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Golden Venture:

Randall, J (2011) “Golden Venture” exhibition at the National Waterfront Museum (National Industrial Museum of Wales), Swansea, 2 July–18 September 2011

Randall’s practice-based research investigates how contemporary visual art can be a catalyst for community revitalisation through the reinterpretation of industrial heritage. This work is the result of an Artist/Industry partnership project at the abandoned copper mine at Parys Mountain, Anglesey, funded by a 2008 “Artists At Work” Award from Cywaith Cymru (Artwork Wales).

Randall investigated how a post-industrial site could be utilised to produce artworks from its specific topography and chemistry, engaging with not only the site's geology but also its industrial past. The research involved people currently working there as collaborators, including: the Amlwch Industrial Heritage Trust; geologists; soil scientists; and members of the public. Randall's creative process responds directly to the context, allowing the site a contributory role in the process of production. Her methodology draws on and extends the work of the Artists Placement Group (APG), who in the 1960s pioneered artists engaging with industry. Like the APG, Randall's purpose is to play a more active and valued participatory role, creating art in a social context.

Randall's work at Parys Mountain developed a substantial resource of visual imagery for exhibitions, new products and public art, culminating in the solo exhibition, "Jill Randall: Golden Venture" (http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/whatson/?event_id=5068). The exhibition comprised 32 new works, attracted 75,000 visitors and was accompanied by bilingual exhibition catalogue, “Golden Venture” (ISBN 978-0-95-572632-3 http://usir.salford.ac.uk/12665/6/Golden_Venture_Catalogue_scan.pdf). The exhibition toured as the inaugural solo exhibition at the award-winning “Copper Kingdom" heritage centre (http://www.copperkingdom.co.uk), Amlwch, 4 August–9 September 2012, with accompanying symposium and workshops linked to the creative interpretation of industrial legacy.

This research led to partnership working with Menter Mon (Anglesey Enterprise) and Anglesey County Council over five sites, resulting in commissioned artworks and designs for craft products to be manufactured by local craftspeople.

This research is also REF Impact Case Study.

http://jillrandall.co.uk/exhibitions/golden-venture-exhibition/