these pages are being continually updated, so keep checking back for new additions!
beginnings: the origins of this installation are documented in previous pages in this menu-stream; the installation itself, its nascence & early steps, as well as all developments since then, are the product of many many hours of conversation, collaborative research, travel, visits, looking listening & handling together, as well as even more hours pouring over the dailies, their extracted language & image, working out how what went with what, dreaming about materials, trying & testing, etc etc. although many aspects of the work were in play beforehand, visiting the installation space provided much of the impetus & direction for evolving the work:
the space: the Electric Picture House in Congleton is a building with an interesting history; now a gallery space with independent artists' studios, it was a textiles mill, a cinema, a cannabis factory, & a garage before its current use. we were drawn to it for various reasons, not least its interesting shape, variety of showing areas, material textures in its architecture, an outside space, etc.
the nature of the venue conditioned some of the content decisions about the installation - we used materials that reference the history of the building (fabrics, hemp, working with light, metal parts, etc); many of the architectural details have suggested ways to structure & design the installation (using the various nooks & crannies as central elements driving the concept for example); & the patterning in walls & floors has directly influenced the tone of our work.
photos of the space taken during pre-installation visits can be seen on this site here .
the nature of the venue conditioned some of the content decisions about the installation - we used materials that reference the history of the building (fabrics, hemp, working with light, metal parts, etc); many of the architectural details have suggested ways to structure & design the installation (using the various nooks & crannies as central elements driving the concept for example); & the patterning in walls & floors has directly influenced the tone of our work.
photos of the space taken during pre-installation visits can be seen on this site here .
rhizomes & folds: Deleuze & Guattari; rhizome & mycelium; why they are of interest; appearances elsewhere; multiplicities & pluralities; the fold (to be expanded)
set-pieces & networks:
we conceive of the installation as a whole; however, during the making process, the spaces of the installation coalesced into territories with their own defining characteristics:
we conceive of the installation as a whole; however, during the making process, the spaces of the installation coalesced into territories with their own defining characteristics:
- 'identity': this explores elements of memory
- 'water': both of us are fascinated by & drawn to water; in the installation we use a mix of glass, stone & metal bowls filled with water, with text running through & into the liquid as well as other items, including explorations of light & sound. in the context of the installation, this section relates to dreaming & abstracted elements of the other topics.
- 'information': water is also used as a concept - streaming, flow & droplets appear in various forms throughout the installation; in this section, streams & flow relate to ideas of information in its many guises in our lives: technology & technological mediation; 24/7 news-streams, the idea of mediation & distortion; image & language; biological information & technological counterparts (memory, for example).
- 'the corridor': this space channels the participants more directly than any other part of the installation; an image of feet points the way, eventually reaching something almost like a shrine - one of the dailies surrounded by text petals & leaves; on the way, the corridor walls bulge & extrude mutated versions of some of the dailies - waxed objects, objects rubbed with spices, tumbling leaves & fragmented texts, layered objects that change perspectives as you pass - all enmeshed within the network, & canopied by branches & a sky-river; no one concept or approach dominates here - in this space the idea of 'limitless pluralities' & interconnected multiplicities becomes most evident.
- 'outside': the outside space is so diverse that we decided to treat it gently - here perhaps more than anywhere our interventions are indistinguishable from already existing elements - a few pebbles turn out to have texts, wires strung along a wall to support vines include our wires, texts join plants in the bedding areas, & something stacked in the shed is trying to escape under the door: all these materials speak perhaps more directly & obviously to their location, calling to mind natural process, weather, & similar concerns. something else that we try to make clear is that the installation is flowing both ways between the outside & interior spaces...
- 'the network': really, the entire space, the whole installation is 'the network', which is essentially just another term for the mycelium or rhizome architecture that underpins the work both materially & conceptually; more specifically, the 'network' is a term we use to refer to the materials linking all the set-pieces & other distinguishable parts of the installation - tendrils & filaments, language & objects that connect & resonate the whole of the work.
- 'other': many smaller pieces are incorporated into the installation - mobiles, objects & other things dotted through the space allow us to explore particular nuances of our concerns, or use materials essential to the work but otherwise homeless in regard to the set-pieces & other territories.
materials: a full list of materials would be exhausting, though our 'assets' list can be found here. our principal concerns were to extrapolate materials suggested by the texts, images, sounds of the dailies; materials suggested by the venue (as explained above); materials suggested by the topics & processes of the dailies, & materials connected to the underlying structural concepts (threads & twine being the most obvious here). to this end, found objects & materials (analogous to 'found' text & image) play a large role in the installation - both of us are now largely incapable of passing even the most innocuous object in the street or field without considering taking it home; many bought items were adapted to purpose or repurposed entirely; almost the only objects appearing without significant alteration of this sort are the metal & stone water bowls, which were sourced commercially for purpose - thanks to Birdie Fortescue & Round Wood for generous discounts for artistic purposes...
materials: a full list of materials would be exhausting, though our 'assets' list can be found here. our principal concerns were to extrapolate materials suggested by the texts, images, sounds of the dailies; materials suggested by the venue (as explained above); materials suggested by the topics & processes of the dailies, & materials connected to the underlying structural concepts (threads & twine being the most obvious here). to this end, found objects & materials (analogous to 'found' text & image) play a large role in the installation - both of us are now largely incapable of passing even the most innocuous object in the street or field without considering taking it home; many bought items were adapted to purpose or repurposed entirely; almost the only objects appearing without significant alteration of this sort are the metal & stone water bowls, which were sourced commercially for purpose - thanks to Birdie Fortescue & Round Wood for generous discounts for artistic purposes...
sound: the principal sound design is by Elizabeth, combining recordings of texts with recomposed material originally by Gavin, & newly recorded sound. this sound is directly related to conceptual elements of the rest of the installation (especially memory & dream), & is also directly related to specific materials heard & touched. this facet of the installation sound is largely accessed via headphones & 'close-listening' wall speakers (i.e. ones you have to lean into to listen...)
additional sonic material is provided by ambient recordings played through a small number of standard professional speakers.
some of the installation is designed to 'be sounded' - either intentionally, or accidentally as a by-product of handling.
finally, a special addition to the sound is provided by live performance - for one day of the installation we were going by Gemma Bass & Gary Farr, founding members of the Vonnegut Collective (& BBC Philharmonic players), who perform using text scores developed from the language materials, & using the installation itself as score & instrument.