Mel loved the work of Shauna McMullan and Jacki Parry for 21 Revolutions and led on the short film about them and their work.
Interview conducted by Contemporary Arts MA student Camilla Nordgren who is on a student placement with GWL.
Camilla: What drew you into the library?
Mel: In April I literally moved down the road from the library, and as I would say that I identify myself as a feminist, I thought it would be a really great institution to volunteer with. Basically, I have been out of work now for about four years as I have been taking care of my two children, and I thought volunteering here would be a great opportunity to keep my toes in the water whilst I am raising my kids. I thought it would be a great way of keeping connections going, keeping skills up to date, as well as providing me with the opportunity to meet other people who are doing creative things. I also really value the work that the library does so I applied to be a volunteer, and I was initially helping out at the front desk and then this project came up. As I had some previous film-making experience it worked out really great.
C: Why did you want to work with the Ripples on the Pond group?
M: Gabrielle [the Volunteer Coordinator] mentioned the Ripples on the Pond project to me and I thought it sounded like a really, really great project. I have to say that it has been fascinating to be able to meet some of the artists that were involved with the exhibition and having had the chance to be involved in documenting the processes they went through in making the works has been really amazing. I feel like I have learnt loads.
C: What did you think about the Gallery of Modern Art and the Ripples on the Pond exhibition?
M: I have always been fond of the Gallery of Modern Art. I think the location is great. I’ve used the library in there for ages and ages. It’s just a great place to go to and the staff are always friendly. They are really family friendly as well, and as I have a toddler and a baby, it is great being able to go there. My toddler loves it, she has enough space to run around and she can be kept entertained in the kid’s corner. As far as the Ripples on the Pond exhibition, I have now been to see it about 6 or 7 times, and the first few times I went by myself I found it really inaccessible. I am only saying this because since going with the ROTP group and getting the talk from the curator, Katie Bruce, which was so enlightening, it made me realise that I didn’t understand any of the works. The talk from Katie Bruce really opened my mind to the process that she went through when putting the exhibition together, and the thought that went into bringing all these works together and why she placed them as she did. Hearing her talk and explain the concept behind the whole exhibition was really fascinating. To then have the opportunity to talk to some of the artists about their processes, and hear their views on their work has totally enhanced my experience of the exhibition. So I think the films are a brilliant idea and they are a way of helping to make the exhibition more accessible, especially for people who feel like they don’t have the background knowledge needed to understand. I think anything that museums and the Glasgow Women’s Library can do to help people discover more information, and which helps people understand and appreciate art more, is a great thing.
C: How was working with the group?
M: I think having been out of work for so long, I felt really enthusiastic and comfortable sharing my skills with the group. I even started a blog and a Facebook page so that the group could share information and post their work. Ultimately, everyone in the group has been so wonderful. I think we are a really great group of people and I think we have come together and worked really nicely.
C: What artist film did you take the lead on and why did that artist’s work inspire you?
M: Lou, who is one of the volunteers and who happens to be a film-maker as well, was really keen on us choosing and taking the lead on the artist’s film whose work most inspired us. So for me, the works that really inspired me were Shauna McMullan’s and Jacki Parry’s. I saw parallels in those two works and I thought it’d be interesting to get them together. The reason why I picked those two was because I saw them as depicting, in an aesthetic and visual manner, the lack of female representation. I think the works, in a beautiful and elegant way, make a point about the representation of women, and really make people think about that lack of representation. I would say these works really captured my imagination.
C: Do you feel like you have benefitted from being part of the Ripples on the Pond group?
M: I feel like I have come a long way in a short space of time. I feel like being part of the group has reignited my interest in film making. I did a placement a couple of years ago where I did some filming, but I did not think I was going to have the opportunity to work with the medium again. So being part of the group has really sparked that interest again and I am thinking that it might be a path that I am interested in pursuing further. I think being a part of the group has been a really rewarding experience, and it has helped boost my confidence. I think because I have been out of work the last four years, I really do worry about my employability constantly diminishing. So coming in and volunteering with the library has really given me a chance to feel useful in an academic setting and helped me feel like I am flexing my muscles. That has been really healthy for me. I think being a part of the group has been brilliant and I has left me feeling inspired.
C: Have your views of arts and culture changed by getting involved with the library, and the Ripples on the Pond group more specifically?
M: I think being able to talk to Glasgow-based women artists opened my eyes to a sense of community in the art world here in Glasgow, which has been nice. Especially since I think it can seem as quite a closed circle to people who are not involved in that world. So that has definitely changed. I think there are lot of collaborations going on, and I initially did not even know how much work the Glasgow Women’s Library is doing in that respect. I wasn’t really aware of their work with 21 Revolutions, but now I see how much they are doing to draw in creative people from across Scotland and that is really exciting. So being a part of the group has really opened my eyes to all these things.
C: What do you want people to take from the films?
M: My hope is that, much like I have been able to understand the exhibition, these films will give people the chance to understand the exhibition more than if the films hadn’t been made. Hopefully the films also get people thinking about representation in the arts, and in the world in general. I think that would be a really great thing.
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