MIND THE MAP
MIND THE MAP grew out of what Leake Street taught me: that collaboration is the catalyst for a considerable creative upgrade. It is also an ode to letting go, of people, places and things, so that new experiences have room to exist.
The idea came from my late father's collection of maps, kept for years. He always said that everything had a use, and I often teased him that if everything he collected for a use never found one, then technically that was hoarding. So when I found the maps, I set about finding them a use, and suddenly I was inviting artists to collaborate with me. Fifty-five of them in all.
At first the idea was simple: I would begin a map artwork and the other artist would finish it. It soon became clear that the roles ought to swap, so I did both. The result is 110 collaborative artworks, all of which are in the exhibition.
A map is a visual representation of psychogeography, the way emotion attaches itself to place, instinctively, and shapes how we experience it. Making marks on one works much as the elements work on the land. It creates context, a story, an emotional echo, a subjective footprint. Nothing lasts forever, but we can meet the finite moment inside the infinite potential with gratitude and humility.
THE ORIGINALS
110 artworks. 55 artists. Every one of them made twice over, by two people.
Each piece began with one of us and was finished by the other. I would start a map and hand it on; then we swapped, and they started one for me to finish. Nobody had the last word twice. What comes back is never what you expected, which is the entire point.
Every work is painted on a genuine Ordnance Survey map from my late father's collection, a real sheet of a real place, folded and carried and kept for years before it became a canvas. The sheet is named on every label, so you can find the piece painted over the hills you grew up in, or the coast you keep going back to.
They are one of one. There are no editions of the originals and there never will be, because you cannot reprint a map that has been painted on. When a piece goes, it has gone.
THE EXHIBITION
2 SEPTEMBER – 30 NOVEMBER 2026
Free entry.
The show changes every month. Each chapter brings a new group of artists and a complete rehang, so all three are worth a visit.
THE CHAPTERS
CHAPTER ONE · 2 – 30 SEPTEMBER — 38 artworks by 19 artists
CHAPTER TWO · 1 – 31 OCTOBER — 38 artworks by 19 artists
CHAPTER THREE · 1 – 30 NOVEMBER — 34 artworks by 17 artists
THE VENUE
TAPE COMMUNITY MUSIC & FILM
Berthes Road, Old Colwyn, Colwyn Bay LL29 9SD
THE WORK
Sizes range from 32 to 50 inches. Unframed, supplied with a certificate of authenticity.
Originals £800 to £2,500. Prints £60.
SALES
All works are sold directly through itvoids.bigcartel.com.
FIND OUT MORE
itvoids.com · itvoids.bigcartel.com · @creativethinkin · @tapemusicandfilm
