Taking Shape/ Prendre Forme

This is a project about childhood but also about the process of becoming, and the physical and mental effort involved in change. It’s the story of a town and it’s children, and how both work to imagine the future.

In childhood we’re directed towards the line of “ideal form”, the straight line of of efficiency and precision. It’s a line that takes discipline and time to achieve, a line built on years of incremental muscular and mental alignment. Our introduction to this line is also our induction into society- the rules of the game- the physical and imagined lines which define our social and political structures. Development however, is also about all of the lines in between, the detours along the way, a process of trial and error. The straight line of correct form is adorned by small gestures of frustration, adaption and humour, and through this new lines are imagined, and new forms emerge.

The work done by children to gain new skills and knowledge echoes the slow but constant development of their town, as it expands and reacts to new technologies and ambitions. While the physicality of building works are highly visible the work of children is often less immediately apparent, however the messy transitional stages of building and the growing body have a kind of parallel -they’re they’re both engaged in a practice where the future is taking shape.

Prendre Forme is the product of a commissioned artist residency and exhibition awarded by the town of Cournon d’Auvergne in 2023/24