Fertile Ground is delighted to announce a residency on the island of Unst, Britain's most northerly, inhabited island.
The project is hosted by artist Tony Humbleyard at Shorestation, a residency space on the island and is one of a series of residencies over the course of the summer months. 'Walking the spaces' explores issues of sustainability, transition and the challenges of the climate emergency for remote island communities. The project's research is framed by the Plantie Crubs on the island. These are traditional structures for planting food communally however they are currently vacant. The Plantie Crubs become a site for investigating land ownership, social history and current land use practices on the island. The project includes: Artist Tony Humbleyard, Dancer/Choreographer Kathryn Spence, Filmaker/editor Keiba Clubb and Landscape architect Sarah Long. An archive of the work will be presented to the community heritage centre, Shetland museum and archives and through an online platform. Many thanks to the Sponsors of this project, NorthLink Ferries.
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States of living: Architecture, Object Body It's been a busy few weeks on the project so far, with the artists Zsa Zsa McGregor and Louise Foreman meeting for the first time. The session was framed by responses to collectively reading “The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction”, from “Dancing at the Edge of the World” by Ursula Le Guin, whilst creating space to share the development of work with each other. Le Guin's text presents the theory that the first tool used by humans was a carrier bag for food rather than a weapon. Le Guin draws connections between the story of origins and the writing of fiction. That contrary of stories of the hero in battle the novel is a feminine form, because it opposes this notion. Le Guin maintains that, “the natural, proper, fitting shape of the novel might be that of a sack, a bag...holding things in particular, powerful relation to one another and to us.”(p.152) The text offered a platform to consider applications of this theory in arts practice as one of holding 'things' in tension. Within arts practice, how is attention given to the people, stories, theories and materials the are worked with: What's in your carrier bag? The text also situated tensions in the use of historical/archival material within the research, through questioning authorship and the role of archivists as gatekeepers. Zsa Zsa's work uses a comb factory on Hutcheon street, Aberdeen to situate connections between the Pictish stones in Aberdeenshire, where symbols of combs and mirrors were used regularly. She took an opportunity to visit the Picardy and The Maiden Stone, North West of Inverurie. ...Stone body meets flesh body medieval structure meets present structure. The Pictish stones hold remnants and residues of the past culture. My body this interacts with this residue channeling the past and questioning present and future. Channelling a communication through performance. A choreographed visual language between my hands and the carved symbols...(Zsa Zsa McGregor) The soap factory ‘Soapy Ogstens’ as it was known, once stood on the Gallowgate and is the point of encounter for Louise’s work. The research is following the trail of traditional processes of soap making, through the processing of kelp or 'sea ware' as it is more generally referred to. This method was used in Scotland and also Ireland. Later industrialisation in printing techniques also allowed the packaging of the soap bar to become a site of religious, political and at times utopian messaging. Dr. Bronners Peppermint 18-in-1 Pure Castile Soap and All-One-God-Faith soap was first produced in the 1960's. 'Absolute cleanliness is godliness!'*, is one tagline used. These rambling, semi - religious, semi - fictional narratives covering Bronners soap juxtapose the sites of washing. In domestic spaces or the body. What might be deemed an intimate and private space, is infiltrated with the moral guidelines of the maker. Louise has also visited a family owned soap making company, to develop an understanding of the process. Mary Jean is family run business and uses traditional soap making processes and is based in Fochabers, we thank you Mary Jean for sharing your knowledge and hospitality! *See pdf for details
The project will support the development of new work, showcased in Aberdeen in January 2020. This project was made possible through funding from the Aberdeen City Council’s ‘Creative Funding Award.’
Fertile Ground is delighted to announce an up and coming residency with Despina, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil October 2019. Despina is an independent space committed to develop platforms for research, production and exchange in the fields of art and cultural activism. It has been working since 2013, and in 2015 it was established as a non-profit association. The space offers artists studios, and an international residency program for artist and curators. The team also program exhibitions, workshops, courses, performances and talks among other activities. The organisations approaches include; strengthening connections between art and activism, widening access to contemporary art and fostering the participation and visibility of historically marginalised agents. |
AuthorFertile ground is the curatorial platform for Rachel Grant. A curator based in Aberdeen, in the North East of Scotland. This blog is kept up to date with selected project activity and research. Archives
October 2021
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