This week I attended a fascinating conference hosted by Surrey Hills Arts at The University of Surrey in Guildford. The event brought together artists who work with and in the landscape to present their work and to tackle the question “How can we inspire action?” to tackle the climate and biodiversity emergency. The first presentationContinue reading “Calling for Action.”
Category Archives: Research
Terra Nexus
Last month I was lucky to catch this set of immersive installations at Proposition Studios on London’s Southbank, in the old London Studios building, where they have had their base until very recently. The labyrinth of eighteen interconnected ‘worlds’, questioning the role of humans as part of ecology was curated by Gabriella Sonabend, co-founder ofContinue reading “Terra Nexus”
Among the Beech Roots.
Over the past month I have been completing a large scale drawing project started in Autumn 2020 from studies made in the landscape of the line of beech trees bordering Byway 745 and the litter collected from beneath them. The drawing measures 150 x 700 cm and had to be worked on in sections onContinue reading “Among the Beech Roots.”
Under the Surface.
During March and April this year I was able to witness and record a major human intervention on Byway 745. The rutted chalk track was being ‘repaired’ to allow more even public access to users of this Byway Open to All Traffic. I have hours of video footage and many still photographs that need toContinue reading “Under the Surface.”
Laying New Ground
Work has finally started on Byway 745 to stop it becoming more eroded and to allow access to it for a wider cross section of users. The County Council have subcontracted the work to a company who specialise in conservation groundwork. The three workers are setting about installing what is known as a French drainContinue reading “Laying New Ground”
Viewpoint – point of view.
I have recently been reading artist, writer and film maker Hito Steyerl’s essay In Free Fall: A Thought Experiment on Vertical Perspective in which she charts the rise of linear perspective as the dominant tradition in Western Art and the triumph of today’s ubiquitous aerial view. The view from above has become a norm ofContinue reading “Viewpoint – point of view.”
Limited Access.
Notice has been given that Hampshire County Council’s Countryside Access Team is going to ‘repair’ Byway 745. Only walkers and cyclists are allowed to use it until the work has been completed. To allow this to happen it has been closed by a barrier at either end. Over the past month I have witnessed aContinue reading “Limited Access.”
Working with plants and lights.
How to curate living elements in sculpture is a challenge Danh Vo has risen to in his current show at White Cube, Bermondsey. The visitor is greeted in the space outside the gallery by a pavilion bedecked in makeshift wooden planters while in one room of the interior space plants dominate the display, grow-lights suspendedContinue reading “Working with plants and lights.”
Byway 745 Observatory.
Byway 745 Observatory with direct drawing. I have recently started making daily drawings on a 10 metre section of Byway 745, deciding to home in on, rather than pass through, the space. To establish a kind of “observatory” examining the whole space from the trees at the top of the banks down into the chalkContinue reading “Byway 745 Observatory.”
Fossils at Oxford University Museum of Natural History.
The UCA MA Fine Art group made a visit to Oxford this week. First port of call was the Museum of Natural History where I was bowled over by the vast collection of fossils. There was time to make drawings and have a really good look at the exhibits. What I found immediately striking wasContinue reading “Fossils at Oxford University Museum of Natural History.”
Liz Clifford 