Nicole Mollett

The project will bring together heritage research, drawing, social­ly engaged art practice, stand­up performance, and story telling.

Future Dates;

Wednesday 2nd March, Whitstable Performance Event

Saturday 26th April, Magic Lantern Society Meeting, Swedenborg Society, London.

Saturday 17th May, Museums at Night Event, Tunbridge Wells Museum and Gallery.

We be previewing a new performance art piece using Magic Lanterns at the next Pot Luck show…

(A collaboration with Frog Morris)

Creek Creative Studios, Faversham

SAT 22ND MARCH, 2014

Doors open at 6:30pm. Start at 7pm

Tickets £7.00

book tickets here; http://www.accidentalcollective.co.uk/pot-luck/

Here I am giving a talk at Tunbridge Wells Museum about my commission as part of a skills sharing day. I found presenting my thoughts about why artists should work with museums, and my own personal experience really rewarding. Thank you to everybody who came and listened.

Read full review on day by Sarah Corn from South East Museums; http://southeastmuseums.org/news-and-opportunities?item=454#.UxCQJoWAT3B

Why Work With Artists? Why Work With Museums? (Kent & Medway)

Monday 17th February, 10-4pm

Location; Tunbridge Wells Museums

Presentations include;

• Introduction (Jo Wiltcher, Museum Manager)

• Case Study: The Magic Lantern Display (Liz Douglas, Curator and Nicole Mollet, Artist)

• Case Study: A Grand Tour (Julie Hawksworth, Curator)

•  The Commissioning Process (Polly Harknett and Suzie Plumb, Hoodwink Manager)

book event; http://southeastmuseums.org/news-and-opportunities?item=292#.UvtHCbQ9_1X

‘The Death of Cock Robin’

Pencil on paper 2014

Showing at The Beaney, Canterbury, Kent. As part of ‘ Trouble and Strife’, 18th January- 2nd March, 2014.

Manet’s ‘The Execution of Maximilian’ and John Opie’s ‘Murder of Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral’ are both dramatic paintings representing the tragic culmination of political power struggles. To complement their exhibition the Front Room will be displaying selected 2D artwork by talented Kent-based artists that have used similar themes of struggle and conflict in their work.

http://www.canterbury.co.uk/Beaney/whats_on/

Inspired by this poem;

“Who killed Cock Robin?

I, said the Sparrow,

with my bow and arrow,

I killed Cock Robin.

Who saw him die?

I, said the Fly,

with my little eye,

I saw him die. “

The poem ends with…

“All the birds of the air

fell a-sighing and a-sobbing,

when they heard the bell toll

for poor Cock Robin.”

GONE & GOODNIGHT from Simolab-Creative AV on Vimeo.

I have been busy working on a trailer for the Tunbridge Wells Museum commission. I am working with Simona Piantieri, a highly talented film maker who has made work for The British Museum, The Science Museum and the V& A to name but a few! Check out her website here; http://www.simolab-creativeav.co.uk/. The mini-film is inspired by early silent movies and the magic lantern slides themselves, it will be used to promote a talk about commissioning artworks being held at the museum in the new year.

Here is an earlier drawing of the idea for the Tunbridge Wells Museum Commission;

Here is the original idea..

 

27^th September – 4^th October
8-12 Faircharm, Creekside, Deptford, SE8 3D2
Private View – Friday 27^th September, 6-10pm
Finissage Party – 4^th October, 6-10pm
Open Daily 12-8pm

In a few weeks time I will be showing new work as part of Art in Romney Marsh. See website for details.

Art in Romney Marsh is an annual visual arts festival,which provides an exciting opportunity for artists and musicians to work in new and experimental ways. The exhibitions and performances take place in the medieval churches of Romney Marsh. Artists are invited to respond to a very particular and inspiring environment.

21-22, 28-29 September | 5-6, 12-13 October

www.artinromneymarsh.org.uk

Tunbridge Wells Museum & Gallery sits at the heart of the cultural landscape of the High Weald area in rural Kent. The museum is currently being refurbished, and I have been commissioned to create an artwork to welcome visitors to the newly refurbished building. The brief is to make a work which will be displayed inside two glass cabinets which responds to the Magic Lantern Slide collection.

The Magic Lantern Slide Collection

The magic lantern slides in the collection date from 1880 to 1950. Some slides accompanied public lectures and others were used domestically for private screenings. The slides depict local and foreign scenes, the sciences and social sciences, British history and children’s stories. The collection also includes magic lantern projectors and ephemera related to public lectures.

What I Plan to Make

The work will be a part of a larger inquiry within my artistic practice into unusual architecture, and using architecture as a metaphor for the body and/or the mind. I have regularly made sculptural houses from organic or edible matter, and have made several drawings of follies and grottoes both real and imagined. I am interested in how people often dream of architecture as a physical representation of their emotional state. I also believe architecture strongly affects human behavior. The spaces we live in directly shape our lives.

The magic lantern slide collection is rich and eclectic. There is a vast variety in content and subject matter. The strange mixture of images is similar to the memory of many places someone goes to in their lifetime. I like the idea of retaining the diversity, rather than trying to edit or control it. Reflecting how often real experiences are equally bonkers and incomprehensible as this wonderfully curious collection.

The Show will be opening in October. More details will be posted soon.

(All images are copyright of Tunbridge Wells Museum & Art Gallery)