiple questions addressing the relationship between Art and Music, pedagogy and geography curating an exhibition examining the relationships between practice and methodologies in this area of research: Artists who do Music/Musicians who do Art, at Queens Park Railway Club, Glasgow. This featured 100 plus artists and musicians including 5 Turner Prize Winners and a host of artistic pop stars.
I have been looking at the idea of cities with strong art schools having strong related music scenes, since being noted by Pete Townsend as early the 1960's. Also exploring ideas of intuitive approaches in music informing 'intellectual' conceptual art practice, and vice versa, through a practice led exhibition of exemplars, in a public, accessible setting.
I also included many younger artists and musicians in this project, some, in fact, still undergraduate students at GSA, some of whom I have collaborated with in past projects, as well as many ex students from Dept. of SEA. This gives a longitudinal overview to the research making and 40 year spread of activity. Currently in discussion on possibilities with Prof. Raymond MacDonald (Edinburgh University) Martin Cloonan (University of Turku)
This project has generated a lot of interest and I have appeared in the mainstream press (BBC Scotland Radio Interview, Daily Record, STV) as well as many more regular art review.
We are currently making a film about the project with filmmaker Martin Muir. I also hope to raise money to make a publication of sorts, perhaps a book/fanzine celebrating and discussing these research questions.
"Artist Ross Sinclair curates an exhibition celebrating the intertwined relationships of his twin passions of art and music and has invited 100 like-minded practitioners to join in. These themes have been prevalent in Sinclair’s own work as an artist since he took time out of his studies at the Glasgow School of Art to become a founding member of popular Glaswegian beat combo The Soup Dragons in the mid 1980’s. Sinclair has invited 100 members from the art and music communities to submit an artwork, (irrespective of which form they are best known for) and to contribute an example of their music for a digital mix-tape that will be played in the space. Films and videos will be exhibited reflecting an eclectic mix of pop video, performance and film-work.
The exhibition includes works by Turner prize-winning artists, Douglas Gordon, Simon Starling, Susan Philipsz, Martin Boyce and Martin Creed alongside other luminaries Dave Shrigley, Vikki Morton, Scott Myles, Jonathan Monk, Hanna Tuulikki, Marianne Greated, Jessica Voorsanger, Bob and Roberta Smith, Anne-Marie Copestake, Ross Birrell, Clara Ursitti, Nathan Coley, Ruth Barker, Roddy Buchanan, Michelle Hannah, Graham Fagen, Becky Sic, Craig Mulholland, Natalie Doyle, Bob & Roberta Smith, Beagles and Ramsay alongside a host of others including students from Glasgow School of Art whom Sinclair has collaborated in a series of performances and recordings most recently exhibited at Shanghai Himalayas Museum, Hayley Jane Dawson, Amy Di Rollo, Millie Angel, Iain McCall and Lin Zheng.
From the world of Music, Edwyn Collins and David McClymont from Orange Juice, (who contributes the original Litho Plates from the printing of the first Postcard Single, Falling and Laughing, alongside original collages used on the cover of the ‘Bridge’ Single), Bill Drummond (KLF)has written a short play based on his Ten Commandments of Art to be performed by actor Tam Dean Burn, Brendan O’Hare (Teenage Fanclub), Dougie Payne (Travis, GSA) will contribute new sculptural work, Eugene Kelly (Vaselines), Jill Bryson (Strawberry Switchblade), Bob Hardy (Franz Ferdinand) shows a project where he has photographed every hotel room he has stayed in since 2004, then has made a set of 378 unique postcards made of these photographs, that he will pile up in the gallery and give them away to the visitors, Sinclair’s old Soup Dragons colleagues Hi-Fi Sean Dickson and Sushil K Dade get involved, Bobby Bluebell, Davie Miller and Andy McGregor(Fini Tribe) alongside younger multi-disciplinary artists, Hannan Jones (Pussy Mothers), Aki(Handsome Girl), Richard McMaster (Golden Teacher, The Modern Institute) Fiona Soe Paing/Sara Stroud, Keith Farquhar/Tim Davies (Edinburgh Leisure) Mary Macintyre (Tonn Recordings) Rachel Walker, Cathy Weir (Fallope & The Tubes) amongst many, many others
Sinclair embarked on his studies at Glasgow School of Art in 1984, and has been a tutor/researcher there since ‘95 and is interested in the idea that many of the artists and musicians involved have studied, or are in some way associated with Glasgow School of Art. He is keen to observe if any common approaches can be identified from this pedagogic legacy as the students have blossomed into World Class Artists and Musicians.
Formally, The exhibition will be extremely busy eschewing the usual minimalist exhibition design and instead will employ a Salon Style Hang where works will be installed floor to ceiling with every inch of the space bursting with an eclectic mix of sculpture, records, painting, print, covers, films, videos, sounds and lots more.
For many years in his own work, Sinclair has been testing whether the motivations approaches to making are identifiably different when Artists are making Music or when Musicians are making Art, even if they are being made the same person, at the same time. Now, in front of a discerning Glasgow audience, he has chosen to invite 100 other artists to do the same at QPRC."
