Infinite possibilities
THE PLAY’S THE THING AT BALTIC EXHIBITION
SOME people say the art at Baltic is hard to understand – but try telling that to the kids getting stuck into Infinity Pitch this Easter holiday.
Just looking at this new exhibition spread across Baltic’s big Level 4 gallery is an invitation to get creative.
It’s all in primary colours – and green, which isn’t a primary colour as it’s made by mixing yellow and blue – and it looks like the set of a joyous children’s TV programme.
It is called Infinity Pitch but it has an inviting multi-coloured sub-title – Play By Your Own Rules.
At the weekend visiting children needed no further incentive, putting on the brightly coloured protective clothing – including hats, boots and dungarees – to explore the so-called creative stations.
Infinity Pitch follows The Playground Project which took place at Baltic two years ago and delighted young visitors with its slides and softplay attractions.
This new exhibition was conceived by Glasgow-based artists Ruby Pester and Nadia Rossi and put together by a bunch of collaborators.
The idea, they say, is to make, break and re-make the rules of play.
Nadia Rossi said: “Infinity Pitch has been a really exciting opportunity for us to activate a huge space at Baltic. “Using inflatables and DIY action stations we’ve mapped out a set of ideas but the takeover will really be made by those who visit, shaping and directing the activity. “We hope to incite a sense of freedom, play and dynamism throughout the gallery, generating a feeling of ownership of this public space as it transforms and evolves by the everyday actions of those within it.”
There’s a placard-making station, where visitors can write their own Infinity Pitch attractions, and there’s also a pathway-making station where they can map their way around the space by making marks on the gallery floor and walls.
One of the creative stations comes in the shape of a large inflatable pyramid bubble.
Visitors are encouraged to get inside the air-filled structure and create their own vinyl designs by cutting, sticking and collaging directly onto the bubble.
To coincide with Infinity Pitch, the artists, who have been collaborating as Pester and Rossi since 2008, have devised a new film which will be screened in the gallery.
It is set in public spaces in Gateshead, Newcastle, Aberdeen and Glasgow and was shot and edited by filmmaker Catherine Weir.
Presented on a film split 16 ways, it shows large inflatable shapes moving among the crowds at locations including Grey’s Monument, Gateshead Millennium Bridge and the Central Arcade in Newcastle.
A series of free workshops, events and performances led by artists accompanies the exhibition. They are deemed suitable for all ages and abilities.
On successive Tuesdays – today, April 3 and April 10 – there’s a chance to visit the exhibition between 9am and 10.30am before it opens to other visitors.
These are designed as relaxed sessions for people with specific needs, such as those on the autism spectrum.
Meet and Make sessions with an artist are scheduled for April 1, April 8 and April 15 from 2pm to 4pm.
There’s to be a performance and movement making workshop on March 31, an experimental sound making workshop on April 7 and a collaborative singing and noise making workshop led by a group called Rhubaba on April 14. All will take place from 2pm to 5pm.
Infinity Pitch runs at Baltic until Sunday, April 15 and is open from 10am (10.30am on Tuesdays) to 6pm. Admission is free.
The takeover will really be made by those who visit, shaping and directing the activity Artist Nadia Rossi