Bobby Niven
Residency at Triangle-Astérides, as part of a cross-residency program with Glasgow Sculpture Studios (GB-SCT).
Bobby Niven was born in 1981 and lives and works in Glasgow.
“My practice has always been linked to the process of Mimesis, non-recognition, simulacrum, and entropy. Until recently, my work was primarily based on sculpture, revealing the psychological repercussions of these various transformations through a combination of found, altered, and sculpted objects. I am interested in the concept of the formless and abandoned objects, as well as the preconceptions we have of them, thus disturbing the boundary between the inert and the inanimate. Over the past two years, I have made three films, the most recent combining my sculptural work with that of video. I question spaces of entropy by combining films, sculptures, artifacts, and drawings drawn from the history of places, using them as the origin of the project. My sculptures are both primitive and modern, gathering anthropomorphic, animated objects and more solemn, abstract structures. This layering allows for a playful and humorous combination of these objects and structures, producing patterns at various scales. This arrangement of small variations challenges our habitual ways of reading objects. I am interested in how the relationship between a cinematic work and a questioning of the object influences both the viewer’s and the object’s relationship.” - Bobby Niven
In 2022, Glasgow Sculpture Studios (GSS) and Triangle-Astérides celebrated the 10th anniversary of their Residency Exchange programme.
Established in 2012, the residency exchange is designed for artists at a pivotal point in their career who have not had major institutional support or the opportunity to develop work abroad. The programme enables Glasgow-based artists and creative practitioners to work, share practice, and learn new skills in France, while facilitating the reciprocal experience for artists based in Marseille to travel to Glasgow and experience the cultural landscape of Scotland.
The partnership between GSS and Triangle-Astérides developed from Glasgow and Marseille’s designation as twin cities in 2006. Both organisations have a history of making culture a centrepiece of life within their cities. Based in former industrial hubs, GSS and Triangle-Astérides share similar objectives, challenges, and working contexts. Both organisations underpin the creative communities of their respective cities through nurturing a supportive and diverse artistic community and providing access to access to artist studios, high-quality production facilities, and cultural networks.
As we continue into another decade of the Residency Exchange Programme, we have formalised the Centre for Contemporary Art (CCA) as partners in the project. The CCA team have long been supporters of this programme in a variety of ways; through studio visits, in-kind support, and working with the incoming artists from Marseille to present public outcomes from their residency as part of CCA’s Open Source Programme, we are excited to continue to acknowledge and embed this support in our exchange programme.
As organisations, GSS and CCA complement each other well; with GSS able to offer the space and resources to make work, and CCA offering the space and means to share work in addition to offering their Artist Flat as accommodation. Through working in partnership and combining our skills, resources, and expertise as organisations we’re able to provide an enhanced offer to artists from Marseille that will ensure they are well positioned to make the most of creative ecology of Glasgow.
