Exmoor National Dress
2008 - 2009Project:
This project was made for Triparks, providing 6 artists' residencies to explore commonalities and differences between three of England's National Parks: Exmoor, Dartmoor and Northumberland.
Date: Ongoing
Commissioner: Aune Head Arts, Somerset Arts Work & Allenheads Contemporary Arts
I spent time throughout spring and summer 2008 in Exmoor National Park (Somerset). Myself and another artist, Harald Smykla were based in the Park, whilst Triparks had also commissioned Paul Grimmer, Bridget Kennedy, High Nankivell and Volkhardt Muller to work in Northumberland and Dartmoor.
For my project Exmoor National Dress, I
invented just that, a costume which I then used to make
photographic portraits of Exmoor people I've met along they way. I
also made a short film (20 mins) following the process of the
project and the people I met along the way.
Much of my time was spent on historic research and tracking down
local makers, like Tom Lock of Hawkridge who
carves and makes things with antlers. He contributed a head-dress
to the final costume, and you can find out more about Tom's
fascinating life here.
Other local contributors are landscapist Maurice Bishop and Shearwell Data, who make animal
eartags used in the costume as fixings.
From the links on the right you can see a gallery of the Exmoor
portraits I made, or look at some of my research, plus
documentation of a stand we did at the Dunster Show, a traditional
country event.
There was a preview of the finished project in Dulverton Town
Hall in late 2008 and the work was on show in Somerset at the
Brewhouse in Taunton ( see more details
here ) before touring to the new Duchy Centre in
Princetown on Dartmoor in Devon.
It's now on show until April 30th 2010 in Newcastle at
ACAdovetail, Amy House, 61 Blandford Square (in front of
the Discovery Museum) Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4HZ
(Contact the venue first for opening hours, tel 01434 685040)
And then I'm told it's going back to Dulverton on Exmoor
for a summer outing - details to follow!
