the o machine

the omachine build from Helson and Jackets on Vimeo.

The following is an email we sent to Cath, Iain and Helen after the event on Saturday, they asked us to post it here.

"We arrived back last night to a huge stack of towers offloaded from the lorry. Garry and I spent this morning carrying them to store in an outhouse, it was reassuringly blowing a gale and pouring with rain.

Thank you for all your kind words, although we are a bit disappointed, we got tantalizingly close to making it work properly, it was the torrential rain that arrived at 3pm that did for us. The wind was so strong that it blew the rain into the projector boxes and soaked Steve and Abby's projectors. Waiting for the torrent to end and then the time it took to sort this out meant that we were unable to get the technical set up working properly. We were getting some kind of interference on the video cables, we just ran out of time to be able to solve the problem. 

However we did get a glimpses of the o machine emerging please see the video : 

http://helsonandjackets.com/index.php/omachine/omachinevideo


the o machine from Helson and Jackets on Vimeo.

And to finally build it at full size was intriguing, the object itself, it fitted with the ideas we were exploring, a combination of alien object completely unique and extraordinary for Stoops and a quiet homemade experiment. 

The weather wasn't great and it nearly stopped us making it, but everyone involved was brilliant. The opportunity you have given us, your belief support and overwhelming generosity towards us is inspiring. The ethos of ground-UP is something rare to us within the arts commissioning process.

It was brave to allow us the freedom to push out, take risks and make something at the edge of ourselves. And the support and calm way in which you solved some of the tricky practical problems was invaluable.

We will now try find find a way to show the work again. Probably somewhere where we can spend much more time exploring it. This was an experiment to create something new, an artwork for Stoops. It might not mean that it is in Stoops but we hope to find away for some of Stoops to come again to the o machine. South west Burnley residents to view it here."

Chris and Sarah

making the o machine

Work to create our new video artwork the o machine is steaming ahead.

 the o machine is from all sides a visual experience, a three dimensional video cube of 6 metre high towers traversed with pillars of light. We are hugely grateful for the work of John Jackets (Sarah’s Dad) and Garry Williams (an artist from Norway) for their help building the towers. The task is somewhat epic and they have worked tirelessly to help make it possible.

 This is all happening now, but we want to start at the beginning and explain something of how the o machine has been conceived.

 Last October we spent two weeks living in South West Burnley. Here are some notes from that time.. “as we hung our camera close to the road we waited for the silence to film our opening shot…‘Are you looking for wild flowers?’ asked an ex-miner who has lived on Cog lane for the past forty years. Children sped past on scooters. Take a picture of me, take a picture of me, we followed the children to the place they thought would be the best place for an art work. A sparrow hawk dived and took a small bird, and we stood looking at the fabric of the place”.

 Our approach was open, we wanted the freedom to explore and find out, to see what caught our interest and what emerged. Our aim was straightforward, we wanted find a way in to make work that is relevant and create something for Burnley that is new and fascinating.

 We began to focus on the environment around Stoops and Harger Clough, we were interested in the waves of regeneration that had taken place and what that meant. We began a process exploring ideas of regenerative design, where diverse systems are key to developing long term self-sustaining communities. Regenerative design sets out to create the conditions for life rather than life itself.

 This process led to us focusing on ideas of emergence within complex systems. You can see examples of emergence within the patterns created by flocks of birds. This area of work is being seen by many scientists as being at the forefront of contemporary thinking. Put simply emergence is 1+1=3, or rather in complex situations when there are a critical mass of elements interacting something emerges that is greater than the sum of the parts. It is at this level of complexity that scientists now speculate that life emerges. There was a fascinating discussion about it on Radio 4 a couple of weeks ago, you can download it here

 

 Returning to ideas of regenerative design we began to look for ways to create a new artwork that would explore these ideas and bring something of them to Stoops. So we went back to the key point in this field of understanding and took inspiration from Alan Turing to explore his o-machine as a starting point for the creation of this artwork.

 As you can see from these photos we are busy creating the structure we will bring to the Recreation ground on 1st Feb. We have been combining interesting technology for this piece, particularly some special black paint, hopefully it will all come to together to create something more than the sum of its parts.

the o machine is coming

Liminal, previous work by Helson and Jackets. Picture Rob McDougall

An extraordinary temporary public artwork is to be installed at Stoops and Hargher Clough Recreation Ground on the evening of 1st Feb 2014.

the o machine, commissioned by South West Burnley Residents as part of ground-UP is a visual experience, a three dimensional video cube of sixteen six meter towers traversed with pillars of light.
Conceived and created by new media artists Helson and Jackets the o machine is the culmination of a process of discovery in South West Burnley.
The o-machine is one of a series of artist commissions exploring and celebrating the identity and history of South West Burnley as part of the Ground UP project.

Helen Jones, Cultural Development Manager for Burnley Council said:
“This is a great example of the community choosing what they want for their community.  I was so pleased with their choice of artists, residents wanted something they could be proud of, something that would be suitable for a national art gallery in their back yard, a piece of work made specifically for them, and that is what has been commissioned.  This project is representative of the people in Burnley who want to make a difference, and I hope people support them by coming along to the event.”

Helson and Jackets said of the project:
“As we hung our camera close to the road we waited for the silence to film our opening shot…‘Are you looking for wild flowers?’ asked an ex-miner who had lived on Cog Lane for the past forty years. Children sped past on scooters.  Take a picture of me, take a picture of me, we followed the children to the place they thought would be the best place for an art work. A sparrow hawk dived and took a small bird, and we stood looking at the fabric of the place”.
This open approach allowed the artists the freedom to explore, to make work that is relevant and to create something for Burnley that is new and fascinating.
“We began to focus on the environment around Stoops and Hargher Clough, we were interested in the waves of regeneration that had taken place and what that meant. So we began a process exploring ideas of regenerative design, where diverse systems are key to developing long term self-sustaining communities.
This process led to us focusing on ideas of emergence within complex systems. And so we went back to the key point in this field of understanding and took inspiration from Alan Turing to explore his o-machine as a starting point for the creation of this artwork.”

Cath Ford and Iain Broadley, Creative Collaborators at ground UP said:
“The o-machine is the final and most ambitious commission of this phase of Ground UP, building on 18 months of community collaboration and exploration. Helson and Jackets were commissioned by a group of residents who were inspired by their proposal to create a unique art work which would bring local people and visitors together for one magical, memorable evening in SW Burnley.”

David Wroe, Keepmoat's new build managing director for the North West said: “We will be interested to see local residents reaction to the o machine.
“Keepmoat is passionate about investing in and regenerating neighbourhoods in Burnley so that people living in these communities can enjoy a better quality of life by living in high-quality housing.
“The o machine is about bringing the kind of art you’d see in the Tate Modern to the streets of Burnley.
“In the same way that our new housing in Burnley Wood and south-west Burnley can change a community for the better an art installation like this can also inspire residents.
“We hope the machine makes residents say ‘oh’ in wonder.”

The o machine is suitable for all ages. Attendees are encouraged to wrap up warm. It will be opens from 5.30-9pm on Saturday 1st February.
Refreshments will be available for sale.
Register for updates at www.helsonandjackets.com
Ground Up is funded by Arts Council England, Lancashire County Council, Keepmoat and Burnley Council.

Exciting news! We have a confirmed venue for the wonderful portraits of people from South West Burnley - after some to-ing and fro-ing the outside walls of Coal Clough Library will become a temporary gallery from the beginning of December. As well as this, there will be a smaller display in the library foyer of all the portraits that have been taken as well as postcard sets made for the project. 

I am very grateful to the library staff who have also said they will host a launch event on 9th December from 4.30pm to 6.30pm. so I hope lots of groundUP people can come along. 

Caroline (W)

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