Landlinks: Landscape and Attachment [group exhibition]

FIRST PART OF THE PROJECT - The Unattached Landscape
In the first part of the project (‘unattachment’) artists were prompted to avoid searching out those subjects that are ‘interesting’ or that fall into William Gilpin’s definitions of ‘Beautiful, Sublime or Picturesque’; to let go of the desire to find the definitive subject and to leave that choice to chance. It revolved around a walk that was made by over 20 international walking artists and was synchronised to take place over several continents. It was governed by a ‘time/distance script’ to choreograph the artist’s activity. Artists were asked to respond to this series of chosen stopping points and moderate their gaze and choice of subject by adhering to various ‘prompt’ words. Along with their words and images, artists include a variety of maps some of which hand drawn. Some have also included 3 seemingly unconnected (and sometimes slightly surreal) words generated by geolocation software (#What3Words) and which can be used to locate the exact places artists stopped.

SECOND PART OF THE PROJECT - The Attached Landscape
Countering the serendipitous approach of the initial enquiry, the second examined the ‘attached’ landscape. These are places that can be become special to us and we form an ‘attachment’ for them, idealising them and their features…perhaps even keeping their location secret for our own enjoyment and that of our close circle, free from the distraction of others. We may feel emotional about them, returning to them again and again. As they give, we receive and become their faithful lover. These emotions may have been triggered when the viewer is drawn to a particular place, perhaps one that has specific features, for example a particular hillside; a ‘special’ view of the sea, land or townscape; or one which holds a nostalgic sentiment, specific histories, (either their own or those close to us). They may have even represented ‘home’, safety or comfort. This part of the project didn’t involve any collective activity, the was no walk and certainly no prompts. It was left to the artists to decide on their own subject material. Here we see the artist’s responses when encountering a place or environment that generated for them a special emotional outcome.

Exhibiting artists: James Aldridge, Tracey M. Benson, John Ryan Brubaker, Ruth Broadbent, Alexander Caminada, Mike Collier, Rebekah Dean, Martin P. Eccles, Nettie Edwards, Lydia Halcrow, Richard Keating, Janette Kerr, Davina Kirkpatrick, Billi London-Gray, Rachel McDonnell, Blake Morris, Caroline Morris, Paul Newman, Kel Portman, Bill Psarras, Julius Smit, Mark Stopforth, Danni Turbin and Jane Claire Wilson.