Continuous Material

May 2015

Continuous Material was an exhibition by Eleanor Wright and Sam Watson, which featured six invited artists and collaborators, and was commissioned by University College and the Centre for Visual Arts and Cultures, Durham University. The exhibition explored the sites of Durham Castle, Durham UNESCO World Heritage Site and the contemporary art gallery Drop City in Newcastle. The practices of all eight contributors, their individual approaches to objects and storytelling, formally and conceptually, and how the artworks they produce suggested narrative worlds each with their own set of rules and parameters.

The exhibition was based in the Tunstall Gallery and Chapel explored the Castle’s historical and cultural narratives, evidenced by countless stories and physical alterations. Continuous Material asked what it means to preserve a cultural landmark, especially one that has gone through centuries of immense political and religious upheaval and social change.  

The exhibition featured several new and existing works by Wright and Watson and their invited artists that function between sculpture, photography, architecture, literature, and curation. 

Looking through the Norman Arch, the artwork is on the window and features geometric patterns broken up and made from colours from the bishops' coats of arms and the design theory of Bruno Munari.