WORKPLACE FOUNDATION

Closing soon: ‘Pincer’ a solo exhibition by Hazel Brill. Beginning with research into uses of artificial intelligence within wet-laboratories, Brill followed a wide-ranging associative trail, using computer ‘vision’ and ‘hearing’ to interpret their studio practice. Working alongside an AI chatbot companion and Google's computer vision function, this experiment led to the dizzying set of references, stretching from 17th century machines for spiritual experiences, early forms of coding and to contemporary practices within pharmaceutical industries. Scattered across the space, Brill’s gothic-horror-inspired set design absorbs, reconfigures and riffs upon a set of playfully absurd reference points, and through an experimental use of wide ranging media, contemplates the role of theatricality, storytelling and emotion in scientific research. @hazel_brill — Installation view of ‘Pincer’, 2023. Photo by Matt Denham. Courtesy of the Artist and Workplace Foundation. #WorkplaceFoundation #HazelBrill #Newcastle #Sculpture #ContemporaryArt #Art

Many of the sculptural installations contain their own internal processes, including live bacteria, and are fashioned from cardboard, scrap metal, steel, glass, clay, faux fur. A dissonant soundtrack accompanies the pieces, featuring field recordings from biotechnology labs, the use of image to sound generator, synth music and collaged tracks. Sound includes samples of Scarlett Woolfe live recordings, snippets of guitar tracks by Roland Fischer-Vousden and image to sound generation using Olivia Jack's software programme Pixelsynth. Pincer’ a solo exhibition by Hazel Brill continues until 4 November. Gallery Hours: Tuesday and Wednesday, 12-6pm @hazel_brill — Hazel Brill Breeding Bed, Laid to Rest, 2023 Steel, glass tank, clay, wool, glass, ceramics, underwater light, spotlight, water pump, projection, sound 231 x 195.7 x 124 cm Photos by Matt Denham. Courtesy of the Artist and Workplace Foundation. #WorkplaceFoundation #HazelBrill #Newcastle #Sculpture #ContemporaryArt #Art

The works in the exhibition are rooted in developments with contemporary technology, and provoke and subvert popular narratives around science, teasing out complicated feelings of fear and anticipation of the unknown. Here, a set of recurring images and patterns weave an opaque story around themes of fate, pattern recognition and artificial intelligence, while the sculptures function as fictional 'breeding beds' for a series of intertwined, imaginary creatures. Dreamlike premonitions about the fate of the protagonists are embedded into the ‘walls’, suggesting an ominous forecast for the inhabitants’ futures. These images and patterns are stamped into the clay, embedded in the structures of the installation and rusted onto metal images hung on the wall, with references crossing between the sculptures and video. Hazel Brill: ‘Pincer’ continues until 4 November Gallery Hours: Tuesday and Wednesday, 12-6pm @hazel_brill — Hazel Brill Breeding Bed, Laid to Rest, 2023 Steel, glass tank, clay, wool, glass, ceramics, underwater light, spotlight, water pump, projection, sound 231 x 195.7 x 124 cm #WorkplaceFoundation #Hazelbrill #Newcastle #Sculpture #ContemporaryArt #Art

Now open: ‘Pincer’ a solo exhibition by Hazel Brill. Featuring a series of sculptures and video, Brill has created an installation that references a gothic laboratory, conjuring a shiny utopian future which has turned messy and grotesque. Inspired by intricate set designs and depictions of laboratories from horror films, the artist is interested in gothic horror fiction as a device to deal with fears around transformative technologies, where the lines between the living and the non-living are blurred, posing an existential threat.  On view 23 September - 4 November Gallery Hours: Tuesday and Wednesday, 12-6pm @hazel_brill — Installation views of ‘Pincer’. Photos by Matt Denham. Courtesy of the Artist and Workplace Foundation. #WorkplaceFoundation #HazelBrill #Newcastle #Sculpture #ContemporaryArt #Art

Workplace Foundation is delighted to announce ‘Pincer’, a solo exhibition by Hazel Brill. Inspired by intricate set designs in horror films, dreamlike premonitions about the fate of the protagonists are embedded into the ‘walls’, becoming a doomsday forecast for the inhabitants’ futures. Brill is interested in how gothic horror fiction is used as a device, or an inescapable habitual narrative, to deal with fears around transformative technologies that blur a line between the living and the non-living and offer opportunity for existential threat. Within this exhibition, a set of recurring images and patterns weave an opaque story around themes of fate, pattern recognition and artificial intelligence, while the sculptures function as fictional 'breeding beds' for a series of intertwined, imaginary creatures. These images and patterns are stamped into the clay, embedded in the structures of the installation and rusted onto metal images hung on the wall, with references crossing between the sculptures and video. Workplace Foundation | 12 Blandford Square, Newcastle, NE1 4HZ Opening reception: Friday 22 September, 5-8pm On view 23 September - 4 November @hazel_brill — Hazel Brill Night Station, 2022 Multi-media installation on a 3-minute loop,Laser cut steel, magnifying plastic, polymer clay, metal wire, faux fur, bacteria cellulose, steel wool, 3 motors, 3 LED lights, 1 video projection, 1 speaker set, 1 DMX controller.
168cm, 119cm, 73cm #workplacefoundation #newcastle #contemporaryart #Installation #sculpture #art

✨ Today is the last day to see A Big Life, a solo exhibition by Glasgow based artist Tako Taal ✨ Open 12-6pm. Full documentation is available on our website, link in bio. — Video credit: @‌mattdenham_ — #WorkplaceFoundation #TakoTaal #ABigLife #ContemporaryArt #InstallationArt #newcastleupontyne

Tako Taal Table d’hôte, 2017, HD video, no sound 7 minutes 43 seconds ‌ On view at Workplace Foundation as part of Tako Taal: A Big Life The exhibition continues until 5th August. @takotaal ‌ -- Photography by @mattdenham_ . Courtesy of the artist and Workplace Foundation. -- #WorkplaceFoundation #TakoTaal #ABigLife #ContemporaryArt #InstallationArt #NewcastleUponTyne

This is the last week to see ‘A Big Life’ by @takotaal at Workplace Foundation. The exhibition is on view until 5th August. ‌ ‘A Big Life’ brings together a body of work that Taal has been building over the last five years which looks at multiplicities of identity and investigates the social and historical significance of her father’s home, Jufureh. -- Tako Taal, Sad deserted shore, your fickle friends are leaving (detail), 2023, Glitter vinyl, emulsion, oleander flower, lemon peel, c-type prints, coins (various origins), stone, newspaper cutting, plastic wallet, solar-powered calculator, portable radio cassette, infinite tape, bag of rice. Photography by @mattdenham_ Courtesy of the Artist and Workplace Foundation. -- #WorkplaceFoundation #TakoTaal #ABigLife #ContemporaryArt #InstallationArt #NewcastleUponTyne

Tako Taal: A Big Life continues until 5th August. Full documentation is available on our website, link in bio. @takotaal ‌ Tako Taal, Sleeve_01, 2023, Shirt sleeve and digital fabric print ‌ -- Photography by @mattdenham_ Courtesy of the Artist and Workplace Foundation. -- #WorkplaceFoundation #TakoTaal #ABigLife #ContemporaryArt #InstallationArt #newcastleupontyne

'Sad deserted shore, your fickle friends are leaving Ah, but then you know its time for them to go But I will still be here, I have no thought of leaving I do not count the time' Sandy Denny - Fairport Convention ‌ Taal’s installation ‘Sad deserted shore, your fickle friends are leaving’ is both a study of landscape and place and an attempt to collapse multiple timeframes and materials into one location. It is rich in a diversity of materials, including glitter vinyl, oleander flower, brass, lemon peel, c-type prints, coins (of various origins), newspaper cuttings, solar powered calculator, portable radio cassette, infinite tape, and rice, all of which have personal significance to Taal. ‌ Tako Taal: A Big Life On view until 5th August. Gallery open Tuesday - Saturday, 12 pm - 6 pm @takotaal #WorkplaceFoundation #TakoTaal #ABigLife #ContemporaryArt #InstallationArt #newcastleupontyne

Tako Taal: A Big Life @takotaal As part of A Big Life Taal is showing A body which explores ideas of myth-making about returning to places that no longer exist except in "topographies of grief and loss". The exhibition is on view until 5 August. Tuesday - Saturday 12 pm - 6 pm 12 Blandford Square, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4HZ -- Tako Taal A body, 2019 Vinyl -- Photography by @mattdenham_ #WorkplaceFoundation #TakoTaal #ABigLife #ContemporaryArt #InstallationArt #newcastleupontyne

Thank you to everyone who joined us last week for the preview of ‘A Big Life’, a solo exhibition by Glasgow based artist Tako Taal. ‘A Big Life’ brings together a body of work that Taal has been building over the last five years which looks at multiplicities of identity and investigates the social and historical significance of her father’s home, Jufureh.  The exhibition is on view until 5 August. Gallery hours Tuesday-Saturday 12-6pm @takotaal #TakoTaal #ABigLife #WorkplaceFoundation #ContemporaryArt #Art