Antony Hall, Puddle Vortex, 2001
Antony Hall selected by Cecile Johnson Soliz (2004)
Cecile Johnson Soliz selects the work of Antony Hall
'As an artist my practice closely resembles that of an amateur scientist locating and identifying behaviours and developing control structures [devices] within which certain unique, special events can exist. I construct assemblages as discrete environments that function as systems, [electrical, biological or chaotic]. They are created in order to sustain or nurture a particular event, for example, a vortex in a coffee cup, or the life of micro-organisms in a droplet of water.
These 'table-top' works assimilate phenomena which, being susceptible to change within themselves and the environment that directly surrounds them, require to be nurtured. As the artist, it is my task to attempt to create a system that can automate this service. I work with materials that are easily available to me, everyday objects and domestic substances, such as may be found in the kitchen or garden shed, 'pound' shops or supermarkets. These combine to generate incidental and universal phenomena, which are otherwise overlooked in daily life. The aim being, to re-present the mundane as complex mysterious, and profound.
Through presenting active processes within the assemblage, I am able to identify a problem, to which a solution may be sought; therefore the work is a continuous play on potential failure and possible solution, where failure can be as important as resolution. The works can have a performance element and are always accompanied by drawings, photographs and digital film, which are generated through the process of making, and become works in themselves.
Cecile Johnson Soliz, July 2005
About Antony Hall
Throughout 2004, Manchester-based artist Antony Hall was Artist in Residence at the Fluids Department at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST), working alongside scientists to tackle the theoretical issues of what science is, and how art and science can learn from each other. Hall's practice can be defined as a series of ongoing/interrelated studies, experiments and projects concerned with how we examine phenomena in the visual world.
Since finishing his MA in Art as Environment at MMU, Hall has worked on the CAPE UK/NESTA Creative Space project, implementing innovative models for teaching science in schools. In 2003, he completed a new media commission for the projection window and foyer at the Site Gallery in Sheffield. He has also recently completed the Hull Time Based Arts residency with his 'Owl Project'.
Hall is currently a Research Artist participating in 'Alchemy', a research project commissioned by the Manchester Museum. Based on the same models as academic programmes of study, 'Alchemy' will use aesthetic models of enquiry to ask and answer questions such as: Why do we collect? How do we make objects speak? What does the ordering of things reveal and conceal? What is the social, political, economic, and aesthetic role of the Museum in todays society? One of six Research Artists, Hall will use the Museum as a library, laboratory, archive, and exhibition space for two years.
About Cecile Johnson Soliz
Cecile Johnson Soliz has exhibited nationally and internationally in solo shows since 1989. Her most recent exhibitions are a solo exhibition at the Castello di Rivara (30km north of Turin) where she showed objects and watercolours, and at Arte Contemporanea in Turin, an exhibition of watercolours and photographs (21September - 30 November 2004). She recently showed at the Lindig in Paludetto Gallery in Nuremberg (2002-03). In Bristol, she exhibited 'Warm' at Station (2002) and in Cardiff, Regarding the Function of Objects: recent Sculpture by Cecile Johnson Soliz at the National Museum and Gallery of Wales in Cardiff (1999).
Group exhibitions include, In the Midst of Things in Bournville at the UCE and in various locations throughout the village (1999), Private View at Barnard Castle (1996) and in earlier in exhibitions such as Objects for the Ideal Home at the Serpentine Gallery, London (1991). Sculpture projects for public spaces include 'Skyline' (1999-ongoing).
Johnson Soliz has received many awards for her work. Most recently in 2003 she was given an Artist Led Initiative award by Artwork Wales for a project she is currently doing with the blind and partially sighted in Cardiff. In January 2005 she received a prestigious Creative Wales Award from the Arts Council and a Research Award from Cardiff School of Art & Design. She will exhibit in Kells, Ireland and Strata Florida, Wales in 2005 in a group exhibition organised by Tim Davies and Ann Mulrooney.
These biographies were written in (2004) as part of the Open Frequency programme. For the most current information, please visit:
Open Frequency (2004–2014)
This profile was part of Open Frequency, an Axis programme that highlighted emerging developments in contemporary art practice across the UK. Artists were selected and profiled by leading curators, artists, and writers, offering unique insights into the practices shaping contemporary art at the time. These archives remain a valuable resource for understanding the trajectory of some of the most exciting artists of the period.
