Matt Westbrook

Matt is an artist and educator based in Birmingham.  He has been consistently involved with developing artist led activity in the city and is a founding member of Grand Union Artist Studios and Gallery. He has exhibited widely as an individual practitioner and in collaboration with artist Chris Poolman as part of BAZ (Birmingham Art Zine), a self styled ‘think tank’ who’s focus of  attention is often the art world itself.

 As an individual practitioner he has been building a body of work that uses imagery derived from early 20th century tool and engineering catalogues. He is currently artist in residence in the Research and Cultural Collections at the University of Birmingham, where he is researching a new body of work that explores the nature of collage itself using pareidolia, cultural memory and narrative.

Links:
www.mattwestbrook.co.uk
www.bazbazbaz.com
www.grand‐union.org.uk

Matt's "Our Woods" event is called: "Pareidolia Walk" in which he will take us on a walking ‘safari’ around King’s Wood nature reserve, one of Corby’s oldest woods, that will shine a light on the shadowy recesses of human perception and artistic creativity. BOOK HERE

Pareidolia is a psychologist’s term for the brain’s tendency to detect forms and faces in nature where none exist. Whether naming constellations, reading tea-leaves or watching animal clouds float through the sky, humans have long tried to make sense of the chaos around us.

Participants will be encouraged to walk off the beaten track, whilst sharing and recording their findings photographically with the group. To see patterns is to witness the brain’s programming and survival instinct at work but it can also be a delightful reminder of its occasional quirks and jitters.

Details:

• When?
  Saturday 22nd April 2017, 2.00pm to 4.00pm
• Where?
  Meet at corner of Gainsborough Road and Danesholme Road, Kingswood, Corby, NN18 9EG
• Is it for me?
  Age 11yrs+
• What to bring:
  Wear comfortable and waterproof clothes and shoes. Please bring a camera/camera phone.
• Things to note:
  Boggy terrain, off track routes will be taken, prepared to get a bit muddy. Not suitable for wheelchair users. 
  Please park considerately on the side roads.
• How much?
  £5.50 (£3.50 concessions)
• Maximum numbers: 12