Breathing Colour at The National Festival of Making
The National Festival of Making (6-7 July 2024) is a unique celebration of UK making, from the kitchen table to the factory floor. Presenting a programme of work that combines art, manufacturing, making and communities, we commission international and national artists to create world class works, a year round programme and a participatory free family-friendly festival for all to enjoy.
Formed in 2016, the ambition of Festival of Making is to be a nationally relevant annual cultural festival with a year round programme of work engaging with education, young people and communities. There is an emphasis on celebrating the unique manufacturing heritage and contemporary characteristics of the town of Blackburn, and more widely regional, national and international narratives connected with ‘making’.
Art in Manufacturing is the headline commissioning programme of the National Festival of Making – providing artists with an incomparable platform to make new work in and alongside some of the UK’s major manufacturers. Each season of Art in Manufacturing sees artists paired with leading manufacturers, from artisan producers to industry giants. The residency programme creates collaborations with highly skilled workforces, facilitates access to cutting edge technologies and unearths hidden heritages – all resulting in remarkable, contemporary artworks.
Image: Margo Selby - image credit Charles Hosea.
A co-commission, Breathing Colour, by The National Festival of Making and The British Textile Biennial brings a textile installation by Margo Selby Studio for the North Transcept of Blackburn Cathedral during The National Festival of Making. A celebratory textile installation, immersive in colour, form and sound, joyful and uplifting. Occupying the North Transept of Blackburn Cathedral, the form of the site-specific sculpture evokes the movement of textiles throughout the factory, travelling in waves and folds through the machinery. This journey is also seen in technical drawings found in the archive.
Image: Margo Selby work in progress.
The suspended form initially lies on the cathedral floor, before reaching up to tower 9 metres into the vaulted ceiling, then descending back down. This rise and fall reflects a respiratory waveform, a deep breath in and out again; ‘Breathing Colour’ the very nature of the workforce at Standfast & Barracks which aligns so closely with the work of Margo Selby Studio. The construction of the piece is inspired by lenticular printing, with the cloth stitched into concertinaed ‘gills’ that reveal concealed colours and forms when viewed from different angles or lifted by hand. Viewers are encouraged to engage with the installation. The colour stories collected from the staff are hidden within the pleats of the fabric for the audience to discover.
Margo Selby has collaborated with composer-artist Peter Coyte to craft a sound piece that enriches the immersive experience of the artwork, capturing sounds from the factory and evoking its history. This includes the rhythms from the machinery, the relationship between the river and the factory, as well as paying homage to the historic Standfast and Barracks brass band. Viewable from all angles, visitors are invited to put on the headphones provided to navigate around the installation and immerse themselves in the colour and sound.
The finished work comprises 100 metres of printed and pleated fabric, marking 100 years of Standfast & Barracks. 160 colours chosen by the staff at Standfast and Barracks – The colours used in the work came from interviews with the 160 employees, each person chose a colour with a memory or story associated with it.
Following on from Margo Selby’s previous artworks there is a distinct relationship between pattern making, textile construction and sound. The rhythmic patterns in the blocks within the work have been taken from the rhythms and sounds found in the factory: repetitive, mechanical rhythms, the heartbeat of the factory.
The forms directly relate to Margo’s weaving practice, reflecting the threads of the warp and the weft. The changing colours in the construction of the work are designed to evoke a sense of something alive and breathing. The manipulated pleated element once again references Margo’s core practice of constructing textiles.
Formed in 2016, the ambition of Festival of Making is to be a nationally relevant annual cultural festival with a year round programme of work engaging with education, young people and communities. There is an emphasis on celebrating the unique manufacturing heritage and contemporary characteristics of the town of Blackburn, and more widely regional, national and international narratives connected with ‘making’.
Art in Manufacturing is the headline commissioning programme of the National Festival of Making – providing artists with an incomparable platform to make new work in and alongside some of the UK’s major manufacturers. Each season of Art in Manufacturing sees artists paired with leading manufacturers, from artisan producers to industry giants. The residency programme creates collaborations with highly skilled workforces, facilitates access to cutting edge technologies and unearths hidden heritages – all resulting in remarkable, contemporary artworks.
A co-commission, Breathing Colour, by The National Festival of Making and The British Textile Biennial brings a textile installation by Margo Selby Studio for the North Transcept of Blackburn Cathedral during The National Festival of Making. A celebratory textile installation, immersive in colour, form and sound, joyful and uplifting. Occupying the North Transept of Blackburn Cathedral, the form of the site-specific sculpture evokes the movement of textiles throughout the factory, travelling in waves and folds through the machinery. This journey is also seen in technical drawings found in the archive.
The suspended form initially lies on the cathedral floor, before reaching up to tower 9 metres into the vaulted ceiling, then descending back down. This rise and fall reflects a respiratory waveform, a deep breath in and out again; ‘Breathing Colour’ the very nature of the workforce at Standfast & Barracks which aligns so closely with the work of Margo Selby Studio. The construction of the piece is inspired by lenticular printing, with the cloth stitched into concertinaed ‘gills’ that reveal concealed colours and forms when viewed from different angles or lifted by hand. Viewers are encouraged to engage with the installation. The colour stories collected from the staff are hidden within the pleats of the fabric for the audience to discover.
Margo Selby has collaborated with composer-artist Peter Coyte to craft a sound piece that enriches the immersive experience of the artwork, capturing sounds from the factory and evoking its history. This includes the rhythms from the machinery, the relationship between the river and the factory, as well as paying homage to the historic Standfast and Barracks brass band. Viewable from all angles, visitors are invited to put on the headphones provided to navigate around the installation and immerse themselves in the colour and sound.
The finished work comprises 100 metres of printed and pleated fabric, marking 100 years of Standfast & Barracks. 160 colours chosen by the staff at Standfast and Barracks – The colours used in the work came from interviews with the 160 employees, each person chose a colour with a memory or story associated with it.
Following on from Margo Selby’s previous artworks there is a distinct relationship between pattern making, textile construction and sound. The rhythmic patterns in the blocks within the work have been taken from the rhythms and sounds found in the factory: repetitive, mechanical rhythms, the heartbeat of the factory.
The forms directly relate to Margo’s weaving practice, reflecting the threads of the warp and the weft. The changing colours in the construction of the work are designed to evoke a sense of something alive and breathing. The manipulated pleated element once again references Margo’s core practice of constructing textiles.
Breathing Colour is on show during the National Festival of Making at Blackburn Cathedral, 6-7 July, 2024.
Find out more:
Art In Manufacturing: artinmanufacturing.co.uk
National Festival of Making: festivalofmaking.co.uk
Standfast & Barracks: standfast-barracks.com
Margo Selby: margoselby.com