Sat 28 Jan – Sat 25 Feb 2012, Quay Arts Café.

Artist Talk and Launch: Sat 28 Jan, Starts 3pm, FREE, Seminar Room, Quay Arts.

‘Look About’ is a two-year mapping and collecting project led by Portsmouth based artist/geologist Jon Adams in response to Accentuate and the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad in the South East of England.

This creatively driven, multi-layered project weaves together science and art, digital and analogue, and Jon’s autobiographical experiences through living with Aspergers and Dyslexia. Therefore inclusion and accessibility lie at the heart of the ‘Look About’ project.

Elements of ‘Look About: Transmission’ (in various forms including digital and published) are combined with Look About: Artefacts, and will be presented at partner venues around the South East until September 2012. ‘Look About’ will also have an Interactive ‘Map’ artwork/website in late 2012/13 hosted by the University of Portsmouth. In addition ‘Look About’ will also be showing at the British Geological Survey during the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad.

‘Look About: Transmission’ at Quay Arts is a screen-based work featuring film, animation and sound works inspired by Jon’s mapping of Cultural Olympiad and Accentuate events in the South East. ‘Transmission’ is evolving as it gathers data at each exhibition location, growing and metamorphosing to eventually comprise 128 Fragments – printed artwork which uses geological metaphors to produce visual diaries, and digital films/animations inspired by geological and other correlated themes gathered throughout the journey. Jon Adams will be delivering a free artist’s talk on Saturday 28th January at 3pm in Quay Arts’ Seminar Room.

Jon Adams is a trained geologist who uses observational techniques, data collection and mapping to produce a continually evolving ‘biostratigraphy’ that forms the content of the 'Look About' project (biostratigraphy is a geological term relating to the assigning of ages of rocks and fossils in layers to periods in time and looks similar to bar graphs or DNA samples). The geological metaphor stems from his personal struggle to become an artist within the conventional teaching environment and being forced to find an alternative career as a field geologist and palaeontologist. He has since reverted to art and become a successful illustrator and conceptual artist. Adams is able to uncover the hidden and unexpected; he is a collector by nature, highly observant, and an authentic detailer – all things needed to be a successful geologist.

Jon has been diagnosed with Aspergers and Dyslexia, and therefore inclusion and accessibility lie at the heart of the 'Look About' project. It involves conversation with Deaf and disabled artists within the South East region of England and aspires with Accentuate to shift cultural attitudes towards disability in the arts.

‘Look About’ is part of Accentuate, a transformational programme of 15 projects, inspired by the Paralympic Movement, which seeks to change perceptions and offer opportunities to showcase the talents of deaf and disabled people. Accentuate has been funded by Legacy Trust UK, creating a lasting impact from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games by funding ideas and local talent to inspire creativity across the UK, SEEDA and the regional cultural agencies. Screen South is the home of Accentuate.