You won’t see me at village barbecues – it gives me a hemmed in feeling, and takes me back to my schooldays. I like to have my chat on the road and see people in passing, and there are the various things that go on that I will become involved in.
Ross Crockford, Walled Garden Project, Tong.

The village has been emasculated by the removal of all stock. The stock gave pattern to the land. A field of golden cattle on one side, a field of black on the other. It was beautiful.
Joan Bates, Tong.

For this action research project we explored the rural village of Tong and attempted to reflect the residents’ sense of community and place. Tong is a village steeped in history and is part of a 17th century estate that once belonging to the Bradford family, the biggest landowners in the country. We were both used to living in either big towns or cities and our notion of community was centred on the connection of like-minded people rather than being based around our neighbours where we lived. The Longhouse action research commission gave us the space to explore and creatively reflect upon how individuals from the village see their own connection with both the village and the countryside, and consider how this might differ to our own experience of community.

What began to emerge from our encounters with local people were very different perceptions of what community means. Perceptions ranged from a sense that community is ‘long gone’ in this area, to the understanding it is still vibrant and strong. Ross Crockford underlines what many people think when she says that

The groups of people within the village now are so diverse and every household has got its own life. When I first lived here, and the first ten years of living here, we all worked on the same level, 99 percent of us worked on the estate. It was very community orientated and we got along together. It has changed in the way that people now are getting on with their own life, and don’t really see the need for that community.

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The image of a constellation resonated with what we felt about the presence of community in Tong, where many individuals do become connected and bound together in many different ways, but also reflects the increasing degree of separateness that results from our heavily mediated ‘I’ focused lives. Some people lamented that the change was towards ‘the separate life’ and how it requires an enormous amount of energy from a few motivated individuals to hold the idea of community together in any visible way.

We met many different people as part of this project, 5 of which directly participated: David Dixon, a retired business man who has the talent of dowsing for water which he kindly taught us; Joan Bates, a feisty 80 year old woman who for many years ran the livery stables in the village and retired only a couple of months ago; Beryl, a retired cancer nurse who’s husband loaded the guns for Lord Bradford; Roz Crockford, who runs the Walled Garden where young people with difficult issues in their lives find some sanctuary; and John Murfin, a retired business man who is heavily involved in the parish council. Each of these people had a very different perception of the community in which they live.

One of our main challenges for this action research project was how to collaboratively work together to creatively explore and respond to the theme of community in Tong village. During this research we produced many photographs, drawings, videos and sound files that reflected both our engagement with participants and captured many different impressions of the area.

The sculpture consists of 16 clear resin orbs connected across two high-grade stainless steel spirals. Each of the orbs represent one of the four base pairs that make up the DNA code – AGTC– and will be sequenced in a series of four. An array of coloured LED lights sits inside each of the orbs and are animated by a MAX MSP programme.

Sean Clark of Cuttlefish and artist Pete Hill assisted in the realisation of this project. Sean was instrumental in sourcing and testing the lights, while Pete’s engineering skills attached the two steel strands together.

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Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Talking Chances is a forty-minute audio journey that reflects the thoughts and experiences of former employees and associates of Chances Glass Factory. Over a period of six months I recorded over 14 hours of conversation with sixteen people, discussing all aspect of life at Chances. Short extracts were taken from these conversations and combined together to form this audio piece.

Talking Chances creates a multi-dimensional picture of what Chances Glass meant to many different people. It is both a highly personal interpretation and a vibrant historic record of a unique period of British manufacturing, a period that is readily brought alive through the words of these diverse participants.

to listen to the project please click on the link below:

Talking Chances: 40 minutes stereo: MP3 Format

Produced as part of the Taking Chances project developed by the community arts organisation Multistory and supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund

Many thanks to the participants who made this project possible:

Geoff Bennett, Cyril and Eddie Caine, Edna Carr, Toby Chance, Dennis Darby, Jean Durrant, Ray Drury, Anne Hardy, Esmee Amphlett, Mac Prinn, Alan and Joyce Taylor, Gary and Dorothy Watton, Maud Morris.

Banner image- Fresnal Lighthouse Lens produced by Chances. Image reproduced by kind courtesy of Zoe Gladstone.

A series of photographs was commissioned in 2006 to help celebrate the launch of Sandwell Council’s Disability and Equality Scheme.

The In On The Act launch event took place on the 11th May 2006 at the Bethnal Centre in West Bromwich.

The event was attended by over 200 people, and, amongst many things, aimed to:

Celebrate the achievements of disabled people in Sandwell
Raise awareness of the issues and experiences related to equality for disabled people
Inspire commitment to establishing equality for disabled people in Sandwell.

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In making these images I worked with many different groups and individuals from across the Sandwell area. I would like to say a big thank you to all those who agreed to take part:

Mr and Mrs Bowen
Dave and Debbie Heeley
People First, Tipton
The Meadows School
The disability swimming group at Wednesbury Leisure Centre
Mrs Richards
Helen Stephens
Mr Sanger
Mrs Patal

During the summer of 2005 I worked with WILDWORKS and Kneehigh Theatre on the production of their third and final incarnation of A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings, staged at Hayle Quay, Cornwall.

Adapted from a short story by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the theme of community identity is explored in this site-specific promenade production.

The story focus is the arrival of an ambiguous angel-like figure in the small fishing village of Maha-Le, and shows how the small community respond to both his presence and the changes that follow. The mysterious winged figure attracts much outside interest, and the visits by pilgrims and the money they bring has a dramatic effect upon the previously close-nit and simple community.

In its essence this adaptation of A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings is a powerful and heart-rending account of change, and shows that what may initially appear to be good fortune may not always be the case.

My role was to work as Production Manager alongside WILDWORKS Director Bill Mitchell, Creative Director Sue Hill, and the very broad and talented team to help realise this wonderfully ambitious and complex production.

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These are a series of portraits made for an event that celebrated the development of community cohesion in the Sandwell Valley area of the West Midlands. These images were made into large-scale prints and shown around the venue. 2006

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The Eden Project’s A Time of Gifts Winter Festival in 2004 & Africa Calling – Live8 concert June 2005

This project is a collaboration with Cornwall-based artist Peter Hill to design and build two six-metre high animated fire sculptures as part of The Eden Project’s winter festival A Time of Gifts.

The festival brought together many artists from Cornwall and beyond to help celebrate a time based upon giving. The fire sculptures marked the end of a procession that featured drumming, dancing and singing, with the centre piece of five large-scale lantern ships made by Truro-based art collective City of Lights.

The fire sculptures were also used to close the spectacular Live8 concert in the summer of 2005, working alongside The World Famous and their superb pyrotechnic display.

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The Higher Intelligence Agency: Spectral

This video was commissioned by The Higher Intelligence Agency for the new remix of Spectral that first appeared on the pioneering LP Colourform in 1993.

The film was first shown at the 2004 Big Chill festival at Eastnor Castle Deer Park, alongside visuals from the Birmingham based Modulate collective.

Click here to view the embedded video.