ALL FOR ONE: Considering the collective through painting: the act and the object.

3 paintings. Mixed media. Co – authored by over 30 people during the 2nd Cornwall Big Paint In,

at Porthtowan beach on Sat 4th August 2012.  Digital image slide show.

The Big Paint In was conceived in 2011 after Cornwall based artist Paul Wadsworth was asked for written permission to paint on his local beach. In response 80 fellow artists joined Paul on this beach for the first Big Paint In; a day open to anyone who wanted to come and create, and a reminder that individual freedom and human interaction are vital to the creative spirit.

This year, during the 2nd Big Paint In, three blank canvases were set up on wooden easels on the beach with and visitors were invited to contribute towards a landscape triptych, inspired by the surroundings, which then evolved over the day. The outcomes were auctioned to raise funds towards building environmental education centre at Mount Pleasant Ecological Park, near Porthtowan, on condition that that the new owners would lend the painting for inclusion in New Visions at CMR.

This project aimed to explore the possibilities of reframing the painters canvas, normally as site of solitary activity, into a public space; a place for dialogue. During the day opinions, insights and responses were articulated through words and paint in a number of dialects. Some are visible on the canvas, while others, arguably no less significant, lie below the surface.

The project invites a number of questions, eg, How do we view and act within the natural environment? …and as artists do we lose or find ourselves through the collective?  How do we value the outputs?

The New Visions artists had the opportunity to consider these questions throughout the duration of the show: working together on a fresh canvas on the wall of the ALL FOR ONE room.