Artist statement
Concepts
Bettina Furnée's practice is rooted in notions of site and uses language as a primary material. Her works in the public realm derive from an interest in the identity, history and future of a given place, and the way in which language relates to a location. Works are developed through research and in collaboration with local communities and other artists, and are executed in a range of media. Her project 'If Ever You're in the Area' (2005-06) took place at two art venues and coastal locations in East Anglia and included temporary site specific installations and time-based work. The time-lapse film 'Lines of Defence' (Bettina Furnée & Tim Sidell), with twin themes of fear and national identity, documents the erosion of 17 metres of Suffolk coastline during 2005. In 2008 she staged an 8-week long word association game 'Powerhouse' at Cambridge University Library, which playfully questioned subjectivity and gender. Her 2011 Eastern Exchanges residency in Nassau, The Bahamas, resulted in a new body of work using moving image and voice recordings, relating to identity, narrative and extinction.
Influences
The work is influenced by social and oral history as part of, or pertinent to, the history of art and architecture. The use of language in the landscape -be it urban or rural, global or domestic- forms an enduring mode of presentation. The work is driven by concepts such as power sharing, survival and testimony, and looks at our accidental place and time in this world.
Career path
Bettina Furnée (The Hague, 1963) trained as a letter cutter at David Kindersley's Workshop (1983-89). She set up independently in Cambridge in 1990 with a setting up grant from the Crafts Council. She went on to gain an MA in Theory and Practice of Public Art at Chelsea College of Art and Design (1993) and a first class honours degree in Art History (1999). She founded the peer critique group B.A.T. and is currently part of Escalator by Arts Council East. She has a studio at Wysing Arts Centre, Bourn, and is observer at meetings of the Board of Trustees.
Qualifications and training
- 1999 BA hons Art History (first class), Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge
- 1994 Theory and Practice of Public Art, Chelsea College of Art and Design, London
- 1989 Lettering, David Kindersley's Workshop, Cambridge
- 1983 Propedeuse Art History, Leiden University, The Netherlands
Solo exhibitions
- 2012 Material Response, Ipswich Museum, Ipswich
- 2006 If Ever You're in the Area, The Naze Tower, Walton-on-the -Naze
- 2005 If Ever You're in the Area, firstsite @ the Minories Art Gallery, Colchester
Group exhibitions
- 2012 Roaming, Aid&Abet, Cambridge
- 2012 Poetry, Language, Code, Ruskin Gallery, ARU, Cambridge
- 2011 Material Response, Ipswich Art School Gallery, Ipswich
- 2011 The Tyranny of Grammar, Fishmarket Gallery, Northampton
- 2011 Invisible Dust, Science Festival, Cambridge, Cambridge lido
- 2011 Late Shift, Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, Norwich
- 2010 Pulse Fringe Festival, New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich
- 2010 Salon Video Art Prize, Matt Roberts Arts, London
- 2010 WAC Presents, Wysing Arts Centre, Bourn, Cambs.
- 2003 Making it East, Firstsite, Colchester
- 2003 Out There, Crafts Council, London
- 1998 The art of Remembering, Blickling Hall, Norwich
- 1996 Words Revealed, MAC, Birmingham
Residencies
- 2011 Eastern Exchanges, Ipswich & Colchester Museums/National Gallery of the Bahamas, Nassau
- 2008 Space for 10, Kettle's Yard, Cambridge
Public commissions
- 2012 Het Huis des Levens, Stichting Historie Joods Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
- 2011 Field Day, Essex County Council, Colchester
- 2008 I Will Do Right and other glass screens, UK Supreme Court, London
- 2008 Piped Poetry, Millbank Primary School, London
- 2003 paradise is, Centenary commission, Letchworth Garden City
- 2003 Running Through The Blue, Eastrop Park Link, Basingstoke
- 2001 Place/Space, Heigham Park, Norwich
- 2000 Return of the Rivers/Spell against Sorrow, Wessex Water Services Operations Centre, Bath
- 1998 Don't Push Me, Cardinal Park, Ipswich
- 1998 Witness, Church Steet Bridge, Bilston, West Midlands
- 1997 State of Rock, Hackney Community College, London
- 1995 Moon Pool, Warwick University, Coventry
- 1993 T S Eliot inscriptions, Victoria Square, Birmingham
- 1990 Entrance panel, Arts Council England, London
Projects
- 2012 Reality Rules, Anglia Ruskin University/Futurecity, Parker's Piece, Cambridge
- 2008 Powerhouse, Cambridge University Library, Cambridge
- 2006 Lines of Approach, The Naze Tower & The Principality of Sealand, Walton-on-the-Naze/Sealand
- 2005 If Ever You're in the Area, temporary outdoor installations, Bawdsey, Suffolk and Walton-on-the-Naze. Essex
Competitions, prizes and awards
- 2011 Roaming, Grants for the Arts, Arts Council England
- 2009 Escalator Visual Arts, Arts Council England, Eastern region
- 2007 Space for 10, The Arthouse, Wakefield
- 2004 Grants for the Arts, Arts Council England, Eastern region
Publications
- 2012 Here's Luck
- 2008 Piped Poetry
- 2008 Space for 10
- 2005 If Ever You're in the Area
Personal website
