A Tale of Two Attics

Grip the handrail as you step sideways (if your feet are as big as mine) up the steep-angled steps into this airy attic space that is now home to six ceramic artists. For me, Northcote Lane Studios (no 23 in the programme) was, and is, a sheer, sensory delight, with bowls, figures, pictures, and cool arty oddities attending every corner, wall, and table top in view.

As I entered, a small group were watching one of the residents working clay with bare arms, and another of the artists was engaged in deep chat with a visitor. Beautiful white birds soared opposite eerie, fox-headed figures; dust motes danced lazily in front of hazy windows. The atmosphere was one of calm, yet creative, repose - musing and making, but in a meditative rather than manic manner.

 

The other attic space I puffed my way up to was also called ATTIC (no 58 in the programme). This currently houses an exhibition called Rapid Response - "creative reflections" on the new work created by the six artists who have held residencies in the spaces far, all exploring "aspects of the mind" - quite fitting for its location, as it is situated directly (the headspace, perhaps?) above a counselling service (the heart??).

Here, a jigsaw puzzle containing words "taken out of context from the blogs of people with mental illness", and a CD playing jokes about mental health (jokes being the first stage on the 'pyramid of hate', of course), invite the viewer to wonder about missing pieces, the possibility of life's jigsaw never quite being completed, the nature of laughter and why we find certain topics amusing, and so on. Thought-provoking work indeed, if not even slightly unease-making.

In any case, this very 'mental' artistic approach contrasted strongly with the tactile earthiness of the other attic space... But, both were very interesting indeed and both are highly worth a visit.