WITH CHILD // JERWOOD ARTS COLLABORATION.
1:1 FUND
The 1:1 FUND is designed to support (re-)connection, experimentation and learning after the isolating impact of Covid-19. We want the 1:1 FUND to build the confidence of early-career practitioners and open the door for future projects by supporting new and existing collaborations to exchange ideas, skills-share and research together.
The 1:1 FUND offers awards of £2,000 for 42 pairs of early-career practitioners (artists, curators and producers) to connect, experiment, learn from each other and share ideas. This fund was designed to offer an injection of support for two practitioners who want to work together. It is being used to strengthen existing collaborations, and in some cases to enable new ones to be explored. There is no expectation of a final or fixed outcome.
Myself and Marie-Claire Lacey were awarded this funding. Our proposed project is outlined below. Learn more HERE.
Marie-Claire Lacey and Adam Stearns
What drew you to each other’s practice?
As lifelong friends whose artistic journeys have taken different directions, Marie being predominantly a visual and conceptual artist and Adam working primarily as a musician and sonic artist, our paths have begun to coalesce in recent years through a shared interest in creative coding and physical computing. Having approached these areas in different ways, using different softwares and programming languages, we feel we would both benefit from sharing our knowledge with one another.
Why did you choose the idea you will be working on?
Both of us have utilised the heartbeat as the basis for artistic expression in previous projects. As Marie is currently pregnant, we both thought this project would be an opportunity to explore the relationship between mother and unborn child through use of the two heartbeats as a medium in the creation of an artwork. Beyond the obvious personal significance of the project, we feel a lack of dialogue around pregnancy exists, and hope to use Marie's embodied experience of this time to initiate conversation and reflection.
Marie-Claire Lacey's work focuses on facets of human experience, struggle, identity and contradiction. She is interested in using art to uncover hidden experiences; whether personal unconscious or private worlds, or experiences of people who are silenced in one way or another by society. She strives to be non-judgemental - open to exploring phenomena she might not understand - recognising the validity of every person's experience and valuing communication and understanding as tools for breaking down social barriers.
Adam Stearns' sonic artwork specialises in the creation and exploration of audiovisual relationships utilising electronic music, recorded sound and computer-generated visual environments. His work encompasses fixed media, live performance and installation pieces, with a recent research strand specifically addressing the ways in which lockdown has drastically affected how we experience the arts and collaborate with one another. He is also dedicated to working closely with various community groups, believing the arts to be a crucial and transformative aspect of our shared experience together.