Jac Campbell
I make work in a site responsive way, choosing media that enables thinking about the place or system that I’m working within: natural ink making, printmaking, alternative photography, film, and listening and field recording. These processes engage directly with the materiality of a site: an uncovering of layers and traces of the past; an experiential exploration of the here and now and an invitation to consider what happens next.
I’ve been visiting the garden of 24 Albert Street since last autumn and for the last two weeks as artist in residence. Throughout that time the greenhouse has held my attention, a timeless place where layers of stories wait to be revealed. Thinking and making with the greenhouse is a way for me to engage with the stories and choose which ones to tell. This has led me to explore processes that work with the light and glass of greenhouse. Anthotypes are a particular interest, harnessing intense UV light through glass to expose light sensitive plant pigments. The anthotype not only represents the garden, it is the garden, being produced from the plants that grow there. Throughout the residency I’ve worked with film, print, photography to gather experiences and ideas. Some playful experiments with the overhead projector have resulted in a renewed interest in the highly technical and deeply frustrating process of solar plate printing.
Jac's film can be viewed at vimeo.com/991025624 and her soundscape at soundcloud.com/jaccampbell/greenhousesoundscape
Website: www.jaccampbell.com
Instagram: @jaccampbell http://www.instagram/jaccampbell/
I’ve been visiting the garden of 24 Albert Street since last autumn and for the last two weeks as artist in residence. Throughout that time the greenhouse has held my attention, a timeless place where layers of stories wait to be revealed. Thinking and making with the greenhouse is a way for me to engage with the stories and choose which ones to tell. This has led me to explore processes that work with the light and glass of greenhouse. Anthotypes are a particular interest, harnessing intense UV light through glass to expose light sensitive plant pigments. The anthotype not only represents the garden, it is the garden, being produced from the plants that grow there. Throughout the residency I’ve worked with film, print, photography to gather experiences and ideas. Some playful experiments with the overhead projector have resulted in a renewed interest in the highly technical and deeply frustrating process of solar plate printing.
Jac's film can be viewed at vimeo.com/991025624 and her soundscape at soundcloud.com/jaccampbell/greenhousesoundscape
Website: www.jaccampbell.com
Instagram: @jaccampbell http://www.instagram/jaccampbell/
Amanda Loomes
Amanda is an artist filmmaker who is fascinated by the world of work. By close observation and listening she gets under the skin of particularly industries or working situations, with a keen aesthetic eye.
Before Amanda came to Bury St Edmunds she had decided to concentrate on the sugar industry. The sugar industry is so pervasive to the town, the site so dominant, and sugar is such a seductive and addictive material. We were fortunate that British Sugar agreed to Amanda touring the site over three days, guided by Tim Hanitzsch who has been extraordinarily generous with his time and knowledge - the products they make come into all our lives, often in quite intimate ways. This was reflected by household activities during the week that have found their way into the work.
In the short period of a week, Amanda explored several avenues for work, which were shared at the event on 7 May 2023: Crystal, a 15 minute film where scenes of maintenance at British Sugar are juxtaposed with domestic views; False Pretences, confectionary in a glass of water; Refinery, an installation comprising table cloths, sugar, confectionary and audio; Inside, ingredients and audio in a kitchen cupboard.
The invitation to work with grove provided the validation for me to contact British Sugar and the raison d’être to produce a new body of work. At the same time I have loved responding to domestic life at 1 Grove Road. This has somehow given me permission to bring in a more personal, intimate aspect into my work. This is the first residency where I have worked so intensely with a view to sharing work after such a short period of time. By necessity this has brought a playfulness to my work that I have really enjoyed. It will be interesting to see how these ripples go on to influence my future work.
Before Amanda came to Bury St Edmunds she had decided to concentrate on the sugar industry. The sugar industry is so pervasive to the town, the site so dominant, and sugar is such a seductive and addictive material. We were fortunate that British Sugar agreed to Amanda touring the site over three days, guided by Tim Hanitzsch who has been extraordinarily generous with his time and knowledge - the products they make come into all our lives, often in quite intimate ways. This was reflected by household activities during the week that have found their way into the work.
In the short period of a week, Amanda explored several avenues for work, which were shared at the event on 7 May 2023: Crystal, a 15 minute film where scenes of maintenance at British Sugar are juxtaposed with domestic views; False Pretences, confectionary in a glass of water; Refinery, an installation comprising table cloths, sugar, confectionary and audio; Inside, ingredients and audio in a kitchen cupboard.
The invitation to work with grove provided the validation for me to contact British Sugar and the raison d’être to produce a new body of work. At the same time I have loved responding to domestic life at 1 Grove Road. This has somehow given me permission to bring in a more personal, intimate aspect into my work. This is the first residency where I have worked so intensely with a view to sharing work after such a short period of time. By necessity this has brought a playfulness to my work that I have really enjoyed. It will be interesting to see how these ripples go on to influence my future work.
Irene Perez Hernandez
Irene is a sculptor who seeks to redefine the relationship between sculpture and object, and challenge the conventions associated with the discipline. Integrating film, sculpture and performance, she explores the dynamics of space, temporality and perception, and the way in which enduring geometric forms and sets of relations are expressed in different contexts.
Prior to her residency in Bury St Edmunds, Irene became fascinated by the ruins of the Benedictine Abbey, particularly the arched frame in the surviving section of the north transept. The centrality of geometry to the construction of medieval European houses of worship provided an appropriate starting point and link to Irene's ongoing work. The arc created by the pendulum creates a whole circle by mirroring the stone arch. Once working with grove, Irene investigated the actual site of the abbey, the town layout and history, enriching the ideas that she had originally. The project In-Situ involved - for example - working with the plan of Bury St Edmunds with the five gates, tracing two circles that make the shape of an arc. The film The Eternal Pendulum can be viewed on Vimeo.
Prior to her residency in Bury St Edmunds, Irene became fascinated by the ruins of the Benedictine Abbey, particularly the arched frame in the surviving section of the north transept. The centrality of geometry to the construction of medieval European houses of worship provided an appropriate starting point and link to Irene's ongoing work. The arc created by the pendulum creates a whole circle by mirroring the stone arch. Once working with grove, Irene investigated the actual site of the abbey, the town layout and history, enriching the ideas that she had originally. The project In-Situ involved - for example - working with the plan of Bury St Edmunds with the five gates, tracing two circles that make the shape of an arc. The film The Eternal Pendulum can be viewed on Vimeo.
Julia Manheim
Julia's work has been distinguished by her close observation, ability to find interest in the seemingly mundane, and a strong sense of colour, qualities that she brought to her time with grove. During daily walks in different directions Julia collected a range of curious discarded objects and ephemera, which she listed and in some cases drew.
For the grove residency, I wanted to develop a strand of my practice which has been there all along, but has only surfaced intermittently in the form of actual pieces of work. It involves walking, finding objects and documenting them, as made manifest in Secret River,an artist’s book published in 2000 as the culmination of a Thames Path Residency. This was also the basis for Found Out, a solo exhibition of photocopied found objects at m2 Gallery, London, in 2018.
The desire to make a ‘nature table’ display of my finds is very strong. I pick up small things on my walks and then arrange them on a surface. I look, draw, photograph and photocopy them. grove has given me time to walk and collect around Bury St. Edmunds and develop what I do with the objects and documentation.
The finds were hung as an installation in the studio, Walks days 1 - 5, giving them a completely different sense of value and presence. Julia was also sensitive to the domestic context of grove and made a film, grove shuffle, observing her hosts moving around the kitchen.
For the grove residency, I wanted to develop a strand of my practice which has been there all along, but has only surfaced intermittently in the form of actual pieces of work. It involves walking, finding objects and documenting them, as made manifest in Secret River,an artist’s book published in 2000 as the culmination of a Thames Path Residency. This was also the basis for Found Out, a solo exhibition of photocopied found objects at m2 Gallery, London, in 2018.
The desire to make a ‘nature table’ display of my finds is very strong. I pick up small things on my walks and then arrange them on a surface. I look, draw, photograph and photocopy them. grove has given me time to walk and collect around Bury St. Edmunds and develop what I do with the objects and documentation.
The finds were hung as an installation in the studio, Walks days 1 - 5, giving them a completely different sense of value and presence. Julia was also sensitive to the domestic context of grove and made a film, grove shuffle, observing her hosts moving around the kitchen.
Alban Low & Kevin Acott
Alban discovered East Anglian Noir prior to his site visit to grove in August, and this coloured his interest in the residency, his take on the town and the approach that he and Kevin took to their week here. Riffing on the name of the town, the story of Edmund, his beheading and disappearance, the two artists set up an ‘incident room’. Alban led the first two days of investigation, inspired by the lime pit and building work next door. Kevin took Alban’s drawings as his jumping off point.
I wanted to bring in the Gothic, particularly southern American Gothic, seeing the American Gothic in somewhere as not-American as Bury St Edmunds. I was also aware of the American bases nearby. There was also something in my mind about myth, legend and stories in the time of fake news.
They rounded off this phase by making two graphic pamphlets. Happy to get these off to the printers, they got out of the house and wandered into market day Bury. There has been something about accident all the way through the week. Both wanted to buy a record from the record stall and, quite unrelated, had traced the footsteps of Nick Cave from his stay at The Angel, where he wrote Gates to the Garden………… Past the ivy-covered windows of The Angel, Down Athenaeum Lane to the cathedral, Through the churchyard I wandered, Sat for a spell there and I pondered, My back to the gates of the garden........
I wanted to bring in the Gothic, particularly southern American Gothic, seeing the American Gothic in somewhere as not-American as Bury St Edmunds. I was also aware of the American bases nearby. There was also something in my mind about myth, legend and stories in the time of fake news.
They rounded off this phase by making two graphic pamphlets. Happy to get these off to the printers, they got out of the house and wandered into market day Bury. There has been something about accident all the way through the week. Both wanted to buy a record from the record stall and, quite unrelated, had traced the footsteps of Nick Cave from his stay at The Angel, where he wrote Gates to the Garden………… Past the ivy-covered windows of The Angel, Down Athenaeum Lane to the cathedral, Through the churchyard I wandered, Sat for a spell there and I pondered, My back to the gates of the garden........
Steve Perfect
From a site visit and walk around Bury St Edmunds, Steve gathered preliminary ideas that informed his week working with grove; the Abbey and history of Bury St Edmunds, a visit to the National Gallery to look at the Wilton Diptych, David Dougan's book which examines the basis for the role Edmund played in the area, and how the myths and legends that surround him developed. Historical and art historical references were melded with observation of people around the town, in the market and the Abbey Gardens, recorded on camera.
Nearly everything I do comes from photographs. I gather material and ideas, and start in a lot of different ways, using an ordinary office pen for an even line, and use pencil, coloured pencils and watercolours. I look at other people's photos, particularly looking at composition. I'm fascinated by Renaissance artists, before they tried do achieve realism. I appreciate the formal aspects - with artists such as Mantegna and Bellini - and how they use small elements in the paintings to communicate messages and meanings.
As an artist you can do something different to a historian, it doesn't matter if it's true. In my practice I don't care about the facts. It's whether it's interesting and what I can do with it. I have thought about how Bury St Edmunds has grown from the Abbey, it's influence over the town - how the Abbey physically and the associated legends 'hang' over the town.
Read more about the week and new drawings on Steve's blog.
Nearly everything I do comes from photographs. I gather material and ideas, and start in a lot of different ways, using an ordinary office pen for an even line, and use pencil, coloured pencils and watercolours. I look at other people's photos, particularly looking at composition. I'm fascinated by Renaissance artists, before they tried do achieve realism. I appreciate the formal aspects - with artists such as Mantegna and Bellini - and how they use small elements in the paintings to communicate messages and meanings.
As an artist you can do something different to a historian, it doesn't matter if it's true. In my practice I don't care about the facts. It's whether it's interesting and what I can do with it. I have thought about how Bury St Edmunds has grown from the Abbey, it's influence over the town - how the Abbey physically and the associated legends 'hang' over the town.
Read more about the week and new drawings on Steve's blog.
Barbara Dougan
The unusual nature of the site, highlighted by the current development in the lime pit, has led recent grove artists to investigate the garden and the history of the pit in different ways. This residency has been different as this is my permanent home and studio. Living here, I am observing the changes to the site from a personal standpoint, and work I’m currently engaged with reflects on over twenty years of residence, and on the passing of time.
The grove work has been made during a period when we are suspended between what has been and what will be. It is about the inevitability of change and the mutable nature of memory.
The two films made with grove draw on photographs and filming of the garden, vegetation and the preparations for construction work, which include clearing items - tools, games and toys used by the family and young children - from a shed. An excerpt from the film grove can be watched here, an approach which will be pursed during construction work on site. A section of the second film Untitled (grove) can be watched here.
The grove work has been made during a period when we are suspended between what has been and what will be. It is about the inevitability of change and the mutable nature of memory.
The two films made with grove draw on photographs and filming of the garden, vegetation and the preparations for construction work, which include clearing items - tools, games and toys used by the family and young children - from a shed. An excerpt from the film grove can be watched here, an approach which will be pursed during construction work on site. A section of the second film Untitled (grove) can be watched here.
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Anne Harild
On her site visit to grove, Anne was fascinated by the abbey ruins Bury St Edmunds and the insertion of houses into the west front. Her week's residency coincided with the first steps in constructing a new dwelling in the garden, the site of an old lime/chalk pit. During planning this site has become overgrown, rapidly colonised by plant and wildlife before it is tamed again in the construction process. Anne has explored where modern building materials and methods rub up against the historic, and what underlies this town.
chalk – lime – flint – grass – mortar - ivy - wood – steel – paving – cow parsley - brick - nettles
Anne set up a camera and timer to record the passage of the strong summer sun across the pit and into the shed, where she drew with chalk from the preliminary survey holes. Animated films from timed photographs is a lengthy process and the week produced rough cuts which would be used to develop more controlled filming, with planned light conditions, over a long period. A series of collages used paper rubbings from the site.
The residency at grove was a brilliant opportunity for me to work directly in response to the site, develop new ideas and test and try already existing methods in response the surroundings of grove and Bury St. Edmunds. I was initially very intrigued by the ruins of the Abbey and how they have disintegrated over time. Simultaneously, I worked in response to the building site that is slowly developing in parts of the garden at grove, exploring how what had been left to grow wild is now being re-shaped. It was really great to have a concentrated period of time where I didn’t need to think about anything but making work, I think my practice benefitted immensely from having the time, space and support to experiment.
The films, Shed, Square Hole and Hidden Shed can be watched on Vimeo.
chalk – lime – flint – grass – mortar - ivy - wood – steel – paving – cow parsley - brick - nettles
Anne set up a camera and timer to record the passage of the strong summer sun across the pit and into the shed, where she drew with chalk from the preliminary survey holes. Animated films from timed photographs is a lengthy process and the week produced rough cuts which would be used to develop more controlled filming, with planned light conditions, over a long period. A series of collages used paper rubbings from the site.
The residency at grove was a brilliant opportunity for me to work directly in response to the site, develop new ideas and test and try already existing methods in response the surroundings of grove and Bury St. Edmunds. I was initially very intrigued by the ruins of the Abbey and how they have disintegrated over time. Simultaneously, I worked in response to the building site that is slowly developing in parts of the garden at grove, exploring how what had been left to grow wild is now being re-shaped. It was really great to have a concentrated period of time where I didn’t need to think about anything but making work, I think my practice benefitted immensely from having the time, space and support to experiment.
The films, Shed, Square Hole and Hidden Shed can be watched on Vimeo.
Henry Driver
I am fascinated by the speed at which the digital and virtual worlds are developing, are increasingly dominating our lives, and the issues that this raises. As the boundaries between physical and digital dissolve a number of questions must arise. Most prominent, where does the digital world end and the physical begin? It is the questioning, demonstrating and blurring of this that my work investigates.
Henry started his week with grove by photographing foliage around the garden, which he replicated and simulated within CGI (computer generated imagery), and developed into 3D computer animations. This approach developed ideas explored during his MA at Norwich University of the Arts, and particularly Second Skin. Current research shows that 40% of the time members of the public are unable to differentiate between CGI and photography. Drawing on the garden was a direct response to site, and resulting films and images were presented in the studio, shed, dining room, kitchen and living room, where the altered renderings of outside space were seen in the context of their initial capture. The film projection in the studio, playing over a wall made three dimensional with relief elements, became site specific by working positively with the size and shape of the space.
Henry started his week with grove by photographing foliage around the garden, which he replicated and simulated within CGI (computer generated imagery), and developed into 3D computer animations. This approach developed ideas explored during his MA at Norwich University of the Arts, and particularly Second Skin. Current research shows that 40% of the time members of the public are unable to differentiate between CGI and photography. Drawing on the garden was a direct response to site, and resulting films and images were presented in the studio, shed, dining room, kitchen and living room, where the altered renderings of outside space were seen in the context of their initial capture. The film projection in the studio, playing over a wall made three dimensional with relief elements, became site specific by working positively with the size and shape of the space.
Sarah Sabin
For her work with grove Sarah researched its site, as a home, a house and garden, and an old chalk pit that is part of considerable chalk workings in Bury St Edmunds and a seam that carries down through Kent and across to mainland Europe. At one time this part of England was under the sea – evidenced by the chalk which is made up of millions of minute calcite shells coccoliths - and following which it was one large land mass. During the week of her residency Sarah investigated these aspects of the site through drawing, divining, crushing chalk to make drawing chalks and using garden clippings to make hand made paper.
Work presented in the Studio space included a drawing from a map of the chalk seam between South East England and France with found chalk on hand made paper, a sketchbook of drawings from the house and garden, and a range of objects used and made during the residency including a chalk echinoid from Suffolk.
Work presented in the Studio space included a drawing from a map of the chalk seam between South East England and France with found chalk on hand made paper, a sketchbook of drawings from the house and garden, and a range of objects used and made during the residency including a chalk echinoid from Suffolk.
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Ruth Philo & Stuart Bowditch
Inspired by Virgina Woolf's book of the same name, 'To the Lighthouse' is a new collaboration between painter Ruth Philo and sound artist Stuart Bowditch. They were attracted to Orford Ness, and the lighthouse, as almost mythical places, and were keen to discover what lay inside before the building is lost to the sea. The film brings together their two practices for the first time, as an experiment, and has tried to capture the sense of being safe inside the protective building whilst also being surrounded by the forbidden and wildness on which it sits. A world within an underworld. grove was an opportunity for them to edit and install works and discuss the emerging work with an audience.
The digital film and light/sound works installed are working towards what is essentially a portrait, that tries to capture the essence of this space and its very particular sense of place before it is finally lost.
The works installed in the Studio, Shed and Pantry draw on the photographs and sound recordings from the lighthouse and the timings are taken from the rotation of the main optic, which appears as a white flash every five seconds, with a range of twenty nautical miles. The sound combines ambient sound, created sound within the lighthouse and digitally created elements.
The digital film and light/sound works installed are working towards what is essentially a portrait, that tries to capture the essence of this space and its very particular sense of place before it is finally lost.
The works installed in the Studio, Shed and Pantry draw on the photographs and sound recordings from the lighthouse and the timings are taken from the rotation of the main optic, which appears as a white flash every five seconds, with a range of twenty nautical miles. The sound combines ambient sound, created sound within the lighthouse and digitally created elements.
It has been fascinating to work with Stuart - he seems to have a much more scientific process. For me making the film was a new departure and yet in many ways felt just like painting, with similar issues of pulling something out of chaos and using materials, albeit different ones, to bring about a piece that taps into the sensations and feelings of the viewer. Making the film was very much a dialogue, both with Stuart and the sound but also through the making process and as in my painting I started off with figurative elements but moved towards abstraction - funny to see the same things happening, and several people said the film reminded them of my paintings!
Ruth Philo
The film projected in the Studio aims to immerse the viewer, as if being in the lighthouse interior. The vibrant colour is determined by the weather, bathing the otherwise stark white space when the sun shines through the optic prisms. This also contrasts with the sparse and remote landscape of Orford Ness outside the windows.
This project was the first time that Ruth and I have worked together, only having met in 2014 on an ENAS trip to Folkestone. It was clear that some of our interests overlapped, even if our preferred mediums and ways of working were rather different. Therein lies, of course, the reason to try and make something new together and to see where you end up. An aimless walk if you like, which ended up at Orford Ness, and in particular, the lighthouse.
Barbara at grove was very supportive of our ideas and gave us a lot of freedom to experiment, which proved to be just what was needed, especially when finding a new route. The guiding light became a beacon of direction instead of a warning, and as well as the initial film, we created two site specific works in the domestic spaces at grove. These both used light as a medium, which was a new way of working for us both, but were obvious after developing themes on our trips to the lighthouse.
We had some interesting and thoughtful conversations with audience members during the show and everyone seemed to navigate themselves between the works with no one ending up on the rocks.
Stuart Bowditch
Alison Carlier
Alison spent three days pursuing her open ended drawing practice, observing and recording everyday objects, activities and conversation. She explored a range of media including ink, pencil, carbon paper, sound and video recording.
As the culmination of the residency, drawings and videos made during the week were installed in different spaces, in the studio and domestic context as appropriate to the work. The Sweepers film was presented in the utility room, Paper, pencil & piano, in the living room, a sound piece and related drawing in the dining room. Developing the domestic theme, the film Sketches, made in 2014, found new resonance projected into a cupboard in the pantry.
As the culmination of the residency, drawings and videos made during the week were installed in different spaces, in the studio and domestic context as appropriate to the work. The Sweepers film was presented in the utility room, Paper, pencil & piano, in the living room, a sound piece and related drawing in the dining room. Developing the domestic theme, the film Sketches, made in 2014, found new resonance projected into a cupboard in the pantry.
I worked prolifically, making works on paper, videos and sound recordings..I used 'observation' as a starting point; from conventional observational drawings on paper of found objects at grove, filmed observations of myself drawing, auditory observations of domestic activity, such as the sound of a broom sweeping.
This was a concentrated time to test ideas and reflect upon my practice. I see this residency as the culmination of ideas that have developed since winning the Jerwood Drawing Prize last year and as a springboard for new work. I feel my work has benefited enormously from immersing myself in and really attending to the sentiments of drawing, which is fundamental to my practice.
Watch the films Sweepers, Broad Beans, Paper, Pencil & Piano and Eyes here.
This was a concentrated time to test ideas and reflect upon my practice. I see this residency as the culmination of ideas that have developed since winning the Jerwood Drawing Prize last year and as a springboard for new work. I feel my work has benefited enormously from immersing myself in and really attending to the sentiments of drawing, which is fundamental to my practice.
Watch the films Sweepers, Broad Beans, Paper, Pencil & Piano and Eyes here.
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