CAUSEWAY

Causeway is a part of Renfrewshire Association for Mental Health and has been based in Newton Mearns for 8 years.

We provide a variety of services to people who have suffered from mental ill-health in East Renfrewshire. These services include one-to-one work with clients, several groups (such as creativity, relaxation and social support groups) which run from Monday to Friday, education and information for schools and the general public, 3 counselling clinics per week and housing support for people in their own homes. We also have a lifeskills worker who operates a furniture recycling project and provides basic home maintenance support to people in their homes.

For further information please contact us directly.
Tel: 0141 577 5557.

WORKSHOPS

Video

Some of the workshops have been documented in video. Please click on the link below. To download the Quicktime player please click here.

Tardis by Blair Carvel - 1.5MB quicktime movie

Artists, Andrea Roe and Richard Brown

MINIDREAMWORLDS

"The minidreamworlds project began with the idea of 'the memory palace', a technique for enhancing the recall of information by creating an imaginary architectural construction that acts as a place holder for memories.

The aim of our project was to enable our group to create personal miniature dream worlds of memory, fantasy, fact or fiction. The worlds were to be created in mixed media, using lights, sound and other 'special effects' such as mist and kinetics.

We also envisaged that their creations would be filmed using a digital camera, to explore further illusions of scale and suspension of disbelief.

We presented our ideas and combined backgrounds of taxidermy, modelling, computer graphics and kinetics to our group, referencing other artists such as Joseph Cornell, Mariele Neudecker, Mariko Mori, the museum diorama and the wunderkammer.

The Workshops

After our initial presentation we ran 'taster' workshops where we introduced various skills and techniques to our group.

In our first session we created examples of possible scenarios on which the group might use as a basis for creating their own miniaturedreamworlds – a Cornell like box containing paper butterflies, feathers and studded ball; a box of glowing plastic maggots, found image of a leaf and ultra violet light; a box like tower with a peephole, reflecting the viewers eye in a spherical mirror ball alongside images of femininity; a dream like house, exploring interior and exterior with surreal model black cats, artificial grass and dolls house lighting and window frame.

These examples were created to show how easy and how 'unprecious' the creation of a work might be, demonstrating how objects can be found in shops, repurposed and manipulated to create something new and magical.

The examples served as a talking point for the group, sparking off ideas and discussions.

We then introduced digital photography and printing techniques to illustrate how backdrops could be used to create illusions of realities.

In our next two sessions we demonstrated casting techniques using clay, dental plaster, sand casting modelling techniques using modrock, chickenwire. We demonstrated how lighting could be used to enhance a miniaturedreamworld, using light emitting diodes (LEDS), ultraviolet, incandescent and fluorescent lighting.

Following this we demonstrated a range of 'special effects' – interactive sensing using a PIR, fog effect using a mister machine, lighting effects, kinetics with motors and fans. Finally all the elements of modelling, lighting and special effects were combined and filmed using a live digital webcamera to illustrate how magical and believable a miniaturedreamworld could be.

After setting the scene, our workshops began with us supporting our group in the creation of their own miniaturedreamworlds. We helped them through discussions, sketching out ideas, choosing and experimenting with materials, producing a shopping list of tools, materials and special effects that they might need.

Our group approached the project in very different ways, demonstrating extraordinary creativity, gusto and ambition.

A variety of worlds were created: 'Herculaneum' - a vast Roman city with racing chariots; a 'fairy playground' of lights and illusions; a Tardis with multiple dimensions, technical wizardry with movement, sound and effects; an underwater world; a water fountain inhabited by little people; a dreamworld in three parts with a flying carpet on clouds, a miniature living room and a desert island with a waterfall; a magical castle with secret rooms protected by dragons; a tree of life with three levels - earth, spirit and air.

We as artists supported the needs of our group by assisting in helping them realise their ideas through constant and ongoing discussions, the sourcing and provision of materials, problem solving, skill sharing and technical techniques.

Our group bonded as a unit, supporting and assisting each other to realise their worlds. Sessions were extremely busy, full of energy and excitement as their worlds developed. The enthusiasm was such that many members of our group worked in between sessions, continuing to develop their projects at home.

At the end of our workshops, after only three months, our group have produced entrancing, believable and magical miniaturedreamworlds, which are complex, well crafted and personal creations.

We are planning that our group will be able to present their creations to the Barrhead community, as objects in an exhibition or through the digital films we have made of their work".