Community Led Shortlisting and Interviewing

You may have read that our final commission of this phase has been awarded to Chris Helson and Sarah Jackets and they have begun working in South West Burnley already, basing themselves just off Manchester Road for two weeks while they get to know the area and its people. What you might not know is the process we went through as a community to select the artists, a process which was complex, challenging and a lot of fun.


The original brief that went out to artists far and wide was relatively open, with a few pointers from our existing work and particular objectives from funders. We believed that this would elicit the most varied responses from artists - we weren't wrong and at the beginning of September a small group sat down to draw up a shortlist of three who we would ask to develop their idea and run a community workshop later in the month as their interview.


The conversations inspired by the proposals were fascinating as we explored ideas of what art is and could be, what might work in the area and which proposals were the most inspiring. A conversation about whether one proposal was suitable for Tate Modern and not SW Burnley stayed with me throughout the process and I was particularly excited when Fi asked 'Why not? Why can't we have something good enough for Tate Modern?'  We shortlisted to three artists - a theatre company from Liverpool specialising in working class theatre, a visual artist proposing an idea based on encouraging bees in the area through activities, wildflower meadows and art, and artists proposing a temporary light installation.


Later in the month fifteen people, including members of the craft group, local volunteers and the Ground UP core team spent a day with the shortlisted artists. We were really pleased that so many people turned up, giving a day of their time to the project and engaging so fully in the process, particularly at a time when two of the group were working on the film project all week.


Each of the artists who came and facilitated an activity brought something unique to the day and potentially to the commission, and the quality of the conversations as we made our decision reflected the investment that the group had in the process.
What I found most inspiring was that the selected artists were those who had proposed a temporary light installation for the area, the artists whose proposal had resulted in the conversation about whether it was more suited to Tate Modern than South West Burnley and the proposal that was the least tangible. Chris and Sarah showed the group a video of 'Liminal' an 8m diameter projection from a recent project and as you can see (below), we were entranced. http://www.helsonandjackets.com/index.php/liminal



The reason their proposal was chosen, which would be inspired by Liminal but site-specific for SW Burnley, was because of the magic it would bring, a word that was used several times in the discussions. We were excited by the fact that the technology proposed in the process and product would be something new, something that we couldn't do without the artists and the group felt it would interest younger people, also having the potential to attract lots of different people to the area to see the final piece.
There was a real desire to give SW Burnley some profile, giving the media positive reasons to write about the area and to bring people from outside Burnley in to experience something unique.
The group talked about wanting to create an art work that people would travel from Manchester to see, as well as creating something for local people to be proud of. We also wanted local people, who might not normally go into the next estate or who might never have a reason to come into SW Burnley to have a chance to meet up and have a magical experience together, hopefully breaking down some boundaries. When someone asked what the legacy of this project would be, it was clear that the memories and stories arising from the process and product were seen as a significant and valuable legacy for SW Burnley.





So, look out for Chris and Sarah around and about this week. They are also going to be blogging about their research and developments in advance of the final event which has been scheduled for the end of January 2014.
Cath

Significant Ties Update

A post by way of a quick update on Significant Ties - the project I am doing as part of groundUP.

I have been working on the plans for the large scale portraits that will be installed outside in South West Burnley. Sadly the first chosen location did not work out so I am pursuing Plan B and once all is confirmed I will let everyone know where it is. Until then, the suspense must remain! The printer is ready to go with the images - they will be backed onto board and remain in public for approx one month.

More soon....

Caroline (W)


A wonderful weekend with Significant Ties

What a wonderful weekend - spending some time with all the lovely people who took part in Significant Ties. I chose this title for my part of the GroundUP project as it seemed to sum up the sense of community and the bonds between people that I have been trying to capture through the work for my residency.

I was made very welcome as I visited each person's home in order to give them their portrait and a set of the postcards all wrapped up in brown paper. We talked of the meaning of a portrait, what it is to have an image displayed on your mantlepiece or wall, and what this means in a family. Some people were surprised at the words that accompanied their photograph, others less so, reading them quietly. One lady had a tear in her eye, another said she felt proud. That emotion is certainly one that I felt, along with excitement laced with a touch of happiness.

Caroline Wright



Car packed and heading to Burnley

This afternoon, I packed my car ready to drive to Burnley tomorrow. It now contains eighteen framed portraits and one hundred sets of postcards wrapped beautifully in brown paper packs and tied with thread. I am very tempted to put a photograph of them on here, but that would be unfair, I think the sitters should see them first. I must say Andy Ford, who was the very welcoming photographer in the pop up studio, has done a great job, thanks Andy!

Caroline and Dave from Huckleberry Films are coming to record the handing over of the portraits on Saturday morning (thanks for being flexible with the time) and I have some excited butterflies in my stomach as I anticipate everyone's reactions.

I am going to take the opportunity to have some discussions with everyone about the large scale poster portraits. Are they ok for me to use their image? would they like to see the portraits as a set or all in one group?

More soon after the next couple of days...

Caroline W