ARTISTS TALKING

# 5 [4 March 2007]

As part of our research on collaboration I went to see Lone Twin in their show Nine Years at the Gardner Centre, University of Sussex.

Gregg and Gary have spent the last nine years making work together. They have travelled half way across the world, given performances in the places they visited. They cycled round cities, walked over bridges, talked to the people they met.

They dressed as blindfolded cowboys and danced in a local hall. People were invited to join in and dance too. One person whispered as she left, "you are very special".

This celebratory Lone Twin show played against video of past performances including footage of people waving back as they travelled home.

At times I laughed, sometimes sighed. The show was wry, poignant, hopeful. I loved it.

I watched the way Gregg and Gary worked together as a team. How they played to their individual strengths. Gary carried more of the humour, Gregg more of the straight man.

Helpful research.

http://www.lonetwin.com

# 4 [2 March 2007]

Roz's photgraph of the allotment (see yesterday's post) whets my appetite for a "site visit". I haven't yet been to the allotment and I'm looking forward to my first visit. It will be exciting to get a feel for the place, to explore and to begin to develop our plans for the time when we're "In Residence".

I always have a great sense of anticipation when I'm starting a new project - that feeling that anything can happen.

www.rozcran.co.uk           www.judithalder-live.co.uk

# 3 [1 March 2007]

Here is a photo of the allotment we plan to use for our residency.  It is covered in patches of carpet (now banned) to hold back the winter growth of weeds.  This gives an idea of the space available for our projects.  The allotment sits on top of the Tenantry Down opposite Brighton Race Course and the garden centre.
The views over Brighton are spectacular.  On a clear day the Isle of Wight is visible.  Kestrels hover for minutes then rocket down.  The daffs are opening and the rosemary has grey flowers.
Soon I will dig it over and plan the planting.  A last strim of the grass and then leave it for the cowslips and polyanthus.
A space for growth, reflection, questions, wonder.                       
www.rozcran.co.uk     www.judithalder-live.co.uk

# 2 [28 February 2007]

Yesterday I visited my allotment which we will use for our residency. I found polaroid photographs scattered over the overgrown flowerbed. They show antique furniture: a desk, table, chests of drawers. How did they get there? Who took the photos and for what purpose? Perhaps they were a record to use in case of theft. Perhaps they themselves have been stolen and abandoned. I took some digital photographs to record the event. www.rozcran.co.uk

# 1 [27 February 2007]

Roz Cran and I met as students on the BA Hons Fine Art (Printmaking) course at the University of Brighton, both graduating in 2003. After graduating, we each followed separate paths, with Roz eventually taking up a place at the RCA, while I embarked on an independent, mainly studio based practice. Our resulting experiences of the past three and a half years have been very different. Roz has been able to take full advantage of her MA studies within a prestigious institution with all of its associated networks and benefits. I have begun to build a professional infrastructure for myself, including the founding of a shared artists’ workspace, Blue Monkey Studio in Eastbourne, along with 3 other graduates.

Roz recently took up a workspace at Blue Monkey Studio and we have been able to renew our working relationship. We are keen to take this opportunity to spend some time developing our practices collaboratively, seeing it as a chance to introduce fresh elements to our work and to test out collaborative ideas, exploring the possibilities for developing new work in a speculative, stimulating and creative environment. We are both very open to experimentation and see our practices as investigative and exploratory. We are going to develop ideas for a residency on an allotment where we can set experimental processes in motion in what we both consider to be a productive environment.