Dan Shipsides

I called into Dan Shipsides's studio at Orchid Gallery (beside FlaxArt studios) to see what he was up to. I had a preview into Dan's work at his presentation at the Pecka Kucks night at Catalyst Arts in October. It made me consider climbers at playgrounds and how I could construct more interested devices? On the Elastic Frontiers project Dan worked with six children from the Oldbury Court Primary School in Bristol initiated by Creative Partnerships and Arnolfini. During this time the children learnt to climb. they explored ways of moving through space and making art using the classroom, school buildings, surrounding areas, local climbing centre and places out in the landscape as their learning environments. The equipment they used ranged from traditional art materials, tables and chairs to specialised climbing equipment. An exhibition was held at the school and Golden Thread Gallery. It included Dan's new climbable sculpture, The Big Cheese, an almost vertical 'slab' wall made of school tables, with holes cut to act as hand and feet holes.