Read the first part of this text at GROW Artist In Residence
It became clear that work had to begin with and come from the growers and be placed in their growing spaces. I wanted to help them to make work that shared their own ideas, concerns and stories on their own land, and in their own way.
For Jerry the green space he looks out on everyday from his flat doesn’t feel like a garden. Situated on the outer edges of the Lansdowne Estate, this well maintained but transient space is defined by the two busy roads that surround it. Jerry said to me “This is our garden”, it struck a chord and became the title and premise for the work. One mans vision of how the space could be used as a community growing vegetable garden, it raises questions around the use and purpose of these anonymous spaces, neither, public or private.
When I moved in next door to Julie and Ness there was an abundance of vegetables sprawling all over the shared backyard. My landlord said some people have been put off by it, (this wasn’t the first time I’d heard about people taking a disliking to a so called messy look). I added my small contribution to the front garden facing ontoSharrow Street, my leek and spinach sat amongst the marrows and squash that spilled out through the railings and the potatoes that grew from a tower of old car tyres, I’d never seen anything quite like this in a front garden before, it was a wonderful sight. We shared our experiences of working in a private space that was so public and how it turned the garden into a stage and the act of gardening into a performance. Passers by would regularly stop, look and ask questions, for many it was the first time they’d seen a courgette attached to a plant. Preserve Us takes this public exchange one step further, a chance to share old skills, recipes & to take away some of the garden in the form of chutney, wine & seeds in exchange for a pledge to grow themselves.
Dahlia spoke to me about growing and was fascinating to listen to. She told me about her time in Egypt before she came to live in the UK and about her first attempts at growing, I especially liked the story of the unsuccessful tomato crop in which her whole family sat round the table and divided the one tomato between them. When I ask if she’d be interested in taking part in the project the first thing she said was that she didn’t want to alter or ‘spruce up’ the garden for show. She went onto to talk about the winter being one of her favorite garden times with the stillness and slow changes. Dahlia’s attitude, approach & acceptance of the Winter Growing Garden allowed the Trail to start taking its shape. Dahlia is presenting her garden as it is.
Daniele works with film and photography. After some talk of building a cinema in his back garden, he suggested the idea of opening it up and installing a security camera, this began to take on a more profound meaning when we realized that he might be away on the day of the Trail. Suddenly the notion of the open garden came into focus. A camera and monitor are placed in different parts of the house, the viewer cannot see the camera if they choose to look at them selves on the monitor. This highlights the boundaries of the garden and the viewer’s presence in a private space. It also creates a playfulness between the observed and observer exploring the unsaid rules of neighbourly etiquette and notions public and private.
Maughan had a small garden in a box on her front windowsill, it was the only bit of green I could see when I first visited her in Hobart St as all the front doors open straight out onto the pavement. She mentioned to me she’d always wanted to do something with the two empty pavement pockets down her street, designed to allow a tree to grow, they had sat empty for as long as she could remember. Another work was developed with Maughan’s daughter, Saffron, who enthusiastically talked to us about the green roof on her school, Sharrow School, so we wondered if we could make our own. Play and imagination were at the core of both works as we started to see things through the eyes of a child.
I invited already existing groups and individuals who share similar concerns to the growers to create interventions directly on the streets to make us see them in a new light. Planted by The Children of Sharrow , Trikes 4 Transports and Ruthie Ford are artists and activists that make up these works en route. All of them share a creative approach to direct action and problem solving, they connect the Trail as a whole and highlight the neglected & potential growing spaces in our neighbourhood.
I had a remit to ‘use recycled and sustainable materials wherever possible, this dictated a certain approach & aesthetic to the Trail as a whole and to each of the works en route.
The 12th December will also see the environment talks in Copenhagen, which are crucial if we are to reach a global agreement to act on climate change. The works on this Trail question what it is to be aware of the places we live in and the people we live next to, they also question what it is to ‘act’ whether as an individual, community or on a global scale, growing one tomato plant might not seem like a huge contribution but in doing so, it opens you up to the world of actions and consequences and becomes part of a greater change.
The Imagined might not exist yet, but it could.
