Our latest project, which has taken some months to assume its final shape, is now complete and called …. Seeds of Enlightenment It is an Altered Book … to be exact it is Encyclopedia Britannica Volume 9 (Extraction* to Gambrinus**) from 1950.
An exhibition of all the altered volumes, including ours, opens tomorrow evening September 5th at The Sidney Nolan Trust for H – Art … Herefordshire Arts Week http://www.sidneynolantrust.org/whats-on/exhibitions/h-art-exhibition
Encyclopedia Britannica is now digital and no longer printed, the now transformed volumes in the exhibition were originally destined to be pulped. Instead, earlier this year, Artists were invited to take a volume from a 1950’s collection and create something new. Our altered volume … (jointly created … Heather Prescott and Angela Martin) is the result of a hybrid propagation of volume 9 and our ongoing work with Art Allotments. Our exploration excavates the roots of Encyclopedia Britannica and takes a sideways look at the dissemination and dispersal of the seeds of knowledge and parallels with the seeds of creatiivity.
First the centre pages of Volume 9 were dug out. This created a space to display a collection of seed packets made from the extracted paper. We created our own thistle logo and an Art Allotment brand of Prescott & Martin seeds. Each packet contains thistle and paper seeds made from the cut away pages. The resulting varieties are named with reference to Scottish enlightenment philosophers and scientists influential at the time of the founding of the first Encyclopedia Britannica in Edinburgh in 1768.
Our display places the encyclopedia volume in a box or propagator. This box relates both to providing the right growing environment and to the boxes that transported the Encyclopedia Britannica. We have added compost and materials to ensure the (seeds of) knowledge in Encyclopedia Britannia have good conditions to grow, spread, adapt, hibernate, germinate, regenerate or even to ferment**. Throughout we recognise the importance of “weed seeds “that grow along the margins through dispersal and diasporas and, importantly, can survive hostile environments.
While this blog has become intermittant Art Allotments is still an ongoing collage project which packs recycled artwork, and other visual material in an envelope. The envelopes are exchanged between artists and a collage made. The concept aims to grow ideas and inspiration for new artwork. ‘Compost from leftovers for creative regeneration.’
After H-Art week the exhibition will travel to Bristol and Manchester … details to follow.
