Output details

Echo Valley / A Guiding Dilemma

Artwork output from the Touchstone test piece research project (AHRC) based around embodied processes and landscape. It expands the methodology of Elastic Frontiers (Arnolfini, Bristol, ISBN0907738826, 2006) - itself contributing to a PICA report into art and education (Robson J, 2010). Invited and shown at: Void gallery, Derry 2008 (solo). GTg, Belfast 2009 (two person) Belfast International Film Festival 2009. Gimpel Fils Gallery London 2008 (group).

For two years Shipsides climbed regularly with John, a blind man. Within this interdependent activity they explored how to capture and create something of our embodied landscape experience. A method developed of attaching micro cameras to John's fingers, backpack and feet to record “finger tip” climbing footage. Other methods were more dialogical – conversations around their climbing, concepts of landscape and their everyday activity.

The approach starts with the notion; whilst sight is critical to making it easier, climbing might not primarily be about viewing – it might be as much about movement and physicality – experiential – phenomenological.

The research deconstructs core aspects of landscape visual culture - ocular narrative constructions ordered around particular sets of ideological framing principals, power relations, perspectives or identities. By employing non-sight directed techniques and dialogical dialogue the project addresses the construction of landscape imagery and presents new narratives underpinned by an alternative experiential and conversational formation.

Beyond its art context it contributed to a wider and cross contextual field including Geography studies (Landscape and Environment and forthcoming chapter in Prof Stephen Daniels new publication), Film (Belfast International Film Festival) and the outdoor pursuits context (Summit magazine and Raw outdoor festival).