The Pleasure Patchwork: Meet the Artists

Join us across three days in May when dance artist and Kingston School of Art PhD candidate Rosalind Holgate-Smith in collaboration with sculptor Katharina Krenkel will exhibit the Pleasure Patchwork, an interactive soft sculpture made of worm-like, phallic and invaginated forms that can be turned inside out. Inspired by the skin, the crochet blanket invites touch and explorations in receptivity and pleasure, questioning how much it is possible to feel in our everyday actions and outward movement in the world.   On 15 May See, touch and interact with the Pleasure Patchwork in the Modelling Studio and meet the artists behind its construction.  The full programme includes:

Thursday 15 May: The Pleasure Patchwork Exhibited | 11am – 5pm | Free | Drop in

See, touch and interact with the Pleasure Patchwork in the Modelling Studio and meet the artists behind its construction.

Thursday 15 May: Crochet with Pleasure Workshop | 12 noon – 4pm | £5 | Book here  In this workshop, the sculptor Katharina Krenkel will guide you to crochet small sculptural toys to fiddle and snuggle with. In making our 3D forms we will explore ways of enfolding, contracting, extending and expanding space. All participants must be able to crochet. Please bring wool and your crochet hook(s) (the smaller the crochet hook in relation to the yarn, the firmer the crocheted piece becomes).

Friday 16 May: Touch Talk with the Artists | 1pm – 2:30pm | £5 | Book here Over lunchtime, join Rosalind Holgate-Smith and her collaborator Katharina Krenkel around the dining table at Dorich House Museum. The talk will begin with a somatic invitation to touch, fumble and feel the Pleasure Patchwork, which will be laid out on the table. Following some time for feedback, Rosalind will discuss how the blanket relates to her PhD research concerning touch and the vocabulary used in the dance of Contact Improvisation. She will share her research findings, including reflections on how people can navigate bubbling emotions, thoughts, desires, discomfort and pain, through how touch is embodied and applied. Rosalind will also talk about the Vocabulary of touch techniques developed through her research that stands to enhance empathy, agency, presence, consensual awareness and compassionate and expressive communication skills. While initially designed for dancers, Rosalind’s vocabulary proposes relevance for how touch is experienced and applied in health and social care, in design, in daily social interactions, and for how we relate to the environment.

Friday 16 May: Pop-Up Performances | 3pm – 4pm | Free | Drop in.  Pop up performances in and around Dorich House Museum relating to the work.

Saturday 17 May:  Pleasure Performances | 12 noon – 1pm & 2pm – 3pm | Free | Drop in.  Performances featuring live music and dance inviting explorations in pleasure, rest and tactile play. During these performances, crochet artist Katherina Krenkel will be sewing more parts of the Pleasure Patchwork together. Come and watch the blanket grow!

Rosalind Holgate Smith is a Dance Artist and Choreographer working between the UK and Berlin. She creates performances and installations that explore intimacy between people, place and the environment. In her art and teaching Rosalind takes inspiration from Contact Improvisation and somatic training in Body-Mind CenteringⓇ, Skinner Release Technique, Authentic Movement, Martial arts and outdoor dancing.  Over the past 5 years, Rosalind has been working on a PhD at Kingston University, investigating how touch makes possible encounters with Otherness, and the vocabulary of touch used in Contact Improvisation. https://rosalindholgate-smith.com/ 

Katharina Krenkel is a crochet sculptor and graphic artist based in Saarbrucken, south Germany. She works with lines of the thread, the ink brush, the pencil, and embroidery needle. Her art which takes time, explores everyday challenges and prompts a humorous engagement with the body, the domestic, order and history. https://www.katharina-krenkel.de.  Follow on Instagram: @rosalindholgatesmith, @kittys_fuzzy_world, @pleasure_patchwork