COLLABORATION- PAST AND CURRENT

Here are some examples of my collaborations from the past 2 years ranging from community involvement , videography and exhibition work. Some from last year and some on going. As this unit is about collaboration I thought it would be interring to see how my past and ongoing works with others has influenced this unit.

GLENGLALL WHARF COMMUNITY GARDENS HALLOWEEN EVENT – 28th October

Last year I was asked by Glengall Wharf community gardens by Burgess Park to create 2 sound tracks to be played as a part of their Halloween event. The night included story telling, folk music, food, craft and a sound walk thought the gardens which was produced by me. I was referred to create this work with the gardens as a friend regularly volunteers there every weekend. Community work has now become a frequent trend within my practice as I will elaborate in the rest of this blog post. I was given a time scale of 30 minuets for both of the tracks and told that they must reference Celtic folk music. As it was a Halloween event I made it some what scary but not to scary so kids could enjoy it. One of the tracks was used for the sound walk around the gardens and the other was used by the fire pit as a backing track for the story times. When creating the track I really wanted to work with the gardens and surrounding areas opposed to against. I made sure to have the volume at a considerate level and not include any screams etc as to not be triggering for any passers by. The general feedback was very positive. I told the gardens that if they ever needed sound again that I would be happy to be a part of the community and provide my sound for free.

Here is a link to both of the tracks:

This is the track for fire:

Field mouse · will o’ the wisp -For Glengall Wharf Community Gardens halloween edition

This is the track for the sound walk:

Field mouse · Ignis Fatuus -For Glengall Wharf Community Gardens halloween edition

PLANT YOURSELF FIRM, FOR WE WILL FIND YOUR EQUILIBRIUM

By Saffron Mcleod

The film explores how we can practice existing within more primal states and relieve our anxieties through: touch, movement, catharsis and nurturing the inner child through fantasy / escapism and catharsis. These rituals can act as forms of medication. Plant Yourself Firm is a primal, meditative journey post anxious state, interwoven with elements of nature —- specifically trees. They can serve as tool of meditation and offer us balance when we feel manic /anxious.

Trees are our friends; they’re anchored, wise, evolving and peaceful and we have a harmoniously transactional relationship with them. They breathe, we breathe. Not only should we extend our gratitude and acknowledge their fundamental role in preserving our ecosystem, but we can learn so much from them. Nature can medicate us and this film not only encourages the viewer the medicate more primally and spiritually but also embody the spirit of a tree. Take a deep breath, plant yourself firm and like trees, you too will find your equilibrium.  Embrace introspection as well as looking outwards and understanding our interconnectedness thus perceiving ourselves as belonging to something bigger.

My role within this collaboration was to create a backing track for the short film. Saffron came to me as a suggestion from a friend. We had never worked before but she still brought me onto the project. Due to this film only have a small budget I along with others did the work for free. The whole experience was very community based, with room for suggestion and creativity. When me and saffron sat down to create the sound I only had a time scale of 2 weeks to complete it. Saffrons vision was strong so I went with what she asked me to do. As the film was focused around breath work, I recorded saffron with an h5 zoom going through a daily breath work practice she dose. she wanted the film to be solely around the breath and not have an undertone of anything else except bells, gongs and birds. If I had had more freedom on the sound I would have change a few elements but that it something that I have learnt about these kinds of collaborations is then when you work for someone it is then not so much your idea but you helping with their idea.

The film recently screened at the new Pie stick Match house and was featured in Girls in Film and a few more articles and blogs. Saffrons other works have been featured in Dazed magazine and I am exited to work with her again.

Here is the article on Girls in Film which has an attachment to the short film:

https://www.girlsinfilm.net/videos/plant-yourself-firm-for-we-will-find-your-equilibrium

GALLERY 46 – 30th Jan- 2nd Feb

I have mention a bit about the LCC Gallery 46 show in a previous blog post so I will not go into further detail here. My experience with this collaboration was a good one. We all worked well together and provided each other with assistance when needed. The pre and post production of this show went very smoothy expect a few factors. Firstly the noise within the room that my set design pieces was in was directly next to another work that was very abrasive and too loud. I reflected upon this in a past essay and came to the conclusion that it helped prove a point I was trying to highlight about the volume range of the world that we now live in and how nature is being quietened by the man made. Other factors comprised of people not showing that had allocated spaces. This just meant that there was less of a coherence to the show as blank empty spaces were left that could have been utilised.

ERA JOURNAL – 26-27th February

I have already created a blog post for Era Journal so I will not elaborate further on the work. My experice from this collaboration was also a positive one. The organisers set up the exhibition very well, all of the works were very coherent to one another. I look forward to working with them again in the future.

ENERY GARDEN

For the past 3-4 moths I have been weekly volunteering at Brockley train station for Energy Garden. This organisation helps create green spaces by using the income provided by the installation of solar panels in a nd around London to by plants and hire professional gardeners to help teach community sessions. A friend of mine Callum runs the Brockley station, Victoria Park, Ladbroke Grove, Nunhead and Honor Oak community garden spaces. They mainly restore train stations, not with much help from TFL but they bring local community members together to make our spaces greener and restore wildlife habitats to the areas. Since my volunteering at Brockley I have also done some volunteering work in Ladbroke Grove. My other project for the contemporary issue in sound arts is soil based and so I started to take soil and field recordings using a geofon in the community spaces. This has led to me being asked to co create a blog with the head gardener Callum for the Energy Garden website. His bosses became very intrigued into what I was doing and the use of sound in these spaces. This blog will be a consistent co collaboration between me Callum and the gardens for the future. I am very exited to see where this collaboration will go. It has also driven my practice into a more community based one, bringing sound and sonic equipments into the gardens for other to try out and hear what we sound arts have accessibility to all the time.

Here is a link to the Energy Gardens website:

https://www.energygarden.org.uk

BRAZIERS PARK SOIL EXHIBITION – 23-26th May

I have recently submitted my work to the braziers park open call. I stumbled upon this exhibition as I was simultaneously in the process of studying soil sounds for my contemporary issues in sound arts unit. This would be an incredible experience to do some more community led work and collaboration with others that I have never met. Next year for my dissertation I am also looking to do a project about community collaboration, in which I hope to do some research at a biodynamic community farm in Forest row Kent. This exhibition would be a good chance to explore working with people that I am unfamiliar with and give me the skills I need for next year. I look forward to hearing back from the creators of the exhibition and if my work docent get accepted then I will share it on other platforms to make it accessible for others to listen to.