Swindon Archive News
Arts at Asda Wal-Mart comes together
Since last November two internationally renowned cartoonists Simon Grennan from Brighton and Christopher Sperandio from New York have been meeting people and observing community life for a highly visual, colourful and thought provoking year long commission for Swindon Borough Council in partnership with Asda Wal-Mart.
Simon said he and Chris had been gathering points of view from a wide range of sources in and around the store. "We've tried to meet as many people as possible from all walks of life to create a picture of the unique character of the area.
"There's such a range of backgrounds and experience here; we've talked to young and old, local residents and people travelling through, bee-keepers and gardeners, sc hool-children, keyboard fanatics and mothers with toddlers." Focusing on life at the 24 hour Asda Wal-Mart store, Simon followed a night shift from 10pm to 6am to ensure that the cartoonists got the full, if rather bleary-eyed picture.
As a final piece of investigation, the cartoonists have arranged for pupils at Hreod Parkway School to produce their own alternative views of the Asda store. These pictures will be permanently displayed on the computer screens in the new library next to the supercentre which opens in the Autumn.
Working towards the launch of "Celebrating Swindon - Artists at Asda Wal-Mart" in November, a big exhibition in more ways than one, Simon and Chris are developing a series of artworks to reflect their findings and draw attention to the supercentre as a central part of the developing life of Swindon. Celebrating the supercentre's first anniversary, a series of large billboard portraits of people in the area will be displayed on routes from Swindon town centre to the store over the following 12 months. Huge posters will be displayed on a giant billboard in the entrance of Asda Wal-mart.
The artists' work will also have a certain moving quality as they will completely decorate a double decker bus with a group portrait which will run on a route from town to North Swindon for a year.
"The last six months have been enormously enjoyable," said Simon. "Having worked all around the world, we've had a great welcome here."
o 'Celebrating Swindon - Artists at Asda' is a Grennan & Sperandio project commissioned by ASDA Wal-Mart and Swindon Borough Council's Artscape, developed and managed by Artpoint.
o Grennan & Sperandio's work can be seen at: www.kartoonkings.com
www.swindonartscape.co.uk
www.artpoint-trust.org.uk
Digital expedition to design superstore screen savers
Five year 10 and 11 students from Hreod Parkway School put some extra hours into their GCSE art portfolios recently by spending a day working on a ground breaking project. Armed with digital cameras they visited Asda Wal-Mart at the North Swindon district centre to capture images which they then manipulated and turned into screen savers. These will be displayed permanently on computers in the new North Swindon library, opening in December at the district centre.
Screen saving Hreod students from left, James Hackett, Wendy Toon, Camilla Little, Sarah Michalek, Faye Ringham, with rear from left, Swindon Artscape manager Celia Yeoman, Hreod head of art Amy Rattenbury, Wal-Mart events manager Joyce Arthur, Simon Grennan, Wal-Mart general manager Mark Pollard
You might not usually associate a supermarket with art, but that's about to change at the Wal-Mart supercentre in North Swindon.Since last November two internationally renowned cartoonists Simon Grennan from Brighton and Christopher Sperandio from New York have been meeting people and observing community life for a highly visual, colourful and thought provoking year long commission for Swindon Borough Council in partnership with Asda Wal-Mart.
Simon said he and Chris had been gathering points of view from a wide range of sources in and around the store. "We've tried to meet as many people as possible from all walks of life to create a picture of the unique character of the area.
"There's such a range of backgrounds and experience here; we've talked to young and old, local residents and people travelling through, bee-keepers and gardeners, sc hool-children, keyboard fanatics and mothers with toddlers." Focusing on life at the 24 hour Asda Wal-Mart store, Simon followed a night shift from 10pm to 6am to ensure that the cartoonists got the full, if rather bleary-eyed picture.
As a final piece of investigation, the cartoonists have arranged for pupils at Hreod Parkway School to produce their own alternative views of the Asda store. These pictures will be permanently displayed on the computer screens in the new library next to the supercentre which opens in the Autumn.
Working towards the launch of "Celebrating Swindon - Artists at Asda Wal-Mart" in November, a big exhibition in more ways than one, Simon and Chris are developing a series of artworks to reflect their findings and draw attention to the supercentre as a central part of the developing life of Swindon. Celebrating the supercentre's first anniversary, a series of large billboard portraits of people in the area will be displayed on routes from Swindon town centre to the store over the following 12 months. Huge posters will be displayed on a giant billboard in the entrance of Asda Wal-mart.
The artists' work will also have a certain moving quality as they will completely decorate a double decker bus with a group portrait which will run on a route from town to North Swindon for a year.
"The last six months have been enormously enjoyable," said Simon. "Having worked all around the world, we've had a great welcome here."
o 'Celebrating Swindon - Artists at Asda' is a Grennan & Sperandio project commissioned by ASDA Wal-Mart and Swindon Borough Council's Artscape, developed and managed by Artpoint.
o Grennan & Sperandio's work can be seen at: www.kartoonkings.com
www.swindonartscape.co.uk
www.artpoint-trust.org.uk
Digital expedition to design superstore screen savers
Five year 10 and 11 students from Hreod Parkway School put some extra hours into their GCSE art portfolios recently by spending a day working on a ground breaking project. Armed with digital cameras they visited Asda Wal-Mart at the North Swindon district centre to capture images which they then manipulated and turned into screen savers. These will be displayed permanently on computers in the new North Swindon library, opening in December at the district centre.
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