Where Artistic Minds Converge
by Antonia Cook
CHIp’s dynamic reach has recently broadened with the opening of CHIp Studios. From £30 per month, aspiring artists can become members and gain access to the open-plan building, including two floor spaces, a breakout room, and a music production booth, to host their own creative events.
On Saturday 17th August, COGNITO held a SOUND event, namely: ‘Experimental, audio-visual installation exploring connection through ecology, technology and sonic vibrations’.
In the build up to the event, artists went on an explorative walk around Ipswich’s rural areas, where inspirations for submissions came about. This preliminary outing was photographically documented, enriching a sense of rural spaces. One participant commented: ‘It was a lovely chance to get to know Ipswich creatives in a group setting, and prompted many ideas for my final submission’.
CHIp Studios was transformed into an interactive gallery of art through an explorative range of mediums. From pottery and sculpture, photography and collages, ornaments and tapestries, and alluring soundscapes. The event ran from midday until late.
I arrived around 9pm and was met by a plethora of creatives congregating inside and spilling out of the venue. By night the artwork was illuminated with colourful lighting that really brought the pieces to life.
In conversation with some attendees, one said: ‘It’s like a museum on steroids!’. The soundscape in the corner room was intensely charged with allure and dark mystique, and rather tempted one into introspection. Just a few feet away from other people, somehow, I felt completely separated from the rest of the world; absorbed in myself. After traipsing about in wonder I joined others, reclining onto the cushion bank against the wall, where I was blessed with a succession of DJ sets. Local poet Hugh Metcalfe even decided to test his skills and performance on the mic. He gave a spoken word rap over the experimental DJ sounds, leaving people utterly enthused and speechless!
Visitors remarked on how the exhibition had a tendency to spur on prominent feelings that were hard to pin down, but wonderful to inhabit. ‘The marker of good art is that resonance that stays with you, even days after viewing it’, a friend of mine wisely aired. COGNITO events are forming part of a series, with the subsequent one due to focus on spoken word in the upcoming months.
CHIp Studios is also used for artist talks each month that form as part of CHIp’s creative meetup. The event concludes with a social drink at the Thomas Wolsey, where people can socialise and collaborate to strengthen connections. I recently went along to a talk given by established filmmaker Rebecca Gillies, who enlightened us with insider information of the film industry. She provided bound portfolios from her films to sample. We talked about political issues such as the strikes, as well as Rebecca’s career journey and rise to success.