{BEYOND}
2018
Open door residency at Allenheads Contemporary Arts, Northumberland
A residency project during 2018 in which 12 artists investigate the theme of BEYOND.
July 2018
Over the past six months I have been visiting Allenheads Contemporary Arts (ACA) in Northumberland along with a group of other artists for an open residency project called BEYOND. On my first visit we were lucky enough to do some stargazing at the Allenheads Observatory and hear a talk by an astronomer who told us about the history of the stars, their names and their mythologies. This was fascinating, but most of all I was struck by the oddity of the names given to the constellations - Orion's Belt, Great Bear, Aquarius - because no matter how hard I looked, I couldn't see anything remotely resembling Greek Gods, prowling animals or signs of the zodiac. I realised how significantly we impose narrative, myth and wishful thinking onto our surroundings.
I love the remote beauty of the Allenheads region and later during my visit I found myself daydreaming about the ruins of the old Victorian lead mine workings dotted about the landscape. Wanting to find out more, I looked at a 1980's OS Pathfinder map of the area, and was amazed by the wonderful names that had been given to places nearby - Frazer's Hush, Adam's Cow, Pile of Stones, Tongue, Kill Hope.
Suddenly, these names seemed just like the names given to the star clusters - magical, quasi-mythological descriptions of places, people and events from the past. I realised that I wanted to commemorate these places and somehow combine the magic of the landscape with the magic of the stars.
So I decided to map the historical place names of the Allenheads area using the cartographical conventions of a star chart. I stripped away all the topographical information such as contour lines, roads and houses and left only individual points on a flat background. The result is a brand new map - The Allenheads Cluster - which I hope people can use to look afresh at the Allenheads area and to daydream about it, just as our ancestors dreamt about the stars and created celestial stories of myth and magic.
Green Swang, Blue Heaps and Benty Brow are now free to twinkle alongside one another like stars in the sky.
Apr 2018
I have started work on a new map, which will combine the historical place names of the Allenheads area with the cartographical conventions of a star chart, to create a semi-mythological representation in which constellations of places and topographical features are linked.
Feb 2018
An excellent weekend of both star- and navel-gazing. Viewings of the moon and stars were interspersed with discussions, walks and talks plus an unscheduled spot of dowsing for water, minerals, meteorites and anything else we could find.
I was struck by the range of responses from my fellow residency artists to the BEYOND project. A recurring theme for me throughout the weekend was the idea of peripheral vision. This was discussed specifically during one presentation but also made several other appearances in its wider sense: ie the possibility of acquiring information and knowledge through indirect means, subconsciously or through broadening our spectrum of sensory inputs (going BEYOND?).
For my own work I would like to find fresh astrononomical texts to excavate for their use of language. For some reason I would particularly like to investigate some peer-reviewed technical papers. I am also interested in the idea that the stars can (on one level) be reduced to a catalogue of code names and co-ordinates.
I am beginning to realise that the 'Wow' factor that Edward Irving describes in his book 'How to Know the Starry Heavens' (and which has been the catalyst for my investigations into the astronomical sublime) is not after all intrinsic to the stars themselves or to the act of star-gazing, but is a personal response that is not universally shared. In a similar way, some people do not respond with awe to the natural world, but may respond with hostility, indifference, scientific curiosity or cold utility. At some point I would like to investigate some of these other responses too.
Thanks to Alan and Helen and to my fellow residency artists for such good company. Thanks also to Gary Lintern for an excellent demonstration and talk. I'm very much looking forward to seeing how this project progresses!
Open door residency at Allenheads Contemporary Arts, Northumberland
A residency project during 2018 in which 12 artists investigate the theme of BEYOND.
July 2018
Over the past six months I have been visiting Allenheads Contemporary Arts (ACA) in Northumberland along with a group of other artists for an open residency project called BEYOND. On my first visit we were lucky enough to do some stargazing at the Allenheads Observatory and hear a talk by an astronomer who told us about the history of the stars, their names and their mythologies. This was fascinating, but most of all I was struck by the oddity of the names given to the constellations - Orion's Belt, Great Bear, Aquarius - because no matter how hard I looked, I couldn't see anything remotely resembling Greek Gods, prowling animals or signs of the zodiac. I realised how significantly we impose narrative, myth and wishful thinking onto our surroundings.
I love the remote beauty of the Allenheads region and later during my visit I found myself daydreaming about the ruins of the old Victorian lead mine workings dotted about the landscape. Wanting to find out more, I looked at a 1980's OS Pathfinder map of the area, and was amazed by the wonderful names that had been given to places nearby - Frazer's Hush, Adam's Cow, Pile of Stones, Tongue, Kill Hope.
Suddenly, these names seemed just like the names given to the star clusters - magical, quasi-mythological descriptions of places, people and events from the past. I realised that I wanted to commemorate these places and somehow combine the magic of the landscape with the magic of the stars.
So I decided to map the historical place names of the Allenheads area using the cartographical conventions of a star chart. I stripped away all the topographical information such as contour lines, roads and houses and left only individual points on a flat background. The result is a brand new map - The Allenheads Cluster - which I hope people can use to look afresh at the Allenheads area and to daydream about it, just as our ancestors dreamt about the stars and created celestial stories of myth and magic.
Green Swang, Blue Heaps and Benty Brow are now free to twinkle alongside one another like stars in the sky.
Apr 2018
I have started work on a new map, which will combine the historical place names of the Allenheads area with the cartographical conventions of a star chart, to create a semi-mythological representation in which constellations of places and topographical features are linked.
Feb 2018
An excellent weekend of both star- and navel-gazing. Viewings of the moon and stars were interspersed with discussions, walks and talks plus an unscheduled spot of dowsing for water, minerals, meteorites and anything else we could find.
I was struck by the range of responses from my fellow residency artists to the BEYOND project. A recurring theme for me throughout the weekend was the idea of peripheral vision. This was discussed specifically during one presentation but also made several other appearances in its wider sense: ie the possibility of acquiring information and knowledge through indirect means, subconsciously or through broadening our spectrum of sensory inputs (going BEYOND?).
For my own work I would like to find fresh astrononomical texts to excavate for their use of language. For some reason I would particularly like to investigate some peer-reviewed technical papers. I am also interested in the idea that the stars can (on one level) be reduced to a catalogue of code names and co-ordinates.
I am beginning to realise that the 'Wow' factor that Edward Irving describes in his book 'How to Know the Starry Heavens' (and which has been the catalyst for my investigations into the astronomical sublime) is not after all intrinsic to the stars themselves or to the act of star-gazing, but is a personal response that is not universally shared. In a similar way, some people do not respond with awe to the natural world, but may respond with hostility, indifference, scientific curiosity or cold utility. At some point I would like to investigate some of these other responses too.
Thanks to Alan and Helen and to my fellow residency artists for such good company. Thanks also to Gary Lintern for an excellent demonstration and talk. I'm very much looking forward to seeing how this project progresses!