Glynn Vivian Art Gallery - On Air

Last Supper is a film by David Cushway, made in 2012, duration 33 minutes 50 seconds. This film tests the boundaries of ceramic practice and discourse. Thirteen volunteers sit at a long rectangular table with a white tablecloth on the mezzanine of the Glynn Vivian's grand atrium space. Behind them is the building's imposing Edwardian Baroque style architecture. Covering the walls either side of participants are glass vitrines filled with the vast ceramics collection. It is the architecture that reminded Cushway of The Last Supper painting by Leonardo da Vinci, which depicts the last supper of Jesus and his twelve apostles, inspiring him to directly reference this in the positioning of participants throughout the film. Each volunteer takes it in turn to hold and talk about a ceramic object that they selected from the Glynn Vivian's permanent collection. In doing so, Cushway addresses the ‘touch taboo' within the museum context and thus within the film we witness the participants' intimate experience with their chosen object, an experience that would normally be off limits. This is highlighted through the juxtaposition of the ceramics collection in the background stored safely behind glass; protected, removed and unavailable for any tactile inspection or experience. In order to reveal alternative narratives and observations about the objects and to culturally embed the work within its location, no direction was given to the volunteers on what to say about their chosen objects and their reasons for selecting them. The noise of the standard working day continues in the background of the film- telephones ringing, doors banging, someone whistling and general chatter. Of the work, David Cushway said: “This body of creative practice illustrates the development of my aims to provide a model of engagement with the ceramic object and museum collection; one that critiques museum and curatorial practice, whilst fulfilling the criteria of new models of practice developed within the post-disciplinary, post-studio arena where clay and ceramic have no physical presence. “The intimate experience that is afforded by touch is explicitly demonstrated within the film, and sheer joy and excitement of the experience is communicated, not only within the dialogue of the participants but through their actions and reactions to their selected objects. This invigorating emotional display reanimates the objects and thus engages the museum's audience in new and significant ways; a process that develops new knowledge and experience, not only in terms of the participant, but also within the institution itself.” David Cushway's work is underpinned by a fascination with clay as a medium; the history of clay use is the history of humanity; it is the material that binds us to the earth that we inhabit. His practice operates in the arenas between art and craft and is often a direct comment upon the difference and indeed common ground between the two.

Ffilm 1 funud a 41 eiliad o hyd gan Peter Finnemore a wnaed yn 2005 yw Armageddon. Mae'r ffilm yn dechrau gyda hisian, wrth i dân gwyllt ffrwydro y tu mewn i dŷ gwydr gardd gartref a gynhelir gan ffrâm fetel arian ryw noson tua diwedd yr haf. Mae mwg yn llenwi'r lle ac yn dianc drwy'r fynedfa i'r awyr dywyll wrth i'r tân gwyllt barhau i saethu llwybrau tanllyd euraidd i fyny tuag at do'r tŷ gwydr. Mae pigiadau euraidd yn addurno'r lle rhwng clystyrau o ffrwydradau euraidd sy'n fflachio, nes i'r hadau euraidd olaf ddisgyn i'r tir sydd wedi'i orchuddio gan bilenni chwyn du, wrth i raeadr o fwg barhau i ddeillio o'r tŷ gwydr. Dangoswyd y ffilm am y tro cyntaf yng ngosodwaith tair sgrîn penodol i'r safle Peter Finnemore yn Biennale Fenis yn 2005. Mae'r gwaith yn rhan o'r gyfres Zen Gardener.

Come As You Really Are is a film by Hetain Patel, made in 2024, duration 12 minutes and 2 seconds. The film explores the outstanding creativity and passion that people put into their hobbies. Depicting a range of hobbies from across the country from freestyle dance to wild swimming, cosplay, gardening, miniature railways, radio-controlled airplane model making, felting, car modifiers, collecting, miniature pottery, miniature origami and nail art. Patel wanted to bring together these seemingly disparate hobbies and connect them visually through a non-linear cinematic narrative, using colour, texture and shape to connect by way of visual storytelling, with hobbies reappearing throughout the film. The shot of car wheels spinning, for example, transitions into a shot from above of a mini pottery wheel spinning; girls dancing and leaping into the air becomes planes in flight, reflecting the feeling of freedom in the air. There is also the physical connection of hobbies appearing together through handmade objects that toured around the country to each shooting location; miniature origami, pots, a Warhammer figure and felt rabbit. These created a sense of the unexpected, such as the scene of the miniature origami horse positioned on the knuckles of the car modifier holding his steering wheel. In their juxtaposition they create moments that could be seen as humorous or strange but reflect the reality of unexpected connection. The film adopts the artist's trademark style of combining high-end cinematic production with scenes from the everyday, to showcase ephemeral pastimes and handcrafted objects in a visual language usually reserved for Hollywood films and luxury advertising. Hetain Patel devised the nationwide project Come As You Really Are with Artangel, which was made up of 13 regional presentations across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales from Summer 2024 – 2027. Formerly known as ‘The Hobby Cave' the project began with a nationwide call-out inviting members of the public to share the activity to which they dedicate their spare time. Within the nationwide presentations, standing shoulder to shoulder with handmade submissions by hobbyists were new and existing works by Patel. Come As You Really Are, 2024, the new film made for this project was the central part of the nationwide exhibitions, reflecting ephemeral pastimes that might not otherwise have been possible to represent. Somerset Road, 2024, a Ford Escort tufted by the artist in the pattern of his grandmother's living room carpet, was also created for the exhibition. These time-consuming handmade objects directly echo the manual labour often carried out by migrant communities such as Patel's family, while their hybridity points towards the new possibilities that emerge when we challenge and defy convention. Come As You Really Are presented a variety of hobbies that showcase an individual's freedom of expression and ingenuity, and in doing so broadens our perception of who gets to be called creative and where the impulse to create stems from. At the heart of this project is a nationwide community of people whose labours of love are a lens through which the artist presents an alternative portrait of the UK. Alongside Glynn Vivian, other partner organisations involved in the project were: Factory International, Manchester; Grundy Art Gallery, Blackpool; Museum of Making, Derby Museums Trust; National Festival of Making with Blackburn Museum & Art Gallery; Wolverhampton Art Gallery; Barnsley Civic; Inverness Museum and Art Gallery; Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art, Sunderland; CCA Derry~Londonderry; Hospitalfield, Arbroath and Tate St Ives.

Ffilm 12 munud, 2 eiliad a wnaed gan Hetain Patel yn 2024 yw Come As You Really Are. Mae'r ffilm yn archwilio creadigrwydd a brwdfrydedd neilltuol pobl sy'n ymroi i'w hobïau. Mae'n dangos amrywiaeth o hobïau o bob rhan o'r wlad, o ddawnsio dull rhydd i nofio gwyllt, gwisg-chwarae, garddio, mân reilffyrdd, modelau awyrennau radio-reoledig, ffeltio, addasu ceir, casglu, mân grochenwaith, mân origami a chelf addurno ewinedd. Nod Patel oedd dod â'r hobïau cwbl wahanol hyn ynghyd a'u cysylltu'n weledol drwy naratif sinematig anunionlin, gan ddefnyddio lliw, gweadedd a siâp i adrodd stori weledol wrth i hobïau ailymddangos drwy gydol y ffilm. Mae'r olygfa sy'n dangos olwynion car yn troi, er enghraifft, yn arwain at olygfa uwchben mân olwyn lestri'n troelli; mae merched sy'n dawnsio ac yn neidio i'r awyr yn arwain at awyrennau'n hedfan, gan adlewyrchu'r ymdeimlad o ryddid. Mae cysylltiad corfforol hefyd rhwng hobïau sy'n ymddangos gyda'i gilydd drwy wrthrychau o waith llaw a deithiodd o gwmpas y wlad i bob lleoliad ffilmio: mân origami, llestri, ffigwr Warhammer a chwningen ffelt. Creodd y rhain ymdeimlad o'r annisgwyl, megis golygfa o fân geffyl origami ar gygnau rhywun sy'n dal yr olwyn lywio wrth addasu car. Mae cyfosod y rhain yn creu eiliadau a allai fod yn ddigrif neu'n rhyfedd, ond sy'n adlewyrchu realiti'r cysylltiad annisgwyl. Mae'r ffilm yn dilyn arddull adnabyddus yr artist o gyfuno cynhyrchiad sinematig o safon uchel â golygfeydd pob dydd i arddangos hobïau byrhoedlog a gwrthrychau o waith llaw mewn ieithwedd weledol sydd fel arfer yn nodweddiadol o ffilmiau Hollywood a hysbysebu eitemau moethus. Creodd Hetain Patel y prosiect cenedlaethol Come As You Really Are gydag Artangel, gan gynnwys 13 o gyflwyniadau rhanbarthol ledled Cymru, Lloegr, Gogledd Iwerddon a'r Alban rhwng haf 2024 a 2027. Dechreuodd y prosiect, a adwaenid fel The Hobby Cave gynt, drwy alw ar aelodau o'r cyhoedd ledled y wlad i rannu'r gweithgaredd y maent yn rhoi o'u hamser hamdden iddo. Ledled y wlad, bu cyflwyniadau o waith llaw gan y rhai hynny sy'n dilyn hobi penodol ochr yn ochr â darnau newydd a blaenorol gan Patel. Rhan ganolog yr arddangosfeydd hyn oedd Come As You Really Are (2024), y ffilm newydd a wnaed ar gyfer y prosiect hwn, gan adlewyrchu diddordebau byrhoedlog na fyddai wedi bod yn bosib eu cyfleu fel arall. Crëwyd Somerset Road (2024), sef Ford Escort wedi'i bwytho gan yr artist yn ôl patrwm y carped yn ystafell fyw ei fam-gu, ar gyfer yr arddangosfa hefyd. Mae'r gwrthrychau hyn a wnaed â llaw dros amser yn adleisio'n uniongyrchol y gwaith corfforol y mae cymunedau mudol megis teulu Patel wedi ymgymryd ag ef yn aml, ac mae eu natur hybrid yn cyfeirio at y posibiliadau newydd sy'n dod i'r amlwg pan fyddwn yn herio confensiynau. Cyflwynodd Come As You Really Are amrywiaeth o hobïau a oedd yn dangos rhyddid mynegiant a dyfeisgarwch yr unigolyn, gan ehangu ein canfyddiad ynghylch pwy sy'n greadigol a tharddiad yr awydd i greu. Mae cymuned o bobl ledled y wlad yn ganolog i'r prosiect hwn, ac mae eu llafur cariad yn galluogi'r artist i gyflwyno portread amgen o'r DU. Ochr yn ochr ag Oriel Gelf Glynn Vivian, cymerodd y sefydliadau partner canlynol ran yn y prosiect: Factory International, Manceinion; Oriel Gelf Grundy, Blackpool; Museum of Making, ymddiriedolaeth Derby Museums; National Festival of Making gydag Amgueddfa ac Oriel Gelf Blackburn; Oriel Gelf Wolverhampton; Barnsley Civic; Amgueddfa ac Oriel Gelf Inverness; Oriel Celf Gyfoes y Gogledd, Sunderland; CCA Derry~Londonderry; Hospitalfield yn Arbroath; a Tate St Ives.

A Day at the Hunt by Ingrid Murphy, made in 2016, is a white and gold ceramic Staffordshire flatback with interactive companion film linked by QR code. It is 33 cm high and 20 cm wide and depicts Ingrid and her father Brendan as two hunters. The uncanny likeness was created through the 3D scanning & 3D printing of Ingrid and her father's heads and slip casting them onto a replica of the original Hunter flatback from the 19th Century. A flatback is a sculptural decorative figure that is three dimensional from all sides except the back, which is flat, designed to be positioned on a mantlepiece. Ingrid and Brendan's heads have been printed in proportion to the rest of the work, and don't seem out of place. Both figures are wearing traditional hunting costumes, consisting of knee length tunics, knee high boots, sashes across the body, and hunting horns. There are gold leaf highlights at the top of the collars of the coats, the top of the boots, belt buckles, and hunting horns. In the background between the two figures is a textured old tree trunk. Brendan is seated on the left, he has short, cropped hair and looks to be quite elderly, with a kind and thoughtful face. He gazes directly ahead, his left hand on his knee. Ingrid stands on the right, she has short, bobbed hair, and her body is turned towards her father, her eyes are gazing down at him in admiration. Her right arm is raised, holding up a square sign, onto which a black QR code is printed. The piece is interactive, as when you scan the QR code, a five-minute companion colour film plays of Ingrid and Brendan visiting the Hunt Museum, Ireland, in June 2016. The car journey with her father was central to this work. Initially, Ingrid had thought it would be about the museum visit, but watching the footage she realised it was actually about the journey, because that was their life together. The light-hearted film is punctuated with humorous interactions between father and daughter. For instance, there is a miscommunication when they pass a shop called Mace next to a church; Ingrid is looking at the shop and Brendan is looking at the church and she speaks about Mace and he comments on Mass. They get lost on the journey; there are touching moments of Ingrid's dad just being himself, he walks into a room and looks around as if he's going to say something amazing. Then he says ‘Jesus, they got new carpets I'd say', oblivious to the beautiful objects they are surrounded by on the walls. On the drive home, a farmer is trying to catch cattle which have escaped a field onto the road. Brendon was a butcher and in Ingrid's family there is a running joke whenever something happened with cattle, they would always say it was their revenge, they were coming back for him! Ingrid Murphy's work focuses on augmenting ceramic artefacts with a range of interactive technologies. She exploits and plays with the boundaries of ceramic material to create innovative and playful interactions and experiences. She uses sound, humour and autobiographical elements, creating engaging and playful ceramic works, which also bring to life the deeper historical and social histories of ceramic objects and their intended uses. A Day at the Hunt was commissioned by the Hunt Museum, Ireland, to be part of the Irish Contemporary Ceramics Collection. A version of this work was acquired by Glynn Vivian Art Gallery through the Wakelin Award 2022 in partnership with the Friends of the Glynn Vivian, selected by Swansea based artist and lecturer, Catrin Webster.

Mae A Day at the Hunt gan Ingrid Murphy, a wnaed yn 2016, yn ffiguryn Swydd Stafford ceramig gwyn ac aur sy'n cynnwys côd QR rhyngweithiol y gellir ei sganio er mwyn gwylio'r ffilm sy'n cyd-fynd ag ef. Mae'r ffiguryn yn 33cm o uchder ac yn 20cm o led ac mae'n portreadu Ingrid a'i thad Brendan fel dau heliwr. Cafodd y tebygrwydd anhygoel ei greu drwy sganio ac argraffu pennau Ingrid a'i thad ar ffurf 3D a defnyddio castin slip i'w rhoi ar ffiguryn gwreiddiol heliwr o'r 19eg ganrif. Mae ffiguryn yn ffigwr addurniadol cerfluniol a chanddo dri dimensiwn o bob ochr heblaw am y cefn, sy'n wastad, wedi'i ddylunio i'w roi ar silff ben tân. Mae pennau Ingrid a Brendan wedi'u hargraffu'n gymesur â gweddill y gwaith, ac nid ydynt yn ymddangos yn rhyfedd. Mae'r ddau ffigwr yn gwisgo gwisgoedd hela traddodiadol, sy'n cynnwys tiwnigau pen-glin, esgidiau pen-glin, sasiau ar draws y corff a chyrn hela. Mae aroleuadau haenau aur ar ben coleri'r cotiau, pen yr esgidiau, byclau'r gwregysau a'r cyrn hela. Yn y cefndir rhwng y ddau ffigwr y mae hen foncyff gweadog. Mae Brendan yn eistedd ar y chwith. Mae ganddo wyneb caredig ac ystyriol a gwallt cwta ac mae'n ymddangos yn oedrannus. Mae'n syllu'n uniongyrchol o'i flaen ac mae ei law chwith ar ei ben-glin. Mae Ingrid yn sefyll ar y dde. Mae ganddi wallt cwta ac mae wedi troi ei chorff tuag at ei thad wrth i'w llygaid syllu arno'n llawn edmygedd. Mae ei braich dde yn yr awyr, gan ddal arwydd sgwâr â chôd QR du wedi'i brintio arno. Mae'r darn yn rhyngweithiol a phan fyddwch yn sganio'r côd QR, bydd ffilm liw 5 munud o hyd sy'n cyd-fynd ag ef yn dangos ymweliad Ingrid a Brendan â The Hunt Museum yn Iwerddon ym mis Mehefin 2016. Roedd y daith yn y car gyda'i thad yn ganolog i'r gwaith hwn. I ddechrau, roedd Ingrid wedi meddwl y byddai'n ymwneud â'r ymweliad â'r amgueddfa, ond wrth wylio'r deunydd sylweddolodd ei fod yn ymwneud â'r daith mewn gwirionedd, gan mai dyna oedd eu bywyd gyda'i gilydd. Mae'r ffilm ysgafn hon yn llawn sgyrsiau digrif rhwng y tad a'r ferch. Er enghraifft, mae camddealltwriaeth wrth iddyn nhw fynd heibio i siop o'r enw Mace ger eglwys; mae Ingrid yn edrych ar y siop ac mae Brendan yn edrych ar yr eglwys. Mae hi'n siarad am Mace ac mae e'n siarad am offeren (mass). Maen nhw'n mynd ar goll ar y daith; mae eiliadau emosiynol lle mae tad Ingrid yn ymddwyn yn naturiol. Mae'n cerdded i mewn i ystafell ac yn edrych o'i gwmpas fel petai ar fin dweud rhywbeth anhygoel. Yna, meddai, ‘Jesus, they got new carpets I'd say', yn hollol anymwybodol o'r gwrthrychau hardd ar y waliau. Wrth yrru adref, mae ffermwr yn ceisio dal gwartheg sydd wedi dianc o gae i'r ffordd. Cigydd oedd Brendan ac yn nheulu Ingrid mae jôc barhaol pryd bynnag y byddai rhywbeth yn ymwneud â gwartheg, y byddai pawb yn dweud eu bod wedi dod i ddial arno! Mae gwaith Murphy yn canolbwyntio ar ychwanegu amrywiaeth o dechnolegau rhyngweithiol at arteffactau ceramig. Mae hi'n manteisio ar ffiniau deunydd ceramig i greu rhyngweithiadau a phrofiadau arloesol a chwareus. Mae hi'n defnyddio sain, hiwmor ac elfennau hunangofiannol, gan greu gweithiau ceramig diddorol a chwareus, sydd hefyd yn dod â chwedlau hanesyddol a chymdeithasol dyfnach gwrthrychau ceramig a'u defnydd arfaethedig yn fyw. Cafodd A Day at the Hunt ei gomisiynu gan The Hunt Museum yn Iwerddon i fod yn rhan o Gasgliad Crochenwaith Cyfoes Iwerddon. Cafodd Oriel Gelf Glynn Vivian afael ar fersiwn o'r gwaith hwn drwy Wobr Wakelin 2022 mewn partneriaeth â Chyfeillion y Glynn Vivian. Fe'i dewiswyd gan Catrin Webster, artist a darlithydd yn Abertawe.

Wavy Gravy is a 2014 film by Alex Duncan, duration 1 minute 10 seconds. This silent film was created from found and reworked video footage, depicting a sea of undulating forms with wave movements that track from the top of the screen to the bottom. It is not immediately clear what the multicoloured abstract mass is made from, its repetitive movement instead giving an almost sculptural quality. The scene is in fact an upside-down densely packed tsunami wave pool swimming experience, with bodies rising and falling, engaged with their own weightlessness and loss of self within the swell, exploring realities and artificialities of motion and perception. The proximity of something fun and something ominous occurs. Alex Duncan said: “I am fascinated by where and how we place ourselves in the world, what we react to as human beings and our relationship to materials, objects and situations. “What is real and what is imitating the real has always fascinated me, and how subjectively, we respond to something that is both, or rather, something that sits between these two diverging states”. Within the Glynn Vivian's collection, the companion work, Like Swimming, is an installation of cast concrete ‘life-saving flotation aids'. Their surfaces bitten into and scratched at, contrasting the levity of youth with the uncertainty of real life. Swansea-born, Alex Duncan graduated from Swansea Metropolitan University in 2007 and gained his master's degree from the Royal College of Art in London. Making work that intersects sculpture, drawing, video and installation, his work has been exhibited both in the UK, notably the Whitechapel Gallery, V&A, MOSTYN, Camden Arts Centre and Ferens Art Gallery; and internationally, including Milan, Italy; Bilbao, Santander; Spain and Mauritius.

Mae Wavy Gravy yn ffilm o 2014 gan Alex Duncan, sy'n para 1 funud 10 eiliad. Crëwyd y ffilm fud hon o ddeunydd fideo a gafwyd ac a ail-weithiwyd, sy'n darlunio môr o ffurfiau tonnog gyda symudiadau tonnau sy'n llwybro o frig y sgrin i'r gwaelod. Nid yw'n glir yn syth o beth y gwnaethpwyd y màs haniaethol amryliw hwn, yn lle, mae ei symudiad ailadroddus yn rhoi ansawdd sydd bron yn gerfluniol iddi. Mae'r olygfa mewn gwirionedd yn brofiad nofio mewn pwll tonnau tswnami wyneb i waered, gyda chyrff yn codi ac yn disgyn sy'n rhyngweithio â'u hysgafnder eu hunain ac yn colli'r hunan o fewn yr ymchwydd, gan archwilio realiti a natur artiffisial symudiad a chanfyddiad. Mae rhywbeth hwyliog yn digwydd ar yr un pryd â rhywbeth drwgargoelus. Meddai Alex Duncan, "Mae ble a sut rydym yn gosod ein hunain yn y byd, yr hyn rydym yn ymateb iddo fel bodau dynol a'n perthynas â deunyddiau, gwrthrychau a sefyllfaoedd yn fy nghyfareddu. Mae'r hyn sy'n real a'r hyn sy'n dynwared y real bob amser wedi fy nghyfareddu, ynghyd â pha mor oddrychol rydym yn ymateb i rywbeth rhwng y ddau gyflwr gwahanol hyn". Mae'r gwaith sy'n cyd-fynd â hwn, Like Swimming, sydd yng nghasgliad Oriel Gelf Glynn Vivian, yn osodiad 'cymhorthion arnofio achub bywydau' haearn bwrw. Mae crafiadau ac olion cnoi ar eu harwynebau, gan gyferbynnu ysgafnder ieuenctid ag ansicrwydd bywyd go iawn. Graddiodd Alex Duncan, a aned yn Abertawe, o Brifysgol Fetropolitan Abertawe yn 2007 ac enillodd ei radd meistr o'r Coleg Celf Brenhinol yn Llundain. Mae ei waith sy'n croestorri cerfluniau, arlunio, gwaith fideo a gosodiadau wedi cael ei arddangos yn y DU, yn enwedig Oriel Whitechapel, V&A, MOSTYN, Camden Arts Centre ac oriel gelf Ferens; ac yn rhyngwladol, gan gynnwys Milan, yr Eidal; Bilbao, Santander; Sbaen a Mawrisiws.

[pause] Time & Motion Study is a 2012 film by Anthony Shapland, duration 9 minutes 39 seconds. The film is set within the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery in 2011, in the period ahead of its planned closure for a multi-million-pound redevelopment and restoration project. The act of packing, of clearing, of change was underway throughout the building - in the public displays as well as in the concealed corridors and backrooms. This black and white film depicts a fictional day, made up of three parts. The first phase is the morning, with the collection still intact, inhabiting the galleries, with the public and private areas of the building documented in the same way. A set of spanners on a workshop wall or a row of lightbulbs are organised with the same precision as the row of Swansea Pottery Cow Creamers standing in glass vitrines in the gallery, and the grand staircase comparable to the functional back-steps. Then the second phase is the day beginning with the arrival of workers, and the job of restoring, sorting, gently packing ceramic works with tissue paper, followed by bubble wrap and labelling. Finally, the evening - the collection of objects that would normally have been displayed at the gallery, now concealed within corrugated card. The box numbers getting ever larger as they appear to endlessly multiply. The previously full glass vitrines now empty. Of the work, Anthony Shapland said: “The brief was open, make an interpretation document of the Glynn Vivian. Over several months I made five visits to the gallery, I recorded over 400 minutes of footage with no clear idea in my head about the structure of the film. It was in reviewing this footage that the narrative of the piece started to form.” “As the edit of the film progressed, I realised I was producing something that would become almost instantly nostalgic - that a lot of the locations I was filming in would disappear in the forthcoming re-vamp. The title of the film is a nod to Frank and Lillian Gilbreth's studies of ergonomics and efficiency in workers in motion. Their films were catalysts of change, usually commissioned by management or institutions. This film, though, is a simple document of change. With the exception of the edit there is no camera trickery, no fictions and no effects, nobody was asked to do anything for the camera and there were no re-takes. It is a film where the viewer sees through the passive, observing lens of the camera.” Anthony Shapland is a Welsh artist, founder of artist-led space g39, and novelist. He grew up in Bargoed in the Rhymney Valley. Within his writing and artistic practice, he blends documentary and fiction, drawing on his lived experience of rural queerness and growing up performing straight.

Ffilm 9 munud, 39 eiliad o hyd a wnaed gan Anthony Shapland yn 2012 yw [pause] Time & Motion Study. Mae'r ffilm wedi'i gosod yn Oriel Gelf Glynn Vivian yn 2011 yn ystod y cyfnod cyn iddi gael ei chau ar gyfer prosiect ailddatblygu ac adfer gwerth miliynau o bunnoedd. Roedd y weithred o bacio, clirio a newid wedi dechrau ym mhob rhan o'r adeilad – yn yr arddangosfeydd cyhoeddus yn ogystal ag yn y coridorau cudd a'r ystafelloedd cefn. Mae'r ffilm du a gwyn hon yn portreadu diwrnod ffuglennol, mewn tair rhan. Y rhan gyntaf yw'r bore lle dangosir y casgliad yn dal ynghyd yn yr orielau, a lle mae ardaloedd cyhoeddus a phreifat yr adeilad yn cael eu cyfleu yn yr un modd. Mae set o sbanwyr ar wal mewn gweithdy neu res o fylbiau golau wedi'u trefnu gyda'r un manylder â'r rhes o jygiau buchod crochenwaith Abertawe sy'n sefyll mewn cypyrddau gwydr yn yr oriel, ac mae modd cymharu'r grisiau mawreddog â'r grisiau ymarferol yn y cefn. Yr ail ran yw dechrau'r diwrnod wrth i'r gweithwyr gyrraedd, gyda'r dasg o adfer darnau crochenwaith, eu didoli a'u llenwi'n ofalus â phapur sidan, cyn eu rhoi mewn deunydd lapio swigod a'u labelu. Yn olaf, gyda'r hwyr, mae'r casgliad o wrthrychau a fyddai fel arfer wedi cael eu harddangos yn yr oriel bellach wedi'u cuddio y tu mewn i gardbord. Mae rhifau'r blychau'n cynyddu wrth iddyn nhw luosi'n ymddangosiadol ddiwedd. Mae'r cypyrddau gwydr a fu gynt yn llawn bellach yn wag. Dywedodd Anthony Shapland y canlynol am y gwaith: “Roedd y briff yn agored, sef creu dehongliad o Oriel Glynn Vivian. Dros sawl mis, ymwelais â'r oriel bum gwaith, gan recordio am fwy na 400 o funudau heb syniad pendant am strwythur y ffilm. Wrth wylio'r deunydd hwn y dechreuodd y naratif ffurfio. “Wrth i fi olygu'r ffilm, sylweddolais fy mod yn cynhyrchu rhywbeth a fyddai'n destun hiraeth yn fuan gan y byddai llawer o'r lleoliadau roeddwn yn eu ffilmio yn diflannu yn ystod y gwaith ailwampio a oedd ar ddod. Mae teitl y ffilm yn deyrnged i astudiaethau Frank a Lillian Gilbreth o ergonomeg ac effeithlonrwydd gweithwyr wrth eu gwaith. Roedd eu ffilmiau wedi sbarduno newid, fel arfer wedi'u comisiynu gan reolwyr neu sefydliadau. Serch hynny, dim ond cofnodi newid y mae'r ffilm hon. Heblaw am y gwaith golygu, nid oes unrhyw ystrywiau gyda'r camera, dim byd ffug nac effeithiau; ni ofynnwyd i unrhyw un wneud unrhyw beth gerbron y camera ac ni chafodd unrhyw beth ei ailffilmio. Dyma ffilm lle mae'r gwyliwr yn arsylwi drwy lens oddefol y camera.” Artist a nofelydd o Gymru yw Anthony Shapland ac ef yw sylfaenydd g39, man a arweinir gan artistiaid. Cafodd ei fagu ym Margoed yng nghwm Rhymni. Drwy ei waith ysgrifenedig ac artistig, mae'n cyfuno deunydd dogfennol a ffuglennol, gan ddefnyddio ei brofiad uniongyrchol o fod yn hoyw yng nghefn gwlad a pherfformio fel rhywun heterorywiol wrth dyfu i fyny.

Ffilm 33 munud, 50 eiliad o hyd a wnaed gan David Cushway yn 2012 yw Last Supper. Mae'r ffilm hon yn profi ffiniau arferion a thrafodaethau cerameg. Mae 13 o wirfoddolwyr yn eistedd wrth fwrdd petryalog hir â lliain bwrdd gwyn ar fesanîn atriwm mawr Oriel Gelf Glynn Vivian. Mae pensaernïaeth arddull baróc Edwardaidd fawreddog yr adeilad y tu ôl iddynt. Mae cypyrddau gwydr llawn y casgliad cerameg enfawr ar y waliau y naill ochr a'r llall i'r cyfranogwyr. Dyma'r bensaernïaeth a wnaeth atgoffa Cushway o'r Swper Olaf, paentiad Leonardo da Vinci, sy'n dangos swper olaf Iesu a'i 12 apostol. Ysbrydolodd hyn Cushway i ddefnyddio lleoliad y cyfranogwyr i gyfeirio'n uniongyrchol at y paentiad drwy gydol y ffilm. Mae pob gwirfoddolwr yn ei dro'n dal gwrthrych ceramig o'i ddewis o gasgliad parhaol Oriel Gelf Glynn Vivian ac yn ei drafod. Wrth wneud hynny, mae Cushway yn trafod y tabŵ ynghylch cyffwrdd yng nghyd-destun amgueddfa. Felly, rydym yn dyst i brofiad personol y cyfranogwyr o'r gwrthrych o'u dewis, sef profiad a fyddai fel arfer yn waharddedig. Amlygir hyn drwy ei gyfosod â'r casgliad cerameg yn y cefndir, sy'n ddiogel y tu ôl i wydr. Mae wedi'i warchod a'i gadw i ffwrdd fel nad oes modd cyffwrdd ag ef o gwbl. Er mwyn datgelu naratifau ac arsylwadau amgen am y gwrthrychau a gwreiddio'r gwaith yn ddiwylliannol yn ei leoliad, ni roddwyd unrhyw gyfarwyddyd i'r gwirfoddolwyr ynghylch eu sylwadau am y gwrthrychau o'u dewis a'u rhesymau dros eu dewis. Mae sŵn diwrnod gwaith arferol yn parhau yn y cefndir yn y ffilm – ffonau'n canu, drysau'n curo, rhywun yn chwibanu a chlebran cyffredinol. Meddai David Cushway am y gwaith: “Mae'r corff hwn o ymarfer creadigol yn dangos datblygiad fy nodau i ddarparu model o ymgysylltu â'r gwrthrych ceramig a chasgliad yr amgueddfa. Mae'n dadansoddi arferion amgueddfeydd ac arferion curadurol, wrth gyflawni meini prawf modelau ymarfer newydd a ddatblygwyd y tu hwnt i'r ddisgyblaeth a'r stiwdio, lle nad oes gan glai na cherameg bresenoldeb corfforol. “Mae'r profiad personol sy'n deillio o gyffwrdd yn amlwg yn y ffilm, sy'n cyfleu llawenydd a chyffro pur y profiad, drwy ddeialog y cyfranogwyr yn ogystal â'u gweithredoedd a'u hymatebion i'r gwrthrychau o'u dewis. Mae'r arddangosiad emosiynol ysgogol hwn yn adfywio'r gwrthrychau, a thrwy hynny mae'n ennyn diddordeb cynulleidfa'r amgueddfa mewn ffyrdd newydd ac arwyddocaol. Dyma broses sy'n meithrin gwybodaeth a phrofiad newydd, o ran y sefydliad ei hun yn ogystal â'r cyfranogwr.” Mae brwdfrydedd David Cushway dros glai fel cyfrwng wrth wraidd ei waith. Hanes defnyddio clai yw hanes y ddynolryw; dyma'r deunydd sy'n ein rhwymo i'r ddaear lle rydym yn byw. Mae ei waith yn gweithredu yn yr arenâu rhwng celf a chrefft ac yn aml mae'n trafod yn uniongyrchol y gwahaniaeth rhyngddynt, yn ogystal â'r tir cyffredin.

Sweet Wall is a film installation by Cinzia Mutigli, made in 2020, which includes a repeated sugar wallpaper motif, posters printed with jam recipe, jam sandwiches and a central film, duration 19 minutes 29 seconds. The film explores the relationship between trauma and addiction, patterns of behaviour and the trade of slaves, sugar and other commodities between Britain, Africa and the Caribbean Islands. Commissioned by Jupiter Artland, Cinzia was asked to respond to and reimagine a work by American performance artist, Allan Kaprow, and chose Sweet Wall, which took place in 1970 in Berlin, on wasteland close to the Berlin Wall among the wreckage of buildings bombed during the Second World War. The intervention consisted of the construction of a concrete wall about thirty metres long and half a metre tall. The mortar used to join the blocks consisted of strawberry jam spread onto slices of bread. Kaprow constructed the wall in an afternoon with the cooperation of a dozen people, and once finished it was knocked down. Mutigli uses sugar as a central metaphor, linking the historic trauma of the trans-Atlantic slave trade with an exploration of addiction, understood as any repeated behaviour in which a person feels compelled to persist, often experienced as a result of an unresolved trauma. The film features a kaleidoscope of sweet imagery, including black and white footage of sugar cube production to sugar cubes being added to tea; colourful repetitive Candy Crush lines dropping satisfyingly into position; footage of jam being made with cascades of sugar; and a sugar cube being placed on Cinzia's tongue. This imagery is accompanied by a parallel narrative about addiction and repetitive behaviour. Featuring the voice of Cinzia overlapped with Dr. Maté Gabor, a renowned addiction expert who calls for a compassionate approach toward addiction, whether in ourselves or in others. Gabor believes that the source of addiction is not to be found in genes, but in childhood trauma, and in stress and social dislocation endemic to systems of inequality and injustice. Of the work, selector, Anthony Shapland, said: “There's a phrase about nothing being so blind to us as our immediate past, with only time and distance allowing us to see clearly the things that bring us to the ever-moving present. The artworld trope of discovering hidden practices jars in the fact that they were always there, in plain sight. Neither hard to reach or obscure. Cinzia reminds us that some of these patterns or systems that we move through day after day have become as invisible to us as air, but that they exist and shape the world.” Cinzia said: “I consider how domestic, social, political and popular cultural aspects of our environment impact our persona…our sense of place in the world.” Cinzia Mutigli works across film, audio, print, animation, performance and text. She explores themes that intersect the personal, social, spiritual and psychological. Current and recurring modes, forms and motifs include (her) voice, popular cultural icons, wellness and self-care in a consumerist context, and how the ‘individual' connects with the ‘group'. Sweet Wall by Cinzia Mutigli was acquired in 2021 through the Wakelin Award, an annual award given to an artist living and working in Wales, whose work is purchased for the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery's permanent collection.

Gosodwaith ffilm a wnaed gan Cinzia Mutigli yn 2020 yw Sweet Wall. Mae'n cynnwys motiff parhaus papur wal siwgr, posteri sy'n dangos rysáit jam, brechdanau jam a ffilm ganolog 19 munud, 29 eiliad o hyd. Mae'r ffilm yn archwilio'r cysylltiad rhwng trawma a dibyniaeth, patrymau ymddygiad a masnach caethweision, siwgr a nwyddau eraill rhwng Prydain, Affrica ac Ynysoedd y Caribî. Cafodd Cinzia ei chomisiynu gan Jupiter Artland i ymateb i waith gan Allan Kaprow, artist perfformio Americanaidd, a'i ddychmygu o'r newydd. Dewisodd Sweet Wall, a gynhaliwyd ym 1970 yn Berlin, ar dir diffaith ger Wal Berlin ymysg adfeilion adeiladau a fomiwyd yn ystod yr Ail Ryfel Byd. Roedd y gwaith yn cynnwys adeiladu wal goncrit oddeutu 30 metr o hyd a hanner metr o uchder. Defnyddiwyd jam mefus ar dafellau o fara fel morter i gysylltu'r blociau. Adeiladodd Kaprow y wal mewn prynhawn gyda chydweithrediad dwsin o bobl, ac ar ôl iddi gael ei chwblhau, cafodd ei dymchwel. Mae Mutigli yn defnyddio siwgr fel trosiad canolog, gan gysylltu trawma hanesyddol y fasnach drawsatlantig mewn caethweision â thrafodaeth am ddibyniaeth, sef ymddygiad y mae rhywun yn teimlo rheidrwydd i barhau ag ef, yn aml o ganlyniad i drawma heb ei ddatrys. Mae'r ffilm yn cynnwys llu o ddelweddau melys, gan gynnwys deunydd du a gwyn o gynhyrchu ciwbiau siwgr a'u hychwanegu at de; llinellau ailadroddus lliwgar Candy Crush yn gollwng er boddhad i'w lle; tonnau o siwgr yn creu jam; a chiwb siwgr yn cael ei osod ar dafod Cinzia. Mae'r delweddau hyn yn cyd-fynd â naratif cyfochrog am ddibyniaeth ac ymddygiad parhaus. Mae llais Cinzia yn gorgyffwrdd â Dr Maté Gabor, arbenigwr adnabyddus ym maes dibyniaeth, sy'n galw am ymagwedd dosturiol at ddibyniaeth bersonol a dibyniaeth pobl eraill. Mae Gabor yn credu mai ffynhonnell dibyniaeth yw trawma yn ystod plentyndod, a'r straen a'r datgysylltiad cymdeithasol sy'n rhemp mewn systemau anghyfartal ac anghyfiawn, yn hytrach na genynnau. Dywedodd Anthony Shapland, y dewiswr, y canlynol am y gwaith: “Mae ymadrodd ynghylch y ffaith ein bod yn ddall i'n gorffennol uniongyrchol, a dim ond amser a phellter sy'n caniatáu i ni weld yn glir y pethau a ddaw â ni i'r presennol sy'n symud yn barhaus. Mae trosiad y byd celf ynghylch darganfod arferion cudd yn ysgytwol o gofio eu bod bob amser yno, ac yn amlwg. Nid ydynt anodd eu cyrraedd nac yn aneglur. Mae Cinzia yn ein hatgoffa bod rhai o'r patrymau neu'r systemau hyn rydym yn symud drwyddynt ddydd ar ôl dydd mor anweledig i ni ag aer bellach, er eu bod yn bodoli ac yn llunio'r byd.” Meddai Cinzia, “Rwy'n ystyried sut mae agweddau domestig, cymdeithasol, gwleidyddol a diwylliannol poblogaidd ein hamgylchedd yn effeithio ar ein persona … ein hymdeimlad o le yn y byd.” Mae Cinzia Mutigli yn gweithio ar draws cyfryngau ffilm, clywedol, print, animeiddio, perfformio a thestun. Mae'n archwilio themâu personol, cymdeithasol, ysbrydol a seicolegol. Mae dulliau, ffurfiau a motiffau presennol a pharhaus yn cynnwys ei llais, eiconau diwylliannol poblogaidd, lles a hunanofal yng nghyd-destun defnyddwyr, a sut mae'r unigolyn yn cysylltu â'r grŵp. Cafodd Sweet Wall gan Cinzia Mutigli ei gaffael yn 2021 drwy Wobr Wakelin, sef gwobr flynyddol a roddir i artist sy'n byw ac yn gweithio yng Nghymru ac y prynir ei waith ar gyfer casgliad parhaol Oriel Gelf Glynn Vivian.

Chameleon is a film by Helen Sear, made in 2012, duration 10 minutes and 41 seconds. This silent film begins in complete darkness in the dead of night, and gradually, a golden sunflower in full bloom, just before going to seed, emerges. Out of frame, the only light source, a single torch with adjustable focus, is used to slowly illuminate the petals that gently sway in the night's breeze. The torch's focus is gradually modified to intensify the light beam onto the centre of the flower. The sunflower begins to take on the impression of an ambiguous moving, staring eye, similar to that of a chameleon that can move in all directions and each eye independently. It then recedes back into the darkness as the torch's focus is reset. Artist, Helen Sear, said: “Sunflowers have always been very iconic in the history of art, including, obviously, Van Gogh, Ai Weiwei, Rose Finn-Kelcey, Man Ray, and many others. And I wanted to try and make a piece of work, which added another dimension to the already much depicted sunflower. “I'm very interested in the kind of porousness between animal, vegetable and mineral, and how sometimes, these things merge together. And while I was looking at the sunflower in its state of full bloom, and just before it was going to seed, I thought it looked very much like an eye that was looking directly at myself. So I wondered how I might be able to capture this feeling, where the flower could in some way become alive or somewhere between a plant or an animal or a mythical being, that is actually looking straight back at the viewer, in a way, looking at them straight in the eye.” Helen Sear's practice focuses on the co-existence of human, animal, and natural environments and is rooted in an interest in Magic Realism, Surrealism and Conceptual Art. She studied Fine Art at Reading University and University College London, Slade School, her practice coming to prominence in the late 1980s, when she worked primarily with mixed-media installation, performance and video. Photography remains a central subject and medium in her work, which often challenges the dominance of the eye and the fixed-point perspective associated with the camera lens, and explores the potential of the artwork to activate and elicit feeling. Sear was the first woman to represent Wales with a solo exhibition at the 56th Venice Biennale 2015, presenting a suite of new works…the rest is smoke. She was elected a Royal Academician in 2024.

Ffilm 10 munud a 41 eiliad o hyd a wnaed gan Helen Sear RA yn 2012 yw Chameleon. Mae'r ffilm fud hon yn dechrau yn nhywyllwch y nos ac yn raddol mae blodyn haul euraidd agored, ychydig cyn hadu, yn ymddangos. Y tu allan i'r llun, defnyddir yr unig ffynhonnell golau, un tortsh â ffocws addasadwy, i oleuo'r petalau sy'n siglo yn ysgafn yn awel y nos. Mae ffocws y tortsh yn cael ei addasu'n raddol i ddwysáu'r paladr golau ar ganol y blodyn. Mae'r blodyn haul yn dechrau ymdebygu i lygad symudol amwys sy'n syllu, fel cameleon sy'n gallu symud ei ddwy lygad ym mhob cyfeiriad ac yn annibynnol ar ei gilydd. Yna mae'n encilio i'r tywyllwch wrth i ffocws y tortsh gael ei ailosod. Meddai Helen Sear, yr artist: “Mae blodau haul bob amser wedi bod yn eiconig iawn yn hanes celf, gan gynnwys, yn amlwg, van Gogh, Ai Weiwei, Rose Finn-Kelcey, Man Ray a llawer o artistiaid eraill. Ac roeddwn am roi cynnig ar greu darn o waith a fyddai'n ychwanegu dimensiwn arall at y blodyn haul, sydd eisoes wedi'i ddarlunio'n aml. “Mae gennyf ddiddordeb mawr yn natur fandyllog anifeiliaid, llysiau a mwynau a sut gall y pethau hyn gyfuno â'i gilydd weithiau. Er fy mod yn edrych ar y blodyn haul yn ei gyflwr agored, ychydig cyn iddo hadu, roeddwn yn meddwl bod golwg debyg iawn arno i lygad a oedd yn edrych yn uniongyrchol ataf. Felly, roeddwn yn ceisio meddwl sut gallwn gyfleu'r teimlad hwn, lle gallai'r blodyn mewn rhyw ffordd ddod yn fyw, neu fod rhywle rhwng planhigyn neu anifail neu fod mytholegol, sydd wir yn edrych yn syth tuag at y gwyliwr ac yn edrych yn syth ym myw ei lygad.” Mae gwaith Helen Sear yn canolbwyntio ar gydfodolaeth pobl, anifeiliaid ac amgylcheddau naturiol ac mae wedi'i wreiddio yn ei diddordeb mewn realaeth hud, swrrealaeth a chelf gysyniadol. Astudiodd Gelfyddyd Gain ym Mhrifysgol Reading ac Ysgol Slade yng Ngholeg Prifysgol Llundain a daeth ei gwaith i'r amlwg tua diwedd y 1980au, pan fu'n defnyddio gosodweithiau cyfryngau cymysg, perfformiado a fideos yn bennaf. Mae ffotograffiaeth yn parhau i fod wrth wraidd ei gwaith, sydd yn aml yn herio goruchafiaeth y llygad a'r safbwynt sefydlog sy'n gysylltiedig â lens y camera, ac yn archwilio potensial y gwaith celf i ddeffro ac ennyn teimladau. Sear oedd y fenyw gyntaf i gynrychioli Cymru yn Biennale Fenis, pan gafodd y digwyddiad ei gynnal am y 56ed tro yn 2015, gan gyflwyno cyfres o ddarnau newydd o'r enw …the rest is smoke. Fe'i hetholwyd yn aelod o Academi Frenhinol y Celfyddydau yn 2024.

Only Your Eyes Are Unclosed is a 2008 film by Anthony Shapland, duration 60 minutes. The film depicts sixty urban locations around Swansea city in the hour before sunrise, radiating from a geographical centre point. The hour begins in the dead of night with a due north location in Mount Pleasant, and each subsequent location moves around the city like the hands of a clock, with a minute spent in each place before moving ever closer to dawn. The locations featured span a large area of Swansea. They begin with empty streets in Mount Pleasant, lit only by the glow of streetlights, and move on to the deserted train station entrance where a lone zebra crossing flashes in the dark. Moving on to the brightly lit high‑rise car park off New Cut Road, the calm surface of the River Tawe, and the distant, steel works viewed from Port Tennant, with continuous plumes of smoke rising into the early morning crimson sky. The journey continues across the iconic Sail Bridge, to the Maritime Quarter, where flats overlook the quiet marina. Followed by the former GWR stone Revetment Wall on the north side of Victoria Quay, and the coastal steps swallowed by high tide, travelling on to an unusually still Oystermouth Road lined with parked work vans. Locations across the road feature the prison's barbed‑wire‑topped walls, the stately Brangwyn Hall, and the very steep, cobbled street of Constitution Hill. As the sun rises through St James Crescent Park and the residential streets of Sketty, the film ends with views across the city from Mayhill and Townhill as dawn breaks. A silent semi-fictional narrative is conveyed through subtitles that accompany each scene, for example: “A fox finds a curry carton. It licks the polystyrene clean before walking away. Carl Seers reminds himself to take the blue wrench tomorrow. Mrs Watkins' sink is set right back against the wall.” Despite the romantic construction of the work these texts are only part fiction, built on real names, occurrences and observations. The title of the film is a nod to Under Milk Wood by Swansea born, Dylan Thomas, which was published in 1954, shortly after Thomas's death in 1953. In an in-conversation with curator and writer, Lisa Le Feuvre, Anthony Shapland once said about returning to the period between night and day throughout his practice: “Early morning in a city before normal activities take place - it feels as if you are experiencing ‘non-hours'. In the city the streetlamps extend twilight which creates a situation where anything can happen, where possibilities are infinite. It's as if the entire rules of engagement for the day have been replaced and new rules are waiting to be made up.... “I grew up in a rural area and moving to the city opened up a new sense of the night. There is a certain point in the city at night when you can feel as if you are on your own - you can possess the space in some way. The urban early morning can be incredibly peaceful. There is a sense that everything has stopped for a while, that everyone is sleeping. You can rest in that waiting moment before it all starts again. When I was filming in the city I discovered there is one hour when it is OK to be polite to people - when you can say ‘good morning' to strangers and it is acceptable. It is that moment when it starts to get light - the first time I experienced it I was really taken by surprise, and I realised that the healthy dog-walkers and workers were assuming I had got up early, rather than stayed out late.” Anthony Shapland is a Welsh artist, founder of artist-led space g39, and novelist. He grew up in Bargoed in the Rhymney Valley. Within his writing and artistic practice, he blends documentary and fiction, drawing on his lived experience of rural queerness and growing up performing straight.

Sandhouse is a 2006 film by Jonathan Anderson, duration 2 minutes 44 seconds. The film depicts a miniature house in the centre of the screen, made of sand without windows or doors, on Swansea Bay beach on a windy Spring afternoon, surrounded by foamy gentle water as waves begin to sweep across from behind the house towards us. Scattered in the sand around the house are fragments of seaweed and pebbles that sway gently across the water as the tide washes them away. The gentle waves crash into the sides of the house, one after another, gradually eroding the walls until the sand once again becomes part of the beach. The film is part of the artists ‘House' series and was acquired in 2011. There are four artworks from this series in the galleries permanent collection, Time and Tide, Sand House Mould, Concrete house and Concrete House with Coal Seam. The objects that Anderson makes are deceptively simple and are often made of found materials such as soil, sand, stone and coal dust. The particular significance of the use of coal has resonance with South Wales's industrial, social and political past whilst also making a commentary on current environmental issues. The Sand House Mould Sculpture made of fibreglass, gloss paint and coal dust was used as the tool to create the sand house in the film. The miniature sand house a metaphor for the intransigent nature of life which is subject to environmental forces beyond human control. Selector Meg Anthony, Director of Oriel Myrddin, Carmarthen at the time, considered ‘these works to be both poetic and profoundly moving as the house form draws us close to the artist's psyche as well as questioning (dis)harmony on a social and political level'.

Mae Sandhouse yn ffilm o 2006 gan Jonathan Anderson, sy'n para 2 funud 44 eiliad. Mae'r ffilm yn darlunio tŷ ar ffurf fechan yng nghanol y sgrîn, wedi'i wneud o dywod heb ffenestri na drysau, ar draeth ym Mae Abertawe ar brynhawn gwyntog o wanwyn, wedi'i amgylchynu gan ddŵr ysgafn ewynnog wrth i'r tonnau ddechrau ysgubo ar draws o'r tu ôl i'r tŷ tuag atom. Mae darnau o wymon a cherigos wedi'u gwasgaru yn y tywod o amgylch y tŷ sy'n siglo'n ysgafn ar draws y dŵr wrth i'r llanw eu golchi i ffwrdd. Mae'r tonnau ysgafn yn taro ochrau'r tŷ, un ar ôl y llall, gan erydu'r waliau'n raddol nes bod y tywod unwaith eto'n dod yn rhan o'r traeth. Mae'r ffilm yn rhan o gyfres 'House' yr artist ac fe'i prynwyd yn 2011. Mae pedwar gwaith celf o'r gyfres hon yng nghasgliad parhaol yr oriel, Time and Tide, Sand House Mould, Concrete house a Concrete House with Coal Seam. Mae'r gwrthrychau y mae Anderson yn eu gwneud i bob golwg yn ymddangos yn syml ac fe'u gwneir yn aml o ddeunyddiau a gafwyd fel pridd, tywod, cerrig a llwch glo. Mae arwyddocâd arbennig y defnydd o lo yn gysylltiedig â gorffennol diwydiannol, cymdeithasol a gwleidyddol de Cymru wrth wneud sylw hefyd ar faterion amgylcheddol cyfredol. Defnyddiwyd cerflun Sand House Mould a wnaed o wydr ffibr, paent sglein a llwch glo fel offeryn i greu'r tŷ tywod yn y ffilm. Mae'r tŷ tywod ar ffurf fechan yn drosiad ar gyfer natur ddi-ildio bywyd sy'n destun grymoedd amgylcheddol y tu hwnt i reolaeth ddynol. Roedd y detholwr Meg Anthony, Cyfarwyddwr Oriel Myrddin, Caerfyrddin ar y pryd, o'r farn bod 'y gweithiau hyn yn farddonol ac yn hynod deimladwy gan fod ffurf y tŷ yn ein tynnu'n agos at enaid yr artist yn ogystal â chwestiynu anghytgord ar lefel gymdeithasol a gwleidyddol'.

Time and Tide is a 2008 film by Jonathan Anderson, duration 10 minutes 18 seconds. The film depicts a simple miniature house in the centre of the screen, made of sand without windows or doors, on Swansea Bay beach on a windy winter late afternoon, the diffused glow of early evening sunlight rays reflecting across the water. The tide gently sweeping towards the house glistening with white foam as it surges peacefully, pulling sand and sediment across the beach with every wave. Gradually the soft waves erode the foundation of the house, until it slowly begins to collapse in on itself and eventually loses all form before the sand once again becomes part of the beach. The film is part of the artists ‘House' series and was acquired in 2011. There are four artworks from this series in the galleries permanent collection, Sandhouse, Sand House Mould, Concrete house and Concrete House with Coal Seam. The objects that Anderson makes are deceptively simple and are often made of found materials such as soil, sand, stone and coal dust. The particular significance of the use of coal has resonance with South Wales's industrial, social and political past whilst also making a commentary on current environmental issues. The Sand House Mould Sculpture made of fibreglass, gloss paint and coal dust was used as the tool to create the sand house in the film. The miniature sand house a metaphor for the intransigent nature of life which is subject to environmental forces beyond human control and brings to mind Geoffrey Chaucer's comment that ‘time and tide wait for no man'. Selector Meg Anthony, Director of Oriel Myrddin, Carmarthen at the time, considered ‘these works to be both poetic and profoundly moving as the house form draws us close to the artist's psyche as well as questioning (dis)harmony on a social and political level'.

Ffilm o 2008 gan Jonathan Anderson yw Time and Tide, sy'n para 10 funud 18 eiliad. Mae'r ffilm yn darlunio tŷ syml ar ffurf fechan yng nghanol y sgrin, wedi'i wneud o dywod heb ffenestri na drysau, ar draeth ym Mae Abertawe ar ddiwedd prynhawn gwyntog o aeaf, gyda gwrid gwasgarog pelydrau'r haul yn gynnar fin nos yn adlewyrchu ar draws y dŵr. Mae'r llanw'n sgubo'n ysgafn tuag at y tŷ gan ddisgleirio gydag ewyn gwyn wrth iddo ymchwyddo'n dawel, gan dynnu tywod a gwaddodion ar draws y traeth gyda phob ton. Yn raddol mae'r tonnau meddal yn erydu sylfaen y tŷ, nes iddo ddechrau cwympo gan golli pob ffurf yn y pen draw cyn i'r tywod ddod yn rhan o'r traeth unwaith eto. Mae'r ffilm yn rhan o gyfres 'House' yr artist ac fe'i prynwyd yn 2011. Mae pedwar gwaith celf o'r gyfres hon yng nghasgliad parhaol yr oriel, Time and Tide, Sand House Mould, Concrete house a Concrete House with Coal Seam. Mae'r gwrthrychau y mae Anderson yn eu gwneud i bob golwg yn ymddangos yn syml ac fe'u gwneir yn aml o ddeunyddiau a gafwyd fel pridd, tywod, cerrig a llwch glo. Mae arwyddocâd arbennig y defnydd o lo yn gysylltiedig â gorffennol diwydiannol, cymdeithasol a gwleidyddol de Cymru wrth wneud sylw hefyd ar faterion amgylcheddol cyfredol. Defnyddiwyd cerflun Sand House Mould a wnaed o wydr ffibr, paent sglein a llwch glo, fel offeryn i greu'r tŷ tywod yn y ffilm. Mae'r tŷ tywod ar ffurf fechan yn drosiad ar gyfer natur ddi-ildio bywyd sy'n destun grymoedd amgylcheddol y tu hwnt i reolaeth ddynol, ac mae'n ein hatgoffa o sylw Geoffrey Chaucer, sef ‘nid erys amser'. Roedd y detholwr Meg Anthony, Cyfarwyddwr Oriel Myrddin, Caerfyrddin ar y pryd, o'r farn bod 'y gweithiau hyn yn farddonol ac yn hynod deimladwy gan fod ffurf y tŷ yn ein tynnu'n agos at enaid yr artist yn ogystal â chwestiynu anghytgord ar lefel gymdeithasol a gwleidyddol'.

A Sign is a 2005 film by Anthony Shapland, duration 6 minutes 20 seconds. This documentary-style film not only observes the 'real' or the 'actual' but also references notions of staging, scripting and artifice. Filmed from a static viewpoint, in the foreground detritus on the side of a road, including a white fridge on its side, wooden boards and a variety of plastic packaging and containers, have been fly-tipped across the lush green grass with cars passing on the road behind, as bird chirp. The coolly dispassionate focus of the camera observes a discarded brown Christmas tree that lies abandoned in the centre of the detritus. This provides a sharp contrast to the background across the other side of the road, of a serene, picturesque landscape. To the right a hill stretches across the horizon, interrupted by the sharp ridge of another hill to the left that slopes towards the road. Behind the hills, an ambiguous sky blue gives the impression of the sea but could just as easily be the sky. As the sun sets on the scene, the tree ignites into flame and eventually burns itself out, in an achingly tragic exploration of the search for meaning in everyday life. As quickly as it ignited it goes out, and the scene returns to normal; cars still pass on the road in front, and the birds continue to sing. The work holds you in a sort of twilight space, neither day nor night, fiction nor reality. It is here in this playful uncertainty that the work forces you to reconsider the everyday things you feel sure of. Anthony Shapland is a Welsh artist, founder of artist-led space g39, and novelist. He grew up in Bargoed in the Rhymney Valley. Within his writing and artistic practice, he blends documentary and fiction, drawing on his lived experience of rural queerness and growing up performing straight.

Ffilm 6 munud, 20 eiliad o hyd a wnaed gan Anthony Shapland yn 2005 yw A Sign. Yn ogystal ag arsylwi ar bethau go iawn neu wirioneddol, mae'r ffilm hon o naws ddogfennol hefyd yn cyfeirio at lwyfannu, sgriptio a dichell. Wedi'i ffilmio o safbwynt sefydlog, yn y tu blaen mae malurion ar ochr ffordd, gan gynnwys oergell wen ar ei hochr, byrddau pren ac amrywiaeth o ddeunydd pecynnu plastig a chynwysyddion, wedi cael eu tipio ar draws y glaswellt gwyrddlas wrth i geir fynd heibio ar y ffordd y tu ôl iddynt, fel trydar adar. Mae ffocws hollol wrthrychol y camera'n arsylwi ar goeden Nadolig frown sydd wedi'i gadael yng nghanol y malurion. Mae hyn yn gwrthgyferbynnu'n gryf â'r cefndir ar draws ochr arall y ffordd, sef tirwedd atyniadol a llonydd. I'r dde, mae bryn yn ymestyn ar draws y gorwel ac yn torri ar ei draws y mae cefnen bryn arall sy'n gogwyddo tuag at y ffordd. Y tu ôl i'r bryniau, mae glesni amwys yn creu argraff o'r môr ond mae'n ddigon posib mai'r awyr yw ef yn hytrach na'r môr. Wrth i'r haul fachlud ar yr olygfa, mae'r goeden yn mynd ar dân ac yn y pen draw mae'r fflamau'n diffodd, mewn archwiliad dirdynnol o drist o'r ymdrech i ganfod ystyr mewn bywyd pob dydd. Mae'r tân yn diffodd mor gyflym ag y cafodd ei gynnau, ac mae'r olygfa arferol yn dychwelyd; mae ceir yn dal i fynd heibio ar y ffordd yn y tu blaen, ac mae'r adar yn parhau i ganu. Mae'r gwaith yn eich cadw mewn rhyw fath o dir neb rhwng dydd a nos, a rhwng ffuglen a realiti. Yma yn yr ansicrwydd chwareus hwn y mae'r gwaith yn eich gorfodi i ailystyried y pethau pob dydd rydych chi'n siŵr ohonyn nhw. Artist a nofelydd o Gymru yw Anthony Shapland ac ef yw sylfaenydd g39, man a arweinir gan artistiaid. Cafodd ei fagu ym Margoed yng nghwm Rhymni. Drwy ei waith ysgrifenedig ac artistig, mae'n cyfuno deunydd dogfennol a ffuglennol, gan ddefnyddio ei brofiad uniongyrchol o fod yn hoyw yng nghefn gwlad a pherfformio fel rhywun heterorywiol wrth dyfu i fyny.

Armageddon is a film by Peter Finnemore, made in 2005, duration 1 minute and 41 seconds. The film opens with a sizzle, to a firework erupting inside a domestic garden glass greenhouse supported by a silver metal frame on a late summer evening. Smoke fills the space and escapes through the entrance into the night sky as the firework continues to fire, shooting golden fiery trails upwards to the roof of the greenhouse. Golden pinpricks stud the space between clusters of gold flashing explosions, until the final splash of golden seeds fall to the black weed membrane covered ground; a cascade of smoke still emanating from the greenhouse. The cacophony of intense sparks and noise within an enclosed environment is disorientating, the viewer is drawn into the unlikely spectacle that evokes a warlike hellscape. The inspiration of the film was abstract like night-time WW2 footage from the Battle of Al Alamein. This film was first shown in Peter Finnemore's site specific three screen installation at the Venice Biennale in 2005. This work is part of the Zen Gardener series.

Ffilm 9 munud, 39 eiliad o hyd a wnaed gan Anthony Shapland yn 2012 yw [pause] Time & Motion Study. Mae'r ffilm wedi'i gosod yn Oriel Gelf Glynn Vivian yn 2011 yn ystod y cyfnod cyn iddi gael ei chau ar gyfer prosiect ailddatblygu ac adfer gwerth miliynau o bunnoedd. Roedd y weithred o bacio, clirio a newid wedi dechrau ym mhob rhan o'r adeilad – yn yr arddangosfeydd cyhoeddus yn ogystal ag yn y coridorau cudd a'r ystafelloedd cefn. Mae'r ffilm du a gwyn hon yn portreadu diwrnod ffuglennol, mewn tair rhan. Y rhan gyntaf yw'r bore lle dangosir y casgliad yn dal ynghyd yn yr orielau, a lle mae ardaloedd cyhoeddus a phreifat yr adeilad yn cael eu cyfleu yn yr un modd. Mae set o sbanwyr ar wal mewn gweithdy neu res o fylbiau golau wedi'u trefnu gyda'r un manylder â'r rhes o jygiau buchod crochenwaith Abertawe sy'n sefyll mewn cypyrddau gwydr yn yr oriel, ac mae modd cymharu'r grisiau mawreddog â'r grisiau ymarferol yn y cefn. Yr ail ran yw dechrau'r diwrnod wrth i'r gweithwyr gyrraedd, gyda'r dasg o adfer darnau crochenwaith, eu didoli a'u llenwi'n ofalus â phapur sidan, cyn eu rhoi mewn deunydd lapio swigod a'u labelu. Yn olaf, gyda'r hwyr, mae'r casgliad o wrthrychau a fyddai fel arfer wedi cael eu harddangos yn yr oriel bellach wedi'u cuddio y tu mewn i gardbord. Mae rhifau'r blychau'n cynyddu wrth iddyn nhw luosi'n ymddangosiadol ddiwedd. Mae'r cypyrddau gwydr a fu gynt yn llawn bellach yn wag. Dywedodd Anthony Shapland y canlynol am y gwaith: “Roedd y briff yn agored, sef creu dehongliad o Oriel Glynn Vivian. Dros sawl mis, ymwelais â'r oriel bum gwaith, gan recordio am fwy na 400 o funudau heb syniad pendant am strwythur y ffilm. Wrth wylio'r deunydd hwn y dechreuodd y naratif ffurfio. “Wrth i fi olygu'r ffilm, sylweddolais fy mod yn cynhyrchu rhywbeth a fyddai'n destun hiraeth yn fuan gan y byddai llawer o'r lleoliadau roeddwn yn eu ffilmio yn diflannu yn ystod y gwaith ailwampio a oedd ar ddod. Mae teitl y ffilm yn deyrnged i astudiaethau Frank a Lillian Gilbreth o ergonomeg ac effeithlonrwydd gweithwyr wrth eu gwaith. Roedd eu ffilmiau wedi sbarduno newid, fel arfer wedi'u comisiynu gan reolwyr neu sefydliadau. Serch hynny, dim ond cofnodi newid y mae'r ffilm hon. Heblaw am y gwaith golygu, nid oes unrhyw ystrywiau gyda'r camera, dim byd ffug nac effeithiau; ni ofynnwyd i unrhyw un wneud unrhyw beth gerbron y camera ac ni chafodd unrhyw beth ei ailffilmio. Dyma ffilm lle mae'r gwyliwr yn arsylwi drwy lens oddefol y camera.” Artist a nofelydd o Gymru yw Anthony Shapland ac ef yw sylfaenydd g39, man a arweinir gan artistiaid. Cafodd ei fagu ym Margoed yng nghwm Rhymni. Drwy ei waith ysgrifenedig ac artistig, mae'n cyfuno deunydd dogfennol a ffuglennol, gan ddefnyddio ei brofiad uniongyrchol o fod yn hoyw yng nghefn gwlad a pherfformio fel rhywun heterorywiol wrth dyfu i fyny.

A five-film installation by Peter Finnemore (b.1963), Birdwatcher, made in 2004-2005. All five films (parts) of Birdwatcher are intended to be viewed concurrently with a total running time of 7 minutes, 11 seconds. Part one is 1 minute, 4 seconds and depicts blue tits feeding from two green bird feeders filled with seeds that hang from a Laburnum tree. Behind the tree is a bright orange corrugated shed where a Caucasian male figure dressed in ill-fitting green army camouflage and bold black rimmed orange sunglasses is transfixed, staring out at the birds from a rectangular opening in the structure. Ivy flows from the figure to the ground helping to hide his intrusion. The man steps away from the opening, dropping something in the process. Part two is 2 minutes, 34 seconds and again portrays blue tits feeding from two green bird feeders filled with seeds that hang from a Laburnum tree in front of a bright orange corrugated shed. Only this time, the militaristic figure is standing behind the tree peering out of the bottom right of the screen, slowly adjusting his vantage point between the left- and right-hand bird feeders. His eyes darting between bird and viewer. Part three is 59 seconds and this time portrays the militaristic figure hunched over behind the Laburnum tree, in front of the bright orange corrugated shed. His face mere inches away from the left-hand bird feeder, where a blue tit is happily filling up on seeds. The man's eyes dart between birds and the viewer. Part four is 24 seconds and again depicts the militaristic figure behind the Laburnum tree, in front of the bright orange corrugated shed, although his face is this time basked in soft golden sunlight as he watches the bird feeders. There are no blue tits present, and the man begins to whistle encouraging imitation bird song. Part five is 1 minute, 46 seconds and opens to a wintery scene, the bright orange corrugated shed now covered in snow, the leafless Laburnum tree still holding two full bird feeders. The militaristic figure standing to the left of the tree, watching as blue tits swoop in for quick feeds before flying away. This work is part of the Zen Gardener series, in which Finnemore utilises his garden environment and nature as an active collaborator. Birdwatching is one of the UK's most loved hobbies. Dressed in camouflage gear, Finnemore becomes a modern extension of the mythic Green Man. Blending into the environment, seeing how physically close he can get to the birds, and gain their trust.

Gosodwaith pum ffilm a wnaed gan Peter Finnemore (a aned ym 1963) yn 2004 a 2005 yw Birdwatcher.   Bwriedir i bobl wylio pob un o bum ffilm (rhan) Birdwatcher ar yr un pryd a'r hyd cyfan yw 7 munud, 11 eiliad. Hyd y rhan gyntaf yw 1 funud, 4 eiliad ac mae'n dangos titwod tomos las yn bwydo o ddau borthwr gwyrdd llawn hadau sy'n hongian o onnen Sbaen. Y tu ôl i'r goeden y mae sied rychiog oren llachar lle mae ffigwr gwryw gwyn sy'n gwisgo dillad cuddliw gwyrdd nad ydyn nhw'n ei ffitio a sbectol haul oren â fframiau oren; mae golwg syfrdan arno wrth iddo syllu ar yr adar o agoriad petryal yn yr adeiledd. Mae iorwg yn llifo o'r ffigwr i'r tir, gan helpu i'w guddio. Mae'r dyn yn camu i ffwrdd o'r agoriad, gan ollwng rhywbeth wrth iddo wneud hynny. Hyd yr ail ran yw 2 funud, 34 eiliad ac unwaith eto mae'n portreadu titwod tomos las yn bwydo o ddau borthwr gwyrdd llawn hadau sy'n hongian o goeden Sbaen o flaen sied rychiog oren llachar. Ond y tro hwn y mae'r ffigwr militaraidd yn sefyll y tu ôl i goeden ac yn syllu o dde isaf y sgrîn, gan newid ei olwg yn araf rhwng yr adar sy'n bwydo o'r porthwr chwith a'r rhai hynny sy'n bwydo o'r porthwr de. Mae ei lygaid yn gwibio rhwng yr adar a'r gwyliwr. Hyd y drydedd ran yw 59 eiliad ac y tro hwn y mae'n portreadu ffigwr militaraidd yn crymu ei gefn y tu ôl i goeden Sbaen, o flaen y sied rychiog oren llachar. Mae ei wyneb o fewn modfeddi yn unig i'r porthwr chwith, lle mae titw tomos las yn llyncu'r hadau'n llawen. Mae llygaid y dyn yn gwibio rhwng yr adar a'r gwyliwr. Hyd y bedwaredd ran yw 24 eiliad ac unwaith eto y mae'n dangos y ffigwr militaraidd y tu ôl i goeden Sbaen, o flaen y sied rychiog oren llachar, er bod heulwen euraidd yn tywynnu ar ei wyneb y tro hwn wrth iddo wylio'r porthwyr. Nid oes unrhyw ditwod tomos las yn bresennol, ac mae'r dyn yn dechrau chwibanu cân i ddynwared adar. Hyd y bumed ran yw 1 funud, 46 eiliad ac mae'n dechrau gyda golygfa aeafol lle mae'r sied rychiog oren llachar bellach wedi'i gorchuddio gan eira ac mae'r ddau borthwr adar llawn yn dal i hongian o goeden Sbaen heb ddail. Mae'r ffigwr militaraidd yn sefyll ar yr ochr chwith i'r goeden, ac yn gwylio wrth i ditwod tomos las ddisgyn a bwydo'n gyflym cyn hedfan i ffwrdd. Mae'r gwaith yn rhan o'r gyfres Zen Gardener, lle mae Finnemore yn cydweithredu'n weithredol ag amgylchedd ei ardd a byd natur. Mae gwylio adar yn un o hobïau mwyaf poblogaidd y DU. Wrth iddo wisgo dillad cuddliw, mae Finnemore yn estyniad modern o'r Dyn Gwyrdd mytholegol. Mae'n cymysgu â'r amgylchedd, yn gweld pa mor gorfforol agos y gall fod at yr adar, ac yn meithrin eu hymddiriedaeth.

Forest Fire of the forest of illusions is a film by Peter Finnemore, made in the summer of 2004, duration 2 minutes and 40 seconds. The film opens to a luscious green garden on a bright summer's day with a female figure standing dressed in ill-fitting army black and green camouflage, leaning into a large wooden walking stick, watching over a growing intense blaze as it consumes a rickety garden shed. The unkempt shed is painted in a green camouflage pattern in the style of Mondrian with unpainted wooden boards fastened to the top of its entrance in an X shape. The roaring hypnotic blaze consumes the shed, spreading from the back towards the entrance as another male militaristic figure in full green camouflage walks to the left of the shed and back to the right, moving with the first person as the flames become too intense. Over a steady time, the shed is decimated by the vigorous fire, collapsing to the right and continuing to burn on the ground, scorching the earth. Here, the terrible beauty of fire is a metaphor for spectacle, destruction and regeneration. Without being illustrative or prescriptive, Finnemore alludes to contemporary global events within the boundaries of the Welsh garden space. This work is part of the Zen Gardener series.

Ffilm 2 funud a 40 eiliad o hyd a wnaed gan Peter Finnemore yn haf 2004 yw Forest Fire. Mae'r ffilm yn dechrau gyda gardd werdd hyfryd ar ddiwrnod llachar yn yr haf a menyw sy'n gwisgo dillad cuddliw du a gwyrdd nad ydyn nhw'n ei ffitio. Mae hi'n sefyll ac yn pwyso ar ffon gerdded bren fawr, gan wylio tân cynyddol gryf wrth iddo ddinistrio sied simsan. Mae'r sied flêr wedi'i phaentio mewn patrwm cuddliw gwyrdd yn arddull Mondrian ac mae byrddau pren heb eu paentio wedi'u clymu wrth frig ei mynedfa ar ffurf X. Mae'r tân hypnotaidd yn dinistrio'r sied, gan daenu o'r cefn tuag at y fynedfa wrth i ffigwr militaraidd gwryw sy'n gwisgo dillad cuddliw gwyrdd llawn gerdded tuag at yr ochr chwith i'r sied ac yn ôl i'r dde, gan symud ar y cyd â'r person cyntaf wrth i'r fflamau ddod yn rhy boeth. Yn raddol, caiff y sied ei dinistrio gan y tân cryf, gan gwympo i'r chwith a pharhau i losgi ar y ddaear. Yma, mae harddwch ofnadwy tân yn drosiad ar gyfer cyffro, dinistr ac adfywio. Heb fod yn ddangosol nac yn rhagnodol, mae Finnemore yn cyfeirio at ddigwyddiadau byd-eang cyfoes y tu mewn i ffiniau gardd yng Nghymru. Mae'r gwaith hwn yn rhan o'r gyfres Zen Gardener.

Rock Music is a film by Peter Finnemore, made in 2004, duration 1 minute and 52 seconds. A central large light brown dull rock lies on a bed of frosty autumn soil as a pair of dishevelled brown work boots move towards the rock. As birds chirp pleasantly, one-foot positions to the left of the rock and one to the right, a sense of anticipation occurs, a sledgehammer slowly descends, dispersing a puff of sediment on impact and forcing the work boots to rebuff backwards. This forceful action is repeated multiple times but with no lasting impact on the hard rock's surface. This is rock music at its most elemental. Hitting a stone is unpolished, direct, and instinctive. This mirrors how Rock music often positions itself against refinement or restraint. The idea of ‘singing stones' is embedded within Welsh culture and mythology, where the bluestones of the Preseli Hills resonate with a ringing sound when lightly struck by a hammer. This work is part of the Zen Gardener series.

Ffilm 1 funud a 52 eiliad o hyd a wnaed gan Peter Finnemore yn 2004 yw Rock Music. Mae craig ddilewyrch lliw brown golau fawr yn gorwedd yn ganolog ar wely pridd rhewllyd yn yr hydref wrth i bâr o esgidiau gwaith brown anniben symud tuag at y graig. Wrth i adar drydar yn bleserus, rhoddir un esgid i ochr chwith y graig a'r llall i'r ochr dde. Mae ymdeimlad o ddisgwyliad cyn i forthwyl ddisgyn yn araf, gan daenu chwa o waddodion a gorfodi'r esgidiau gwaith i gamu'n ôl. Gwneir yr un weithred rymus sawl gwaith ond does dim effaith arhosol ar arwyneb y graig galed. Dyma gerddoriaeth roc ar ei mwyaf elfennol. Mae curo carreg yn ddi-sglein, yn uniongyrchol ac yn reddfol. Mae'n adlewyrchu sut mae cerddoriaeth roc yn aml yn ymwrthod â mireinio ac ymatal. Mae syniad cerrig sy'n canu wedi'i wreiddio yn niwylliant a mytholeg Cymru, lle mae cerrig glas Mynydd Preseli'n atseinio â sŵn uchel pan fydd morthwyl yn eu curo'n ysgafn. Mae'r gwaith hwn yn rhan o'r gyfres Zen Gardener.

Tailspin is a film by Peter Finnemore, made in 2005, duration 1 minute and 55 seconds. The film depicts a late autumn evening countryside scene with a man dressed in ill-fitting green army camouflage clothing in the bottom right, walking clockwise around a large roaring bonfire. The man stops and bends down to light a thin tube-shaped firework on a stick, arising holding the firework like a torch in front of him, walking into the centre of the space. The fiery torch-like firework peters to wispy smoke until it erupts into the emptiness of soft dark blue clear sky. Golden sparks fly behind, flickering at dizzying speed until a smattering of fizzing sparkling effervescent gold explodes into a puff of smoke. As soon as it's over there is another golden eruption disrupting the night sky, this display continues for 30 seconds until the last bellow of smoke disperses. The repeating series of firework explosions into the evening sky is evocative of distress flares to alleviate rural isolation. The firework here becomes an extension of the body's temporal presence. The man walks back towards the fire and throws the emptied firework onto it. In relation to this work Finnemore often quote's Jack Kerouac's famous lines from On the Road. “The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow Roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes ‘Awww!'” This work is part of the Zen Gardener series.

Ffilm 1 funud a 55 munud a wnaed gan Peter Finnemore yn 2005 yw Tailspin.  Mae'r ffilm yn dangos golygfa wledig gyda'r hwyr tua diwedd yr hydref lle mae dyn sy'n gwisgo dillad cuddliw gwyrdd nad ydyn nhw'n ei ffitio yn cerdded yn glocwedd o gwmpas coelcerth fawr yn y gornel dde isaf. Mae'r dyn yn oedi ac yn plygu i gynnau tân gwyllt tenau ar ffurf tiwb ar ffon, gan godi i ddal y tân gwyllt fel tortsh o'i flaen a cherdded i ganol y lle. Mae'r tân gwyllt ffyrnig tebyg i dortsh yn pallu'n raddol yn fwg eiddil nes iddo ffrwydro yng ngwacter yr awyr las feddal. Mae gwreichion euraidd yn hedfan y tu ôl iddo, gan fflachio ar gyflymder aruthrol nes i liw aur disglair ffrwydro mewn chwa o fwg. Cyn gynted ag y daw i ben, mae ffrwydrad euraidd arall yn tarfu ar yr awyr dywyll, gan barhau am 30 eiliad nes i'r mwg olaf wasgaru. Mae'r gyfres o ffrwydradau tân gwyllt yn awyr yr hwyr yn dwyn i gof ffaglau gofid i liniaru ynysu gwledig. Mae'r tân gwyllt yma'n estyniad o bresenoldeb bydol y corff. Mae'r dyn yn cerdded yn ôl tuag at y tân ac yn taflu'r tân gwyllt gwag arno. Mewn perthynas â'r gwaith hwn, mae Finnemore yn aml yn dyfynnu llinellau enwog Jack Kerouac o On the Road.  “The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow Roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes ‘Awww!'” Mae'r gwaith hwn yn rhan o'r gyfres Zen Gardener.

Eve of Destruction is a film by Peter Finnemore, made in 2004, duration 4 minutes and 2 seconds. The film opens to an empty improvised stage in a luscious green garden on a bright autumn afternoon with a large weathered concrete slab set within the grass and a washing line with clothes swinging in the background. In front of the slab is a sunflower in a terracotta pot, with only three drooping leaves below its top flower which faces away from us. Sitting on the slab to the right of the sunflower is a grey and white cat in front of two stacked blue plastic boxes, and next to a green beer bottle. In character as an Elvis Presley Impersonator, artist Peter Finnemore enters comically to the left in full green camouflage, sunglasses and an Elvis wig, beginning an interpretive dance. Using the central sunflower as a mock microphone, replicating the iconic gyrations of Elvis and miming along to the song, Eve of Destruction written by nineteen-year-old P. F. Sloan in 1965, but best-known in Barry McGuire's version. Written in the style of Bob Dylan, Finnemore was attracted to the teenage angst quality of the lyrics. The rock'n'roll ceremony culminates in a crescendo of motion as Peter pulls the sunflower from its pot and repeatedly smashes it on the concrete, kicking the flower towards us and swinging the stem vigorously around his head before smashing it to the ground and finally throwing it at us before walking off to the right. Finnemore said: “This work is part of the Zen Gardener series, which explored the intimacy of a garden space as a site of performance, artistic activity, of drawing and imagination. Importantly these series of works with their absurdist performances reflect their historical moment. Made during the second Iraq war whose justifications were fabricated by political forces.” Eve of Destruction was first shown in 2004 as part of the Zen Gardener exhibition at Oriel Mostyn.

Ffilm 4 munud a 2 eiliad o hyd a wnaed gan Peter Finnemore yn 2004 yw Eve of Destruction. Mae'r ffilm yn dechrau gyda llwyfan byrfyfyr gwag mewn gardd werdd ar brynhawn llachar yn yr hydref. Mae slab concrit hindreuliedig mawr wedi'i osod yn y glaswellt ac mae lein sychu â dillad arni yn siglo yn y cefndir. O flaen y slab y mae blodyn haul mewn pot terracotta a dim ond tair deilen yn hongian yn is na'i flodyn uchaf, sy'n wynebu oddi arnon ni. Yn eistedd ar y slab i'r dde o'r blodyn haul y mae cath lliw llwyd a gwyn o flaen dau flwch plastig glas mewn pentwr a gerllaw potel gwrw werdd. Yn portreadu cymeriad sy'n dynwared Elvis Presley, mae'r artist Peter Finnemore yn cyrraedd mewn modd comig i'r chwith, gan wisgo dillad cuddliw gwyrdd llawn, sbectol haul a wig Elvis wrth iddo ddechrau dawns sy'n dynwared y canwr. Mae'n defnyddio'r blodyn haul canolog fel microffon ffug, gan efelychu ystumiau eiconig Elvis a meimio i'r gân Eve of Destruction, a gyfansoddwyd gan P. F. Sloan ac yntau'n 19 oed ym 1965, ond sydd fwyaf adnabyddus oherwydd fersiwn Barry McGuire. Ysgrifennwyd y gân yn arddull Bob Dylan a denwyd Finnemore gan ansawdd ingol geiriau rhywun yn ei arddegau. Mae'r seremoni roc a rôl yn arwain at ddiweddglo llawn symudiadau wrth i Peter dynnu'r blodyn haul o'i bot a'i guro droeon ar y concrit, gan gicio'r blodyn tuag aton ni a siglo'r coesyn yn ffyrnig o gwmpas ei ben cyn ei falu ar y llawr a'i daflu aton ni yn y diwedd a cherdded i ffwrdd i'r dde. Meddai Finnemore: “Mae'r gwaith hwn yn rhan o'r gyfres Zen Gardener, a archwiliodd breifatrwydd man gardd i gynnal perfformiad, gweithgarwch artistig, darlunio a dychymyg. Mae'n bwysig bod y gyfres hon yn adlewyrchu ei chyfnod hanesyddol drwy'r perfformiadau absẃrd. Gwnaed y gyfres yn ystod yr ail ryfel yn Irac, a gafodd ei gyfiawnhau gan luoedd gwleidyddol ar seiliau ffug.” Dangoswyd Eve of Destruction yn gyntaf yn 2004 fel rhan o'r arddangosfa Zen Gardener yn Oriel Mostyn.

The ‘Zen Gardener' series explored the intimacy of a garden space as a site of performance, artistic activity, of drawing and imagination. A body of video art comprising of around 80 films which have been exhibited internationally and are archived within a number of public collections. Flying under the radar… the garden becomes a site of interconnectedness, a microcosm of a larger world, where issues of borders, homeland and cultural margins and politics are explored. Predominant within these films is a military figure dressed in ill-fitting army camouflage clothing. The uniform is a mask of symbolic authority and is deflated of the power of machismo. Finnemore is interested in ideas of cultural camouflage and how "blending in" becomes a survival technique. An outward mask to move around unnoticed. This militaristic motif also becomes a contemporary extension of the pagan/Celtic myth of the Green Man- a ritual figure made out of tree branches, foliage, plants, flowers. Finnemore's guerrilla gardener film character fuses both nature and culture. He is an amalgam of different archetypes. A light and shadow figure; benign, comic, sinister, a poet, holy fool and bum, a shaman, foot soldier, rebel, guerrilla, and survivalist. The inspiration for this combative figure is Charlie Chaplin's, character in The Great Dictator. A dual role of - Adenoid Hynkel (a Hitler like figure) and an unnamed comic Jewish barber (an everyman). In this movie, Chaplin as actor, writer and director utilises comedy, tragedy and pathos to confront and warn the world of oncoming dangers of fascism in 1940's. Chaplin's mirror protagonists share the same uniform but use it to very different ends. They are characters on two sides of the same coin. Chaplin's use of laughter and humour becomes a subversive force, which reconciles opposites. Comedy and tragedy become interchangeable. Humour is intelligence, it allows insight and redemption. Peter Finnemore is an artist who seeks to ‘make visible', he embraces the broad range and language of photographic art practice, working across a range of platforms; including photographic art, video, performed activities, installation, writing and curatorial practice. Investigating the dynamic interchange between, biography & presence, generational memory, culture, history and origins which began as an exploration into the notion of home, memory and story within a Welsh cultural context. Peter Finnemore graduated in 1987 in Fine Art Photography at the Glasgow School of Art, Scotland. In 1994 he received an MFA in Photography at the University of Michigan, U.S.A.

Archwiliodd y gyfres ‘Zen Gardener' breifatrwydd man gardd fel lleoliad perfformio, gweithgarwch artistig, darlunio a dychymyg. Dyma waith celf ar ffurf cyfres o fideos sy'n cynnwys tua 80 o ffilmiau sydd wedi'u harddangos yn rhyngwladol ac sydd wedi'u harchifo mewn nifer o gasgliadau cyhoeddus. Yn ddiarwybod, mae'r ardd yn lleoliad cysylltiedigrwydd, yn ficrocosm o fyd mwy, lle caiff ffiniau, mamwlad, ymylon diwylliannol a gwleidyddiaeth eu harchwilio. Yn flaenllaw yn y ffilmiau hyn y mae ffigwr milwrol sy'n gwisgo dillad cuddliw nad ydyn nhw'n ei ffitio. Mae'r lifrai'n cuddio awdurdod symbolaidd ac yn colli pŵer machismo. Mae Finnemore yn ymddiddori mewn syniadau o guddliwiau diwylliannol a sut mae “ymgymysgu” yn dechneg ar gyfer goroesi. Mae'n fwgwd allanol i symud o gwmpas heb ddenu sylw. Mae'r motiff militaraidd hwn hefyd yn estyniad cyfoes o fyth paganaidd/Celtaidd y Dyn Gwyrdd – ffigwr defodol a wnaed o ganghennau coed, deiliach, planhigion, blodau. Mae cymeriad y garddwr gerila yn ffilm Finnemore yn cyfuno natur a diwylliant. Mae e'n amalgam o wahanol archdeipiau. Ffigwr golau a chysgod: addfwyn, comig, sinistr, bardd, ffŵl cysegredig a diogyn, siaman, troedfilwr, gwrthryfelwr, milwr gerila a goroeswr. Yr ysbrydoliaeth ar gyfer y ffigwr ymladdgar hwn yw cymeriad Charlie Chaplin yn The Great Dictator. Rôl ddeuol Adenoid Hynkel (ffigwr tebyg i Hitler) a barbwr Iddewig comig dienw (dyn cyffredin). Yn y ffilm hon, mae Chaplin yr actor, yr ysgrifennwr a'r cyfarwyddwr yn defnyddio comedi, trasiedi a dwyster i wynebu peryglon ffasgiaeth y 1940au a rhybuddio'r byd amdanyn nhw. Mae cymeriadau cyfochrog Chaplin yn rhannu'r un lifrai ond maen nhw'n ei ddefnyddio at ddibenion gwahanol iawn. Dyma gymeriadau sydd ar ddwy ochr yr un geiniog. Mae Chaplin yn defnyddio chwerthin a digrifwch mewn modd chwyldroadol, gan gymodi cymeriadau croes. Mae comedi a thrasiedi bellach yn gydgyfnewidiol. Hiwmor yw deallusrwydd, gan hwyluso dealltwriaeth a gwaredigaeth. Mae Peter Finnemore yn artist sy'n ceisio amlygu pethau, gan groesawu amrywiaeth eang ac iaith arfer celf ffotograffig wrth weithio drwy amrywiaeth o gyfryngau, gan gynnwys celf ffotograffig, fideo, gweithgareddau perfformio, gosodweithiau, ysgrifennu ac arfer curadu. Mae'n ymchwilio i'r cyfnewid deinamig rhwng bywgraffiad a phresenoldeb, cof cenedlaethau, diwylliant, hanes a gwreiddiau, a ddechreuodd drwy archwilio cysyniad cartref, cof a stori mewn cyd-destun diwylliannol Cymreig. Graddiodd Peter Finnemore ym 1987 mewn Ffotograffiaeth Celfyddyd Gain yn Ysgol Gelf Glasgow yn yr Alban. Ym 1994, derbyniodd MFA mewn Ffotograffiaeth ym Mhrifysgol Michigan yn Unol Daleithiau America.

Swansea Jack Memorial Dog Swimming Competition is a documentary film of an event conceived by Shimabuku as an art project, made in 2003. Duration 58 minutes 2 seconds. When Shimabuku visited Swansea to research for his solo exhibition at Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, he learned the story of Swansea Jack, the celebrated dog who saved 27 drowning victims in the Swansea harbour area during the 1930s, and became fascinated. As he researched Swansea Jack, he noticed the local memory of him was fading. To revive the memory of Swansea Jack, the local hero, Shimabuku invited residents to host the “Swansea Jack Memorial Dog Swimming Competition”. On a cloudy autumn afternoon in October 2003, at Langland Bay beach, the dog swimming competition saw 70 participating dogs called out one by one with a megaphone by Karen MacKinnon, a white woman in her thirties who was the curator at the time, and guided to their starting positions. Each dog's favourite ball or stick was thrown into the sea, and footage shows the dogs swimming out into the surging waves to retrieve them. When each dog's turn came, its name appeared in the bottom left corner of the screen. The footage then captures the crowd – spectators, dogs, owners, and supporters mingling together – cheering on the competitors, applauding them, and raising their voices in celebration. Shimabuku is a Japanese artist, who, from the beginning of the 1990s, has travelled to various places in Japan and overseas, creating performances and installations that consider the daily lives and cultures of people he encounters, as well as new forms of communication. He also works in a diverse range of media including sculpture, film and photography. Full of poetic sentiment and humour while also inspiring people in metaphorical ways, his style has gained a worldwide reputation. His process often involves a journey or quest through a previously unknown place in which he documents his experiences along the way. At its core the artist's practice centres around ideas of communication between self and others, and between art and its audience. Shimabuku attempts to create challenging and fluid works, which engage directly with diverse audiences in the community in which he is working. His gentle re-invention of local stories aims to break down often-rigid boundaries between inside and outside the art institution, his natural warmth encouraging people to enjoy participating in his imaginative projects. His works are always touching and often funny, yet his humour belies the seriousness and integrity which lay at the core of his work and the respect he has for the stories he finds and the people he meets and places he visits.

Ffilm ddogfen 58 munud a 2 eiliad o hyd a wnaed yn 2003 yw Swansea Jack Memorial Dog Swimming Competition. Mae'n ymwneud â digwyddiad a grëwyd gan Shimabuku fel prosiect celf. Pan ymwelodd Shimabuku ag Abertawe i wneud gwaith ymchwil ar gyfer ei arddangosfa unigol yn Oriel Gelf Glynn Vivian, dechreuodd ymddiddori yn stori Jac Abertawe, y ci enwog a achubodd 27 o bobl rhag boddi yn ardal harbwr Abertawe yn ystod y 1930au. Wrth iddo ymchwilio i Jac Abertawe, sylwodd fod y cof lleol amdano'n pylu. I adfywio'r cof am yr arwr lleol hwn, gwahoddodd Shimabuku breswylwyr i gynnal cystadleuaeth nofio cŵn er cof am Jac Abertawe. Ryw brynhawn hydrefol cymylog ym mis Hydref 2003, ar draeth Bae Langland, galwyd drwy uchelseinydd ar 70 o gŵn yn eu tro i gymryd rhan yn y gystadleuaeth nofio gan Karen MacKinnon, menyw wen yn ei thridegau a'r curadwr ar y pryd, a chawsant eu tywys i'w safleoedd cychwynnol. Taflwyd hoff bêl neu ffon pob ci i'r môr, ac mae'r lluniau'n dangos y cŵn yn nofio yn y môr tonnog i'w casglu. Pan ddaeth tro pob ci, ymddangosodd ei enw yng nghornel chwith isaf y sgrîn. Mae'r lluniau'n dangos y dorf – gwylwyr, cŵn, perchnogion a chefnogwyr yn cymysgu â'i gilydd – yn annog y cystadleuwyr, yn eu cymeradwyo ac yn codi eu lleisiau i'w dathlu. Artist o Japan yw Shimabuku sydd wedi teithio i leoedd amrywiol yn Japan a thramor ers dechrau'r 1990au, gan greu perfformiadau a gosodweithiau am fywydau beunyddiol a diwylliannol pobl wrth iddo gwrdd â nhw, yn ogystal â mathau newydd o gyfathrebu. Mae ei waith hefyd yn cynnwys amrywiaeth eang o gyfryngau, megis cerfluniau, ffilmiau a ffotograffiaeth. Mae ei arddull yn llawn ymdeimlad barddonol a hiwmor, gan ysbrydoli pobl yn drosiadol ac ennill bri byd-eang. Mae ei broses yn aml yn cynnwys taith i rywle a fu gynt yn anhysbys lle mae'n cofnodi ei brofiadau. Mae syniadau am gyfathrebu rhwng yr hun a phobl eraill, a rhwng celf a'i chynulleidfa, wrth wraidd gwaith yr artist. Mae Shimabuku yn ceisio creu darnau heriol a llyfn, sy'n ymgysylltu'n uniongyrchol â chynulleidfaoedd amrywiol yn y gymuned y mae'n gweithio ynddi. Mae'n ail-greu straeon lleol mewn modd cynnil er mwyn chwalu'r ffiniau, sydd yn aml yn anhyblyg, rhwng pobl y tu mewn i'r sefydliad celf ac y tu allan iddo, ac mae ei wres naturiol yn annog pobl i fwynhau cymryd rhan yn ei brosiectau dychmygus. Mae ei waith bob amser yn emosiynol ac yn aml yn ddoniol, ac eto mae'r hiwmor hwn yn rhoi camargraff o'r difrifoldeb a'r uniondeb sydd wrth wraidd ei waith, a'r parch sydd ganddo tuag at y straeon y mae'n eu darganfod, y bobl y mae'n cwrdd â nhw, a'r lleoedd y mae'n ymweld â nhw.

Talk to Myself is a 2002 film by Yingmei Duan, duration 5 minutes 42 seconds. This film depicts a melancholic autumn garden scene. Behind bare trees and brambles, Yingmei, a woman with black hair and a simple black fabric headband wearing a checkered white and blue shirt with light jean overalls and work boots, restlessly sweeps leaves from the ground with a rake in uniform movements, while talking to herself in her mother-tongue. Her words delivered in a sombre tone are translated through English subtitles at the bottom of the screen. The transcript is as follows: “I saw these machines again yesterday. Every time I see these machines, I have to laugh. I want to be an invisible person. I always want to see other people, but for them not to see me. That would be lovely! I want to be an invisible person. I want to! I want to know more about the world. I want to be able to fly all over the world, to see how people live. Are all the people on earth sad? Is it true? Why are they like that? (Sigh) I don't know. Yesterday I saw a funny little dog. Perhaps he had never seen a Chinese woman before? He was so sweet! (Laughing), I always have to laugh when I think of this dog. Leave me alone! Let me go, or else I could die. Open the window right now! I want some fresh air! Or give me a hole to jump into. I don't want to hear these noises any more! It is so bad, oh so bad! Yesterday I was so beautiful, more beautiful than on other days. Perhaps it was because of my new clothes. I felt all the people on the street were looking at me. Was I really so beautiful? Little birds, dogs and cats are so happy. They are not sad. Why does a child have to grow up? Why do people think? Why? I don't know. What is good? What is bad? What is right? What is wrong? Why do I still not know? Why do friendships make me feel so tired? What kind of a person am I? Am I happy? (Sigh) I have no idea! Why am I so diligent every day? Why? Why do I have so much to do every day? Perhaps I will die tomorrow, or just not wake up. Everything passes me by. Nothing is there any more! (Sigh) I want to stop the clock. I want to stop all the clocks! Laoxiong (a dog of mine) Where are you? I thought about your eyes again. When I see your eyes, I always want to cry. Why are you always so sad? Why are you always scared I will leave you? Why do you always breathe so heavily? I have always cooked so much food for you! I think your life is much better than mine, but you are never satisfied.” In the end she sings a Chinese nursery rhyme “Looking for Friendship”. She seems consumed by her thoughts. Of the work Melanie Martin, said: “A mysterious threat seems to hang in the air. Some of her thoughts and feelings cannot be put into words, she asks hopeless questions to which she cannot receive answers. However her naive view of the world cannot avert disaster. She has a childlike insouciance, but the whole world seems to weigh heavily on her. She exclaims a cry for help, but we are unable to come to her aid.” Yingmei Duan was born in 1969 in Daqing, China. Duan's individual performance practice takes the body as its central medium and is dedicated to the ongoing exploration of the language of performance art, unfolding through experimental practices across diverse spatial contexts. Her individual and collaborative performance works span a wide range of fields. In her collaborative projects, people remain at the core of the work; she has long focused on how individuals and groups articulate identity, experience, emotion, memory, thought, and consciousness, and on how these experiences are shaped by and situated within political, social, historical, and cultural contexts, forming the basis for sustained and in-depth artistic collaboration.

Ffilm 5 munud a 42 eiliad o hyd a wnaed gan Yingmei Duan yn 2002 yw Talk to Myself. Mae'r ffilm yn dangos golygfa hydrefol brudd mewn gardd. Y tu ôl i goed a mieri moel, mae menyw â gwallt du a phenrhwymyn du syml, sy'n gwisgo crys siec gwyn a glas, oferôls jîns golau ac esgidiau gwaith, yn rhacanu dail o'r ddaear yn aflonydd drwy symudiadau unffurf, wrth siarad â'i hun yn ei mamiaith. Mae ei geiriau, sy'n cael eu cyflwyno mewn tôn brudd, wedi'u cyfieithu drwy is-deitlau Saesneg ar waelod y sgrîn. Mae'r trawsgrifiad fel a ganlyn: “Gwelais i'r peiriannau hyn eto ddoe. Bob tro y gwela i'r peiriannau hyn, mae'n rhaid i fi chwerthin. Hoffwn i fod yn anweladwy. Hoffwn i bob amser weld pobl eraill, ond heb iddyn nhw fy ngweld i. Byddai hynny'n hyfryd! Hoffwn i fod yn anweladwy. Hoffwn i! Hoffwn i wybod mwy am y byd. Hoffwn i allu hedfan ledled y byd a gweld sut mae pobl yn byw. Ydy pawb ar y Ddaear yn drist? Ydy hyn yn wir? Pam maen nhw'n drist? (Ochenaid) Dydw i ddim yn gwybod. Ddoe, gwelais i gi bach doniol. Efallai nad oedd ef erioed wedi gweld menyw Tsieineaidd o'r blaen? Roedd e'n hyfryd! (Chwerthin) Rhaid i fi chwerthin bob amser pan fydda i'n meddwl am y ci hwn. Gadewch lonydd i fi! Gadewch i fi fynd, neu gallwn i farw fel arall. Agorwch y ffenestr ar unwaith! Hoffwn i gael awyr las! Neu rhowch dwll i fi neidio i mewn iddo. Dydw i ddim eisiau clywed y synau hyn mwyach! Mae mor wael, mor wael! Ddoe, roeddwn i mor hardd, yn fwy hardd nag ar ddiwrnodau eraill. Efallai mai fy nillad newydd oedd y rheswm. Roeddwn i'n teimlo bod pawb ar y stryd yn edrych arna i. Oeddwn i wir yn hardd iawn? Mae adar, cŵn a chathod yn hapus iawn. Dydyn nhw ddim yn drist. Pam mae'n rhaid i blentyn dyfu i fyny? Pam mae pobl yn meddwl? Pam? Dydw i ddim yn gwybod. Beth ydy da? Beth ydy drwg? Beth ydy daioni? Beth ydy drygioni? Pam nad ydw i'n gwybod eto? Pam mae perthnasoedd â ffrindiau'n fy mlino? Pa fath o berson ydw i? Ydw i'n hapus? (Ochenaid) Does dim clem gen i! Pam rydw i mor weithgar bob dydd? Pam? Pam mae'n rhaid i fi wneud cymaint bob dydd? Efallai y bydda i'n marw yfory, neu fydda i ddim yn deffro o gwbl. Mae popeth yn digwydd er fy ngwaethaf. Does dim byd yno mwyach! (Ochenaid) Hoffwn i atal y cloc. Hoffwn i atal pob cloc! Laoxiong (fy nghi), ble rwyt ti? Meddyliais i am dy lygaid eto. Pan fydda i'n gweld dy lygaid, rydw i eisiau crio bob tro. Pam rwyt ti bob amser yn drist? Pam rwyt ti bob amser yn ofnus pan fydda i'n dy adael? Pam rwyt ti bob amser yn anadlu'n drwm? Rydw i bob amser wedi coginio llawer o fwyd i ti! Rydw i'n meddwl bod dy fywyd di'n llawer gwell na fy mywyd i, ond dydych chi byth yn fodlon.” Yn y diwedd, mae'n canu hwiangerdd Tsieineaidd am chwilio am gyfeillgarwch. Mae'n ymddangos bod ei meddyliau'n drech na hi. Am y gwaith, meddai Melanie Martin, “Mae'n ymddangos bod bygythiad dirgel yn yr awyr. Ni all fynegi rhai o'i meddyliau a'i theimladau ac mae'n gofyn cwestiynau anobeithiol nad oes modd eu hateb. Fodd bynnag, ni all ei barn ddiniwed am y byd atal trychineb. Mae ganddi ddihidrwydd plentynnaidd, ond mae'n ymddangos bod y byd ar ei hysgwyddau. Mae'n crio am help, ond ni allwn ddod i'w hadwy.” Ganed Yingmei Duan ym 1969 yn Daqing, Tsieina. Y corff yw cyfrwng canolog arfer perfformio unigol Duan, sy'n ymroddedig i archwilio ieithwedd y celfyddydau perfformio'n barhaus, drwy arferion arbrofol ar draws cyd-destunau gofodol amrywiol. Mae ei gwaith perfformio unigol ac ar y cyd yn cwmpasu amrywiaeth eang o feysydd. Yn ei phrosiectau cydweithredol, mae pobl wrth wraidd y gwaith o hyd; mae wedi canolbwyntio ers amser maith ar sut mae unigolion a grwpiau'n cyfleu hunaniaeth, profiadau, emosiynau, atgofion, meddyliau ac ymwybyddiaeth, a sut mae'r profiadau'n hyn yn cael eu llywio gan gyd-destunau gwleidyddol, cymdeithasol, hanesyddol a diwylliannol, gan greu'r sail am gydweithrediad artistig manwl.

Paso del Quindío II is a 1999 film by José Alejandro Restrepo, duration 32 minutes 51 seconds. The film is a reconstruction of the last ‘carguero' - human carriers who originally assisted European travellers cross the difficult mountainous jungle terrain. Restrepo's work considers the complex power relations this act of carrying signifies. In the film, a central male figure quietly persists as he carries a female on his back, seated on a chair made of guadua (a kind of bamboo), his back at a 60° angle to the ground. The chair is secured to him with a piece of fabric wrapped under the seat and around his visibly sweaty forehead. The middle-aged man is a person of colour with black short hair and a bald patch, barefoot, wearing white shorts and a discoloured grey t-shirt, holding a long thin wooden stick for balance. The seated woman is also a person of colour with short black hair, wearing a black shirt with multicoloured pattern patches, shorts and black muddy wellington boots. Restrepo said: “One of history's great games is about who manages to elude the laws of representation and interpretation.” In 2007, Displaced, Contemporary Art from Colombia, was curated by María Clara Bernal and Karen MacKinnon and presented at Glynn Vivian Art Gallery. Alongside other outstanding works, Paso del Quindío II was pivotal, both for the power of its post-colonial position and its engagement with the politics of cultural identity. This work was purchased through the Contemporary Art Society's Acquisitions Scheme for Glynn Vivian Art Gallery in 2010. José Alejandro Restrepo, is a Colombian artist born in 1959. He studied visual arts at the Universidad Nacional de Bogotá and the École des Beaux Arts in Paris in the early 1980s, drawing inspiration from the works of Bill Viola and Gary Hill. Over the decades, he has explored the power dynamics of visual representation through the interplay of video, sculpture, and the archive. His work examines histories of oppression and resistance that shape life in Latin America, seeking new meanings from prescribed narratives, asking which visual archives are used to create history—and why. The first iteration of this work Paso del Quindío I (Quindío Way I) (1992) marked a landmark moment in his career. Featuring 17 monitors arranged on various levels of a pyramidal structure, the work displayed footage of the artist's 1991 hike up a mountain pass in the Andes. He recorded the journey from different elevations; some images show a calm pace, while others capture the agitated movement of someone at the summit. His ascent reconstructed the journeys of 19th-century European explorers such as Alexander von Humboldt and Max von Thielman. Unlike those explorers, who presented their work as objective, Restrepo acknowledged that despite his historical research and first-hand experience, his project offered “just one more interpretation in a long chain…just copies of copies.”

Ffilm 32 munud, 51 eiliad o hyd a wnaed gan José Alejandro Restrepo ym 1999 yw Paso del Quindío II. Mae'r ffilm yn ail-greu'r ‘carguero' olaf – pobl a oedd yn cario teithwyr Ewropeaidd drwy'r jyngl fynyddig anodd yn wreiddiol. Mae gwaith Restrepo yn ystyried y cysylltiadau pŵer cymhleth sy'n gysylltiedig â'r weithred hon o gario. Yn y ffilm, mae cymeriad gwrywaidd canolog yn dyfalbarhau'n dawel wrth iddo garo menyw ar ei gefn; mae hi'n eistedd ar gadair ‘guadua' (math o fambŵ) ac mae ei gefn ef ar ongl 60 gradd i'r ddaear. Mae'r gadair wedi'i chlymu wrtho â darn o ffabrig wedi'i lapio o dan y sedd ac am ei dalcen chwyslyd. Mae'r dyn canol oed yn berson o liw ac mae ganddo wallt byr du a llecyn moel. Mae'n droednoeth ac yn gwisgo trowsus byr gwyn a chrys T llwyd sy'n colli ei liw, gan ddal ffon bren denau hir er cydbwysedd. Mae'r fenyw sy'n eistedd hefyd yn berson o liw a chanddi wallt du byr ac mae'n gwisgo crys du â darnau patrymog amryliw, trowsus byr ac esgidiau glaw mwdlyd du. Meddai Restrepo, “Mae un o weithgareddau gorau hanes yn ymwneud â phwy sy'n llwyddo i osgoi deddfau cynrychioli a dehongli.” Yn 2007, cafodd arddangosfa Displaced, Contemporary Art from Colombia ei churadu gan María Clara Bernal a Karen MacKinnon a'i chyflwyno yn Oriel Gelf Glynn Vivian. Ochr yn ochr â darnau neilltuol eraill, roedd Paso del Quindío II yn ganolog, oherwydd pŵer ei ymagwedd ôl-drefedigaethol a'i ymgysylltiad â gwleidyddiaeth hunaniaeth ddiwylliannol. Cafodd y gwaith hwn ei brynu drwy gynllun caffael y Gymdeithas Celfyddyd Gyfoes ar ran Oriel Gelf Glynn Vivian yn 2010. Mae José Alejandro Restrepo yn artist o Golombia a aned ym 1959. Astudiodd y celfyddydau gweledol yn Universidad Nacional de Bogotá a'r École des Beaux-Arts ym Mharis ar ddechrau'r 1980au, gan gael ei ysbrydoli gan waith Bill Viola a Gary Hill. Dros y degawdau, mae wedi archwilio deinameg pŵer cynrychiolaeth weledol drwy gyfuno fideos, cerfluniau a'r archif. Mae ei waith yn archwilio hanesion gormes a gwrthsefyll sy'n llunio bywyd yn America Ladin, gan chwilio am ystyron newydd mewn naratifau gosod, a gofyn pa archifau gweledol a ddefnyddir i greu hanes – a pham. Roedd fersiwn gyntaf y gwaith hwn, Paso del Quindío I (Bwlch Quindío I) (1992), yn garreg filltir yn ei yrfa. Gan gynnwys 17 o sgriniau wedi'u trefnu ar lefelau amrywiol adeiledd pyramidaidd, dangosodd y gwaith ddeunydd o heic yr artist i fyny bwlch mynydd yn yr Andes ym 1991. Recordiodd y daith o uchderau gwahanol; mae rhai lluniau'n dangos cyflymder tawel, ond mae eraill yn cyfleu symudiad cynhyrfus rhywun ar y copa. Drwy'r esgyniad hwn, ail-greodd deithiau fforwyr Ewropeaidd y 19eg ganrif fel Alexander von Humboldt a Max von Thielman. Yn wahanol i'r fforwyr hynny, a gyflwynodd eu gwaith o safbwynt gwrthrychol, cydnabu Restrepo, er gwaethaf ei ymchwil hanesyddol a'i brofiad uniongyrchol, mai dim ond dehongliad arall mewn cadwyn hir, llawn “copïau o gopïau”, oedd ei brosiect.

Flags over Solva / Fflagiau Dros Solfach is a 1992 film by Tim Davies, duration 3 minutes 16 seconds. This black and white film documents a site-specific event from the hills above Solva, Pembrokeshire, across the quay from The Gribin. In the centre of the windy overcast scene are five metal and wood flag poles, each a monumental 15 feet high, positioned next to each other in a group. The view of the village Solva in the background across the quay. The flags tussling and rippling in the wind and crashing into one another with each gust. Each flag is a long thin symmetrical triangle shape, with two central light-coloured flags surrounded by darker flags on either side. The flag poles are secured to the ground just under halfway down with supporting rope that creates a tripod like form, attached to the ground with white pegs. In the making of Flags over Solva, Davies had created the flag poles in parts so that they would be ready to assemble as needed and spent a week introducing them into the Solva landscape in a variety of configurations. Having spent part of his childhood in Solva, staying with his grandfather, it is a place well known to him. Using flags as monument, he explored the notion of land ownership as temporary, claiming a site for the duration of each intervention. From the innocent connotation of flags as a plaything for children marking sandcastles, reclaimed by the tide, to the implications of the moon landings; to lamenting the loss and disempowerment of local ownership in relation to Welsh cultural identity, the work references contested land ownership and the object as a signifier of site. The core of Davies' work is rooted in working time- and site-specifically, using 2- and 3-dimensional and performative media. His practice also explores the written, spoken and visualised word. Born in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire in 1960, Davies studied Fine Art at Norwich School of Art and completed an MA in Issues in Art & Architecture at the University for the Creative Arts in Canterbury. He has worked in a range of media over the last 30 years, exhibiting and making work in Wales, the UK and internationally. He has received many awards, including the Mostyn Open prize, the Gold Medal in Fine Art at the National Eisteddfod and a major Creative Wales Award. He was the first European artist shortlisted for the Artes Mundi Visual Arts Prize and represented Wales in a solo show at the Venice Biennale in 2011. Flags over Solva was acquired in 2005 through the Wakelin Award, an annual award given to an artist living and working in Wales, whose work is purchased for the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery's permanent collection.

Ffilm 3 munud ac 16 eiliad o hyd a wnaed gan Tim Davies ym 1992 yw Fflagiau Dros Solfach. Mae'r ffilm du a gwyn hon yn dogfennu digwyddiad penodol i safle'r bryniau uwchben Solfach, Sir Benfro, ar draws y cei o'r Gribin. Yng nghanol yr olygfa gymylog wyntog y mae pum polyn fflag metel a phren 15 troedfedd anhygoel o uchder wrth ymyl ei gilydd mewn grŵp. Mae pentref Solfach i'w weld yn y cefndir ar draws y cei. Mae'r fflagiau'n bwrw yn erbyn ei gilydd bob tro y mae'r gwynt yn chwythu. Mae pob fflag ar ffurf triongl cymesur tenau hir ac mae dwy fflag olau ganolog wedi'u hamgylchu gan fflagiau tywyllach ar y naill ochr a'r llall. Mae rhaff ategol yn clymu'r polion fflag yn sownd ychydig yn llai na hanner ffordd tuag at y ddaear, gan greu rhyw fath o dreipod wedi'i glymu yn y tir gan begiau gwyn. Wrth wneud Fflagiau Dros Solfach, roedd Davies wedi creu'r polion fflag fesul rhannau fel y byddent yn barod i'w cydosod yn ôl yr angen, a threuliodd wythnos yn eu rhoi yn nhirwedd Solfach mewn amrywiaeth o gyfluniadau. Ar ôl treulio rhan o'i blentyndod yn Solfach gyda'i dad-cu, mae'n hen gyfarwydd â'r lleoliad. Gan ddefnyddio fflagiau fel tirnod, archwiliodd y syniad fod perchnogaeth tir yn rhywbeth dros dro, gan hawlio safle am hyd pob ymyriad. O arwyddocâd diniwed fflagiau fel tegan i blant sy'n marcio cestyll tywod, sy'n cael eu llyncu gan y llanw, i oblygiadau glanio ar y lleuad, i edifarhau colli perchnogaeth leol ar hunaniaeth ddiwylliannol Cymru, a'r diymadferthedd sy'n deillio o hynny, mae'r gwaith yn cyfeirio at anghydfodau ynghylch perchnogaeth tir a'r gwrthrych fel dynodwr lleoliad. Mae craidd ei waith yn benodol i amser a lleoliad, gan ddefnyddio cyfryngau perfformio dau a thri dimensiwn. Mae ef hefyd yn archwilio'r gair ysgrifenedig, y gair llafar a'r gair ar ffurf delwedd. Ganed Davies yn Hwlffordd, sir Benfro ym 1960. Astudiodd Gelfyddyd Gain yn Ysgol Gelf Norwich a chwblhaodd MA mewn Materion Celfyddyd a Phensaernïaeth ym Mhrifysgol y Celfyddydau Creadigol yng Nghaergaint. Mae ef wedi gweithio mewn ystod o gyfryngau dros y 30 mlynedd diwethaf, gan arddangos a chreu gwaith yng Nghymru, y DU ac yn rhyngwladol. Mae ef wedi ennill llawer o wobrau, gan gynnwys gwobr cystadleuaeth agored Mostyn, y fedal aur mewn Celfyddyd Gain yn yr Eisteddfod Genedlaethol ac un o brif wobrau Cymru Greadigol. Ef oedd yr artist cyntaf o Ewrop i gyrraedd rhestr fer Gwobr Celfyddydau Gweledol Artes Mundi a chynrychiolodd Gymru mewn sioe unigol yn Biennale Fenis yn 2011. Cafodd y ffilm Fflagiau Dros Solfach ei chaffael yn 2025 drwy wobr Wakelin, a roddir bob blwyddyn i artist sy'n byw ac yn gweithio yng Nghymru ac y prynir ei waith ar gyfer casgliad parhaol Oriel Gelf Glynn Vivian.

Join us for this talk with Charlotte Bolland, Senior Curator, Research and 16th Century Collections at the National Portrait Gallery. Charlotte will discuss the recently opened exhibition Lives in Motion: Stories of Migration from the 11th Century to the Present Day. Dr Charlotte Bolland is Senior Curator, Research and 16th Century Collections at the National Portrait Gallery. Her role combines responsibility for the acquisition, research and interpretation of portraits dating from the sixteenth century, with co-ordination of research activity across the Gallery. She has curated a number of exhibitions, including ‘The Real Tudors: Kings and Queens Rediscovered' (2014), ‘The Encounter: Drawings from Leonardo to Rembrandt' (2017), and ‘Six Lives: The Stories of Henry VIII's Queens' (2024). She has also worked on a number of touring exhibitions with the Gallery, including ‘Faces of Change: Nature's Champions' (2019) and ‘Tudors to Windsors: British Royal Portraits' (2019-20). Ymunwch â ni ar gyfer y sgwrs hon â Charlotte Bolland, Uwch-guradur Ymchwil a Chasgliadau'r 16eg Ganrif yr Oriel Bortreadau Genedlaethol. Bydd Charlotte yn trafod yr arddangosfa Lives in Motion: Straeon Mudo o'r 11eg Ganrif hyd Heddiw a agorwyd yn ddiweddar. Mae Dr Charlotte Bolland yn Uwch-guradur Ymchwil a Chasgliadau'r 16eg Ganrif yn yr Oriel Bortreadau Genedlaethol. Mae ei rôl yn cynnwys bod yn gyfrifol am gaffael, ymchwilio a dehongli portreadau sy'n dyddio o'r unfed ganrif ar bymtheg, a chydlynu gweithgarwch ymchwil ar draws yr oriel. Mae hi wedi curadu nifer o arddangosfeydd, gan gynnwys The Real Tudors: Kings and Queens Rediscovered (2014), The Encounter: Drawings from Leonardo to Rembrandt (2017), a Six Lives: The Stories of Henry VIII's Queens (2024). Mae hi hefyd wedi gweithio ar nifer o arddangosfeydd teithiol gyda'r oriel, gan gynnwys Faces of Change: Nature's Champions (2019) a Tudors to Windsors: British Royal Portraits (2019-20).

Kyffin Williams enjoyed a long association with the Glynn Vivian. Rian Evans, writer and critic, who has written extensively about this iconic Welsh artist, will look at how the Kyffin's in the gallery's holdings offer a fascinating perspective that differs from the usual assumptions about the course of his career. Roedd gan Kyffin Williams gysylltiad hir ag Oriel Gelf Glynn Vivian. Bydd Rian Evans, awdur a beirniad sydd wedi ysgrifennu'n helaeth am yr artist eiconig hwn o Gymru, yn edrych ar sut mae casgliad o waith Kyffin yn yr oriel yn cynnig persbectif diddorol sy'n wahanol i'r rhagdybiaethau arferol am ei yrfa. Image/Llun: Snowdon from Near Harlech, Kyffin Williams

06 Cychwelyd i'r Cylch by Glynn Vivian Art Gallery - On Air

05 Gormes by Glynn Vivian Art Gallery - On Air

04 Gofod Rhwng Onglau by Glynn Vivian Art Gallery - On Air

03 Duwies by Glynn Vivian Art Gallery - On Air

02 Trawsgynniad by Glynn Vivian Art Gallery - On Air