flockOmania by Zoe Robertson

Artist list

Zoe Robertson

Created by artist Zoe Robertson, the ‘flockOmania’ exhibition – which is a collaboration between academics at Coventry University and Birmingham City University – aims to challenge the traditional notion of jewellery displayed behind a glass screen by presenting large-scale jewellery with which visitors can interact.
 
The wearable objects have been handmade using a variety of different materials and a mix of traditional craft skills in combination with industrial technology, and are theatrically-sized to emphasise and explore themes relating to the scale and movement of the body.
 
flockOmania’s artists – who also include Coventry University’s Dr Natalie Garrett Brown and dance practitioner Amy Voris – are aiming to create a ‘laboratory of making’ in which they will improvise movements amongst the sculptural jewellery to offer an atmospheric, ever-changing environment for their audience to explore.
 
Exhibition creator Zoe Robertson, who is a course director at Birmingham City University, said:
 
“We’re excited to be launching this exhibition and look forward to welcoming visitors into a dynamic environment where jewellery meets performance and the visual landscape is constantly shifting to offer something new.
 
“I’ve always taken an open-minded approach to challenging the boundaries of jewellery. That approach, coupled with an intuitive relationship with materials, is the driving force behind my work.”
 
Dr Natalie Garrett Brown, principal lecturer in dance at Coventry University, said:
 
“The Lanchester Gallery’s city centre location is an excellent venue for this exhibition which seeks to be interactive and open to those interested in both the visual arts and performance. This project demonstrates the potential of collaboration between Universities in the region working across a range of exciting and complementary artistic disciplines.



About the Jewellery Artist - Zoe Robertson:

Zoe Robertson is a jewellery artist and practice based researcher her work currently explores the notion of Jewellery and Performance, in which the relationship between the object, the body and space is investigated. Her jewellery is theatrical in scale and responds to kinaesthetic sensations in which the tactility, sensuality and physicality of the objects is important. She experiments on the edges of the discipline and enjoys working collaboratively. Additionally she is the Course Director for BA (Hons) Jewellery Design and Related Products at the School of Jewellery, Birmingham City University. Her work is exhibited within an international arena.

About the Dance Artists:

Dr Natalie Garrett Brown, BA, MA, PhD is principal lecturer in dance at Coventry University, UK, where she contributes to the BA(Hons) Dance course and co-ordinates postgraduate provision for the Performing Arts Department. Her practice and research interests are theoretically situated within Feminist understandings of embodied subjectivity and the ways in which Somatic and Reflective practices can inform education, performance making, creativity, writing and digital cultural practices. She is associate editor for the Journal of Dance and Somatic Practices and sits on the editorial board for Dancelines, Research in Dance Education and is vice chair for DanceHE (Standing Conference of Dance in Higher Education).  Natalie undertook her Somatic Movement Educators Training in Body-Mind Centering with Embody Move Association, UK and is co-convener of the International Conference for Dance & Somatic Practices, held biannually at Coventry University. She is also a founding member of enter & inhabit, a collaborative site responsive project, and the Corporeal Knowing Network; an exchange between theatre and dance artists & scholars interested in embodied writing practices and processes.Amy Voris is a dance-artist based in Manchester.
 
Amy Voris, is a dance-artist based in Manchester.  Her work is process-oriented and collaborative. Current research is concerned with Authentic Movement (after Janet Adler, Jane Bacon, Linda Hartley) as a methodology for the choreographic process.  Her practice is responsive and associative, driven by an interest in the body/psyche as a multitudinous entity and in shaping movement material across long periods of time.  The outcome of her work is contingent on series of hunches and interactions during the process and varies widely.  Examples of current projects include a collaborative laboratory between nine artists working in different media (L219), a site-responsive project (enter inhabit) and a farcical yet extremely successful business venture (aMigaentErpriseS).