Artist José García Oliva returns to Lancaster Arts for a new commission building upon his 2022 ‘Traces’ project. In Out of Hours José continues his work exploring the visibility and invisibility of labour, the importance of key workers and how they contribute to the buildings and communities we are all part of. José will work closely with cleaners, porters and security teams at Lancaster University, creating a body of new art works. These will include sound installations based on interviews, film and large-scale visual works including a cyanotype light painting created by Lancaster university staff and a collaborative collage which will be created as part of a public event. José is interested in highlighting stories that are often overlooked. The artworks developed as part of Out of Hours will contribute to creating a fuller picture of the unique experiences that define our working communities.
Last summer, José came to Lancaster University for a research and development visit to consider how he might develop and extend some of the ideas explored in Traces. He reconnected with colleagues across the university as well as opening out the conversation to consider a wider range of the roles that keep our university functioning. In this blog and associated sketchbook images, José shares this thoughts from his visit.
This month José returns to co-create new works planned as part of his commission. He will work closely with cleaning staff, security and porters over 3 days, capturing stories and creative responses. On the 8 November a public event invites our wider community within and beyond the University to take part in creating a unique collaborative work. Participants will be invited to contribute to Bristle by Bristle, assisting in creating a large scale artwork using broom bristles collaged onto a canvas. Lancaster Arts wants to ignite new conversations though artistic practices and include people who have not made art works before. By joining us in these creative gestures as part of José’s dynamic new commission, participants will contribute to a powerful collaborative message of acknowledgement, recognition and solidarity.
Out of Hours will culminate in a pop-up exhibition and further events at the Peter Scott Gallery from 22 January - 9 February 2024, open Monday to Friday between 11am – 5pm.
