Altered States at Waterloo Festival 2018

Responding to the Waterloo Festival’s theme Transforming Minds, this moving image exhibition takes as its inspiration Ken Russell’s 1980’s science fiction film, Altered States.

The Other by Svetlana Ochkovskaya (film still)

An exhibition of Artists’ Moving Image

June 11th-18th 2018
Daily, Mon-Sat 1-8pm and Sun 12-6pm
St John’s Crypt, Waterloo Road, London SE1 8TY 
FREE

Preview: Mon June 11th, 6-9pm

The 22 works, which will be on display in the historic crypt of St John’s Waterloo, explore altered states in a variety of contexts, from perceptual, psychological and philosophical to societal, technological and geographical.

​Curated by London Group members David Theobald and Genetic Moo.

Artists include:  Bonnie Begusch, Bryan Benge LG, Sandra Crisp LG, Mark Dean, Mellissa Fisher, Eric Fong LG, Susan Francis, Genetic Moo LG, Georgie Grace, Inger Lise Hansen, Daria Jelonek, Debbie Lee, Amanda Loomes LG, Daniel McKee, Laura Moreton-Griffiths, Svetlana Ochkovskaya, Piotr Piasta, Eda Sarman, Katrina Stamatopoulos and Alexandra Spence, David Theobald LG and Joe Vallory, Charlie Tweed, Ubiqk (Peter Gudynas) and Alan Warburton. (see below for artist biographies)

Calling by Eda Sarman (film still)

Artist Biographies

Bonnie Begusch
Bonnie Begusch works with video and text to reflect on the materiality and malleability of language. After studying Media Art and Literature at UCLA, she received her MFA in Fine Art from the University of California, Berkeley. She has been granted numerous international awards for her work, including fellowships at Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, USA; Headlands Center for the Arts, USA; Center for Contemporary Art Andratx, Spain; and Zentrum Paul Klee, Switzerland. She lives and works in Berlin. bonniebegusch.com

Bryan Benge LG
Bryan Benge graduated from Kingston Polytechnic with a fine art degree, and holds a postgraduate qualification from Kingston University. He was a Senior Lecturer/Course Leader at the University For The Creative Arts, he took early retirement in 2015 to be able to concentrate on his own practice. He has exhibited nationally and internationally. His work is currently placed in the Digital arts , he is quoted as saying of the digital process: ‘This process is more like playing three-dimensional chess but in the dark. The levels of thinking are byzantine not always yielding results, other times the light goes on and elements come together in surprising ways’! bryanbenge.co.uk

Sandra Crisp LG
Sandra Crisp (b. Cheshire, UK) studied MA Fine Art Printmaking Wimbledon School of Art (1993). She has exhibited widely both nationally and internationally and taught in various London-based colleges. Recent exhibitions/ awards include: 2017: Schauerman Digital Prize 2017: ‘The London Group Open’ Cello Factory, London, UK. 2017: FILE Video and GIF, Electronic Language International Festival, São Paulo, Brazil. 2016: ‘Visions’ Bow Arts, Nunnery Gallery, London, UK. 2016: Arctic Moving Image and Film Festival, Harstad, Norway. 2016: EMAF European Media Arts Festival, Osnabrück, Germany. 2016: Warwick Arts Centre Univ. of Warwick (residency) ‘Random String Symposium’ Coventry, UK.  sandracrispart.com

Mark Dean
Mark Dean has been exhibiting his looped and layered video and sound works for over 25 years. His first solo show was at City Racing, London in 1996, and his most recent gallery installation at Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam in 2014. Since his ordination in the Church of England in 2010 he has been exploring the liturgical potential of his art work, and in 2017 projected 14 videos onto the Henry Moore altar at St Stephen Walbrook Church during an all-night Easter vigil, followed by a video/dance collaboration ‘Stations of the Resurrection’ under the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral. tailbiter.com

Mellissa Fisher
Mellissa Fisher’s practice combines art with microbiology; her interests lie in the interrelationships between illustration, sculpture and living organisms. Mellissa’s research is heavily based on the connections with nature and the self, posing questions to an audience regarding their relationship with their bodies as well as their link to nature. Mellissa’s practice has developed through creating bacterial sculptures of her own body, into an exploration of mycology by growing mushrooms on sculptures of the human form, to represent the idea that our bodies are an ecosystem, using the body as a landscape for growing and hosting different organisms. mellissafisher.com

Eric Fong LG
Eric Fong’s practice explores issues relating to the body, identity and difference, often informed by his past experience as a doctor. Fong’s work has been exhibited across the UK and internationally, including Ludwig Museum of Contemporary Art, Budapest; Pratt Manhattan Gallery, New York; Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary Photography, Toronto; EAST International, Norwich; International 3 Gallery and Chinese Arts Centre, Manchester and Shape Open and Creekside Open, London. Fong’s works have received awards at the Shape Open (selected by Yinka Shonibare) and Creekside Open (selected by Victoria Miro), London. One of his works is in the Arts Council England Collection. ericfong.com

Susan Francis
Susan Francis is a Belfast born artist now based in the South West of England. Her work encompasses object, installation and film, with an increasing focus on film as a means to tease out momentary narratives, uncomfortable histories and fragile exchanges. Past work includes solo shows both here in the UK and abroad, residencies in a number of countries including The Bemis Centre for Contemporary Art in the United States, and work held in public and private collections including the collection of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. susanfrancis.com

Genetic Moo LG
Genetic Moo build living installations in pixels and light. In dark spaces you can interact with their fantastical creatures or immerse yourself in their digital ecosystems. Their work draws widely from popular science, particularly in the areas of ecology, symbiosis, morphology, mutation and artificial life. They are currently working on a series of Microworlds. They have shown extensively in the UK and abroad, including The Science Centre, Singapore; LABoral, Gijon; Watermans, London; ICC Open Sky Gallery, Hong Kong; Dreamland, Margate; D’Arcy Thompson Zoology Museum, Dundee; Glastonbury; The Wellcome Collection; The Old Vic Tunnels and GEEK. geneticmoo.com

Georgie Grace
Georgie Grace works with video and installation to investigate themes of consciousness, language, and technology. She studied Philosophy and Social Anthropology at the University of Cambridge before completing her MFA at Cambridge School of Art in 2012. Recent presentations include: Biennial de Arte Digital, Brazil (2018); Plymouth Contemporary Showcase, Peninsula Arts (2018); Liquid Land, Ruskin Gallery, Cambridge (2018); Feral Vector Festival, Hebden Bridge (2018); Channels Festival, Melbourne, Australia (2017); Inner Landscapes of Time, Upstream Gallery, Amsterdam (2015); Recognise Predators, Recognise Prey (2014) g39, Cardiff, and this time of day can be dangerous (2014) Eastside Projects, Birmingham, as part of Jerwood Encounters: 3-Phase.  georgiegrace.net

Inger Lise Hansen
Inger Lise Hansen is an artist filmmaker living and working in Oslo. She was educated at University of East London and Central-St. Martin’s College of Art and Design. She received a Master of Fine Arts Filmmaking from San Francisco Art Institute in 1996.  Her films have been screened at Tate Modern, National Gallery, London, Galerie National du Jeu de Paume, Paris, and in festivals such as Hiroshima Animation Festival, London Film Festival and International Film Festival Rotterdam. Prizes include Mikeldi d’Oro for animation at Bilbao Film festival, Elfi von Dassanowsky Award Vienna Independent Shorts, 1st prize VideoEx, Zürich and Special Mention of the Jury Internationale Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen. ingerlisehansen.com

Daria Jelonek
Daria Jelonek is a digital artist, designer and researcher who lives and works in London. Her work is situated in the field of interaction design, moving image and immersive art installations, with a focus on the relationship between nature and technology. After graduating from the Royal College of Art in 2017 and researching with Microsoft Cambridge, she is currently working and practicing as an artist in London and co-founded the studio ABOVE&BELOW. Her artworks have been exhibited and screened at cultural institutes such as ICA London, Photophore – Spazio Ridotto Venice, Royal Academy, Royal College of Art, Sonar Barcelona, Hima Art Space Shanghai and International Shortfilm Festival Oberhausen. dariajelonek.com studioaboveandbelow.com

Debbie Lee
Debbie Lee graduated with a first class degree in Drawing and Painting from the Glasgow School of Art in 1989 and subsequently went on to study at the Royal College of Art and the Art Institute of Chicago as well as being a Commonwealth Research Scholar at Delhi College of Art. She has also trained and worked as an art therapist, a professional interest which is reflected in the exploration of psychological and transformational themes in her art work. Levitation is one of a sequence of animations inspired by her Artist’s book ‘Tread Softly…’  debbieleeart.co.uk

Amanda Loomes LG
Amanda Loomes works with the experimental documentary form, imbuing materials and places with the abstracted labour of the people they where made by, whilst reflexively drawing attention to the works digital construction. She graduated from the RCA in 2006 and was shortlisted for Jerwood Open Forest in 2013 and co-commissioned by Photoworks and HOUSE 2015. In 2016 she was invited to work with the National Trust, producing Keepers, a multi layered digital documentary of the estate workers at Lyme. She has recently completed a collaborative audio artwork, Spiky Black with artist Alison Carlier for Metal, hybridising the British rose growing industry and punk. Self Portrait ’08 records an attempt by the artist to navigate a redundant fire station wearing breathing apparatus and a smoke simulator visor; a collaboration with firemen from Euston fire station. amandaloomes.net

Daniel McKee
Daniel McKee is a British filmmaker and Internet artist. His practice employs the web as field of activity, which provide him foundation material to be skilfully selected and edited into complex and open-ended narratives.  In 2017 his video ‘Mona Lisa Selfie’ won a Vimeo Staff Pick and his 4 part series of Internet Works (iW) has collectively received over 175K views online – these films include hacking the Google Image Search algorithm, Emoji hunting and assorting over a thousand curated items from Amazon, by price ascending. Daniel is currently working with the Arts Council in Wales on a collaborative mixed media film, engaging local artists in North Wales. danielmckee.com

Laura Moreton-Griffiths
Laura Moreton-Griffiths lives and works in London. She is interested in the politics of time and forgetting, and how modern western history uses a linear model of storytelling.  Exhibitions include Pillow Talk, Uniqlo Tate Lates, Tate Modern, London (2018); Craft+Conflict. Rural Touring Scheme, Cumbria, Northumberland, Co Durham (2018); Dreaming Awake, Safe House 1, Peckham (2018); Truth Lies Within, Phytology, London (2017); SPACE / LCN Showcase 2nd Edition, SPACE, London (2017); Happenstance Bop, Spike Island, Bristol (2017); Sluice_ Space and Space Time Agency, The Averard Hotel, London (2016); Jerwood Drawing Prize, London (2010). Her work is held in private collections in UK and internationally. lauramoretongriffiths.com

Svetlana Ochkovskaya
Svetlana Ochkovskaya is currently studying MFA Fine Art at the Goldsmiths University of London, having graduated with a First Class Honours in BA Fine Art from the Southampton Solent University in 2017. Svetlana has exhibited her work nationally and internationally. Recently she has been shortlisted for Visual Art Open Prize 2018 and Batsford Prize Award 2017. She was nominated by Aspex Gallery Portsmouth for Platform Graduate Award 2017 shortlist and for Best Visual Artist Guide Award Portsmouth 2018. She completed a two-month residency project at Aspex Gallery in January and is starting a residency at Space/Sticks Gallery in Fareham in July 2018. svetlanaochkovskaya

Piotr Piasta
Piotr Piasta is a visual artist and independent filmmaker. Born in 1981 in Brudnow village, central Poland, where he currently lives and works. His artwork explores themes of history, time and memory often within a rural context and he is particularly interested in ageing within rural communities and the stories and memories of older people in these communities. He has exhibited internationally including RAI Film Festival, Bristol; Berwick Visual Arts, Berwick-upon-Tweed; TRAFO Center for Contemporary Art, Szczecin; Lubomirov / Angus-Hughes, London; AVI Festival at The Israeli Film Museum, Jerusalem; TIVAF, Tasmania and the Toronto Indie Doc Fest. piotrpiasta.com

Eda Sarman
Eda Sarman’s practice as an artist, someone telling a story – unfolding the hidden obvious, develops from documenting everyday life to create conditions to challenge, or to loosen it. Using footages from reality allows place to be seen as the extension of us. When understood as an active/fleshy organism, place can tell us the hidden obvious about history, social norms, political structures, economical conditions. It can tell us about us. The multiplicity of place is an opportunity for acceptance and change. edasarman.com

Katrina Stamatopoulos
Katrina Stamatopoulos is a London based artist. Her interests are located amongst the hazy borders of what is considered to be true and make-believe, scientific and surreal, and how we mis-perceivably see through photography.  Graduating in 2012 at the College of Fine Arts, University of NSW, Katrina has completed residencies at the BigCi, Wollemi National Park, Australia, and Haihatus Art Center, Finland. Exhibitions include After Eden, LATARKA, Budapest 2016; Manpower ’16, Lisbon; and Stimulus, Art.Number 23, Athens.  In 2017, she presented Seeps Through The Tale at LOVENpresents, London and in 2018, participated in Surge, The Cortauld East Wing Biennial, Somerset House, London and Real/Unreal, Bath Photography Festival. She is a current MFA student at Goldsmiths, London. katrinastamatopoulos.net

David Theobald LG
David Theobald is a video artist born in Worthing in 1965. Although originally trained as a chemical engineer, he pursued a career in finance for fifteen years, living both in New York and London. Sixteen years ago he decided to change profession and dedicate himself to becoming a full-time artist, attaining an MFA in Fine Art from Goldsmiths in 2008.  Most recently, his main works have been animations structured from photographs, scanned images and rendered objects, blending these together to create a familiar yet alien environment. These may be structured as conventional films or as continuous loops with no discernible beginning or end. davidtheobald

Charlie Tweed
Charlie Tweed graduated from Goldsmiths MFA Art Practice in 2008. His films have been screened nationally and internationally at venues including: ICA, London; CCA, Glasgow; Whitechapel Gallery, London; Watershed, Bristol; Plymouth Arts Centre; CAFA, Beijing; Quad, Derby; Eastside Projects, Birmingham; Castlefield, Manchester.  He was the winner of the Galerie Klatovy Klenova prize at the Start Point European Academy Awards 2008, the winner of the ECO 09 prize in 2009 and selected for Bloomberg New Contemporaries in 2007. charlietweed.com

Ubiqk (Peter Gudynas)
Peter Gudynas is best known for his graphic and science fiction art and creative photography. Working with both traditional and digital media, his practice explores the sometimes converging areas of science fiction and fact to present a unique techno surrealist vision, including speculative illustrations of the human transformed into post-human, and photographic imagery envisioning haunted landscapes affected by the agencies of environmental change. Currently, his Ubiqk project involves work with experimental film, sound art and electronic music to present dystopian film soundscapes for an imaginary cinema and psychedelic utopian visions of a future past – elegies to spectres of lost futures. petergudynas.com

Alan Warburton
Award-winning queer British artist exploring software in contemporary culture. Commissioned, screened, exhibited and broadcast internationally at Ars Electronica, National Gallery of Victoria, Carnegie Museum of Art, Austrian Film Museum, Laboral, HeK Basel, Photographers Gallery, London Underground, Southbank Centre, Channel 4, Cornerhouse Manchester, Mark Moore L.A, Denver Digerati and Adult Swim. Six-time recipient of Vimeo Staff Pick, over one million online views. Born in Stirling, Scotland in 1980. Studied Critical Fine Art Practice (2001 to 2004) at Brighton University, then Digital Effects at Escape Studios in 2007 before working in London’s animation and post-production industry until 2012. alanwarburton.co.uk

Proximity by Inger Lise Hansen (film still)

 
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