Sounds of Books - MEL
"MEL” (a unit of time)
Chris Stubbs (percussion), David Stent (guitar), Dominic Lash (double bass)
A trio working with Improvised music.
Mel performed on three occasions with “unwrapping books” (http://www.unwrappingbooks.info/)
organised by Diane Jones Parry and Annabel Ralphs (http://www.annabelralphs.com)
Artists Annabel Ralphs and Diane Jones-Parry established Metroncollaborative 2000 to research and initiate exhibitions, residencies and site specific work, in unusual venues, mainly focussed on books.
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2006 “metron at riverhouse” at the Robert Philips Gallery, Riverhouse, Walton on Thames
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2010 “rearranging formulae: unwrapping books” – artists work with maths and science books donated by Oxford University Press, at the 03 Gallery and at The Fairway at Oxford University Press.
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2014 breaking of tulips: unwrapping books – artists, poets and dancers work with a collection of gardening chronicles at Oxford University Botanic Garden. link to document for event
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MEL produced a “ script/newspaper” for this “The Bolting Houses” (The Bolting of Cabbages by TH Slade), The Bolting Houses is a publication produced collaboratively by Mel, who usually play music. We invite performative responses.
More Information on Mel:
2006 “metron at riverhouse” at the Robert Philips Gallery, Riverhouse, Walton on Thames.
Theme: Time
2010 “rearranging formulae: unwrapping books” – artists work with maths and science books donated by Oxford University Press, at the 03 Gallery and at The Fairway at Oxford University Press.
http://www.unwrappingbooks.info/#/rearranging-formulae/4560059178
Artists involved: Marco Betti, Adam Dale, Patricia Drew, Alan Franklin, Joanna Gilmour, Kate Hammersley, Sally Howkins, Diane Jones-Parry, Elaine Le Corre, Jim Le Fevre, Martha Lewis, Mel: (Dominic Lash, David Stent, Chris Stubbs), Ruth Millar, Annabel Ralphs, Tom Ralphs-Laman, Emma Reynard, Prue Robinson, The Durds: (Felicity Shillingford, Daniel Cray, Janet Griffiths), Nia Walling, Kate Willis, Rebecca Willis
Theme: Science and maths books, ranging from primary to academic texts, and journals were selected and donated by Oxford University Press. A number was allocated to each book, and these were wrapped and distributed to twenty- seven artists who had been invited to respond in any way they chose. The exhibition was held in the 03 Gallery in March 2010, and reconfigured in the public space in OUP in October .
2014 breaking of tulips: unwrapping books – artists, poets and dancers work with a collection of gardening chronicles at Oxford University Botanic Garden.
http://www.unwrappingbooks.info/#/breaking-of-tulips/4560059824
MEL produced a “ script/newspaper” for this “The Bolting Houses” link **************
Working with 30 invited artists, metron collaborate with University of Oxford Botanic Gardens and Harcourt Arboretum in the third in the series of unwrapping books Articles from an archive of Gardening Chronicles dating from the 1800's have been distributed by the the Botanic Garden Senior Curator to artists who have made new work in response, reflecting the changing research interests and environmental concerns of a scientific institution. Artists have worked with interior and exterior space throughout the gardens.
In Spring 2014 two parallel exhibitions shone a light on our affinity with plants, fascination with gardens and abiding interest in the history and science of horticulture. Linked by an archive of Gardening journals in the botanic library, the two exhibitons were a collective response to articles, selected and distributed by metron collaborative, dating from 1840 to the present day. In breaking of tulips:unwrapping books, new work by 28 artists was installed in the historic University of Oxford Botanic Garden, and could be viewed every day between March 20 and 25 May - creating surprise encounters in a very special setting - combining art and science, pleasure and knowledge amongst the plant collections grown for research, display and education. Over two weekends, in April and May, art and design students from the CIty of Oxford College used a small East Oxford Gallery to create a lively riposte to the major ten week exhibition. The site specific challenge of putting work in a Botanic Garden, a 'living museum' over a period of maximum growth and challenging weather conditions, was matched by the space constraints of a small experimental space a bus ride away, in another part of the city. hijacked was shown at Filament 14 in Magdalen Road Studios over a period of two weekends, giving aspiring young artists an early opportunity to show work in a public space. Both artists and students rose to the occasion - and the scientific topics, which included The Apiary, Revelations of a Pocket Lens and Medicinal Herbs enabled artists, dancers, musicians and poets to highlight the continuing centrality of plants to the important and fundamental questions of how we conserve and provide for ourselves and sustain our planet.
Artists involved: Marco Betti, Susie Canning, Clair Chinnery, Tom de Freston, Laura Degenhardt, Patricia Drew, Gabrielle Hoad, Kate Hammersley, Sally Howkins, Diane Jones-Parry, Elaine Le Corre, Jim Le Fevre, Martha Lewis, Mel: (Dominic Lash, David Stent, Chris Stubbs), Ruth Millar, Fiona Millward, Thomas Nicolaou, Karen Purple, Annabel Ralphs, Tom Ralphs-Laman, Emma Reynard, Prue Robinson, Felicity Shillingford, Christine Surridge, Nia Walling, Kate Willis, Ayoush Lazikani. Alan Buckley, Mary Jean Chan, Claire Trevien, Dan Holloway, Sarvat Hasin, Daisy Johnson, Michael Walsh,Phoebe Nicholson, April Pierce, Leo Mercer, Kira Milwood Hargrave ..
(http://www.unwrappingbooks.info/)
​​http://www.magdalenroadstudios.com/diane-jones-parry
http://www.annabelralphs.com/collaborations/4556814891
metroncollaborative, artists Annabel Ralphs and Diane Jones-Parry, was established in 2000 to research and initiate exhibitions, residencies and site specific work, in unusual venues.
Exhibiting internationally, collaborations have included Science Oxford, Hollidays Pigment Factory in Hull, Central Booking Gallery NY, Museum of Oxford, Ashmolean Museum, Botanic Gardens, Art in Situ-SW France, and the Mathematics Department of Oxford University.
supported by Arts Council England, Oxford University Mathematics,TORCH (the Oxford Centre for Research in the Humanities), Oxford Culture Fund, Magdalen College Oxford, Merton College Oxford, Science Oxford, Ovada, the Communauté de Communes du Val de Drome
unwrappingbooks was developed to extend the metron platform - resulting in a series of exhibitions inviting artists, musicians and dance practitioners to work with collections of books held by widely different educational, social and research institutions.
exhibitions curated by metroncollaborative
2015 Illegitimate Objects – artists and poets work with Oxford University Mathematical Institute's collection of nineteenth century models of geometric surfaces at the Mathematics Institute.
2014 breaking of tulips: unwrapping books – artists, poets and dancers work with a collection of gardening chronicles at Oxford University Botanic Garden.
2010 rearranging formulae: unwrapping books – artists work with maths and science books donated by Oxford University Press, at the 03 Gallery and at The Fairway at Oxford University Press.
2009 endnotes: unwrapping books artists, dancers and musicians work with library books donated by Oxford City Library at the O3 Gallery, Oxford.
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metroncollaborative residencies and solo exhibitions
2019 Installation Chemical Landscapes – MAS, Magdalen Road Art Space.
2018 Residency at Gallery 8 - Magdalen Road Studios
2016 Residency at Brisons Veor – Cape Cornwall
2013 Residency at the Lifeboat Studio, Porthleven, Cornwall, September
2012 Colour –a group exhibition at the Beldam Gallery Brunel University, London.
2011 Immediate Territory – a one day curated event at Magdalen Road Studios Arts Council supported.
2010 Chemical Reactions – metroncollaborative at Central Booking Gallery, New York
2010 Blue – metroncollaborative exhibition/workshop at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
2008 concerning blue at Science Oxford, a multi disciplinary exhibition and concerning the processes, materials, and history of ultramarine with talks and a contemporary music response.
2007/8 Residency and exhibition at the Museum of Oxford,
2006/7 Improvised Maps - metron collaboration in Dispatx Arts Collective, an international curatorial platform for the development and presentation of contemporary art and literature.
2006 metron 06, folding and the theory and practice of measure -a collaborative residency and exhibition at the Ovada Gallery, Oxford.
2006 Artwash Blue - an installation at the Truwash laundrette in Headington, Oxford.
2006 metron at riverhouse at the Robert Philips Gallery, Riverhouse, Walton on Thames.
2006 50 over 50 - group exhibition at the University of Brighton Gallery
2006 Close to Nature - a group exhibition in Roche sur Grane, Drome in SE France.
2005 Drome, Riviere Sauvage? - an international residency and group exhibition at Maison Ramieres, Crest, SE France, supported by Art-in-Situ, the Communauté de Communes du Val de Drome, and by Arts Council England.
2005 Participation in The London Artists Book Fair
2004 Brookes Contemporaries at Modern Art Oxford
2003 Concerning Time at X-Change Gallery, Oxford; a collaborative installation supported by Oxford City Council and Arts Council SE
metroncollaborative publications