A real craft to making art
SHEFFIELD artist Matthew Harrison says he is happiest when he is making things, whether they have an artistic purpose or not.
Often his work combines the practical with the creative such as his contribution to the current exhibition at the Site Gallery, Never Let the Truth Get in the Way of a Good Story. It includes some seminal film works from the 70s along with newer works all playing around with the
structures of story-telling and narrative by manipulating voiceover, text and language in relation to the moving image.
Harrison's input is not on screen but the creation of a purpose built viewing structure for the exhibits.
"Instead of showing films in a big white box they wanted something that was purpose-built and was more interesting and exciting," he explains.
"If you totalled up the amount of time you would have to spend in that space if you watched all the films from start to finish there needs to be a practical element to what I came up with.
"I quite like solving problems and so all the necessary equipment for showing films - the DVD projector and film projector, the computers, the wring and all that - is on the outside and not in disguise. It's done in a visible way. When you come into the studio there are unusual shapes not the usual blank interior with all the projectors and everything tucked away."
He currently has a work on show in London - a floorboard.
"It's a big group show called Dogtooth & Tessellate at The Approach in Bethnal Green," he elaborates. "It's on the theme of patterns and I have borrowed from one of the camouflage dazzle designs of Edward Wadsworth to decorate a floorboard on the threshold of the gallery, so people step over it."
Last October a project by Harrison caught the eye at the Zoo Art Fair in London. He customised a Hummer off-road vehicle with 'Wild West' wooden wheels and it was parked on Old Burlington Road, opposite the Royal Academy of Arts for the duration of the fair.
Harrison, who was exhibiting on behalf of East London gallery Limoncello, aimed to create a sculpture that combined art, engineering and motoring. He's always had a thing about the Wild West, he says, and the wooden wheel on a modern vehicle gave a sense of before and after.
"I wanted to make a work that was practical," he adds.
"Car adverts often rip off art so I wanted to go the other way."
Although, of course, Hummer's willingness to lend him one of their
vehicles suggest that they viewed it as good publicity.
Humour is an essential ingredient of Harrison's work, with Marcel Duchamp one of his heroes. He once made a piece inspired by the French surrealist called 96cc of Chinese Air, 6,183 of Paris Air which involved riding to Paris by bike, letting his tyres down and inflating them with Parisian air and cycling back home.
Bolton-born Harrison came to Sheffield to do an MA at Sheffield Hallam University in 2005 to follow the degree he obtained in Bristol where he first honed his craft for making things, though not at university.
"I was a prop and model maker for film and TV which I did just to earn a living. Now I make a bit of a living out of art but still supplement it with teaching at Sheffield Hallam."
He has also undertaken commissions for the architectural department.
"All my life I have always been in the middle of making something. It's what I love doing," he says.
At some point that was elevated into art. "I kind of stumbled into it when I built a special notice board for this remote village in Sweden as part of their summer show," he says.
But the craftsman's work ethic has remained as important as the conceptual verve with work that tends to be functional as well as decorative.
"I make inlaid door and drawer handles for offices They take a long time to make," he sighs.
MORE:
Local News
Local Sport
Arts Guide
Listings Guide
Restaurant Guide
Letters
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Sheffield
Saturday 04 February 2012
Today
Heavy snow
Temperature: -2 C to -0 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 1 C to 5 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: West
