Artists: Jack Churchyard, Katy Lines, Michael Chambers & Molly Haughton, with special contributions from Andrew Stride, Chin Up & animator, Lauren Veevers
Following a successful collaboration – Shop Talk – in Autumn 2015, Stanley Picker Gallery are delighted to welcome back members of the Welmede artists Collective to develop the narratives created during their inaugural project into an animation – Chaos at the Cornershop – which will be premiered online and onsite in the Stanley Picker Gallery Lobby 2 March 2016, 4-7pm.
The Welmede Collective is comprised of emerging talents from across the borough and beyond, participating in association with Welmede – a person-centred housing and support organisation, passionate about supporting people with disabilities to pursue their chosen lifestyle. The animators presenting Chaos at the Cornershop enlisted in a programme of gallery-based workshop programme ‘Your Time’ Welmede’s social and leisure activity service, facilitated by artist Andrew Stride who has previously worked on a one-to-one and group basis with each of the artists on a variety of activities.
During the programme, with workshops tailored to meet the interests and requirements of individuals, the up and coming creatives have been watching and learning about different types animation with professional animator and Kingston University Animation and Illustration graduate, Lauren Veevers – “we could not have done it without her!”.
The collective re-kindled discussion – or Shop Talk – regarding ‘Welmede Convenience Store’- its aesthetic, stock and colourful customers, of whom Artists have shared their personal feelings about what their characters ‘did next’ and offered potential storylines. As research, artists explored Stanley Picker Gallery’s current exhibition Charlotte Bergson: The Hunters of the Invisible, which similarly deals with meta-fictional and fantastical narratives staged within a parallel world. Fuelled, ideas were shared and solidified by storyboarding and script-writing, and each scene styled through drawing, collage and discussion. A selection of backdrops and props accompanies the Gallery-based showcase.
Our collective learnt that stop motion animation is a very long and fiddly (although incredibly enjoyable) process, and were therefore only able to complete Chapter 1 (below) titled ‘For whom the bell tolls’, of a much longer story. An overview of the proposed narrative is available for download here along with the original Shop Talk character biographies.
The Gallery team have again been impressed by all, and hope that you will enjoy a glimpse into the animated world of Welmede Convenience Store.
Welmede Art Collective: Chaos at the Cornershop from Stanley Picker Gallery on Vimeo.