28 Oct - 11 Nov 2019
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| The hemp rope consented to travel from Spain and demarcated a secluded area of the garden associated with the woodland. |
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| One morning I woke to find that the tree standing on the Energy Line had been felled to hedge height. I collect the saw dust and place it on the table in the Station Master’s Hut. |
CONSENTING OBJECTS
Thank you Nina for a comfortable, rich and fascinating residency.
The low clouds and short November days lent an intense introspective energy to my short time at Trélex; just two weeks. I came prepared with a proto-project entitled Consenting Objects, which was informed by a place-making installation undertaken in South Africa in August 2017.
The relationship between Place, its genius loci and Object is a core interest. Using divining rods I enquire what a Place wants and where Objects wish to be in the world. The answers are often surprisingly precise.
Since September, I have been living in a small town near Valencia and I decided to ask random objects if they would consent to travel with me to Switzerland. Some said ‘yes’ and others declined. Certain lengths of rope, stones, animal bones, fragments of pottery, tiny dried pomegranates and oranges from my house and garden.
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| Shimenawa with eco-print |
I had also been making eco-prints on paper with local vegetation and spring water: mainly pomegranate, walnut, vine, olive and bramble. I was curious if the Mediterranean species would consent to travel to a northern winter? Most consented to travel.
Once I arrived in Trélex the garden provided the arena of investigation. With the divining rods I asked what was flowing through the site. An energy line and two underground streams consented to reveal themselves.
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| I covered the roof of the Wendy House with red creeper-leaves. The image marks the meeting of the water and energy lines- a marriage of sorts. |
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| Interestingly, both flowed under existing garden structures: a Wendy House (containing a child’s notebook) and a wooden cabin ‘The Station Master’s hut. These became sites for installations as did the intersections (marriage) of the water and energy lines. |
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| A haiku written in response to drawings in the child’s note-book left in the Wendy House. |
The energy line flowed from the northwest to south east passing through a small overgrown deciduous wood growing on a 2.5 metre high outcrop. Oak, mistletoe and hornbeam; a somewhat disconcerting place.
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| Eco prints gifted to the woodland; I left them twirling in the wind. Objects in Place. |
My reading material was THE GIFT by Lewis Hyde. It became clear that some of the Consenting Objects were gifts to be passed on, but that some would be carried back to their home in Spain.
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The gift I received from a fellow Trélex Residency artist in return for three tiny pomegranates. I took it back to Spain with me, gifted it to the next resident. It is the residue from the bottom of one her paint pots; prima materia.
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Manifestations included:
- A series of temporary installations in the garden including a quasi Shimenawa (a festooned rope delineating a sacred area in the Shinto tradition).
- Haiku poems responding to the place, installations and weather; they were written in the child’s notebook left in the Wendy House with the pencils provided. It remains there.
- Short videos
- A daily illustrated blog posted on my website: Sara Mark
- A daily series of photographs posted on my Instagram account: saramark_artist
- The giving and receiving of gifts.
