Join us at Grand Union for a discussion between Aideen Doran and Laura Oldfield Ford, chaired by Dr Phil Jones (Senior Lecturer in Cultural Geography, University of Birmingham).
Aideen will be discussing her research for her solo exhibition in the gallery space, and Laura is our artist in residence throughout the same period.
The discussion will be focusing on not only on the city of Birmingham and its changing landscape, but on wider issues surrounding space, policy, urban development and architecture.
Bios:
Aideen Doran studied at the University of Ulster and the Glasgow School of Art, and lives and works in Glasgow. Her practice centres on a rigorous process of research, through which she investigates contentious historical and political questions- generating artistic responses to archival documents, images and impressions that she encounters, collects and orders.
She is currently completing a practice based PhD in Fine Art at Northumbria University, researching the possible values of artistic production in an information economy.
Im Bau at Grand Union is her first significant solo project in a UK gallery.
Laura Oldfield Ford was in residence at Grand Union 13 April – 22 May 2015. Laura is concerned with issues surrounding contested space, landscape, architecture and memory. She is interested in a reworking of the ‘dérive’ or drift, a subjective process of mapping territory along the lines of social antagonism. The work is multidisciplinary and draws on her experiences as political activist and involvement in subcultural scenes, particularly protest movements. She explored and researched Digbeth during her residency in preparation for an exhibition at Grand Union in 2016.
Dr Phil Jones is a cultural geographer who focuses on issues related to the city. His work deals with a number of research areas including urban regeneration, cycling and the arts. He has a particular interest in research methods, including qualitative GIS, mobile interviewing and arts-based approaches.
