Lights, camera, action!

We've been documenting with Caroline Wright, as she created a pop up photographic studio in a home. Working with photographer Andy Ford, they set about recreating old posed black and white/sepia studio shots.  Local resident Fiona kindly offered the use of her home for the day, and a lot of residents turned up to be involved in the project.

This was the prep room - hair/make up, food and drinks. It also doubled up as a friendly meeting room, a place to chat and meet new friends, a place to get excited about the photo shoot, and to discuss how well it went after having the photos taken.

Fiona's front room was where Andy had set up the photo studio, and he used different backgrounds for the participants. He took lots of shots of each person, and you can see the old photos that Caroline sourced on the side, that were being used for inspirations. 

It looked like a lot of fun to be a part of - and if I'd been a resident I'd have been taking part! We also did quite a few interviews with participants in the back yard/garden area, asking people about the day but also more general questions around community, sense of place and their feelings about projects like this one.

Caroline - Huckleberry Films

Location, Location, Location

I've just spent a very pleasant hour driving around SW Burnley with Caroline Wright seeking exhibition locations for the final art work from her residency. Much of the route we took was similar to the walking route from our first photo walk and it was fascinating to be observing familiar areas but from a different perspective. On our photo walk I was seeking out and capturing detail, colour and texture, this time we were looking for public spaces suitable for large portraits of local people to be exhibited.
The conversation and thinking was very different this time as we imagined the photos placed in the environment and considered not just the visual impact of the work, but the emotional impact for the people in the photos and those viewing them (as well as the practicalities of installing them).
Both Caroline and Kelly have approached their residencies with real care and consideration for the people they have worked with, just as we hoped. The relationships they have built, the trust which has enabled people to open up and share their lives, stories and communities is evident in every stage off their thinking and their work.
We did a couple of circuits of the area, each time adding to my own social and emotional map of the area, and ended up deciding on a building that we had driven past, acknowledged but not considered as viable on the first circuit. As the journey progressed it became clear that this building was the best option. It's a building that is well known to everyone in the area which might well explain why we overlooked it in the first place - it was just too obvious. I think we had to do the journey together to help develop ideas and reject some possibilities before the obvious became visible and I really appreciated being asked to accompany Caroline on her scouting mission.
I'll not tell you any more as I'm sure Caroline will. It was also great to hear about the studio portrait day they held yesterday which went on until late in the evening. I'm really looking forward to seeing the resulting portraits.
Cath

The Red Triangle

Catch up and planning meeting with Caroline, Cath, Kelly, Helen, Steph and Caroline and Dave from Huckleberry Films.

We met at the Red Triangle in Burnley, and drank our way through a lot of tea between us. It was a really inspiring meeting full of ideas and plans... and was a great chance to find out what each person is working on. It's good to keep in touch via e-mail, but even better to meet in person to chat.

Caroline - Huckleberry Films

Jacob's Join

The craft group from The Fold/Ground UP project had a group outing to the SAMS scrap store in Blackburn. They returned with lots of materials and ideas for future projects, and we joined them as they gathered for lunch back at the Fold.

It was an 'ideas lunch' with the community, and ideas were shared about future plans. It was also a 'Jacobs Join', which meant everyone brought food with them to share. One of the artists hadn't heard the term before, and we realised it was a specifically Northern term. If you use the phrase where you live, let us know so we can see how local it is! Wikipedia refers to 'potluck':

'A potluck is a gathering of people where each person or group of people may contribute a dish of food prepared by the person or the group of people, to be shared among the group. Synonyms include: potluck dinner, spread, Jacob's join,Jacob's supper, faith supper, covered dish supper, dish party, bring and share, shared lunch, pitch-in, carry-in, bring-a-plate, dish-to-pass, fuddle. It is also referred to as a smorgasbord or potlatch'.

We filmed some of the meet up, shared food and ideas and looked at old photographs that one of the artists was drawing inspiration from.

Our youngest lunch member was little Phoenix!

Caroline and Dave, Huckleberry Films

What do you miss about home?

I have been lucky enough to spend the last week in San Francisco in California attending the Performance Studies International Conference (PSi) where I was presenting a performance. Being so far away from lovely England brought with it a new perspective to home and what it means to belong. When you travel, you experience new things, hotter climates, cooler climates, different traditions and rituals, unusual geography and whilst this is (usually) a good and interesting experience, it can also make you realise what is special about where you live and the sometimes unexpected things that you miss. In my case, it was cups of tea, a more equable climate and, of course, people, particularly my family. I spent quite a bit of time out there driving on the wide expansive roads where surprisingly there are no roundabouts! Thats was something I did miss, since they allow a much freer flowing traffic than regular crossroads.

I am looking forward to returning to Burnley in the next few days, and talking with everyone about their families, homes and what they would miss if they travelled away.

Caroline 

A Need to Respect the Past

After several days now spent in Burnley, I am getting to grips with the geography of the town.
As the other Caroline has said (how are we going to manage with us having the same name?!), it was a very enjoyable morning spent decorating ceramics and meeting more lovely South West Burnley folk. Then onto the Weavers Triangle Visitor Centre to see the displays and talk to the attendants there. What knowledgeable people and generous with their time and information. I was struck by the sense of pride they have in the heritage of the town and how today's memories will be made from these foundations. In the same way as the regeneration of that area - with the new technical college - incorporates and respects the now redundant buildings, so the things we will remember from today need to respect the past. This last thought is also partly thanks to Cath, with whom I spent a pleasant hour today sitting by the canal talking about the groundUP project, its structure and history and aims.

Some small seeds of ideas for this residency have been germinating in my head. Not ready to go public with them yet, but they are there and growing in momentum. I need to do some detailed research now to see if there is any depth to them - watch this space!

Caroline (not the film one!)

Getting Started

Hello from Caroline and Dave, from Huckleberry Films.

We are both really excited about being selected to work on the Ground UP documentation project, and looking forward to meeting lots of you over the next few months.

Our proposal evolved from our initial ideas which were around the idea of creating a scrapbook. After reading the Ground UP blogs, and researching Kelly and Caroline’s practices and plans after they were selected, we spent some time working out the best way for us to document their work, and the whole project. Our new plan is to create a film that mixes live action documentation of the project and workshops, with animation... using animated characters to retell some of the of the stories and memories of people and place. The finished film will celebrate life in South West Burnley.

I arrived on the train into Rose Grove this morning for my first session on the project, and spent about an hour walking around the Stoops Estate on my way to meet Caroline. It was a warm day, with blue skies peeking through the clouds, and the streets were busy with people taking their kids to school, the refuse van emptying bins, and cars setting off to work. As I don't know the area very well, I enjoyed wandering around as a tourist, taking photos on my way.

  

Caroline and I met in a cafe for a brew and a natter as we've not met before, and I think we could have spent another hour swapping ideas if we'd not had somewhere else to be! After catching up, we went to the craft session at the Fold charity shop, where Cath Ford was running a ceramic painting session. Everyone was friendly and welcoming, and the 2 hours flew by as we painted, talked, and laughed. One of the participants Bernadette said she had really enjoyed herself, and described the session as 'the most fun I've had in yonks'.

Caroline - Huckleberry Films 

Belonging in Burnley

I am writing this from the first floor window of a property near Scott Park. The window is open and the birdsong is loud and insistent. The Park is beautifully kept and has been a great source of people for me to meet and talk to.

Forays along the paths and through the trees have led to intriguing conversations around the importance of the green spaces in Burnley to the town's people, for dog walking, pushing crying babies in pushchairs until they settle, exercise, attending concerts, getting away from things. I have noticed the pride and care people take in their gardens here, the acid soil allowing plants such as rhododendron, azalea and pieris to flourish.

All this has set me wondering what it is to belong. Whatever life throws at you, being a part of something can make things bearable - what is it that makes a place home, and comfortable, what do people do to create the strong bonds that I am experiencing when I meet the people of Burnley? Is it landscape, geography, community, openness, neighbourliness, care? Or is it genetic, a family trait passed on from generation to generation, a way of life?

Caroline

A basin of strong community bonds

Funny really, after such a short visit, but I was sad to leave Burnley earlier this week, even though I will be back in a few days time. The landscape of Suffolk was brought into sharp relief after living amongst the hills of Lancashire. Burnley is in a basin, surrounded, by hills including the famous Pendle Hill - but then all you 'Burnleyites' will know that. It seems to me, that the geography there connects with the nature of the people, theirs is an openness that can only come from a security borne through being held together in a basin of a strong community bonds.

On another note, I am looking forward to seeing a copy of The Clarion, published by Burnley school children and containing their hopes for the future. I think it might throw some light on the wonderful nature of the people. Thanks to Chris Keene for alerting me to it.

I'll be back early next week. if any one would like to meet up for a chat, please let me know!

Caroline

Craft Session, New People and Fresh Energy

We had the first art and craft session at the Cabin this week. There were seven of us in total, which is probably about all that the room can manage comfortably, but more people are planning to come next time so we will find a way (even if a little uncomfortably).  Caroline, one of the two artists starting her residency with Ground UP, was able to join us for the session, which was lovely as she was able to chat to new people, follow up some areas of interest and join the fun. She was telling us how friendly she found SW Burnley on her initial walkabout and how open people have been, which was great to hear.

As one of the Ground UP core team of three I have been inspired and re-invigorated by my first couple of meet ups with Caroline and Kelly. They are bringing a new energy and fresh perspectives to the project and it feels like  the development work over the past few months is now feeding into positive activity and already there is a cross-fertilisation of ideas happening.

Today we also interviewed six people/organisations for the documentation commission. We haven't made a decision yet, but the process itself has encouraged more questions and ideas about how and what we want to document and what role the documenter will play. Each of the interviews was so completely different and each proposed process would bring something unique to Ground UP and the local community. Again, it was good to hear from each of the artists and discover why they had applied for the commission. Most told us that the opportunity to work with a project that is founded on a solid and 'Ground UP' process linked to the open brief had inspired them to submit a proposal. We must make a decision tomorrow so that the successful artists can get going and continue to build on the developing programme and energy around the project.

Oh, and tomorrow we are going on a photo walk with local photographer Andy Ford to photograph some of the people and places of South West Burnley.

Cath

First Days Are Exciting

First days are exciting, and today - my first working on the groundUP residency, was no exception. Much of my time was spent talking to the lovely people of Burnley, such an open welcoming bunch of people. I have drunk a lot of tea, joined ladies in Scott Park on outdoor fitness equipment, chatted over the garden fence to a family on Rosehill Road and struck up a conversation with an elderly gentleman on the bus. I met with Denzel, who is a working horse and talked to Kelly, the other residency artist about her work and her background as a historian. Not many projects start with such a fascinating set of experiences - my notebook is already filling up nicely...

And the artists selected for the commissions are..........

..........Kelly Loughlin and Caroline Wright.

We are incredibly excited at the prospect of working with them over the coming months. As part of the shortlisting process we created synopses of each of the applications for the community panel and thought you might be interested to read about the selected artists, their ideas and why they were inspired to apply for the commission.

Kelly Loughlin
The focus of my practice revolves around the use of found objects, collage and installation, and strives to create works that embody ‘frozen social relations’. However, as my work is driven by exploration of a specific site or context the process is necessarily fluid and responsive.

Family history is the single, most popular point of engagement with official recording practices. Rich data sets, such as the UK census, can be easily accessed online via a PC, mobile device or through gaming consoles linked to digital televisions.

As a form of engagement, family history appeals at a primary, personal level; beginning with an individual’s name, plotting a kinship network and its relationship over time to a locality. As a practice it speaks to a sense of history as attachment and lived experience; the fundamental process is one of ‘making connections’.

The project will develop through the recruitment of mentors, local residents already interested in family history. I will work alongside these mentors to facilitate access to online records in community settings e.g. The Orchard sheltered housing facility on Stoops Estate. Local residents will be encouraged to attend workshops and begin their ‘family tree’. Workshops will be inclusive i.e. participation is not dependent on set literacy, ICT skills.

Family history necessitates inter-generational discourse; the common starting point is conversation, asking family elders for names, dates, documents, and findings could then find expression across a variety of media: film; collage; installation; text; performance; event.

Running alongside this, my own practice will shape a broader community history; manipulating census data from South West Burnley as a whole to facilitate the creation of stories, artefacts and events, which celebrate the distinctive character of this locality and its people.

Caroline Wright

I believe in taking conversations to people, using existing groups, meetings, gatherings to raise awareness and start to build momentum. To balance this approach I would like to take advantage of being a stranger in the midst of the SW Burnley community. I would like to learn about people’s stories of the place where they live, uncovering information that would not be read in tourist guides/attractions or in the local paper, in order to understand the specifity of the town.

I will do this by partaking in chance encounters: the fortuitous chat over the garden fence; the conversation on the street corner or at the bus stop; by taking part in everyday routines and patterns of life; helping out at the corner shop.

Taking the advice of the Creative Collaborators, I would like to run interactive workshops (based on themes emerging from the locality – maybe cooking, gardening, a market stalls, a community led walk around the town, etc.) and possibly a local newspaper/ radio campaign to generate views and involvement. All these strategies will be based around the idea of ‘sharing’ and ‘giving’ which is central to my approach – a gift of information in exchange for a physical gift from the artist. The latter ‘artist’s gift’ could be a multiple made especially for the project to recognise people’s contribution and the entire collection of gifts might be relevant to the South West Streets Museum.

After the consultation outlined above, I will bring the gathered knowledge together with ideas from my own practice to either make participatory/interactive works and/or co-create works with the public, leading towards a final work if this is an appropriate outcome to the residency. It might be that there is a public vote on the most interesting and popular gift, this could be done through an event – maybe a clapometer might decide the winner! I am reluctant to offer specific suggestions as to what further actual works might result as they are dependent on the wishes and gifts of the community of SW Burnley and so the process by its nature should remain open at this stage.