‘Throwing Caution’, Chris Wainwright
We commissioned Chris Wainwright in 1996 for a series of site specific works for Heathrow Airport Terminal 4. Wainwright works primarily through photography and video as a means of addressing issues related to light and energy, both natural and artificial, in urban and rural environments. The work is made as a direct response to ‘place’ and is often the result of an intervention, a temporary action or construction made for the camera as a unique form of witness for the recording of light.
For Heathrow Airport Terminal 4, Wainwright produced a series of photographic studies entitled ‘Throwing Caution’ and a pair of images entitled ‘The Lower Lake’ which explore making marks with light within the Scottish landscape.
We commissioned ‘Throwing Caution’ and ‘The Lower Lake’ as part of the BAA Art Programme in 1996.
Norton Rose Collection
HS Projects was invited by Norton Rose in 2005 to evaluate their existing art collection, assess its relevance and help in re-structuring it. The collection had been amassed over many decades without any vision or structure, consequently many of the works did not reflect Norton Rose, an international law partnership whose average age was under 30. Through close consultation with our clients, we drew out themes that expressed the company as it had evolved over the years.
Following a detailed report and a number of recommendations, we acquired a number of works on behalf of Norton Rose that reflected the ethos of the organisation. We acquired work by exciting emerging artist Grazia Toderi, a Golden Lion award recipient at the Venice Biennale as well as promising emerging artists Sharon Hall and Ed Hodgkinson. We also sold works at auction that were no longer relevant to the collection, with the proceeds re-invested into purchasing works for the new collection.
‘Journeys Through Sight’, Judy Price
HS Projects commissioned ‘Journeys Through Sight’ a collaborative project between Judy Price and Toynbee Hall. ‘Journeys Through Sight’ was a digital photography project working with women from the Deesha (Bangladeshi) community that combined photography and English learning. The project participants produced images that relay the colours, tones, environment and people that live in their surrounding neighbourhood of Aldgate East and Brick Lane. The images give an insider’s view of an area that is increasingly objectified through the gaze of the city worker, tourist, night clubber or even the artist and enabled the women to communicate new representations of their community and daily lives.
A presentation of artists working with photography and a visit to local galleries INIVA and Autograph (specialists in photography and art collections focused on contemporary art from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the work of British artists from different cultural backgrounds) gave the women a starting point for the project. It enabled the women to think about the power and potential of an image and different ways of portraying communities and their environments, as well as connecting with public spaces in their area that they might not usually consider.
For many of the women this was the first time they had used a camera or taken photographs in the public space. They responded to the project with great enthusiasm and, as their technical abilities, in terms of composition and interest in subject matter, developed, so did their confidence and relationships with each other and the surrounding area.
The project encouraged the women to think imaginatively about their environment, both internally and externally exploring both their domestic and external environments at the heart of the Bangladeshi community here in London. It enabled them to communicate their representation of their community and daily lives.
‘Journeys Through Sight’ was funded by the Insight Community Arts Programme (2002 – 2015).
The project ran from July to December 2009.