art as a verb
In June 2025 I was asked if I would be interested to make some work and install at the keep at Fort Brockhurst during the English heritage day pencilled in for Septmber 2025. I was to be one of 5 artists and of course, because of the age and immense historical value of the building, nothing could be hung on walls, or any marks left after the event at all.
I had decided to spend this year enforcing the foundations of my work, and using my studio time to push through into what my next steps may be…and to add depths and tools of knowledge to my existing toolbox. The fort gig then was going to be almost a first footing out armed with deepened understanding of my practice.
I am working on art being a verb. I have always been interested in process…the how and doing of art but to e process infers and end point, whereas the doing, the action, the being is the art and outcome is negligible. Like performance in many many ways, but huma prescense is not neccesary.
Materials were pieces of paint used on others projects, day LED and UV lights, tapes and tools. In terms of prcticality, I turned up, tried out different assemblages looked, hung around, chatted with fellow artists, visitors, and dabbled moving elements about as the day played out.
What I noticed and what I found out:
My relationship with the photographs. I take photographs at every moment of the work being live. I realise the photographs help me to see what is happening, just like everyone would take a different photo of what we see, the camera…with myself taking the photograph…even the camera itself shows me something different. Some photographs are hellishly successful and capture the beauty, the nuance, the delicate unseen within its frame. Some photographs show me…posthumosly…what I missed. Which is what happened this time…as I ventuted out all excited with ideas and possibilities, I discovered that what I had assembled ast the begining was more relevant than all the readjusting that followed. If I was purely working with 3 bottom line ideas…the ephemerality of light and shadow , play, creativity in the moment…then the first hour nailed it. But I continued to play and try out different possiblities…which again were successul in different ways. Maybe what I take from this is the complete stage of initial installaton and play / finding out…to then make time to sift through…to thern revisit, adapt and preserve the second moments of creative response.
And by writing this I now know what I will take to develop for next time, and soon.
Fort Brockhurst open day, organised by English Heritage and the Sustain Conservation Trust. Other artists were Spencer ( inkyblack), Clarke Reynolds ( Mr Spot), Sally Tyrie and Pippa Charlesworth.
