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Andrew Harris

Technical Specialist
3D Make

Completing the Crafts degree at Manchester Metropolitan in 1991 I moved to Nottingham for a residency, and shared a space in the Attic Studio group whilst also working part-time at Broxtowe College.  I joined NTU in 1998.  My practice centres on the materiality of clay and its cultural associations: longevity and erosion; the changing landscape around static forms; the hidden and found; and narratives derived from antiquities.  I make artefacts supposedly created by a past culture, but with origins of my own invention.  I have developed a history and mythology for this culture and use a set of pictographic symbols to visualise their folklore/stories.  Currently these are vessel forms and votive objects.  I like the intrinsic qualities of clay; a malleable material transformed into a permanent stone.  I like its associations with antiquity.  It is an appropriate material to record an evolving civilization – even one that is effectively based upon artifice and lies. 

The exhibition piece is part of a collection of ‘unreal artefacts’ that generate a history and narrative for a culture of my own invention.  It co-opts the expectations of display and curatorial process; presenting a seemingly historical vessel, which in reality is anachronistic artifice. 

Irrespective of how many years I’ve worked here and the, likely, hundreds of projects I have worked on, it can be guaranteed that each new year will bring a new technical challenge.  Something which gets me scratching my head and thinking “Mmmm, so how ARE we going to do that?”  For me, that’s the buzz that I get from the role - the material and process challenges.  Oh…and putting a smile on the student’s face when it actually works.  Priceless.
Contact

@andrew.harris_art

Nottingham Trent University
Bonington Building
Dryden Street
Nottingham
NG1 4GG
T-Exhibition
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