Our latest work featured in the Plotting a City exhibition curated by Patrick Macaulay at Harbourfront Centre, Toronto.
We have been collaborating long-distance (usually with an ocean between us) for over four years. Individually, our practices have always responded to our preoccupations with human geography and site specificity. Collaboratively, our works embrace the unusual and inspiring consequences of the distance between us. We create site-specific artworks that articulate the value in wandering and being curious, that discover and communicate a sense of place; investigating how people understand and connect with their surroundings.
With Space in Translation: From Here to There in 9 directions and 15,640 steps, we embarked on a shared process of walking, journey making/taking and mapping while in separate cities. Laura began at the intersection of King and Queen St. west in Toronto and walked to Harbourfront Centre, transcribing directions based on landmarks that stood out to her along the way. These directions were passed to Sorrel, who in turn followed them in Norwich UK, beginning at the spot where King and Queen St. meet in her city. The rules given: trust the directions as you follow them and enjoy the possibilities while interpreting them; ask for help from those around you when need it; and record your number of steps taken. The resulting map is a distillation of our journey. 1 cm = 125 steps.
(click on images to read)
Sorrel Muggridge graduated with her Bachelor of Art degree in Contemporary Arts from Nottingham Trent University in 1998. She has an interdisciplinary art practice, making performance, installations and public art projects, and curating exhibitions. Muggridge has received commissions to make temporary public artworks and performances in London, Nottingham, Brighton, Toronto, Banff and Leicester and has presented performances in Nottingham's Expo, Nott Dance, and Now Festivals. Currently, Muggridge is developing A Curious Meander, which will be featured as part of the Norfolk & Norwich Festival 2011. Sorrel is also member of the Norwich-based arts collective, other/other/other, which is focused on creating and presenting site-responsive and durational work.
Laura Nanni is a Toronto-based interdisciplinary artist and curator. She has presented her work in public spaces and at festivals, galleries and theatres, including 7a*11d International Festival of Performance Art, Nuit Blanche and Toronto Free Gallery, Toronto; Angel Row and Bonington Gallery, Nottingham; and Galapagos Art Space, New York. With frequent collaborator Sorrel Muggridge, she participated in the Walking and Art Residency at the Banff Centre for the Arts, in addition to creating multiple site-specific works across Canada and the UK. Other projects include co-editing CTR 126: site-specific performance and Pick 7, an interactive mapping piece devised with Erika Hennebury for Hub 14. Nanni is currently Festival Director for Buddies in Bad Times' Rhubarb Festival.
More on Plotting a City:
http://www.harbourfrontcentre.com/visualarts/yorkquaycentreYQC11_1.cfm#E
http://toronto.openfile.ca/toronto/file/2011/02/finding-place-city
http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/02/10/at-the-galleries-urban-affairs/
The artists would like to acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.
