20/12/07
Off to meet Danny Simmonds, Youth Works Programme Co-ordinator for Groundwork...
Ray & I enjoyed a long (and slightly circuitious) walk from The Millfields upto the neighbourhood house Danny works in North Prospect. It was great to meet her and hear about the local centres and groups she works with in the area. In partnership with these organisations she supports youth activities/projects that take place on the estate every day/evening (sports/internet cafes etc)
It was interesting to hear her talk about territories and how many of the young people she knew chose to keep quite local and tight to their neighbouring streets - we chatted about borders and the challenge of stepping out of familiar/safe thresholds/zones.
The houses surrounding the neighbourhood office were just like the one my Gran lived in, in a place called Bearwood (Black Country) - 1920-30s council housing - felt a bit like a trip down memory lane.
Actually on that memory tip, Danny started telling us about a forthcoming youth and community project called 'Swilly at War' about the areas WWII experience. (Swilly, it transpires, was what the area was originally called. The name was changed apparently in an attempt to break away from the negative reputation it had got. That feels like a rather surface attempt at solving a serious situation - but to be fair I havn't asked any local folk what they think about this re-naming process)
ANYWAY - the Swilly at War project looks to be action packed with lots of opportunities for cross-generational contact and chat. Activities will include building an Anderson shelter, a 'digging for victory' allotment project and a youth drama project (which Anne Tillett has since told me a little about - more in later update). Danny also took Ray and I to one of the local community centres (3 Spirit?) and we briefly met a group working on carnival props and costumes for a forthcoming festive celebration. Really nice to get a flavour of the area and Danny's Groundwork activities in North Prospect.
I then nipped off to have lunch with Paula Orrell at the Plymouth Arts Centre where that afternoon G-work staff were invited for a tour of the Barbara Holub and Anna Best exhibitions.
So more on that - here is a copy of the invitation text that was emailed to all Groundwork staff:
"An open invitation to you, your friends/family and local GW collaborative partners to come on a tour of Plymouth Art Centre's latest exhibition with drinks afterwards in their restaurant - on Thursday 20th Dec at 3:30pm.
Paula and Caroline from the Arts Centre will take GW staff and their guests around the new shows by artists in residence Anna Best and Barbara Holub who have both created work in response to their visits to Plymouth over the past year.
(The tour will last about 30 minutes - more info below)
The Arts Centre have also offered Groundworks a few cinema tickets (for any film in Jan/Feb) - so the first 3 folk to RSVP to this invite will get 2 free cinema tickets (better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick!)
It would be great to see u there! Really hope you can join us. These artists are making work about public space and local environments which many of you might find interesting.
Further Info about the exhibiting artists:
Over the last year artists Anna Best & Barbara Holub have been working on a residency programme at Plymouth Arts Centre, travelling back and forth from the city developing new ideas and works. Exploring the walled and inaccessible areas of the city the artists have been talking with local residents, planning departments, working with local artists and researching the history of the city.
Anna Best presents a new film Buddleia which responds to Plymouth's urban and marine landscapes, exploring the imperial nature of the city. The artist is interested in the surreal in everday experience and this film marks a new direction for her as she is better known for making live events in public contexts.
Barbara Holub's work addresses anthropological concerns and she explores social and personal identities through visual art and architecture. She has been spending time in Plymouth looking at the city's regeneration process. Her new work 'More Opportunities' relates to a city in search of a new identity. As an artist and architect she has spent time talking to local people, planning departments and exploring the areas of significant change such as Devonport.
http://www.plymouthac.org.uk/
PAC - 38 Looe Street - PL4 0EB"
OK so that's the background - it being so close to Christmas we had a few cancellations but it was nice to be joined by Alex, Anne, Karin & Ray and Paula generously laid on wine and mince pies and introduced us to PAC and took us around the works. Check out the pics :)
I was really struck by Anna Best's Buddleia film, it was captivating. The Wall, the wailing women looking out to sea, the masked fencers duelling. It suggested a whole raft of personal and collective narratives and it seemed to welcome multiple readings into the cities past and present - as a trading port, military base, a city both accessible and inaccessible (that Wall!) and an area undergoing the wrench/shift of change and massive redevelopment. I especially enjoyed the fencing elements in the work for v personal reasons as a few months previously I incorporated a section of fencing in one of my own video works (Run Away Bride - I'd filmed Jean & Isaac at St. Pauls Sports Centre - see pic). On this occasion i was exploring physical/sculptural and psychological concerns around tension, restraint, release...
Anyway back to the show!
Barbara Holub's white textile banner work 'More Opportunities' was a thought provoking installation. The banner was tied to the outside of the arts centre itself - like a giant sheet stretching over the facade and covering the gallery window. A closer viewing revealed the words More Opportunities (white text on a white background) sewn onto it. A blank canvas upon which to state our needs? A giant truce flag (surely not!)? Could this be marking some kind of cease fire? A minimalist union/protest banner? I reflected on its contrast to the brightly coloured trade union banners I had been researching. And the critical mass of members taking to the streets to declare collective union. Inside the gallery a video of the banner being carried up Looe Street by a small group of 'protestors' was being projected on a loop. Anne commented on the steep incline of the hill in the video, and after several viewings, thinking of the protestors as forever marching upwards. I thought about how this action might have played out if it were filmed on one of Plymouth's main shopping streets. It would, no doubt, have resulted in quite a different video work, possibly at odds with the artist's intention. But I'm always curious about potential responses of shoppers and/or unprepared passers by when making interventions in urban 'public' space.
Anyway that's enough of my ramblings and personal reflections for tonight!
It was interesting to hear her talk about territories and how many of the young people she knew chose to keep quite local and tight to their neighbouring streets - we chatted about borders and the challenge of stepping out of familiar/safe thresholds/zones.
The houses surrounding the neighbourhood office were just like the one my Gran lived in, in a place called Bearwood (Black Country) - 1920-30s council housing - felt a bit like a trip down memory lane.
Actually on that memory tip, Danny started telling us about a forthcoming youth and community project called 'Swilly at War' about the areas WWII experience. (Swilly, it transpires, was what the area was originally called. The name was changed apparently in an attempt to break away from the negative reputation it had got. That feels like a rather surface attempt at solving a serious situation - but to be fair I havn't asked any local folk what they think about this re-naming process)
ANYWAY - the Swilly at War project looks to be action packed with lots of opportunities for cross-generational contact and chat. Activities will include building an Anderson shelter, a 'digging for victory' allotment project and a youth drama project (which Anne Tillett has since told me a little about - more in later update). Danny also took Ray and I to one of the local community centres (3 Spirit?) and we briefly met a group working on carnival props and costumes for a forthcoming festive celebration. Really nice to get a flavour of the area and Danny's Groundwork activities in North Prospect.
I then nipped off to have lunch with Paula Orrell at the Plymouth Arts Centre where that afternoon G-work staff were invited for a tour of the Barbara Holub and Anna Best exhibitions.
So more on that - here is a copy of the invitation text that was emailed to all Groundwork staff:
"An open invitation to you, your friends/family and local GW collaborative partners to come on a tour of Plymouth Art Centre's latest exhibition with drinks afterwards in their restaurant - on Thursday 20th Dec at 3:30pm.
Paula and Caroline from the Arts Centre will take GW staff and their guests around the new shows by artists in residence Anna Best and Barbara Holub who have both created work in response to their visits to Plymouth over the past year.
(The tour will last about 30 minutes - more info below)
The Arts Centre have also offered Groundworks a few cinema tickets (for any film in Jan/Feb) - so the first 3 folk to RSVP to this invite will get 2 free cinema tickets (better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick!)
It would be great to see u there! Really hope you can join us. These artists are making work about public space and local environments which many of you might find interesting.
Further Info about the exhibiting artists:
Over the last year artists Anna Best & Barbara Holub have been working on a residency programme at Plymouth Arts Centre, travelling back and forth from the city developing new ideas and works. Exploring the walled and inaccessible areas of the city the artists have been talking with local residents, planning departments, working with local artists and researching the history of the city.
Anna Best presents a new film Buddleia which responds to Plymouth's urban and marine landscapes, exploring the imperial nature of the city. The artist is interested in the surreal in everday experience and this film marks a new direction for her as she is better known for making live events in public contexts.
Barbara Holub's work addresses anthropological concerns and she explores social and personal identities through visual art and architecture. She has been spending time in Plymouth looking at the city's regeneration process. Her new work 'More Opportunities' relates to a city in search of a new identity. As an artist and architect she has spent time talking to local people, planning departments and exploring the areas of significant change such as Devonport.
http://www.plymouthac.org.uk/
PAC - 38 Looe Street - PL4 0EB"
OK so that's the background - it being so close to Christmas we had a few cancellations but it was nice to be joined by Alex, Anne, Karin & Ray and Paula generously laid on wine and mince pies and introduced us to PAC and took us around the works. Check out the pics :)
I was really struck by Anna Best's Buddleia film, it was captivating. The Wall, the wailing women looking out to sea, the masked fencers duelling. It suggested a whole raft of personal and collective narratives and it seemed to welcome multiple readings into the cities past and present - as a trading port, military base, a city both accessible and inaccessible (that Wall!) and an area undergoing the wrench/shift of change and massive redevelopment. I especially enjoyed the fencing elements in the work for v personal reasons as a few months previously I incorporated a section of fencing in one of my own video works (Run Away Bride - I'd filmed Jean & Isaac at St. Pauls Sports Centre - see pic). On this occasion i was exploring physical/sculptural and psychological concerns around tension, restraint, release...
Anyway back to the show!
Barbara Holub's white textile banner work 'More Opportunities' was a thought provoking installation. The banner was tied to the outside of the arts centre itself - like a giant sheet stretching over the facade and covering the gallery window. A closer viewing revealed the words More Opportunities (white text on a white background) sewn onto it. A blank canvas upon which to state our needs? A giant truce flag (surely not!)? Could this be marking some kind of cease fire? A minimalist union/protest banner? I reflected on its contrast to the brightly coloured trade union banners I had been researching. And the critical mass of members taking to the streets to declare collective union. Inside the gallery a video of the banner being carried up Looe Street by a small group of 'protestors' was being projected on a loop. Anne commented on the steep incline of the hill in the video, and after several viewings, thinking of the protestors as forever marching upwards. I thought about how this action might have played out if it were filmed on one of Plymouth's main shopping streets. It would, no doubt, have resulted in quite a different video work, possibly at odds with the artist's intention. But I'm always curious about potential responses of shoppers and/or unprepared passers by when making interventions in urban 'public' space.
Anyway that's enough of my ramblings and personal reflections for tonight!
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