Be Here, Now
2016 - 2017
Premiering during FORMAT International Photography Festival 2017, this collaborative project with artist Antonia Attwood explores the soothing qualities of natural spaces. Both Antonia and I responded to the festival’s theme of HABITAT by examining how various landscapes can be used to create calm spaces, offer safety and provide respite in today’s fast moving world.
From the late summer of 2016 both Antonia and I were artists in residence at QUAD Gallery (Derby) and began with a research period into what constitutes a safe space, asking strangers to anonymously contribute their own thoughts. Overwhelmingly the greatest amount of responses involved being amongst nature: the sounds of the sea and water; being amongst forests and in open fields; the therapeutic act of walking or simply curling up by the warmth of a fire.
In Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs ‘security’ is cited as one of the fundamental human needs, required before humans can move on to secondary or higher level needs. Our intrigue into how we feel safe or soothed took us on various journeys into the landscape recording the sights, sounds and light across England. The resulting exhibition was the culmination of these journeys, physically constructed into individual thematic rooms designed for positive well-being. Viewers were invited to immerse themselves into the senses of the land and switch off from the frenetic pace of modern life.
The immersive exhibition combined virtual reality, video, photography and sound through a series of installations, with three 3 metre wide constructed rooms for participants to be absorbed into projections of nature, alongside VR works and still images.
Exhibited:
FORMAT International Photography Festival 2017
Supported by:
Both Antonia and I were selected as result of an open call to create new works for QUAD and D-Lab in partnership with LEVEL and Junction Arts, funded by INSIDE - a Disability Arts commissioning programme led by DASH with funding from Arts Council England. New Virtual Reality works were realised due to generous funding from Art Council England Grants for the Arts programme.
