An artist ‘in residence’ at the Cambridge Evening News has come up with some thought-provoking work as part of her two-week stay.

Jo Addison is there as part of Millennium Festival celebrations, funded by the New Millennium Experience Company, the Arts Council and the 10 regional arts boards.

Since she arrived almost two weeks ago she has created her own reception desk, which she’s called a perception desk, installing herself as the perceptionist.

Her artwork is inspired by the atmosphere and environment of a busy daily newspaper, much of it highlighting the physical aspects of the publication itself, and different uses after it has been read.

She spent time in the newsroom before her stay, getting used to the unique atmosphere the world of journalism creates.

She has been painting pictures directly onto the pages of the paper, making her own version of the ‘blanks’ created as the print run begins – and is even considering painting her car to match the News’ delivery fleet.

Pictured right: Discarded blanks turned into No Newspapers.

There has also been advice and information available to employees and visitors to the office.

Jo said: “We wanted to reach as many people as possible through this exercise but because of the nature of newspapers it has been difficult.

“The fact that we were invited to hold a residency here is an enormous boost in itself and we’ve all been learning together.

“We couldn’t do a staff workshop in the end so I put together a leaflet to get people involved and the response has been very good. The feedback from staff has been excellent and people have obviously spent a lot of their spare time on this.”

Jo has produced a number of pieces which give the appearance that objects have found their way into the paper itself.

On one pile of papers she painted a very accurate pebble – as if weighting the whole pile down.

Pictured left: Pebble holding down the front page.

On another page an I.O.U. note has found its way into the business pages.

Jo’s residency is organised by Cambridge Sculpture Workshops and supported by the Baring Foundation and the Eastern Arts Board as part of the Year of the Artist.

There will be an evaluation of what was achieved when the residency is finished and more projects could be lined up in the future.

The Year of the Artist will see 1,000 artists, performers, sculptors, dancers, film makers and writers working in the community, taking inspiration from new surroundings and the people they meet.

Pictured right: The “Perceptionist” in residence.

To see more examples of Jo’s work at the newspaper, visit the Cambridge Sculpture Workshops site by clicking here

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