News

April 2022

VR as a platform has been widely embraced by the gaming industry but also offers exciting new possibilities for artists. For the new VR Draw project I am creating three audiovisual graphical scores to be experienced in Virtual Reality. These will be made available as freely downloadable apps and 3D videos will be shared online for those without a headset. For those interested it will also be possible to come and visit my studio later this summer and experience the graphical scores there on the Quest2 wireless headset.

For this project I'm making both handmade drawings in 2D and digital drawings in 3D. The project is a collaboration with Prof Nick Collins who will do some of the creative coding. Two of the hand-made drawn drawings are available as high quality digital prints on fine art paper through the project Crowdfunder.

May 2021

There are few taboos left in 21st century Western society, but stillbirth - the death of a baby, over 24 weeks old, before or during delivery - is still rarely discussed. In May 2021, this second edition of the Still Born book book of art and poetry was published. It aims to break the silence around stillbirth, approaching the issue from both a personal angle and as an issue within our society.

My first born daughter, Elvira Elina, was stillborn in 2010. Since then I have been making artwork about, and informed by, this experience. The Still Born book combines a personal selection of this artwork alongside responses by eight poets, my own narrative, a text by stillbirth specialist and obstetrician Alexander Diesel of Tommy’s Stillbirth Research Centre at the University of Manchester and a text about the online artwork Each Egg a World that was made in the first lockdown and records the stories of hundreds of families who have experienced stillbirth.

The book aims to lift some of the taboos on this delicate subject matter, speaking through art and poetry about the emotions that arise in the days, months and years that follow a stillbirth. The poems have been written in direct response to the artwork and engage with the central theme of loss. Some of the poets have their own personal experience of stillbirth, miscarriage or the death of a baby later in life, some have witnessed the loss and pain of stillbirth in others. The poets are Christine Bousfield, Roger Bloor, Jennie Farley, Rebecca Goss, Sarah Leavesley, Karen McCarthy Woolf, Claire Potter and Wendy Pratt Writer.

You can still order this full colour, 56 page book for £25 in our online shop.

Or you can download your FREE digital copy here.

June 2020

Thanks to amazing support from the Arts Council, GX Project & ERDF, the Wellcome Trust, the University of Manchester and the Crowdfunders, we are now able to trial the online artwork Each Egg a World . The artwork is based on the Each Egg a World painting which contains 44,601 dots that together create patterns of human egg cells inside a larger egg shape. Each dot no matter how small represents a stillbirth and its story. In the online artwork each dot gives the potential for a couple or a mother or father to select a dot and name it after their baby. They can then also contribute a brief anonymous description of their experience and the emotions involved. Some example statements can be seen here:

A named dot will turn red and once the statement has been reviewed it will be readable online when hovering over the named dot. Anybody, including people who have not directly experienced stillbirth, can view the statements and give feedback on the artwork.
It is hoped that the artwork will help to break the taboo on stillbirth and make people feel slightly better equipped with understanding when they come across a stillbirth in their own community. The artwork also has a search function which allows the viewer to type in a word that they think might be one that will be repeatedly used (for example anger or sadness or love), and when they click the search icon all the dots where statements used this word will highlight. Once the artwork is more densely populated this will be a quick way to explore the range of emotions raised by a stillbirth. People who have not experienced a stillbirth directly can give feedback on the artwork and share what they have learnt from reading people's statements. You can do that here. To take part in the artwork visit here.
The wider Still Born exhibition dates have had to shift due to COVID but the plan for now is to start the tour in Manchester (St. Mary’s Hospital 10 Sept –9 Oct 2020), London (Idea Store, Whitechapel 4th Nov – 5th Dec 2020) and Newcastle upon Tyne (Central Library 21st of May - 16th of June 2021). These dates might continue to change and will be updated on the project website.

March 2020

Three venues have signed up to exhibit the Still Born exhibition in 2020: the Newcastle City Library in May, the Idea Store London in June/July and the St Mary’s Hospital in Manchester in August. As fundraising for this has proven difficult sofar I have set up a crowdfunder. Please help us by donating to this important cause here.

September 2019

My 8-months fellowship as post-doctoral researcher at Durham University has been successfully completed with a public launch at PROTO where we showed our AudioVirtualizer: an interactive and generative Virtual Reality environment created for the HTC Vive Pro and Oculus Rift headsets. Using the games engine Unity the system provides a bridge between the games industry and the art world. The user navigates an abstract VR landscape based on drawings and sculptures by Adinda van ’t Klooster. The graphics respond to changes in sound features; the sound input is selected by the user, and can be microphone input or a selection of audio compositions. The system tracks mid and low level features in the sound. With machine learning and Unity plugin by Nick Collins, and Unity training from Nathan Flounders. Video documentation of a person using this interface can be seen here. The AudioVirtualiser (2019) was funded by Northern Bridge as part of an AHRC funded research fellowship at Durham University taken up by Dr. Adinda van ’t Klooster between January and August 2019.

April 2018

The Still Born book has now been launched at Northern Print and is for sale both from Amazon and for the slightly reduced price of £30 at Northern Print until the 21st of April or directly from Affect Formations Publishing (by emailing affectformations@gmail.com). Several digital prints are on display at Northern Print in Newcastle upon Tyne until the 21st of April.

News coverage in the Northern Echo.

A radio interview with Lisa Shaw on the Still Born project can be listened back on BBC Newcastle here. There's a trail and excerpt at 10.19 then the interview at 15.55 to 28.59 and then from 38.10 to 43.55.

 

February 2018

The Still Born book is almost ready to be launched. As well as a selection of artworks by Adinda van 't Klooster on the theme of stillbirth and grief over the death of a baby, this book contains poems by Roger Bloor, Christine Bousfield, Jennie Farley, Rebecca Goss, Sarah James, Karen Mc Carthy Woolf, Claire Potter and Wendy Pratt commisioned in response to the artworks. The launch will take place at Northern Print on 22 March 2018 from 6 to 8 pm. Some of the original artworks from the book will be on display from 20 March to 21 April and at the launch poets Roger Bloor, Christine Bousfield and Wendy Pratt will read their work. If you would like to attend the launch rsvp to enquiry@northernprint.org.uk

A full press release is available here

 

February 2018

The Khyal Music and Imagination touring exhibition is now on display at the Oriental Museum in Durham until June 2018. This exhibition contains the work by the three visual artists Adinda van ’t Klooster, Mahjabin Imam Majumdar, and Theresa Poulton in response to Indian Khyal music. This AHRC funded project has been led by Durham University. Visit the project website.

 

September 2017

The Still Born project is now in full flow, thanks to a small grant from the arts from the Arts Council England. The Still Born exhibition part of IFPA2017 at Manchester Central was a great success and attended by approximately 500 people.

The call for poets to respond to the artworks has now closed and the chosen poets are announced here. The project is also continuously updated on a Facebook page.

 

August 2017

The Khyal: Music and Imagination exhibition is still touring and currently on display at the New Walk Museum and Art Gallery in Leicester until the 5th of November 2017. In 2018 it will show at the Oriental Museum in Durham.