ravenscar micro-residency pilot: research log – reflection on support

Within the central focus of the residency project where enabling the time and space traditionally associated with a residency, but also to act as an enabler for the engagement with the ‘situation’ up at Ravenscar.

From the offset, I saw part of this entailed the removal of distractions as a key role within the residency and I approached this by organising the accomodation, food shopping and by cooking meals in advance of the residency trip.

Fritha talked of having had discussions with colleagues and projects to inform them that they would not be available for the duration of the residency so that there would not be an expectation of communication (Jenkins, F. 14 June 2019). In removing the daily routine of cooking, I was able to support the transition into the “artist head-space” (Jenkins, F. 12 June 2019).

Fritha and I discussed how within hours of arriving at the accommodation, and following our walk in the fog, a detachment from everyday had been ‘achieved’ and Fritha described:

“stepping into the role of the artist, getting ready to make art. My perception has changed, I’m looking at things as an artist again.”

(Jenkins, F. 12 June 2019)

Having achieved this detachment in the early stages of the residency, it was then up to me to maintain it, but to not get underfoot and instead become a distraction myself. In this way, this support role was a balancing act and navigating it, while being a personal ability, was very much a part of the curatorial function.

---

Bibliography

Jenkins, F. (2019), in conversation with Hansom, S. 12-17 June

ravenscar micro-residency pilot: research log – reflection on mediation

Reflecting again on the notion of a Ravenscar arts ‘hub’ there also appears to be a potential curatorial role. In establishing a hub which is open to the public, to come and gain knowledge of what is happening within the residency, there would likely need to be a number of types of mediation.

Primarily in establishing this feature at the site, there would need to be mediation between the National Trust, the architects and the artist. Having engaged with the National Trust early in this project, I now better understand the limited resources they have at the site and the policy obligations they have. When they were unable to support this project, I had asked what sort of a lead-time they would require to achieve a residency involving physical builds. The answer was a year, primarily due to the planning permissions which have to be sought to enable such a project.

There will also need to be mediation between the NT and the architects and between the artist and the architects to ensure that the building would be useful, and also be allowed to proceed.

The mediatory role was key during the residency pilot, as a guide to the site, as a provider of answers to questions about the environment, terrain, landscape etc, but this role lessened as the week progressed. As Fritha became more acclimatised and familiar with the landscape, the mediatory role was less and less needed, until Saturday and Sunday where we spent more time apart than together.

This would likely change with the progression to the introduction of the hub, which would some degree likely require some mediation, not necessarily between the artist and audiences, but certainly between audiences and art. This could take a number of forms, including informing the audience as to what is happening, encouraging, engaging and facilitating them to take part and perhaps giving them a tours around what is happening.

I feel that Fritha’s approach towards open curation practices would need very little mediation however and she would have no issue with engaging audiences with the work she was doing. The curatorial role would perhaps also be needed to ensure that instead of being drawn solely into audience engagement, there was still a very strong focus on artistic practice.

 

professional practice & study – week 25 summary

This is almost it.

Today (Thursday 27 June) I gave a presentation on my project, and received feedback on a draft from my Tutor. While it was incredibly positive and encouraging, I do have work to do in order to finalise my draft before printing and binding.

My time management has been surprisingly good and I have impressed myself with my focus. My determination to to a good job on this thesis has overridden my natural tendencies to coast. I feel that I have actually excelled myself in this final module, am comfortable that I could not have done much more with the project or the writing.

I have said this to several people over recent weeks, as much as I am enjoying this project (and this course) I currently really want it to end.

One last push this weekend, my presentation is ready to submit and has been delivered, my blog is choc full of posts (and occasionally photographs) and my thesis is shaping up. I have the development journal to complete, but will pick this up in the coming days. Just the last couple of research logs to complete too.

 

SH PPS Presentation

professional practice & study – week 24 summary

This week was spent writing up research logs and reflecting back onto what was an incredibly interesting and residency. I found myself jotting down thoughts and suggestions throughout the week and shaping how I would like the next iteration of the project to go.

My time this week other than this has (aside from time spent at work, eating or sleeping) has primarily been spent crafting a draft of my dissertation for feedback from my tutor according to the writing plan which was agreed several weeks ago. Currently I feel confident that while there is much to change from my earlier draft, I have the knowledge, the focus and (most importantly) the time to maintain my current writing velocity and submit successfully.

 

ravenscar micro-residency pilot: research log – reflection on indeterminacy

During the pilot, Fritha and I spoke at length about the intriguing story of Ravenscar and the possibilities that could be built upon the story. Following our time at the visitors centre, we learned that although the Ravenscar Development company went into administration in 1913, plots continued to be sold until the 1950s. This has created a narrative of wondering whether or not the Ravenscar development was ever intended for completion, or was in fact a huge scam.

We also talked about the possibility of placing work made within the residency into the walking tour of Ravenscar which the National Trust are currently promoting. We talked about using technology, to geocache art at points of the walk, as they were made, and making the presence of this work known through very subtle and unobtrusive means, so the work would not be official.

Immersion in the site and its partial history created question after question for Fritha, and this served to provide a wealth of material for future projects (Jenkins, 2019).

Following the initial pilot, I have thought at length about how to balance the engagement of audiences within a project which has indeterminacy as a characteristic. This led me to think about the original approach of a live-work bothy as the base. Fritha’s practice required being out in the site rather than in a studio, and for much of the residency, the studio would have been unnecessary.

Instead of a studio space as a construct, it would be perhaps more fitting to build a social hub, which would be open to the public to come and see what was taking place, and perhaps a curatorial tour/insight into what was going on.

As I plan to work with Fritha again in the next iteration, and have already submitted a Project Grants application to this effect (which will be resubmitted if unsuccessful). Reutilising Fritha’s approach from Aggregate: Fritha Jenkins & Edna Lumb (2018), would also be a way of engaging the audience with Fritha, as having an understanding that some time would be spent at the central hub (perhaps a communal kitchen would be a potential starting point – mealtimes becoming then social time) could balance the need for indeterminacy as a characteristic of the residency.

 

---

Bibliography

Aggregate, Fritha Jenkins & Edna Lumb (2018) [Exhibition] Leeds Arts University, 13 February -29 March 2018

Jenkins, F. (2019), in conversation with S.Hansom, June 12-17

ravenscar micro-residency pilot: research log – day 5

Final day, Sunday 16 June

Fritha and I had arranged to meet at check-out time, so I could collect their belongings and allow them to go off and return to the brickworks and alum quarry.

This left me time to reflect on how the residency had gone, from my perspective. I had been concerned throughout to ensure that my presence was providing benefit to Fritha and not actually negating the benefit of the residency. We had talked on a couple of occasions about not having to have me involved in what Fritha was up to, unless some form of support was required. It was important to me that Fritha felt they were able to have the time and space to work and that my presence helped to mediate and navigate potential problems, issues or understanding on the site.

I reflected back to discussions around Ravenscar Observatory, a feature of early site maps, but removed in later editions. This would be interesting to perhaps be a central element to build in to future iterations as the need for the live-work studio I envisaged wasn’t necessary given Fritha’s practice.

ravenscar micro-residency pilot: research log – day 4

Day 4, Saturday 15 June

Started the day a little earlier than previous, Fritha and I met up to head down to the beach. We listened to the seals singing. Once at the beach, moving carefully among the seal colony, Fritha made photographs and shot video. I made an audio recording of a section of cliff with a similar sound to the alum quarry that I had recorded for Fritha the previous day.

We returned to the village, stopping in at the National Trust visitor’s centre for a cup of tea and looked through the new material they had available on the history of the town and watched a video shot by drone, which provided some useful and interesting information.

In the afternoon we had decided to work separately. This was positive from my perspective. I was very concerned to ensure I was not crowding Fritha, and making sure there was opportunity for Fritha to self-direct. I wanted my presence to be enabling but not stifling. I wanted my presence to be beneficial rather than negate the opportunities of the residency.

We caught up at dinner and discussed the opportunities presented by this residency and the possibilities of potential work that could be made (even down to making a short film about getting the hob in the cabin to work).

ravenscar micro-residency pilot: research log – day 3

Day 3, Friday.

In the morning the fog had lifted, I ate breakfast in the hotel and Fritha ate at the cabin. We met up in the village to take a walk down to the ‘beach’ which had featured so heavily in the marketing materials. After having a discussion with the volunteers at the National Trust Visitor’s Centre at the site, and picking up copies of the new walking tour map the NT have produced for 2019, we embarked on the walk.

We did not make it down to beach on this day, as Fritha struggled with the height at a certain point. Rather than press on, we decided to explore the level we were at, finding some interesting stone formations, before turning back. Before turning back we discussed the dichotomy of having another person witness another struggling with heights.

“I’d not have made it down here if you’d not have come with me, but it then adds a form of pressure as I’m worried about freaking out and getting stuck and another person seeing” (Jenkins, 2019)

After a short rest, we had a walk out to the brickworks and the alum quarry where I made some sound recordings and fritha shot some video and photographs. We had a picnic on a bizarrely placed bench on the edge of the brickworks site, which looked like it had been placed on the surface of the moon, but which had a fantastic view of Robin Hood’s bay.

Before dinner, we did the National Trust walk around the site, which was not dissimilar to the audio-tour which I had undertaken in 2017.

 

---

Bibliography

Jenkins, F. (2019), in conversation with Stu Hansom, 15 June

ravenscar micro-residency pilot: research log – day 2

Day 2 of the Ravenscar pilot micro-residency saw Fritha and I drive out to the North Yorkshire County Archives at Northallerton. I drove in my role as facilitator and interlocutor, as we spoke about our personal routes into art, our experiences of art education, collaborations and experiences of different arts institutions and organisations.

Having visited the archives previously, I was able to help Fritha navigate the vast amount of material held at the archive. We looked through documents relating to the site’s original owners, the sale to the Ravenscar Development Company, NLER. As well as the ubiquitous maps and a book in which were recorded the names of plot owners.

On the return journey, we reflected on the possibility of (in a funded project) being able to have the archive visit as a two day separate trip, so that it did not impinge on the residency proper. While it is a vast and rich resource, the amount of time needed to get through all the areas of interest extends beyond what’s possible in a single day, along with the journey to and from between Ravenscar and Northallerton, it was a little exhausting to fit into the residency.

The journey time however, was useful, as it gave Fritha and I the opportunity to discuss the importance of interpersonal relationships within ‘projects’. Fritha spoke about their involvement with AltMFA and how “it was all to do with the personalities, we all got on so well and this made us really productive. It was a hugely productive time for many of us” (Jenkins, 2019).

Reflecting back on these discussions in the car, I do feel it was important that they were given the opportunity to take place early in the residency, as a form of ice-breaker. They were crucial to the ability to explore interlocution as a curatorial role.

---

Bibliography

Jenkins, F. (Fritha), in conversation with Stu Hansom, 13 June

ravenscar micro-residency pilot: research log – day 1

After several years thought, and a number of months planning, it is finally time to deliver the pilot Ravenscar micro-residency.

The first day was mainly a travel day, I travelled over from Leeds and met Fritha off the train at Scarborough before driving up to the coast at Ravenscar. As we turned off the Scarborough-Whitby road in Cloughton, we drove into thick fog which circled the car like a spotlight of visibility in an otherwise blank landscape.

Fritha and I would later discuss how this dislocation was a perfect start to the residency, with Fritha declaring “it was perfect, you’ll have to book the fog for next time” (Jenkins, 2019).

Once Fritha had been dropped at the tiny house/cabin that would be their living quarters for the duration, I checked in to the Raven Hall Hotel. We both rested and settled before meeting for a walk in the fog. We ‘explored’ the site, walking around in the thick fog which intensified the feeling of displacement.

We walked out to the alum works, as this was an initial interest of Fritha’s. As we walked back towards the village, we became disoriented while trying to find the hidden gate into the hotel grounds, walking towards a cliff rather than the hotel’s wall (which two days later we would discover – to much hilarity – to have been mere metres away from where we had been standing).

Fritha and I ruminated as we ate food which I had prepared at home and brought with, to reduce the daily distractions. As an initial encounter with the site for Fritha, the fog itself was a fantastic tool, a metaphor and source of interesting ideas. Given Ravenscar’s location and microclimate, it is entirely feasible that fog will occur during future residencies, and if this happens, I will attempt to project John Carpenter’s The Fog onto the fog as a communal experience.

---

Bibliography

Jenkins, F. (2019), in conversation with Stu Hansom, 14 June