Hi!! Welcome to stephen calcutt's (my) 'institue of Beasts' page
In 2007 I began working with Artists Dutton & Swindells (aka Steve Dutton - Professor of Creative Practice at Coventry University, and Dr. Steve Swindells - Reader in Creative Practice at the University of Huddersfield) on the 'Institute of Beasts' project.
The ‘Institute of Beasts’ not only provides a shelter but is founded upon the notion of marginality; for beasts that seemingly exist on or within a margin.
To date, the institute of beasts has exhibited globally including the Ssamzie Space (Seoul, Korea) 2008, Alsager Arts Centre (Crew, UK) 2009, Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts (Taiwan) 2009 and The Art Centre of Chulalongkorn University (Bangkok) 2009
For more information regarding the Institute of Beasts please click on any of the links to the right...or scroll down!
Steve Swindells (Huddersfield University research repository)
"A DV animation of 3D rotating mutant cyber-dog head; the head is a collage; half mongrel dog’s head and sculptural object. The head rotates 360 degree in deep space. The head (half dog, half flashing multi-coloured and multi-faceted sculptural object) is a contemporary creature; simultaneously animal and machine that emits a bestial voice reciting a narrative on atrocities to the body. [Dr. Steve Swindells 2009]
The work transcribes Donna Harroway cyborg manifesto it is a hybrid of machine and organism, a creature of social reality as well as a creature of fiction. The narrative plays upon a real and mythic time, full of anxieties and atrocity that is both theorized and fabricated".
[Excerpt taken from the proposal for the 'Unspeaking Engagements' Exhibition at The Art Centre of Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok]
Video coming soon....
First Animatic of Cyber-Dog. The mesh is complete, with teeth added to the mouth and an eyebrow modeled above its left eye. The mutant shape on the right should hopefully resemble (to an extent) that of the shape of a dog. All that's left to do now is add the colour, texture and lighting, and we're done!
Some initial Sketches of the mutant dog head. It was important to get these looking accurate from each angle, so that when I presented them to Dutton & Swindells they could get the best idea how it was going to look. Fortunately for me, I got it pretty much right first time! From these sketches we decided make the mutant growth a little smaller, and also make it resemble more of a dog's head shape.
Produced in Adobe Flash, this animation was shown at the Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan 2009. It's a revolving head which appears to have a different face depending on which way up it is. When I was asked to put this together by Dutton & Swindells, I couldn't help thinking of the excellent 'Merry Down Cider' illustrations by one of my most favourite illustrators, Christian Northeast. Wonderful.
The animation is set to words taken from the Free Association text - For more info on the free association piece, scroll down....
"This is a 15 min sound piece and animation. A narrative, which may or may not be confessional, read by the computer voice Vicki. The accompanying animation suggests that the nervous breakdown indicated in the narrative is always on the cusp and continuously deferred; the real anxiety is the feeling of impending doom is latent menace that never concludes."
[Dr. Steve Swindells 2009]
I put this 3D model model together in 2009. The animation shows a multi-faceted shape spinning through a multicoloured transparent mist or fog.
In this animation [left], we were playing around with the composition and structure of both the orbiting 'satellite' and and the angle of the multi-coloured plane/transparent mist. This version was never used in the end, instead, Dutton & Swindells opted for one above, as the shape is neither entirely in front or entirely behind the mist - thus hinting at Viki continually being on the cusp of the breakdown.
That said, I am pleased with this animation, so I thought it was worth mentioning. We didn't put the sound to it, as it wasn't used at the show. But click the image to play the file.
Photograph taken by Steve Swindells. This is the view of the Institute of Beasts poster on the side of Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts (Taiwan) 2009
I hope the guy putting up the poster managed to get down safely...
"Free association, more properly known as Psycho-dynamic theory, is a process used in psychoanalysis in which the analyst suggests words to the analysand (patient) who has to respond as quickly as possible, thus potentially making unconscious revelations about themselves which they may normally not recognise. This piece is the outcome of a process of free association between the artists."
[Dr. Steve Swindells 2009]
This simple animation was produced for the Institute of Beasts exhibition in Seoul 2008. Since then it has been show at the Alsager Arts Centre and Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts. I put it together in Adobe Flash with the words taken from a free association text by Dutton & Swindells.
[Left] The animation in the exhibition at the Ssamzie space.
Exhibited first at the Ssamzie Space in Seoul, Korea 2008. This was the first project that I worked on with Dutton & Swindells and has since been shown at other Institute of Beasts exhibitions throughout Asia. The animation incorporates a multi-faceted shape...with monkey nuts orbiting it. I constructed the model in Swift 3D and took it into Adobe Flash to put the final animation together. The background slowly changes colour along a prolonged period of time. Unfortunately the animation is too big for me to put on the web, but see below for for photographs of the model in the exhibited contexts by Dutton and Swindells.
The artists rather like the fact that the ceramic nuts are ridiculous (comical) objects, whilst also seeking to recognise the humble peanut as quite decorative and special. The monkey nut (as we call them in UK) is a great equaliser between beasts, as we may all feel the same simian act as we break one open.
[Dr. Steve Swindells 2009]
Drawn in the infamously wet summer of 2007. A quick drawing in my sketchbook, illustrating how we envisaged the shape to look and behave. We have a Monkey nut at the bottom there too!
This shape went on to lay the foundation for many 'Institute of Beasts' animations.
