The National Museum of Computing invites you to an intimate and exclusive gathering to celebrate the opening of Pushing the Envelope: An exhibition of mailed and correspondence art, an innovative exhibition coordinated by TNMOC's first artist-in-residence, Lucy Helton. This special event is designed for the artists, their family and friends, and members of both their communities and the TNMOC community who wish to share in the unveiling of the exhibition in the historic setting of Bletchley Park's Block H.
Pushing the Envelope: An exhibition of mailed and correspondence art showcases work made by 2D artists who either use or reference archaic technologies. As The National Museum of Computing houses the world's first electronic computer, the Colossus, which Tommy Flowers spent eleven months designing and building at the Post Office Research Station in North West London, each artwork will be posted into the Museum. The mailed artworks are to be hung through-out the galleries between, beside or over the machines themselves. While the museum’s visitors will diversify and expand the artists' audiences, the exhibition aims to introduce art to the visitors they would otherwise never see.
The exhibition features work from the following artists:
Through technical support from Museum volunteers, Lucy and participating artists have transformed the Museum into a vehicle for artistic expression.
This gathering is not only a chance for many new visitors to experience the Museum in person for the first time, but to see these incredible works displayed in situ, alongside TNMOC's extensive collection of functional historic machines.
This exclusive event will commence with a reception of seasonal refreshments and snacks at 1pm, followed by some remarks from Lucy Helton and the Museum Director. Attendees will then be invited to explore the Museum and view the exhibition for themselves as part of a specially curated guided tour of the Museum from 2:30pm. Museum guides and participating artists will come together to showcase the best the Museum has to offer, and provide insight on artworks submitted to the exhibition.
We hope that you will join us in celebrating the installation of this landmark exhibition. Please RSVP by the 21st of October to confirm your attendance.
NB - your ticket includes access to the Museum for the entire day. All refreshments served will be non-alcoholic, and snacks provided will exclusively be vegetarian/vegan.
About Lucy Helton
Visual artist Lucy Helton born in London received her master’s degree in fine art photography from Hartford Art School, CT, in 2014. She’s currently a funded PhD practice-led researcher at the Slade School of Fine Art focusing on human environmental impact in outer space. Rising from a necessity to express her personal anxieties and concerns about the environment, her first photo book Actions of Consequence was nominated for the MACK First Book Award 2014, shortlisted for the Kassel Dummy Award 2015, and The Anamorphosis Prize 2015. Her book Transmission (Silas Finch, 2015) – a message from our future to our recent past – printed on antiquated fax machines, was shortlisted for the Paris Photo-Aperture First Book Award 2015. Seeing visual arts as a means of engagement, Helton uses concept-specific technologies to image the relationship between human beings and the landscapes we inhabit. Gaining a HAM (amateur) radio license, she continues to test the boundaries of art and technology by making both long and short-range image transmissions.
