Animating Kettle’s Yard
/ Kettle's Yard volunteer Dave Pescod / Wednesday 6th November
This month I volunteered to help out at a Big Draw Practice Session lead by animator Karolina Glusiec, which was organized by Lucy Wheeler and Rosie O’Donovan. A very appropriate workshop as Karolina loves drawing, immediately evident in her notebook films on her
blog
. I first saw Karolina’s work at the Royal College of Art in 2011, sensitive hand drawn films with intelligent wit, that evoke the traditions of Polish animation by
Jan Lenica
and others offering social commentary, the forefathers of Monty Python and South Park.
Her film
has a subtle narrative written by Karolina that chimes with our times in its monochrome style. This deservedly won her the Jerwood Drawing Prize 2012 and brings an honest use of multi media in a world of indulgent special effects. Drinks were provided as the mixed crowd of thirty watched more films, including indie music promos Karolina made for a Polish record company. Then everyone toured the house making a small sequence of drawings, like the iconic lemon moving round the pewter plate, or pebbles creating new patterns or just abstracted inspirations. Karolina put the drawings on her laptop and programmed them into short film loops, premiered in front of everyone with loud applause and critical debate. More drinks and questions, before everyone left as initiated animators, and highly animated from a very enjoyable workshop.
The Practice Sessions are monthly informal evenings of art-making and bite-sized tours and talks, each month offering a different combination of artforms and ideas for you to sample over a drink.
See details of the next Practice Sessions below:
29
th
November, 6-8pm- join us to take part in building a collective environment inspired by Victor Skipp’s house interior.
24
th
January, 6-8pm – Join us for talks about the collection, music and an exploration of Helen Ede’s place in the house.
A student’s view of Kettle’s Yard House
/ Friday 1st November
Imagine your grandmother founded Habitat (hint: she’s the type to wear organic cotton draped over one shoulder, amber jewellery and make her own bread and lentil casseroles). Then imagine you went to visit her and one morning she popped out for a pint of milk, leaving you alone in her abode (hint: cool Habitat-founding grandmothers don’t have homes with Staffordshire dogs, floral curtains, or smell of musk). And there you have Kettle’s Yard. Okay, so why bother with the grandma metaphor at all if the house is chintz-free and there aren’t embarrassing photos of you as an awkward toothy eight year old scattered about? Kettle’s Yard has, for me at least, that sense of being almost home, but that better than home feeling, kind of like when you visit Grandma.
Almost home
because the eclecticism, the house-plants, the littering of chairs and the very much on-limits bathroom means there isn’t any intimidation or awe when drifting around Kettle’s Yard. Jim Ede is still very much here- the invigilators speak of him warmly as if he were just out for his lunch break- but he’s not on a pedestal. You don’t need to applaud his eye for the up-and-comer, or rush back home to Google an art collector you had never heard of and feel a complete ignoramus in the process. In fact, unlike most private houses-turned museums, Kettle’s Yard is refreshingly free of memorialisation. And Kettle’s Yard is
better than home
because, like Grandma’s, it’s both real and removed from reality. There is something totally soothing about its undulating floorboards, the seamless join between wall and ceiling, and the stillness that leads you to really focus on the lines and textures that in any other setting you would just rush by. And like Grandma, it takes a good deal of the menace out of deadlines, and dissertations, and to-dos. Kettle’s Yard invites you to stop, to breathe, and to ponder.
Florence Gildea is a third year student reading History at Pembroke College. She has longed to work surrounded by beautiful objects ever since she realised owning her own stately home was somewhat optimistic.
The house and permanent collection at Kettle’s Yard can now be enjoyed for longer hours: Tuesday-Sunday 12-5pm. Gallery opening hours remain Tuesday-Sunday 11.30am-5pm.
