#WeAreRydeArts - Joe Manners
“I’m a perfectionist by nature so it was nice to ease my expectations for a project which is ultimately about compromise and consensus. More crucially, this exposed qualities of our practices which maybe hadn’t yet been explored, for me seeing my still-image work amplified by Bella and subsequently animated. It feels like you’re broadening your practice. ”
I’m Joe Manners, I’m a UK based illustrator. My work combines printmaking, drawing and found objects to make conceptual images in areas such as editorial, publication, advertising and design.
Q: What was the RA project you were involved in? I collaborated with Bella Jackson-Moss on the Ryde Arts Covid Commissions project, in which we endeavoured to explore and share the intimate experiences people have had during the pandemic. From this research we conceptualised a collection of moving image works which became Covid Cinéma, serving to honour those experiences people had shared as well as an homage to the avant-garde movement.
Q: How did you grow as an artist as a result of this project? We both share many mutual experiences, having developed alongside each other during our degrees but never collaborated - and this project gave us another chance to do so. I’m a perfectionist by nature so it was nice to ease my expectations for a project which is ultimately about compromise and consensus. More crucially, this exposed qualities of our practices which maybe hadn’t yet been explored, for me seeing my still-image work amplified by Bella and subsequently animated. It feels like you’re broadening your practice.
Q: How was the community involved in your project? We interviewed a number of participants during the early days which helped propel the project forward - sharing their thoughts, feelings, speculations etc through various methods, such as pictorial responses, social distanced conversations or simply via e-mail. We had discussions with people in insecure work, furloughed, self-employed and working from home alike. It was good to gather a range of responses but also interesting that there were a lot of parallels, allowing us to bind concepts together. That was ultimately the biggest challenge, as you want to honour people’s experiences and marry that with your craft.
Q: In what ways do you think Ryde Arts community participation projects are good for the cultural wellbeing of the community? I think ultimately the project presented itself at a good time, clearly within the thick of the pandemic but more intimately artists and creators in early/difficult stages of their careers who are stuck in very menial, generally insecure work can struggle to communicate their true voices. The project(s) allow a period of not only stimulation and self-encouragement but growth - where the only criteria is to meet the specifications of the brief, which you also have a hand in.
Q: What lasting memory do you have of this project? Absolute distress. Don’t make me work with Bella again. A terrible person. In all seriousness, it was just a breeze because although our cognitive approaches traditionally differ - Bella being very research-oriented and considers many different angles to pursue; letting projects take her in unfamiliar directions - and I can be very linear with development (research, roughs, work, end product) it was such an organic process - we set very clear objectives and had very few boundaries, allowing the content and the research to guide us towards the final works. We’re really proud of Covid Cinéma, it epitomises a very personal and optimistic era of the pandemic for us. We’ve since discussed the possibility of either continuing making bits and pieces from the research that didn’t make the cut or even working together on a new project in the future.
Contact: Instagram: @joelmanners @accountableillustration
