Contemplating the week ahead I am aiming to redress the balance of the project which until now has been fairly heavily weighted towards working with other people either in workshops at the studio and schools or out in the landscape. This week I am intending to complete some more work based on 'stories'. The stories I am thinking about are the different ways we can describe the same place or the different filters through which we view somewhere. Working with other people and gaining insight into how they see the landscape has been very valuable and now I find this feeding into my work. The main overlapping, sometimes contradictory ways that people view the woods and commons can be summarised as: unspoiled, untouched nature, managed land, landscape which tells us about our past, recreational space, green belt, something to be preserved, something to be used. There is also the woods of our imagination where anything could happen.
Easter has been a wonderful opportunity to draw breath and think about things. Betina, who is mentoring me said that I should assess progress, look at my original aims and work out if I am deviating from them or indeed if I would like to change them. Real people taking part in projects tend to have a way of doing things in unexpected ways. Liking one thing and not another, taking things in an unexpectedly wonderful direction which throws the planning out completely!
On Wednesday I worked with Simon and Hamish, countryside officers, on a childrens activity day. We made some paper and went out pond dipping and then came back to work on some sculptures and bind their paper sheets together to make a book. It was a very full day. It seemed slightly tangental to the project despite involving papermaking I suppose because there was little time to think about why we were doing what we were doing. Note to self for next time! However, the children had a good time and we all learnt a lot. I now know a great deal more about mini-beasts!
I'm catching up with the events of the last few days at the moment. The schools exhibition is up and is being visited by proud children bringing parents and grandparents and reasonably large numbers of other people. I am working on a children's trail through the woodland with the countryside people on Wednesday and needing some inspiration went out there again on Saturday where we photographed 'the perfect tree' amongst other things.
Today I ran a papermaking workshop for a lovely group of ladies although we got slightly sidetracked by the arrival of tea and biscuits it reminded me of what I am enjoying about this project which is the opportunity to meet all sorts of people. The community aspect is important. The news about the cuts to Grants for the Arts made me reflect on my luck at having gained one but also made me think about all the people who are having a day out or learning something or feeling a sense of acheivement because of my grant. I hope the people who make these decisions about funding realise that art isn't just about new buildings or blockbuster shows it's also about small things that may change people's ideas about themselves.
On Thursday I went to the AIR Open Dialogue event at Fabrica which was interesting for all sorts of reasons not least being able to match names and faces of people whose projects have become familiar through the a-n blogs. The main discussion centred around 'support'. The desirability and need for support in all its forms, financial and emotional countered by the need to be 'off balance', and not too comfortable. There was a fair amount of doom laden talk about how we have never had it so good and also some gentle reminders about how lucky we are to have a subsidised art sector at all by comparison with say Italy.
I always get incredibly frustrated when I hear discussions about how artists need contact and a forum to be in touch with other artists because it seems to me that the forum is there. It's where the discussion is being held. I suppose I am a very direct sort of person. If there is a need for something I want to say 'Ok lets organize it now!' Probably why I have been on so many committees in the past!
Earlier in the day I had gone to see Alice Maher's 'Natural Artifice' at Brighton Museum and Art Gallery. I really liked this exhibition. There are so many people in different ways dealing with this meeting place between Culture and Nature and I found her approach very enticing. After that I dodged the pouring rain and met up with Bettina Linstrum from artagenda who is my mentor for the Papertrails project. She had given me much good and calm advice when I was applying for my Grant from ACE and now was in the same boat having just made an application. So we had a nice cup of tea.
Back home afterwards and it was time to finish putting up the exhibition of school's work related to the 'Papertrails' residency. I have mixed feelings about this show. I know most people will view it (if they come along at all) as just jolly kids stuff or even more cynically as a bit of box ticking on my part but I know how much of an effect (particularly with the week-long School residency) the opportunity to work like that had on the children participating.
