GLINT
Definition: GLINT /ɡlɪnt/ noun 1. a small flash of light, especially a reflected one Glint explores the circumstance of inspiration. Not so much what inspires the artist, but under what circumstances the work is conceived. I am interested in the moments of clarity which occur between otherwise mundane/academic/corporate/domestic/chaotic/... activity. How work exists alongside, within and between everything else. GLINT invites artists to track and document ’the moment the work happens’ in real time. Sometimes this relates to the ‘lightbulb moment’ when the idea appears in the midst of otherwise unrelated activity or maybe after a succession of gruelling hours in the studio; capturing the transition from material to artwork. These fleeting moments of recognition are all archived in the project. Between 2018 and 2023, Jessica Longmore asked 40 artists (a month at a time) to photographically document ‘the moment the work happened’. These images, which document the circumstance of the conception of hundreds of artworks, were archived and shared via an Instagram account, which can be viewed here: https://www.instagram.com/glintproject During the 5 years since it’s inception, the project travelled round the world and unexpectedly bore witness to major world events. Not least the early days of the pandemic and it’s effects as it spread across the world, pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, the global Black Lives Matter uprising and even the much delayed first snowfall in Sweden - indicating the impact of Global Warming. It travelled to India, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Canada and Spain, yet, amongst this activity, it has repeatedly returned home to Manchester, where the project first materialised. GLINT was devised and is curated by artist and academic, Jessica Longmore: I have always been interested in how and why art comes into existence; I wanted to explore this thought outside of my own experience. I am interested in exploring the diversity of art practice, acknowledging that it extends beyond the conventions of the studio. Defining the moment the artwork is conceived, draws a conceptional line in the sand of before and after the artwork, from the perspective of the artist. I am intrigued by the almost imperceptible, tacit boundaries that people construct between different states of being or existing; material – artwork, thought – idea, in progress – complete. It is something I have explored extensively in my own practice and I often talk to students about developing the instinct, to be able to define this moment themselves. The following artists have participated in this project: Nicola Smith, Tom Baskeyfield, Precious Innes, Anna Francis, Chester Tenneson, Tulani Hlalo, Yuen Fong Ling, Nina Chua, Jade Montserrat, Raisa Kabir, Sarah Sanders, Maeve Rendle, Eastman Cheng, Christine Wong Yap, Daniel Staincliffe, David Price, Julie Del'Hopital, Maria Upfield, Lizette Nin, Arshi Irshad Ahmadzai, Smiljana & Michael Safaric Branthwaite, Richard Reynolds, Khandakar Ohida, Laura Kay Keeling, Aamir Shama Rasul, Dan Chan, Sarah Basha, Andrew Gannon, Kaye Winwood, Nicola Ellis, Lowri Evans, Jane Fairhurst, Amanda Lynch, Antony Hall, Sara Kristina Davies, Helen Mather, Mary Griffiths and Matthew Bamber. GLINT exists on Instagram and tracks, in real time, the moment the work happens. www.instagram.com/glintproject Click on the image to see more of the project.
