jubilant!

I worked with pupils from Stowupland High School over the past month as part of the Jubilant! Project to envisage the possible uses of a large open area on the school site.

I set out with Colin Lay from Red Gables to explore and question the space to help us understand and map it. Focusing on the senses we looked closely at what was there as well as experiencing what the space sounded and smelt like.

The investigation included practical concerns including soil ph. levels, alongside developing alternative measurements of the space such as counting how many blades of grass are growing in the space. The idea was that by mapping what is there we could determine what could be.

Some of the process is included in a small booklet which acts as a manual for future development of the space.

The frame acts as a form of contract with the viewer. It offers a moment of reflection, to stop and breath, something we all need at this moment in time. The viewer is gifted the time to contemplate the world we live in; the frame organizes our thinking and supports our viewing. We know the world exists beyond the frame, but in a moment of stillness we can gather our thoughts, refreshed to go back into the world we came from.

I am interested in developing work that leaves space for the viewer, to enable them to stop and reflect. Framing the changing landscape means that every individual interaction with the work is unique, the space itself becomes the work.

The text on the frames are some questions we asked of the space and ourselves. They were displayed at Great Gables as part of a weekend of Jubilant! sharing the work and shown at Primadonna Festival.