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The grass is patchy, dotted with fallen leaves. There is a big scar from annual bonfires which is covered in wood-chippings. The shrubbery is wild and unkempt. The gate is broken too.
Just as Spring began to arrive I asked artists to come and visit the site to decide whether they would like to be part of an exhibition here in the Summer. Six of the artists decided to commit to transforming the space.
It was Frances Hatch, an artist who lives at the vicarage who initiated the project by sharing her ideas with the director of Dorset Visual Arts about having a sculpture garden during Dorset Arts Weeks. Some time ago I had been introduced to the organisation by director Jem Main at an interview for a part-time post. My impression was that it was a very different set up to the kind of arts organisations I had been part of in Yorkshire. DVA is a membership organisation that covers the whole county of Dorset. There is no selection process for members; they pay an annual fee to be listed on the website and once every two years they can choose to take part in a countywide open studios event for which they must pay an additional fee.
It is said to be the largest open studios event in the UK and it attracts visitors in their thousands. Many use the opportunity to purchase new and previously exhibited works directly from the artists at their studios. Some artists come together as groups to exhibit and sell work. There is no distinction between amateur, professional, artisan, designer, craftsperson or fine artist. Everyone who makes and has paid the fee is entitled to show their work and be part of the event.
A list of artists had already been contacted prior to my engagement with the garden. I did not have much information about these artists except that they were DVA members. I read their entries on the DVA website. Some came to the Spring meeting but in the end just three accepted the proposal for a group show. Foreseeing this issue I went to Jem Main and requested permission to invite artists who were not members of DVA to be involved. I was a little disappointed by the lack of avant garde works being produced by members of DVA. That not many were willing to be involved in a curated show was a blessing in a way and Jem accepted my proposal to invite other contemporary Dorset artists to exhibit.
I decided not to theme the show but to encourage the artists to respond to the space. Later I was thrilled to read Ralph Rugoff’s (currently director of The Hayward Gallery, London) essay ‘You Talking To Me? On Curating Group Shows That Give You A Chance To Join The Group’[1] who condoned themed group shows. By having a theme the audience is told what to think before they even see the artwork. Because I would be introducing some challenging works to the regular visitor to DAW I wanted to make sure they could be involved. By asking the artists to respond to the space I hoped that this would also be the reaction of the viewer to feel invited to respond to the space now presented to them.
We met again in the Springtime to discuss the artists’ previous and current work practice and how they would like to use the space. Initially during these conversations there were visions of complex high tech installations, interactive works and participatory activities. I felt it was important that the artists met each other and begin to become more familiar with the context in which they had chosen to exhibit. I wanted to develop respect through understanding for the different ways that the artists approached their individual practices. For some; critical discourse, methodology and concept were of great concern, for others the mastering of skills with tools and materials was the drive for their making. For others these went hand in hand. By spending time as a group the artists had an opportunity to discuss their practice openly.
A practical issue arose with security of the artworks during the exhibition, but in terms of what we could present and how we might adapt the space was left entirely open to us by Frances, who encouraged experimentation. In my many meetings and chats over tea with Frances she shared with me her love of the outdoors. We talked about my experiences facilitating art workshops at Yorkshire Sculpture Park and the recognition that whilst outdoor we can think more freely. In the garden we talked of painting leaves, holding continuous burning fires, inviting children to come and make temporary interventions. Frances encouraged us to be in the space as often as we wished, which complimented my concept for an exhibition that responded to the garden itself.
At the beginning of the summer we met again and the artists were now much clearer about what they would contribute to the project. We decided on an install date where we could all be present. I wanted this to be well in advance of the opening so that the work could settle into the space. As curator I wanted to involve the artists in bringing together the show; I wanted the installation to be collaborative so it was important we were all present.
On the morning of installation I cycled to the vicarage as usual. I was the first to arrive so I began to clear some twigs and stones from the grass before we mowed the lawn. Idly I perched on a picnic bench that had appeared in the space and began checking emails on my phone. In my inbox was a message from Frances, who was away today, the subject line read ‘dilemma’ in capital letters. I opened it to find out that there was an event the next morning which would prevent us from installing the art works today.
As the artists began to arrive I broke the news to them. For many it was a relief as they had been working up to the last minute to prepare for the show. We set the following Tuesday as the new installation date and I went home and used the free afternoon to finally get around to doing some well overdue housework. I slightly overlooked the fact I had invited international photojournalist Damaso Reyes who was in London for a few weeks to visit me on Tuesday.
On Monday it began to get warm and the weather forecast predicted a heat wave for the next few days. On Tuesday it was around 25 degrees Celsius at 10am in the morning. Andrew Walders had almost completed the digging of his hole for his performance piece Mercy. John Biggs had completed his installation And Here We See The Work Of The Bamboo Spider in the front garden. Oliver Adams had arrived with two works. Paul Hearn, Martin Debenham and Sarah Moore’s work was coming out of storage from the garage from Friday. It was all go. I’d brought chilled cans of Pepsi for everyone. We noticed they had a logo ‘transform your patch’ on them which was a curious coincidence.
Around 11 Paul and I went to pick up Damaso from the train station. In the car I reminded him of my suggestion that he take a few snaps to keep himself occupied whilst I was busy. When we got back to the garden I introduced him to everyone and included him in the dialogues with Sarah about the composition of her two sculptures. This dialogue opened out to the assembled group and we tried and tested various suggestions before Sarah entrusted the final decision to me.
Paul installed ‘False Son’ behind ‘Split’ and I encouraged him to install a second piece near Ollie’s work. ‘Sun ii’ was a circle of orange painted plaster and faced the yellow ‘False Son’ on the other side of the garden. Now Ollie’s ‘Bar 1’ ‘Bar 2’ and ‘Bar 3’ had an art friend too.
Damaso worked with Andy making a series of photographs of his entry, placement and exit from the dug earth. Next to Mercy in the alcove of the shrubbery we placed Sarah’s ‘Mother and Child’. She looks like Our Lady at the grotto. When I went to school at the convent in Milford girls and boys would go to the grotto at lunchtime, which was hidden in the trees, to kiss. Because of this it couldn’t be used for its intended purpose of prayer and I’m sure that the teachers knew these couples were not going there to confide to Our Lady.
In this sculpture garden Mother and Child are in plain view behind Mercy where Andy rests peacefully in his self dug earthen womb.
Everybody who visits loves the wire sculpture; Martin Debenham made these by hand and they are skilfully completed and thoughtfully presented. For the opening event I encouraged Martin to give a talk about his practice and its relationship to drawing. Although he is a quiet man, he is a truly impressive draftsman.
One morning whilst I was setting up the show a couple came to ask me whether the metal pipe lying on the grass was a sculpture. I was pleased to tell them that in fact it was carved, painted wood by Oliver Adams who works with wood to make it appear to have qualities beyond our expectations of it. That they questioned its purpose as art is exactly what Ollie had intended when he rested two seemingly ‘unchosen’ branches carved to appear to have bent like metal bars against the broken fence.
The selected painted ‘Bar’ lies on the grass pointing towards ‘Sun ii’ on one end and Mercy on the other. Shaped like a snake about to pounce of a winding question mark it asks – what is sculpture? It is linking itself to an installation and a performance work whilst itself being evident of skilled craftsmanship.
‘Flow’ is missing from the map we produced for the show. Paul says he doesn’t mind. ‘Flow’ stands out well near Sarah carved stone ‘Follow Your Dream’ and Martins wire and reflective sphere ‘Sanctuary’ that boast their craftsmanship and labour. ‘Flow’ is confident and cheeky but in no way arrogant. With its lithe straight pink and yellow legs and its florescent yellow curved top; it could be an aerial for the new wave. I imagine that when the garden is empty at night it escapes and causes mischief in the supermarket car parks before returning quietly and posing innocently awaiting admirers. It is playful, but still now. When the sun is shining its florescent yellow top matches the light on the yellow leaves of the wild shrubbery.
Phoebus Arise stands irisless behind me in the tall grass. Her expression is open and he energy rays tangle outwards like a lion’s main. She is perfectly executed but hidden behind her is a grouping of interesting found materials. I wonder if John is not a little like our friend ‘Flow’?
Just as Spring began to arrive I asked artists to come and visit the site to decide whether they would like to be part of an exhibition here in the Summer. Six of the artists decided to commit to transforming the space.
It was Frances Hatch, an artist who lives at the vicarage who initiated the project by sharing her ideas with the director of Dorset Visual Arts about having a sculpture garden during Dorset Arts Weeks. Some time ago I had been introduced to the organisation by director Jem Main at an interview for a part-time post. My impression was that it was a very different set up to the kind of arts organisations I had been part of in Yorkshire. DVA is a membership organisation that covers the whole county of Dorset. There is no selection process for members; they pay an annual fee to be listed on the website and once every two years they can choose to take part in a countywide open studios event for which they must pay an additional fee.
It is said to be the largest open studios event in the UK and it attracts visitors in their thousands. Many use the opportunity to purchase new and previously exhibited works directly from the artists at their studios. Some artists come together as groups to exhibit and sell work. There is no distinction between amateur, professional, artisan, designer, craftsperson or fine artist. Everyone who makes and has paid the fee is entitled to show their work and be part of the event.
A list of artists had already been contacted prior to my engagement with the garden. I did not have much information about these artists except that they were DVA members. I read their entries on the DVA website. Some came to the Spring meeting but in the end just three accepted the proposal for a group show. Foreseeing this issue I went to Jem Main and requested permission to invite artists who were not members of DVA to be involved. I was a little disappointed by the lack of avant garde works being produced by members of DVA. That not many were willing to be involved in a curated show was a blessing in a way and Jem accepted my proposal to invite other contemporary Dorset artists to exhibit.
I decided not to theme the show but to encourage the artists to respond to the space. Later I was thrilled to read Ralph Rugoff’s (currently director of The Hayward Gallery, London) essay ‘You Talking To Me? On Curating Group Shows That Give You A Chance To Join The Group’[1] who condoned themed group shows. By having a theme the audience is told what to think before they even see the artwork. Because I would be introducing some challenging works to the regular visitor to DAW I wanted to make sure they could be involved. By asking the artists to respond to the space I hoped that this would also be the reaction of the viewer to feel invited to respond to the space now presented to them.
We met again in the Springtime to discuss the artists’ previous and current work practice and how they would like to use the space. Initially during these conversations there were visions of complex high tech installations, interactive works and participatory activities. I felt it was important that the artists met each other and begin to become more familiar with the context in which they had chosen to exhibit. I wanted to develop respect through understanding for the different ways that the artists approached their individual practices. For some; critical discourse, methodology and concept were of great concern, for others the mastering of skills with tools and materials was the drive for their making. For others these went hand in hand. By spending time as a group the artists had an opportunity to discuss their practice openly.
A practical issue arose with security of the artworks during the exhibition, but in terms of what we could present and how we might adapt the space was left entirely open to us by Frances, who encouraged experimentation. In my many meetings and chats over tea with Frances she shared with me her love of the outdoors. We talked about my experiences facilitating art workshops at Yorkshire Sculpture Park and the recognition that whilst outdoor we can think more freely. In the garden we talked of painting leaves, holding continuous burning fires, inviting children to come and make temporary interventions. Frances encouraged us to be in the space as often as we wished, which complimented my concept for an exhibition that responded to the garden itself.
At the beginning of the summer we met again and the artists were now much clearer about what they would contribute to the project. We decided on an install date where we could all be present. I wanted this to be well in advance of the opening so that the work could settle into the space. As curator I wanted to involve the artists in bringing together the show; I wanted the installation to be collaborative so it was important we were all present.
On the morning of installation I cycled to the vicarage as usual. I was the first to arrive so I began to clear some twigs and stones from the grass before we mowed the lawn. Idly I perched on a picnic bench that had appeared in the space and began checking emails on my phone. In my inbox was a message from Frances, who was away today, the subject line read ‘dilemma’ in capital letters. I opened it to find out that there was an event the next morning which would prevent us from installing the art works today.
As the artists began to arrive I broke the news to them. For many it was a relief as they had been working up to the last minute to prepare for the show. We set the following Tuesday as the new installation date and I went home and used the free afternoon to finally get around to doing some well overdue housework. I slightly overlooked the fact I had invited international photojournalist Damaso Reyes who was in London for a few weeks to visit me on Tuesday.
On Monday it began to get warm and the weather forecast predicted a heat wave for the next few days. On Tuesday it was around 25 degrees Celsius at 10am in the morning. Andrew Walders had almost completed the digging of his hole for his performance piece Mercy. John Biggs had completed his installation And Here We See The Work Of The Bamboo Spider in the front garden. Oliver Adams had arrived with two works. Paul Hearn, Martin Debenham and Sarah Moore’s work was coming out of storage from the garage from Friday. It was all go. I’d brought chilled cans of Pepsi for everyone. We noticed they had a logo ‘transform your patch’ on them which was a curious coincidence.
Around 11 Paul and I went to pick up Damaso from the train station. In the car I reminded him of my suggestion that he take a few snaps to keep himself occupied whilst I was busy. When we got back to the garden I introduced him to everyone and included him in the dialogues with Sarah about the composition of her two sculptures. This dialogue opened out to the assembled group and we tried and tested various suggestions before Sarah entrusted the final decision to me.
Paul installed ‘False Son’ behind ‘Split’ and I encouraged him to install a second piece near Ollie’s work. ‘Sun ii’ was a circle of orange painted plaster and faced the yellow ‘False Son’ on the other side of the garden. Now Ollie’s ‘Bar 1’ ‘Bar 2’ and ‘Bar 3’ had an art friend too.
Damaso worked with Andy making a series of photographs of his entry, placement and exit from the dug earth. Next to Mercy in the alcove of the shrubbery we placed Sarah’s ‘Mother and Child’. She looks like Our Lady at the grotto. When I went to school at the convent in Milford girls and boys would go to the grotto at lunchtime, which was hidden in the trees, to kiss. Because of this it couldn’t be used for its intended purpose of prayer and I’m sure that the teachers knew these couples were not going there to confide to Our Lady.
In this sculpture garden Mother and Child are in plain view behind Mercy where Andy rests peacefully in his self dug earthen womb.
Everybody who visits loves the wire sculpture; Martin Debenham made these by hand and they are skilfully completed and thoughtfully presented. For the opening event I encouraged Martin to give a talk about his practice and its relationship to drawing. Although he is a quiet man, he is a truly impressive draftsman.
One morning whilst I was setting up the show a couple came to ask me whether the metal pipe lying on the grass was a sculpture. I was pleased to tell them that in fact it was carved, painted wood by Oliver Adams who works with wood to make it appear to have qualities beyond our expectations of it. That they questioned its purpose as art is exactly what Ollie had intended when he rested two seemingly ‘unchosen’ branches carved to appear to have bent like metal bars against the broken fence.
The selected painted ‘Bar’ lies on the grass pointing towards ‘Sun ii’ on one end and Mercy on the other. Shaped like a snake about to pounce of a winding question mark it asks – what is sculpture? It is linking itself to an installation and a performance work whilst itself being evident of skilled craftsmanship.
‘Flow’ is missing from the map we produced for the show. Paul says he doesn’t mind. ‘Flow’ stands out well near Sarah carved stone ‘Follow Your Dream’ and Martins wire and reflective sphere ‘Sanctuary’ that boast their craftsmanship and labour. ‘Flow’ is confident and cheeky but in no way arrogant. With its lithe straight pink and yellow legs and its florescent yellow curved top; it could be an aerial for the new wave. I imagine that when the garden is empty at night it escapes and causes mischief in the supermarket car parks before returning quietly and posing innocently awaiting admirers. It is playful, but still now. When the sun is shining its florescent yellow top matches the light on the yellow leaves of the wild shrubbery.
Phoebus Arise stands irisless behind me in the tall grass. Her expression is open and he energy rays tangle outwards like a lion’s main. She is perfectly executed but hidden behind her is a grouping of interesting found materials. I wonder if John is not a little like our friend ‘Flow’?