Ground Work at APT, was born out of Ground Collective’s residency, Incubator of Ideas that happened in the gallery space a year previously. The same nine artists, Madi Acharya Baskerville, Tom Banks, Sam Hodge, Joost Gerritsen, Mike Sims, Mark Sowden, Matthew Swift, Marcia Teusink and Ana Vicente continued to be involved with this project. Ground Collective’s interest lies in finding objects and making observations from the everyday landscapes they travel through, reconfiguring these discoveries into artworks, performances, poems and installations. They celebrate a slowing down and a closer scrutiny of things that are overlooked or forgotten. A prime concern for Ground Collective during their time at APT was to engage with people living locally, to discover their journeys, discoveries and thoughts and how these might manifest in objects, writing and artworks that express something of who they are in relation to the spaces and places they inhabit. Displaying the responses of Older People from Meet Me At The Albany and Younger People from Bonus Pastor Secondary School’s GCSE Year 11 Art Class added a crucial layer to the final exhibition. Matthew Swift initiated and brought the different threads of the project together, but it was only with the incredible support from all in Ground Collective the project was able to succeed. The final curation was carried out collaboratively with the curatorial team of Sam Hodge, Mark Sowden, Matthew Swift and Marcia Teusink.

Ground Collective consolidated its identity. It was an astonishingly creative and collaborative experience, made the more potent by occurring between Covid lockdowns and restrictions.

(click on images to enlarge)