The Drawbridge Podcast
On the Drawbridge Podcast, I invite different guests to talk about their relationship with contemporary drawing, and how drawing processes fit within their own studio practice. The aim of this podcast is to inform, inspire and explore contemporary drawing as an expanded field of research.
These podcasts were made for MTU CCAD Drawbridge and funded by MTU TLU/Anseo Combined Funding. Drawbridge is funded by MTU Research Office
Listen here or visit Spotify for full episode
Drawbridge STEM Videos
Producer: Anne-May Tabb
Videographer: Ali O’Shea
Post-Production Editor: Vitaliy Makhanov
Drawbridge was awarded Strategic Alignment of Teaching and Learning Enhancement 2020 Funding (through the Teaching and Learning Unit) in 2022 to create a series of four videos that document the interdisciplinary potential of contemporary drawing practice to enhance research methodologies within the STEM disciplines.
This Science video features work by artists Angela Gilmour, Ida Mitrani and Megan Eustace after recording with Anne-May Tabb. Series to be released soon on the MTU Drawbridge website.
Published Jan 22 2022 by JJ O’Donoghue for Tripe + Drisheen.
Can You Hear Me Damo?
Solo Exhibition 2022
“First things first, Anne-May’s exhibition which opens February 1, is called Can you hear me Damo? which could mean, well, anything. What it actually means is quite meta, very Cork, and 100% pandemic.
Like everybody else, Anne-May, 27, originally from Crosshaven now living in the city, spent a lot of the pandemic, especially in 2020, indoors and on the computer. But back then, there was more novelty to what we couldn’t do as a result of the restrictions, and Zoom calls and Zoom parties and gatherings didn’t feel as shit as they do mostly do now.
And so Anne-May joined a game of lockdown bingo on Zoom organised by this guy Damo, who she thinks lives down in Mahon.
“He’s such a fun guy and it’s hilarious because there’s about 200 people playing online and without fail someone at the beginning of the bingo will say ‘Can you hear me Damo, can you hear me?”
“And he’s just like, ‘Yeah, we can hear you’re fine, if you shout bingo, we’ll hear you.”
And that throwaway line, addressed to Damo, repeated over and over has now found its way into the title of her exhibition.
Written by JJ O’Donoghue for Tripe + Drisheen
National Drawing Day 2022
To celebrate National Drawing Day, Backwater Artists Group presented short films asking artists to reflect on drawing, and how it informs their practice from preparation to exhibition.
Filmed and produced by studio member Ciara Rodgers, I was delighted to take part as the Drawbridge Research Assistant, reflecting on five drawing projects which led to the formation of the research hub.
To view the short video visit the Backwater Artists Group website.
Property of Backwater Artists Group
Published 17 July 2018 by Catherine Harty for CIRCA Art Magazine.
See/Saw Degree Show
MTU Crawford College of Art & Design, 2018
“Tabb’s installation has a cartoonish quality; the colours pop in the way of cheap commodities; these have already been aestheticized, their designed surface the hook to snag the shopper. They signal that the aesthetic of vibrancy is already at play in commodity culture. The work also alludes to many 20th century art styles including Arte Povera, Pop Art and Minimalism; and employs techniques from print through to drawing, painting, assemblage and juxtaposition. The one pervasive modern technique it does not use is photography. This further points to the expressivity of objects and materiality in contrast to a medium such as photography built as it is on mediation. This installation could continue indefinitely, but it does not employ extreme accumulation as a technique. It has a relaxed, playful quality, the colour palette pretty. The installation sketches a scene populated by remnants from the everyday and using tropes and techniques developed by 20th Century art practice engagingly works through some of the aesthetic avenues implied today by ‘peak stuff’.”
Written by Catherine Harty member of Cork Artists Collective and a director of The Guesthouse Project for CIRCA Art Magazine
Image: Mike Hannon
Elsewhere
Wandesford Quay Gallery, 2017
“Backwater Artists Studios collaborated with MTU Crawford College of Art & Design through an interactive project with undergraduate students from the college. These third year students paired with the exhibiting artists, and met on a regular basis in the lead up to the exhibition.
One particular piece within this exhibition by twin artists Megan and Cassandra Eustace represented the area of contemporary drawing. Anne-May Tabb, a third year student at the time with a passion for drawing was paired with the Eustace twins to shadow their process. Chatting with Anne-May she recalls on aspects of her experience ‘The twin’s approach to creating work was extremely playful. Every time we met they had some type of material ready on the table along with some tea and cakes. While we chatted we messed about with the material in front of us allowing creative ideas to flow.’ She continues, ‘It was a really special time for me and I remember the informal discussions we shared had a great effect on my studio work… to be a part of the entire creative process really put the knowledge I had gained in Crawford into context’.”