marchnad / market

Welcome to the new Ty Pawb exhibition, February - April 2025.

It’s not easy running a market stall. Or an art gallery. This new artwork celebrates all the people in Ty Pawb in Wrexham who do it really well. Developed by artist Alan Dunn with traders, staff and local artists, the new film below is screened next to some old amateur Super 8 footage of Wrexham and is accompanied by new neon, 10" soundtrack record and new invigilator outfits. See marchnad / market for more details.

Tŷ Pawb houses both market stalls and an art gallery – and it’s not easy running either! The collaborative artworks developed by Dunn and traders celebrate all the people within Tŷ Pawb who do both really well, including the huge Wal Pawb artwork that references the Sgt Pepper sleeve, Raphael’s ‘School of Athens’ and Jeff Wall photographs to transform traders and behind-the-scenes staff into iconic stars.

All filmed on phones with some short AI clips inserted, the film is screened next to old Super 8 footage of Wrexham city centre and images of how the market used to look. The film has been soundtracked by musician Meilir Tomos who worked alongside the artist on Wal Pawb, and local artist/activist Natasha Borton, along with contributions from Leeds Beckett University students, where Dunn lectures.

Meilir collected audio recordings from around the building in Ty Pawb and combined these with individual sounds he created that have a relationship to the individual words in the images and the experience of the creation of this project. Using various synthesizers including a Moog Subharmonicon, Moog Grandmother and Microkorg, Meilir made subdivisions of tones and short arpeggios to create the music and mixed this together with the ambient sounds of Ty Pawb. To celebrate marchnad / market, a limited edition 10” record will be available featuring the soundtrack.

marchnad / market also includes a public programme co-delivered with the traders and sensory parcels developed with artist Ticky Lowe of Making Sense, the installation of a major new neon sign within the gallery/market space, new outfits for invigilators and lots of ‘super-marchnad’ merchandise including outfits for invigilators who are invited to sit outside the gallery space.

With huge thanks to all the traders in Tŷ Pawb, especially Pencilcraftsman, Siop Siwan, House of Retro, Curry On The Go, Wing King, Just Desserts, Revibed Records, RTO Alterations, Smashed It, Pie’d Pie’per, Gemini Blinds, New Style Boutique, Crystal Point Piercing, DJ Carpets, Hair by Renia, Esme’s, Skellytones and Candilicious. Additional thanks to all Tŷ Pawb staff, Ryan and Chloe of Dispensary Gallery, Bom Dia Cymru and to Brigitte, Zak, Heidi, Lulu, Kora, Valentina and Joey (aged 8) who helped with the Snapchat animations! Additional spice animations from Bethany Hewines and Hannah Nolan and cyanotype from Katy Lynch - see full versions in February! With thanks to Leeds Beckett University and Leeds Arts University.




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