A two-year mapping and collecting project led by a Portsmouth based artist/geologist in response to the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad in the South East of England will go on show for the first time this month in Hampshire before touring the South East region over the coming year. It will be going further afield to Edinburgh, Nottingham and Northern Ireland.

The work will debut at Arts Council England regularly funded organisation ArtSway in the New Forest. Named Look About: Artefacts (29 October – 12 November) and Look About: Transmission (29 October – 3 December) will include elements the exhibition that Jon has gathered from around the South East including illustration and ‘fossils’, such as hair clips, napkins and train timetables. The screen-based Transmission piece features film, animation and sound works inspired by Jon’s mapping of Cultural Olympiad and Accentuate events in the South East created by Deaf and disabled artists.

Look About is part of Accentuate, a transformational programme of 15 projects  inspired by the Paralympic Movement and which seek to change perceptions and offer opportunities to showcase the talents of deaf and disabled people. Accentuate is funded by Legacy Trust UK, creating a lasting legacy from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games across the UK, SEEDA and regional development agencies including Arts Council England. The home of Accentuate is Screen South.

Jon, Accentuate’s ‘geologist in residence’ and who himself has been diagnosed with Aspergers and Dyslexia, commented,
"For deeply personal reasons, I have adopted geological themes and metaphors to interpret and reveal new perspectives on disability, the arts and the geological sciences.  This approach stems from my struggles to become the artist I had always kept hidden because of the bullying I received at school."

Elements of the project will  tour the South East until July 2012 with partner venues including: Chapel Arts (London), Southampton City Art Gallery, University of Portsmouth, Towner Art Gallery (Eastbourne), Quay Arts (Isle of Wight), LV21 (Kent), Pallant House (Chichester) and Winchester Discovery Centre as part of the 2012 Cultural Olympiad. Transmission will then be showing at the British Geological Survey during the London 2012 games.

The Look About project has four distinct parts in total: Look About Gather (including Look About: Transmission); Look About Interactive; Look About Edition Mélange, and Look About Archive.

Inclusion and accessibility lie at the heart of the Look About project. It involves Deaf and disabled artists within the south east region of England and aspires to shift cultural attitudes towards disability in the arts.

Jon was keen to share his own experiences of how London 2012 has the power to capture the imagination and enthusiasm of the public, especially young people and those who may not otherwise engage with the arts. This artistic and creatively driven, multi layered project weaves together science and art; digital and analogue and Jon’s autobiographical experiences of Dyslexia and Aspergers.

The artist adopted a geological theme for the commission for deeply personal reasons. The geological metaphor stems from Jon’s struggle to become an artist within the conventional teaching environment and instead pursuing a career as a field geologist and palaeontologist.

Jon is working closely with South East Creative Programmer for London 2012, Caterina Loriggio, who commissioned the piece.

Caterina said, “Look About is one of a number of Cultural Olympiad projects that we are supporting that really develop leadership and offer excellent show case platforms for Deaf and disabled artists. What’s fantastic about Look About is that it interacts with and captures the entire 2012 Games inspired cultural programme delivered by Deaf and disabled people ranging from small community programmes on the Isle of Wight through to large-scale Games time commissions at Stoke Mandeville.’

Sally Abbott, Regional Director, Arts Council England, said, “Look About is an innovative and exciting project for us and is one of the many projects that celebrates the talents of Deaf and disabled people in the run up to the 2012 Cultural Olympiad. This project will creating a lasting legacy for the South East  by mapping and archiving the Cultural Olympiad. I look forward to seeing and being inspired by the various aspects of the project in venues across the region in the coming year and seeing the finished product at the end of 2012.”
 
Esther Fox, of Accentuate, said, This is a truly groundbreaking piece of work.  As far as we are aware, a cultural programme has never had its own geologist in residence and we see this as a revolutionary creative model for mapping and evaluating the arts sector”

For more information please visit:
www.port.ac.uk/special/creativecampus/projects/lookabout/