Jacob Bray

I am an emerging curator working with Folkestone Fringe based in Folkestone, UK. I am relatively new to the skill, however, am very excited to be gaining amazing experience through Magic Carpets.  I have also been working as an artist since 2016 through my work in choreography and film.

Areas of interest: Performance, sound, light

Why are you a part of MagiC Carpets: To develop my practice

MagiC Carpets projects: “A Path is a Conversation“

Artist: Aaron Kopp

Practice: Landscape, Environmental and social practice

Aaron worked on a dilapidated path which connects the residents of Folkestone up a steep hill to an ‘Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty’ called the Kent Downs. The project was involved with our festival called SALT + EARTH which commissioned artist to respond to our brief. The festival was co-created by Folkestone Fringe, Creative Folkestone and a collaboration with the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty organisation (AONB). The working area of the project was defined by the a ‘border’ of chalk that stretches across swathes of Kent, a section of the English Channel, and an area in the north of France called Parc naturel régional des caps et marais d’Opale. The aim of the project is to increase awareness and engagement of the area, celebrate the geology, explore themes of environmental activism and contribute towards the AONB’s bid to become a UNESCO ‘global geopark’.

Aaron spent ten days on the path documenting everything he noticed, engaging with other users of path and clearing all the rubbish. The documentation became part of his process as he presented his journal style documentation as part of his final exhibition.

Aaron and I hosted an ‘artists’ talk’ in which the community of people that use the path were invited to learn about what Aaron was doing, how they could help and any ideas they have to better the path.

As an amalgamation of the festival brief, community input and Aarons artistic vision/background – he created ‘Leaf + Stone Nature Path’ – a series of objects along the path which improve accessibility and invite more users to experience the AONB.

Past projects

Pass the Phone

Position: Director / Choreographer

The work Pass the Phone was a commission from Folkestone Fringe in 2021. The work presents itself as a 20 minute moving image piece which sits alongside a night of music, dancing and drinking. The work is an insight into the everyday – created as an almost ‘love letter’ for the people in my life and the town in which I live.

Why have you chosen to be a curator or why has curatorship chosen you? The path I take in my own artistic practice follows a similar path to the role of a curator – I am interested to discover the differences and learn more about the work.

What do you think is the purpose of art? To disrupt

Your favourite book(s): Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss

Your favourite film(s): Inception, The Conversation, Finding Nemo

Contacts

Email: [email protected] | Instagram Jacob Bray | Instagram Shades of Bray | www.shadesofbray.com