LOCKDOWN JOURNAL: COVID-19.13 (Beyond Photography)
Don’t walk In front of me . . . I May Not Follow. (2020) Ryan Blackwell
We jumped at the opportunity to write for BasementArtsProject who has supported us since we started back in 2018. For those who don’t know us, we are Beyond Photography, an experimental Photography and Image Making platform looking at new technologies as opportunities to open new doors in art making.
My name is Ryan Blackwell and my creative partner is Nastassia Winge, we started Beyond Photography a few years back as a way to provide opportunities and a community for Image Makers who are often overlooked in the art world. We have created exhibitions in the UK and the Netherlands and have also interviewed artists from all over the world, take a look here: www.beyondphotography.online
Blessed art the Hearts that Bend (2020) Ryan Blackwell
During the lockdowns, like many, we have had to adjust our way of working and realign our focuses to get us through these uncertain times. For us, we are used to working remotely because me and Nastassia live in different countries and communicate through various channels to run our business and maintain our friendship. The biggest part of communicating with the outside world during the lock downs is synchronicity, you realise very quickly when you don't see your friends/family/colleagues that quite often the way you communicate is the glue that holds your relationship together. The funny thing about us is that we are so in sync that we use many different messaging platforms and sometimes multiiple channels at once to talk about different things!
Our main priority now is staying creative, during the lockdowns, it is so easy to dwell on the issues at hand, but we are using art to both reflect what we are going through as a species, and to remain positive during. For us, this medium is Collage - it’s simple, can be done at any level, and anywhere. We are mostly interested in digital collage from a personal perspective and have been creating so many different pieces and going back and forth over what we like and how we can improve them. During these uncertain times, Collage is a fascinating medium to explore, it’s one of the most clear and effective ways of communicating a mindset, or inner thoughts. Collage is one of the most obvious forms of Surrealism for us, and is so good at expressing your ideas, that quite at times your process can reveal thoughts and ideas you hadn’t quite actualised yourself yet.
I Rebel; Therefore I Exist (2020) Ryan Blackwell
When we are not being creative, of course we are running Beyond Photography. Whilst everyone is at home, we are making sure that we are giving you all the very best possible interviews and collaborations because now is the time to learn new things. Of course, we have had to postpone all planned events for 2020, but in doing so, we are now planning our largest exhibition coming to you in 2021. We can’t reveal too much yet, but what we can say is that this will be our first exhibition to take place in Amsterdam, it will be entirely free to the public, and the lineup of artists will blow you away!
Our takeaway from these lockdowns, is that now is the time to try new things or develop skills that we already have. Whether it’s baking, sports or Image Making, start trying to look at your work from a new perspective and try to break the barriers of what you are doing to get better. The lockdown has created dread and fear globally, but we must use this time to explore, create, and innovate.