Something Close To Nothing

Listen to artist Dorcas Casey as she shares the thinking and making process behind her new public artwork, Crocodile, created for the Welcome Building in Bristol (March 2025). This episode features contributions from the 100 local hands that helped bring the artwork to life. Special thanks to Octavia Casey, Nola Hersey, Sal Caseley, and the Dings Community, as well as the St Anne’s House community groups (Morning Meet-Ups, 4 O’Clock Club, Open Access Youth Sessions). Thank you to everyone who left their mark on this collaborative artwork, and to Andrew Clarke and Trammell Crow Company for commissioning this artwork and associated podcast. Thank you to Rowan Bishop for producing this episode.

Join Bristolian artist Claudia Collins and Australian artist Heather Matthew in this episode of #BricksPodcast as they embark on a journey through the labyrinth of ADHD and the artist's path.  Expect unexpected twists and turns as they delve into the enchanting world of straying off course. Just like the trails left by curious snails, their conversation meanders through procrastination spirals and surprising revelations, weaving a tale as captivating as the paths they explore. Grab your headphones and get ready to tag along with Claudia and Heather on this authentic adventure into thoughts and the unexpected journey we’re all on. ‘I don’t think snails are just for babies’ - Claudia.  Thanks so much to Claudia, Heather, and Rowan for this interesting listen. Claudia is a working-class artist whose practice is rooted within communities through participatory projects that respond to the social, cultural and histories of place. Often working collaboratively, she curates creative works through conversations, performance, photography, sound work and wordplay. Claudia lives and works in Knowle West in Bristol. 

Join Chloe, Naomi and Jenny from The Art and Energy Collective on this episode of #BricksPodcast as they take us on a journey through climate action, collective creativity and the surprising ways in which we can learn from moss.   With extra contributions from Bryologist Matt Stribley and Executive Director of The Climate Coalition Helen Meech, as well as a collection of voice messages from the Tardigrade Telephone.

In this Bricks podcast episode, artist Ellie Shipman and curator Elita Robertson discuss exhibiting social practice, working creatively with communities and bringing the personal into the participatory around Ellie’s solo show RE:COLLECTION - Regathering Social Practice at St. Anne’s House, 2 - 11 Nov 2023.   Artist Ellie Shipman and curator Elita Robertson discuss working creatively with communities, embedding personal and artistic values across your practice, what kinds of commissions to look out for and avoid, fair pay for artists and the importance of authenticity in participation. Ellie reflects on key turning points in her career to date, how pattern became ingrained in her participatory projects, and the process of regathering artworks created across the last 12 years from archives, universities and arts organisations for her solo show RE:COLLECTION - Regathering Social Practice.

Tim Ryan's podcast ‘Something Close to Nothing’ takes us on a 24 hour tour of the Feeder Road in mid November, through storytelling, interviews with fishermen, and his own personal reflections.  The podcast is a love letter to coarse fishing in general, viewed through the lens of the Feeder Road, Bristol. A unique space, capable of visually articulating its own history. Its industrial failure and the nature and wildlife that now thrives in and around its ruins.

In this Bricks podcast episode, Rowan Bishop meets with Synnøve Fredericks and takes a walk around the beautiful trees of Bristol's Ashton Court estate, discussing the process of creating the Trinity Vortex, her practice, her love of nature and the outdoors, and her hopes for the impact that the work will have.

Madame Ceski (Francesca Simmons) is an artist with a special interest in folk and craft traditions, and in this podcast she explores these questions through the lens of how we busied ourselves during lockdown. Through interviews with those who discovered a new found hobby or passion during the pandemic, and with a focus on Francesca’s current work exploring using touch to create sound within craft mediums, we look at the surprising things that happen when people ‘have a go’, & how taking part allows us to reconnect with ourselves & immediate environment.   Commissioned by Bricks, the episode is co-produced by Rowan Bishop in collaboration with the artist and Bricks producers.

In this podcast we explore the stories, memories and myths of St Anne’s, a hidden corner of Bristol with an intriguing history. You can listen to conversations and contributions from local residents, aged under 10 to over 90, where they speak about the histories of St Anne’s House and the surrounding area. The episode also shares restored archive recordings from Bristol MShed’s industrial and maritime history collection. These original tapes contain interviews with those who worked around Bristol between 86 and 88 as part of the ‘Bristol at Work Project’.  Part of Bricks’ Gather St Anne’s Project and produced by Rowan Bishop. Huge thank you to Bristol Mshed and Museums, as well as the National Lottery Heritage Fund for supporting this project.

Kayle Brandon is a Bristol based artist who often works with local communities making artworks that look into how people relate to place, environment and social politics.   This podcast explores the development of a new work of Kayle’s in Stoke Gifford, Bristol, where she worked with local residents and herbalist Chris Roe to produce an edible food mapping plaque.

Dr Myles-Jay Linton, figurative artist, psychologist and academic, has created a new neon artwork for the Moxy Bristol hotel lobby’s library area. This podcast explores his development of the commission through conversations with friends and colleagues about the artwork. It talks through the process of what began as a digital line drawing, which then became a physical neon artwork through partnership with signmakers Cabot Neon. The piece, and the conversations around it, reflect on practices of repetition, persistence and perseverance.