As part of the ‘NEO NEO Extreme Past’ public engagement programme, artists Bobby Niven and Niall Macdonald will discussed their artworks presented in the exhibition.
Niven’s work incorporates prop, moving image, artefact and sculpture to explore and construct places. Niven often works with an existing place, drawing on the context and history as a starting point for new projected narratives, whilst at other times the place is constructed through an installation of assembled sculptures which become implicated into an unknown scenario. His sculptures bring together anthropomorphic objects with more solemn, abstract structures, finding humour in the tension between animate and inert forms. Niven is interested in giving self-awareness to material and the process of undoing
Macdonald’s work comprises collage and making casts of objects, allowing the artist to directly ‘sample’ the world around him. Taking these casts, Macdonald will unify various materials to fuse objects together into compositions and collages that combine natural elements such as bone or rock, with fragments of technology, branded items, historical artefacts or objects that are ubiquitous with contemporary life.
The conversation between the two artists intended to explore how both artists utilise found objects and collaging within their practice to speculate on a contemporary epoch.