Manifesto Maker in Pigdogandmonkeyfestos - Exeter Phoenix

My Manifesto Maker (Interactive sculpture) appeared in the next iteration of the Pigdogandmonkeyfesto project - curated by Shaun Doyle and Mally Mallinson - at Exeter Phoenix from January 23rd - Macrh 7th. The piece was originally made for the show that we had at AirSpace - and was the first piece of physical work I made after Rowan was born. I think there is something significant about the fact that it sort of looks like a child's toy!

As the project develops more artists are added to the roll call! Here is the list of artists in the show at The Exeter Phoenix: Aid and Abet | Larry Achiampong & David Blandy | ASP | BAZ | Mark Beasley | Mathieu Beausejour | Shane Bradford | Kerry Campbell | Billy Childish & Harry Adams | Ami Clarke | Leigh Clarke | Common Culture | Leslie Deere | Arnaud Desjardin | Doyle & Mallinson | Benedict Drew | Patti Ellis | Plastique Fantastique | Laura Oldfield Ford | Anna Francis | Simon Fujiwara | Andrew Gilbert | Kenneth Graham | Oona Grimes | S Mark Gubb | Lucy Harrison | Emma Hart | Emma Holmes | Stewart Home | Kevin Hunt | kennardphillips | Dean Kenning | Peter Lamb | Abigail Lane | Cedar Lewisohn | Sarah Lucas | Dominic from Luton | Jenny Moore | Harriet Murray  | Richard Paul | Mark Pearson | The Cult of Rammellzee | Clunie Reid | Tanja Ritterbex | Katie Schwab | Anna Chrystal Stephens | Melanie Stidolph & Max Catterall | Neil Taylor | Pat Rock | Jennet Thomas | Sarah Thorley | Jessica Voorsanger | Vulpes Vulpes | Alice Walton | Frank Wasser

Nordic Geographer's Meeting: Tallinn and Tartu 2015

I am really excited to have been successful with my abstract to attend the Nordic Geographer's Meeting which takes place in Tallinn and Tartu, in June.
The conference theme is Geographical Imagination: Interpretations of Nature, Art and Politics and many of the sessions look at nature in urban spaces. 
I am thrilled to be going to this, as I had been feeling a real need to refresh on my area of research, which has certainly become much more focused within the role of ecologies and green space in creating healthy, thriving cities. This has always been present in my work, as since around 2008 I have been making works involving seeds and brownfield explorations - but it is now becoming a really important and central part of my practice.
My abstract was as follows:
BROWNFIELD IKEBANA: RECOGNISING THE BEAUTY IN URBAN WASTEGROUNDS.

Brownfield Ikebana is a series of works by artist Anna Francis which aim to reframe the neglected Brownfield sites in cities, as potential beauty spots, nature reserves and wildlife havens.

As with many post-industrial cities, Stoke-on-Trent has an abundance of gaps in its city centre, where buildings and factories have been taken down, but the money to rebuild and reimagine has not yet arrived. These spaces are often described by local people and the media as problem spaces or eyesores, but are in fact very important in the developing ecology of wildlife in city areas. One Example: In The North Staffordshire Field Club ’s Annual address of 1875, declining numbers of Goldfinches in the county are attributed to industrial and housing development, which saw the decline in natural habitats. Recently, Goldfinch numbers in the city centre have grown, which can be attributed to the abundance of Brownfield Sites, providing new food sources.

Brownfield Ikebana aims to recognise the potential of these spaces, through creating artworks and events which invite a dialogue about the use of these sites, and value to local wildlife, and local people. ‘Brownfield Ikebana’ could be presented as a works instruction, performance and/or public workshop, which utilises the art of Japanese flower arranging, to explore Brownfield Sites, and use discarded rubbish in the place of vessels and vases, and weeds and vegetation growing on the site to create beautiful, formal floral displays.

Birder's Paradise Final Phase: Exhibition

The final phase of the Birder's Paradise involved us returning to our 3 main sites to round up the findings and research with an exhibition and various activities and new works in each place.
The exhibition phase on the Spode Factory coincided with an exhibition which we had been invited to contribute to: The Journey's Pathways and Track Plans Exhibition.

It was really fortuitous allowing the work made within the Bider's Paradise Project to reach a much wider audience, and feedback from the visitors to the show was amazingly positive.
We were able to exhibit works from all 3 of our main sites in the show, plus the mobile bird hide was on display throughout the duration of the 3 week exhibition.

 The elements of the show included a map showing our 3 main sites, a moss garden, created from  mosses washed from the Spode Factory Roofs by the rain.

 Andy exhibited his soil drill, made to take soil and ground samples on the sites,

 And a drawing made with the samples.

 I created three photographic collages (one for each site) which incorporated photographs of the 3 sites and a Penguin Book of Birds.

We also created a video, of footage from the 3 sites with a sound piece, based on activity which took place during our time on the sites. One of the real benefits of this project to us as practitioners was that it afforded us time to do some research, this included book based research as well as site exploration, and one book which became very important to us was a book of Staffordshire Birds from the late 1800s which catalogued the birds to be found in the county. It was a fascinating book, which became a real point of comparison for us.

 On one occasion we found ourselves going through the entire book, to see which birds on the list we had seen during our bird watching site visits. I read out the birds on the list, and Andy said Yes if we had seen it, in which case I would read about the sitings from the 1800s and the notes from keen birders, but if we hadn't seen it Andy woud say no, and we would move on.

 An interesting point for us was in relation to the goldfinch, a bird that is abundant in the city these days, the book described the declining numbers at the end of the 1800s and attributed the low numbers to the extreme industrialisation that was going on at the time - leading to a lot of green space being developed, and a decline in the goldfinches natural habitat. Post-industrial stoke is the perfect place for the goldfinch, who enjoy brush plants; things like teasles, which enjoy brownfield sites will grow plentifully, and are one of the goldfinches favourite foods.

In addition to the exhibition, I lead an urban nature tour on the Spode Site. Participants heard about my practice, via an exploration of the plants and flowers growing around the site.

 On the tour I had picked out 10 of Spode's wildflowers, and used each one as a prompt for my art works. At the end of the tour we made a list of plants to be found on the site, with the participants using the wildflower guides to identify some of the other plants that I had not pointed out, exploring the site themselves, and finding a new way to explore urban space.

Our return to Westport Lake was very eventful. The visit was timed to coincide with the school half term, which worked well, as we met lots of families enjoying a walk by the lake.

Our research and explorations at Westport Lake had uncovered the enormous problem they have there with bread being given to the birds, and the bread broom in the lake causing blue algae mentioned in my last post. In response to this we had commissioned sculptor Mally Mallinson to create 'Panem Anser' for us - 'The Bread Bird.'

Bread Bird was on display during the day - and drew a lot of attention. We explained that this was the last remaining Bread Bird in the species, but that the Bread Bird had now gone extinct, as a result of Bread Bird's terrible diet of solely bread - leading it to suffer from Angel Wing, a wing deforming condition caused by a vitamin e deficiency. It was a great tool for speaking to people about the problem of feeding birds bread, and we also gave out a lot of corn as an alternative.

 We had a lot of visits from keen bird watchers, nature lovers, and those just interested in what we were doing. One chap brought his bird watching diary to show us.

We were really pleased to also have a visit from a very keen bird watcher, Phil Charles - who brought his amazing monocular, which was more like a telescope. He visits the Lake regularly and is really keen to share his enthusiasm for birds with others.

 Phil set up the monocular by the lake so that visitors to the Bird Hide could also have a look at a wonderful and rare sight - a great spotted woodpecker that is seen at the lake daily.

Through my binoculars all you could see of the woodpecker was this:

But through Phil's you could see very clearly. Although it was very hard to get a good shot through the lens!

It certainly helped to bring a crowd, and Phil told us about his video works - documenting Staffordshire Birds.

Here is a wonderful video Phil made of another woodpecker.

It was great to meet Phil, another force for nature. Phil was pleased to hear that we have a great vantage point at the back of AirSpace Gallery of the Peregrine Falcoms that nest and rear young each spring and summer - and has arranged to come and visit the Bird Yarden, and make a video of the falcons.

We saw a good number of birds at the lake, but by far the most exciting was the woodpecker!

Our final Birder's Paradise event day was in Hanley Park.

We had discovered the amazing tree audit that was undertaken in the park last year - something that Tom Pine the parks liaison officer was keen to see used. We decided to select 10 of the most amazing trees in the nature reserve area of the park, and create a tree trail.

We contacted an arboretum who have tree plaques on all of their trees, and they agreed to make 10 tree plaques for us, and then we created a brochure.

First thing in the morning we went and installed the tree trail plaques on the ten chosen trees.

 These included Japanese Maple, River Birch and Himalayan Cedar.

Then we got the Bird Hide set up for the day.

For our final event we had an extra birder with us - my sister Kerri Francis was there to help us speak to the public about nature in Hanley Park, and to tell them about the tree trail. People thought it was a great idea, and we hope the guide will be used for a while to come. Printed versions are available from staff in the park, or a downloadable version can be printed from here: Tree Guide.

In total, during the Birder's Paradise project we spoke to around 176 people, and 162 took part in workshops and activities (not including the visitors to the Journey's Exhibition.)

For now the Birder's Paradise Bird Hide is hibernating, but we are thinking about what could happen next with the project and with the Bird Hide. 

As a result of us spending more time in the park, we were able to develop the relationship with The Friends of Hanley Park, and are very pleased to be leading on a project to adopt an area if the nature reserve and work with Let's Make Jam, a modern W.I. group, and workers from Sainsbury's to develop a bee friendly garden.

Here we are on a site visit to discuss plants and a design. We have secured £500 funding from the 1,000 Lives Community Champions Fund, to put towards a workshop and plants to help the project, and are now looking for other funding that can supplement the project. Watch this space...

Birders Paradise would like to say an enormous THANK YOU to Appetite for believing in our project, and funding it to happen through The Kitchen Artists Support Programme.

Birder's Paradise Middle Phase

After Phase One of the Birder's Site visits, came our return phase, where we went back to our 3 main sites and delivered workshops and activities, which would provide opportunities to talk to the public about the sites.

In Hanley Park, a visit from Tom Pine, parks liaison officer was interesting for us, as Tom brought the tree audit he had promised for us to explore. This was a fascinating document and beautiful map, which traced every tree in the park. The audit shows what an amazing collection of trees the park contains - something which we felt needed some attention.

We used the tree audit to identify a wonderful selection of trees, and decided that we would create a tree trail for our final visit to the park.

One of the trees we selected was the beautiful Himalayan Cedar, which has a startling array of cones at this time of year.

We also had lots of other visitors, including college students, the park keeper, and some other interested members of the public.

Carole Ware, Chair of The Friends of Hanley Park stopped by to discuss the idea of a bee friendly garden that we hope to work together on for the future. In the afternoon we were pleased to receive a visit from some of the 'Men In Sheds' group. This is a group of older men who get together regularly in the park to work on shared activities, sometimes gardening, sometimes games or art. They came along and made some bug hotels with us, and explored the caravan, and did a little bit of bird watching. 

At Westport Lake we did our sweetcorn for bread swap.

In fact, it didn't work the way that we had expected, as the people who were feeding bread to the birds tended to avoid us. But we spoke to a lot of people about the problem of feeding bread to birds, and gave out a lot of corn. And quite a few children did us some lovely examples of bread birds to use within our designs.

 They all seemed to be quite bloated.

It was great to spend another day by the lake talking to people about their experiences of birdlife there. 

We were really pleased that Helen Meharg, one of the countryside officers, was able to come and visit us, and see the Birdhide at work.

We were happy to be able to add a few more birds to our list, and though we didn't see them this time ourselves, we were told of sightings of a woodpecker and a kingfisher that very day! Hopefully we will see them ourselves next time.

We returned to the Spode factory as well, with an idea of spending the day in the Spode Rose Garden, auditing the birds there, but also doing some much needed gardening. Unfortunately, on arrival we were told that we couldn't access the garden, due to an asbestos problem in the adjacent building, so we had to set up next to the car park instead.

But our extra visit, to Hanley as part of the Appetite Big Feast weekend was more successful. We set up outside the Potteries Museum and spent time talking to the public about urban birds, and making bug hotels.

We enjoyed hearing the stories of that people wanted to share with us. Some were touching, some interesting and some were even quite gruesome!

To hear about how the project started go here: http://annafrancis.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/birders-paradise-stoke-on-trent.html

Birder's Paradise: Collecting moss on the Spode Factory Site

Saturday Market Project

I am working on a lovely commission for the wonderful 'Saturday Market Project.' They are an amazing company celebrating, making, good design and products. What they say 'We explore ways to draw new audiences into the making process, led by a belief in experimentation, collaboration, skill-sharing and good design.'
I have been asked to work on a flower pressing kit, which is all about helping people to explore and appreciate Urban Nature. This is so far up my street at the moment, I had hoped to make some new work with the Brownfield Ikebana ideas, and this feels like it is going in the right direction. I have been able to combine a few of the things I have been thinking and working with over the past few years.
My approach has been to consider some of the exploring kits and site excavations I have been doing recently, with the research into the Victorian Language of Flowers. I have looked at a variety of flowers that can be found growing abundantly in cities, but which also have meanings within the Language of Flowers. These have been selected, and then a relevant instruction put together for users of the SMP kit.
I had created 21 plant instructions, which the SMP chose 12 of. I then created drawing to accompany the texts.
Here are some of the drawings and plants that didn't make it.

1.     Ragwort  – I am humble but proud ‘The humble ragwort quietly nods its head in the breeze: it has many kin – is there one that you recognise?’

1.       Coltsfoot – justice shall be done you ‘The law enforcers do their best to keep man in check in the city – but nature on the other hand has its unruly way. Coltsfoot, where found pervades – what else is cocking a snook at the enforcers?’

1.       Thistle – misanthropy ‘The city and nature are at war, locate the plant that shows the most resistance to man’s need to build.’
The Kit is coming along, and will launch at London Design Festival, where I will be leading a tour of Urban Nature Sites, and we will use the field guide to look for clues and uncover secrets in the city.
Details are available here: http://saturdaymarketprojectldf.tumblr.com/post/94717831336/saturday-20-september-2-30pm-5-00pm
The workshop/tour will be on Saturday 20th September from 2.30 - 5pm in Shoreditch.
Update:
The guide was really beautifully made by SMP - hand cut paper and hand stitched.
The urban nature tour I did in Shoreditch was really well received. It was quite a funny thing to arrive in Shoreditch in the morning and scope out the area in order to plan a tour for the afternoon! I am more used to leading tours in familiar places.