On the 10th December 2017 I exhibited a university body of work to the general public, at The Tin Arts and Music Centre located near Coventry's canal. The art 'Until The Third Bridge' is a personal and experiential exploration of the Coventry Canal landscape and the history of its formation in the eighteenth century. The multi-media installation aims to provide a sensory experience, consisting of photographic prints and video projection which focus on the textures of the landscape today, incorporating the self, experiences of place and recontextualised archives. Printed on several different papers varying in texture, the prints intend to exert senses of sight and touch, texture and history. The audio recordings add to the immersive atmosphere and create a calm and peaceful one, as felt when in the landscape. The pressed leaves contribute to the experience of touch and smell, adding an ephemeral layer. The handwritten diary entries act as records of what was felt, thought, heard and seen during the visits to the landscape. The media provides a way of investigating the explored route, as shown on the hand-drawn map, which is supported by the archival information.
By exhibiting in The Tin, the work aims to draw in local communities and members of the public, to experience, as John Wylie states ‘a world to live in, not a scene to view.’ (2009: 149). To be immersed in the representation of the place, to experience it intimately and to provoke thought of the encounter of this landscape.
I promoted and marketed the event in advance of it taking place to try to entice a range of visual artists and local communities interested in the area and its history. It was a very successful event, many people showed up (despite the horrendous snowstorm we had that day) and I received some very positive feedback - some viewers claiming it had changed the way they thought about landscape and the canal, others stating how they liked the intimate and tangible way of viewing the work.
Due to the success of this event, a Coventry-based arts magazine called ‘Native’ contacted me to feature my work and the exhibition in their first issue of their ‘Creative Guide’ 2018. You can view the entire guide here: https://issuu.com/nativecoventry/docs/native_guide_1__april_-_june_2018_ (I feature on page 11, as shown below). Since being in communication with them, I have photographed events for them, have made links with other professionals and am listed as part of their photography team.
