Join us for a conversation with artist Mac Collins in the Production Space workshops at STEAMhouse.
Building from a simple invitation to think through what making means to him, Mac will talk about tactility and dexterity. The tactility and dexterity in how objects and materials are interacted with in the production of work, how this can be transferred to artefacts we make, and the wider role and value of tactility in objects, sculpture and installation.
This is the latest in a series of events with leading artists, designers and makers held in the Production Space workshops at STEAMhouse and has been developed through a collaboration with Eastside Projects. The programme aims to open out new thinking and develop collective conversations around approaches to making.
About Mac
Mac Collins is a British visual artist from Nottingham, UK. Collins creates furniture, objects, sculpture, and installation from rudimentary materials such as wood, steel, cast aluminium, and cast glass. Having entered the field of visual arts with a design education, Collins approaches his practice with an interest in materiality and tactility. Collins follows a human-focused, research-driven approach seeking to observe, and critique, aspects of the society and systems in which he exists. Conceptually, Collins’ work explores notions of distorted memory, contemporary mythology, and urban rituals. Drawing on his British-Jamaican lineage, Collins creates artefacts that are often informed by the stories told, rituals performed, and objects used by the communities he encounters. Within his work, Collins has exploited the familiarity of recognisable furniture forms and the iconography of other domestic objects as a way of communicating his ideas. Alongside recognisable objects, Collins is now creating ever more conceptual, abstract, and ambitious sculpture and installation.
About STEAMhouse
STEAMhouse is a five-story, purpose-built STEAM complex in central Birmingham with state-of-the-art facilities including well equipped Production Space workshops which support traditional and digital making in a wide range of materials including wood, metal and biomaterials.
They deliver a range of activities and programmes which give access to the Production Space Workshops and technical support including Maker Memberships which start at just £50 a month and STEAMhouse Forward - a fully-funded programme through which eligible businesses and sole traders based in Birmingham & Solihull can benefit from 20 hours of free access to the facilities alongside business support.