Cosmic Modelling

Cosmic Modelling was presented as a two-part exhibition that celebrated ten years of supporting artists growth through Black Hole Club. Running from November 2023 and February 2024 it was a celebration of experimentation, collaboration and creativity.

As Black Hole Club moves forward to a new iteration after working with close to 90 artists through our programme from 2014-2022. We looked back together from the perspective of this present time to share practises and reflections from our Black Hole Club alumni.

Cosmic Modelling brought the following artists and artworks together:

Alex Billingham Metamorphic (Traces), Video, (2022).

In January 2022 Rosanna Cook and Alex Billingham went to Scarborough to explore how their practices could interchange ideas. Rosanna wanted to see how dance manifests in non dancers’ bodies while Alex was eager to investigate how they could incorporate dance and movement into their disabled body. Metamorphic (Traces) acts as a trace memento of the time considering these ideas and how the environment became the hidden third partner in this dance. Made with Rosanna Cook.

Ambie Drew The Planet With Two Stars ~ Fall Forever, Video, (2023).

An updated version of an interactive digital dreamscape built in Unity and first presented as part ofthe 2021 BHC exhibition DOOM. Wander through and discover a continuously evolving plane or step off the edge and fall forever.

Alis Oldfield CyberPan, Oak & Valchromat Frame, Giclee Print, (2023).

With interests in ecology, magic and technology, Alis’ practice is situated in the blurry boundaries between these things. Her research project imagines the internet as a landscape with ecological systems, as a way to diagnose its health.

El Morgan Have you had a productive day?, Video, (2023).

The work explores vulnerability, interdependence and the messy crossings of human and animal bodies and was originally made by invitation in response to an exhibition of Tomás Saraceno’s work at the Serpentine Gallery called Web(s) of Life. The title refers to a question the artist’s mother would ask at the end of each day, and how as an artist she would often feel unproductive.

Exodus Crooks LIEF, Video, (2019-20).

Exodus’ practice is centred on the relationship with self. They use art as a tool to have hard conversations softly. LIEF explores mental health and identity and includes footage of the artist as a child, with a voiceover narrating lived experience.

Faisal Hussain Faisal Mosque on the Moor, Video, (1998 Remake).

Work that questions perceptions, undermines lazy stereotypes and highlights missing histories and overlooked facts. Using archive and personal memory as starting points, his work explores the representation and understanding of South Asian culture and identity through the media, government, communities and individuals.

John Bradburn The Mountain of Dead Selves, Video, (2016).

A 6 panel video exploring the psychic states at play in the construction of Station to Station by David Bowie, originally made for the Black Hole Club ‘Constructing The Self’ exhibition.

Lily Wales Silverfish, Video, (2020).

The mutations within Silverfish mirror the evolution of submarine technology and the animation explores the process of regeneration within the context of the silverfish. A small primitive insect that commonly infests bathrooms.

Antonio Roberts Glass, Video, (2024).

Originally developed as a video intervention for the Loud Tate: Code event commissioned by Tate Collective in 2014 -the year in which Antonio was part of the inaugural Black Hole Club cohort. The new iteration incorporates new visualsand draws on recent work in music production, via live coding and Algoraves.

Courtenay Welcome eyes that touch, mixed media, (Undated).

Holding fragments of radical thought
Black conceptualism
Freedom dreams
Experimental mark making
Imprisonment relating to the human condition.
A portrait of Angela Davis
Speaking with the artists relationship with mental imprisonment
How systems of imprisonment materialise in the mind and body
Ways in which this mirrors the prison industrial complex.
Surrealism and contemporary culture
Expanding a collective understanding of how internal worlds materialise in space.
Encapsulating how fragments of isolation and loneliness show up in the body.

David Checkley Dialled away on the 56k, Mixed media installation, perspex, steel, telephone handsets, (2019).

First presented as part of the Vague But Excitingin 2019, Dialled away on the 56k is drawn from the artist’s personal experience, having lived through the current technological age, seeing the rise of the personal computer and mobile devices and the impact that it has had on communication, prompting distant memories of the sounds that we do not hear any more. Credits: James Korvell, audio production and Daniel Putnin’s CNC design.

Emily Mulenga Now that we know the world is ending soon…what are you gonna wear?, Video, (2019).

Late-stage capitalism has left us lonely, disconnected and without a spiritual centre; fractured identities span the online and offline worlds; and there’s a condition of perpetual information overload in an oversaturated, neon dystopia. There’s also a rabbit.

Gugan Gill Making Roti, Super 8 Video, (2024).

Making Roti’ documents Gugan’s Mami Ji making roti within the small kitchen at their home in Punjab. Filmed on her Nana Ji’s Super 8 camera, the film served as an opportunity to capture the nuances of the everyday while simultaneously delving into history and the “life story” (Le Guin, 2020). This film captures the act of providing and caring through the act of cooking and the importance of roti within a meal.

Horse Gallery A teaser for an audio-visual cardboard performance rendering of the complete and utter history of Black Hole Club, Horse Gallery, (2024).

Horse Gallery is an iteration of Scarrott + Kilby, a collaboration that was born in 2018 and raised by Black Hole Club. They are interested in performance, pop culture, lo-fi, humour, and regional art practices. The duopreviously enjoyed antagonising institutional open calls and smashing up a cardboard house, before settling amongst the studio holders at Free House. Most recently, Horse Gallery have set out on a quest to obtain a life-sized horse mannequin.

Ian Sergeant X, printed materials, (2024)

A reflection on a 2013 project which formed events 19-21 in 33 Revolutions -the opening programme for Vivid Projects. Free School: Poetry, Carnival, Politics explored the complexities of the burgeoning black community’s experience of life in Britain during the 50s and 60s. The life history of Michael de Freitas aka Michael X and the principle of the revolutionary ‘London Free School’ were central to the project.

Joseph Winsborrow TENG, Video, (2024).

Through collaging videos collected over numerous site visits in Devon, TENG is a poetic imagining of our relationship to rivers. By visiting the river Teign at several significant locations on its journey from the moors to the sea, Joseph seeks to foster a relationship to the river and its energies. Piecing together small fragments of history and folklore, TENG is an introduction to the mythologies Joseph has constructed to create a spirit or god for an important landmark from their home.

Michael Dring CONVL SOUTH/JUMPER, performance, (2024).

This experimental audio project incorporates field recordings made at Gravelly Hill Interchange during its 50th anniversary in 2022 and live coded music using open-source Orca, a novel programming language developed by Hundred Rabbits. The cavern and cathedral-like rooms beneath the interchange are set against midi-controlled synthesis; which combine to create sonic soundscapes that oscillate between immersive natural and human made environments.

CONVL SOUTH/JUMPER was performed live at 7.30pm, Friday 2nd February in 2024.