Moving Mountains Art

MOVING MOUNTAINS The Making of a Cultural Landscape

An exploration of Millom, Copeland on the South West Coast of Cumbria through a programme of art in the environment including artist collaborations, community events, exhibitions and artists talks

CONTENTS INTRODUCTION Moving Mountains: the Material Fragility/Fragile Materiality of Things by Dr David Cooper

1

CREATIVE EVENTS Mosaic Workshop - Anna Dixon at MIND and Hope & Cope support group

4

Operation Daisy - Phil Marshall Art Workshop for children and parents

5

Engineering Art - Chris Hudson Institution of Civil Engineers, Irene Rogan, Millom School

6

Stone Carving Workshop - Shawn Williamson, Old Schoolroom

8

Walks as Art - somewhere nowhere

9

Millom Library Days - Storytelling Debbie Haine and Why Rilke? Irene Rogan, Millom School 10 Artist Talks Programme - Millom Palladium and Old Schoolroom

11

ARTWORKS Collaborations TEN FARMERS EXHIBITION Angela Dixon and Irene Rogan

16

MATTER MATTERS Kris Hughes and Blackcombe Choir, Irene Rogan, Jane Topping

22

ARTWORKS Environmental Art by Irene Rogan Installation, photography & video

29

SUMMARY Feedback Analysis Dr John Scanlan, video links and weblinks

CREDITS

32

Introduction Moving Mountains: the Material Fragility/Fragile Materiality of Things But the solid rock Is a whirlpool of commotion, As the fluid strata Crest the curl of time (Norman Nicholson, ‘Beck’) The ‘Moving Mountains’ programme was an experiment. It was an exploratory endeavour to bring together a diverse range of creative practitioners within the richly diverse topographies of south-west Cumbria. By extension, it was an attempt to bring the work of these artists to the attention of audiences, in this difficult-to-reach part of the region, who don’t ordinarily have access to innovative contemporary art. Formally, the programme ranged from poetry to installation, from photography to film, from song to land art. It was a programme, then, that was characterised by creative heterogeneity. Threaded through all of the work, though, was a persistent preoccupation with place and its meanings. More specifically, all of the creative work was underpinned by a preoccupation – signalled by the apparently tautologous title – with both the materiality and fluidity of things. In Irene Rogan’s inspiring vision, the collocation ‘moving mountains’, with its echoes of the lyrical prose of Nan Shepherd, functions as a metaphor: an image of hope, effort, and achievement. At the same time, Rogan shares Shepherd’s

In ‘Disaggregated Industries’, for instance, the film-makers, Jane Topping and Mark Vernon, visited from Glasgow to provide a strangely speculative vision of Millom that is imaginatively – and improbably - indebted to both H. P. Lovecraft and the Faber poet, Norman Nicholson, who spent virtually his entire life in the town. In addition, the poet, Mark Ward, returned to Cumbria – where he had lived for around fifteen years – from his native east Lancashire.

Although ‘Moving Mountains’ was an experiment, however, it would be erroneous to suggest that Rogan perceived the landscape of south-west Cumbria as a laboratory into which creative practitioners were to be simply – and uncritically - transplanted. In ‘Disaggregated Industries’, for instance, Topping and Vernon self-consciously play on their status as ‘alien’ invaders in this particular place. The short, then, emerges as a film concerned with the outsider’s reading of place as much as the place itself. Moreover, the commissioned artists actively collaborated with members of local communities. ‘Ten Farmers’ was predicated on dialogue and collaboration as Rogan developed relationships – via the Cumbria Farmers Network - with members of the agricultural community before Angela Dixon took their portraits. Rogan then gave all of the participating farmers the opportunity to select the images to be included in the public exhibition held in the Old School Room in what Nicholson once referred to as the ‘sub-rural’ town of Millom.

deep awareness that the ‘moving mountains’ is also a geomorphological reality.

Some of the creative practitioners who were invited to take part in ‘Moving Mountains’ were residents of Cumbria. The programme of artist talks included Stuart Bastik and Maddi Nicholson: the artist founder directors of Art Gene in Barrow-in-Furness. Alongside this, Harriet and Rob Fraser, of the New Hutton-based creative practice, somewhere-nowhere, led a walk out of Millom. Other artists, however, came from further afield.

An image of slag stone and rust at Redhills, Mainsgate Road, Millom used in the publicity continued

Introduction Moving Mountains: the Material Fragility/Fragile Materiality of Things

Similarly, as part of ‘Matter Matters’, the singer-songwriter, Kris

‘I eat the equator, breathe the sky, and carry/ The great white sun in the

Hughes, composed new music sung by the choir from Black Combe

dirt of my fingernails’ (‘The Pot Geranium’). As the late geographer,

Junior School; and, in a screening of her work on stone circles, Julia

Doreen Massey, argued, it is possible to experience a ‘progressive sense

Parks asked audience members to physically feed the film around the

of place’ that is ‘extroverted, which includes a consciousness of its links

room and through the projector. People in and around Millom,

with the wider world, which integrates in a positive way the global and

therefore, weren’t merely passive consumers of new work but, instead,

the local’.

were invited to become active agents in the creative processes. As a

‘Moving Mountains’ was shaped by Rogan’s singular curatorial vision;

result, people in and around Millom were invited to reflect on their own

but, vitally, her own creative practice lay at the imaginative centre of the

experiences and understandings of the places and landscapes in which

programme. ‘Vibrant Matter’ was an installation consisting of farm

they live and through which they move in the practice of everyday life.

objects and fleeces that were selected during the interviews that she

The ‘Moving Mountains’ programme, therefore, was characterised – as

carried out for the ‘Ten Farmers’ exhibition. Taking a cue from the

with the poetry of Norman Nicholson - by an attentiveness to, and

work of the political theorist, Jane Bennett, ‘Vibrant Matter’ invited

celebration of, the local and near-at-hand. At the same time, though,

gallery-goers to consider farming tools as things of and for themselves.

Rogan shared Nicholson’s awareness that this seemingly sequestered

An interest in materiality was similarly evident in ‘Matter Matters’: an

corner of Cumbria always remains embedded within wider networks.

installation that offered a visual ‘timeline of Millom’s past, present and

The boundlessness of literary culture was suggested, for example, when

future’ through a juxtaposition of slag stone and living grass turf from

the children of Black Combe School were invited to sing translated

local farmland; a work that befittingly marks the fiftieth anniversary of

words by Rainer Maria Rilke, as well as lines from Nicholson.

the closure of Millom Ironworks.

‘Disaggregated Industries’, on the other hand, employs archive material to examine the town's industrial past and, at the same time, the film anticipates a dystopic environmental future. In an academic essay published a few years ago, I suggested that this corner of Cumbria is characterised by its ‘physical and imaginative apartness’; but the work emerging from ‘Moving Mountains’ provides creative reminders of the inextricable interconnectedness of people and places, landscapes and things. The reader is reminded, then, that even Nicholson – a poet who was ‘confined as a limpet/ To one small radius of rock’ – was unfailingly conscious of the interplay between the local and the global:

The Old Schoolroom, Millom - studio and exhibition space for Moving Mountains

Introduction Moving Mountains: the Material Fragility/Fragile Materiality of Things

The powerful minimalism of Rogan’s work is memorably encapsulated by ‘Save Our Seas’: a short film that documents her making of an environmental art installation, ‘The Seaweed Code’, out of material found on the shores of the Duddon Estuary. Carrying echoes of the land art of Julie Brook, the work – in which the seaweed is arranged to signify the Morse code for SOS – is of profound environmental importance: a ‘message from nature’, as Rogan herself puts it, to ‘save our seas’. As Rogan also acknowledges, however, the work itself is inevitably ‘very temporary [ . . . ] maybe to be carried away in the next tide’. ‘The Seaweed Code’ is a work that is both rooted within, and emerges out of, the physical substance of a particular place; but, at the same time, it is a work that is informed by the awareness that this place is embedded within wider ecological systems. ‘The Seaweed Code’, therefore, draws attention to the beautiful materiality and fragile beauty of the world; it unconceals an environment that is both tangibly textural and constantly in flux.

David Cooper Department of English, Manchester Metropolitan University February 2019

Art through all the Ages: Top: Iron ore pigment, seaweed and Rogan’s hematite hand print on rock at the Duddon estuary emulating below: the Indonesian hand stencil found in caves from the Paleolithic period.

CREATIVE EVENTS - Mosaic Workshops

Top Left: MIND group at the Tin Chapel and Right: Hope and Cope support group the Methodist Church Hall, participating in a mosaic workshop with Anna Dixon

MOSAIC GALLERY

The mosaic workshops by Anna Dixon, an highly experienced and talented mosaic artist, were commissioned to provide an accessible first engagement event of the project. This aim was to introduce creative workshops to people in Millom who had no prior experience of making mosaics. The workshops were very successful and popular and more members of both groups joined n spontaneously, Anna adjusted to this enthusiasm and many participants have asked for more mosaic events.

CREATIVE EVENTS - Operation Daisy

Operation Daisy

A workshop to engage with the local community, through creating handmade daises for Irene Rogan’s Matter Matters installation later in the month, making it possible to discuss her work and Moving Mountains Art projects. It encouraged participation by local children and children from the Autism Society and Hope and Cope, a support group established for people with life threatening illnesses and depression, which later became open to anyone experiencing loneliness.

Top and far left: children’s handmade daisies, children and parents in the background with artist facilitator Phil Marshall leading the workshop and in foreground the children from Millom autism group .Centre: Publicity for Operation Daisy and Above :Hope and Cope support group creating a large number of daisies the ‘daisy chain gang.’

CREATIVE EVENTS - Engineering Art, Millom School

Straw Models on the classroom wall, Millom School

CREATIVE EVENTS - Engineering Art, Millom School

Above L to R : maquettes of clay and straw for design development free-standing sculpture proposals created by pupils

Engineering Art , Millom School

engineering and design, through talks and

Top: Chris Hudson from the

presentations and participated in a trial experience of

Institution of Civil Engineers presenting an engineers

Chris Hudson from the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE)

being a designer through a pubic realm art brief set by

agreed to collaborate with Irene Rogan working with Millom

Irene Rogan, which involved developing ideas for a free

Mountains art in the

School pupils for a Moving Mountains project. Pupils were

-standing sculpture referencing the local environment

environment themes. Top

involved in discussions about public art and engineering;

and producing a clay maquette, then photographing

centre: pupils creating

how artists work in the public realm, the relevance of

their work.

engineering in major monumental sculptures such as

response to Moving

topographical forms based on a local mountain contour development for

Anthony Gormley’s Angel of the North. Later on as part of

As it was the year of ICE Engineering Bicentenary in

Blackcombe, Millom’s local

Engineering Art the students were introduced to

2018, the project was included on their website.

mountain.

CREATIVE EVENTS - Stone Carving Workshop

Left and Centre: Shawn Williamson stone sculptor observing Irene Rogan’s work during the workshop at the Old Schoolroom whilst a visitor watches. Right: one of the participants from young people’s workshop with Groundwork Trust. Below: Shawn with examples of his work.

Shawn Williamson is a qualified mason and sculptor of 30 years

Exploring traditional methods, techniques and material in creating

experience and following his presentation for the Norman Nicholson

sculptures was a contrast to Irene Rogan’s temporary environmental

Society’s annual event 2018 on ‘Escape to the Light’ installed at

installations. The process of stone carving was made accessible to

Haverigg by the famous sculptress Josefina de Vasconcellos and his

those who had not had any previous experience. Discussions followed

work with her, Shawn agreed to collaborate on developing a short-term

regarding possible future collaborations for combining stone carving

stone carving project at the Old Schoolroom.

with Rogan’s conceptual approach to her work.

CREATIVE EVENTS - Walks as Art

Harriet and Rob Fraser, of the New Hutton-based creative practice, somewhere-nowhere, led a creative walk around woodland and fell. Providing an entirely new experience for Millom and Haverigg residents, the walk was intended to increase understanding of what creativity could be and one which was embraced with great enthusiasm and joy by all participants, as poetry and discussions were held en route concerning natural habitats and trees, instant photographic equipment provided mementos of the day.

CREATIVE EVENTS - Millom Library

L to R: Storytelling - Debbie Haine, clay maquettes engineering art by Millom School pupils, Why Rilke? Irene Rogan and Norman Nicholson Society presentation by Charlie Lambert

Millom residents value Millom Library and Moving Mountains Art

story telling includes wide range of literature, story-related activities and

(subtitled: the making of a cultural landscape), was delighted to be

crafts.

supported by library staff in initiating a series of events exploring literature, poetry, art and storytelling at the library. Whilst generating support for the project from Millom Town Council this statement was made at monthly council meeting: ‘It has been long recognised there is an intuitive feeling in the connection between cultural activity and feeling good, that health and wellbeing are affected and it increases community cohesion’.

Clay maquettes were produced by Millom School pupils and were displayed during the holidays from series of activities involving ideas for a free standing sculpture working with Chris Hudson from the Institution of Civil Engineers ICE. Why Rilke? Was a presentation of poetic works by Rilke and his connections with famous artists. This project was aimed at introducing Millom community to the poet whose work would feature in the Multi

Millom library, it can be said with confidence is a key community hub,

Media event Matter Matters later on during the month.

located in an isolated area of Cumbria, it is a vital resource as well as

'Why is a football reporter from Liverpool nuts about Nicholson?'

a library, with regular educational displays, it provides numerous

A talk by Charlie Lambert, chair of the Norman Nicholson Society and

services across all age groups and includes; hosting Autism sessions,

former BBC NW Sports Correspondent, provided the answers in this

Adult Reading group sessions, a Coffee and Chat on Tuesdays, social

fascinating taker on the famous local poets work.

gatherings for young children and mothers, a Knit and Natter group,

Tuesday coffee and chat for people who enjoy discussing local news,

guest speakers and the regular visits by schools.

reading the local papers and a place to catch up. Moving Mountains Art

Story telling by Debbie Haine to ‘encourage a love of reading’, her

invited the group to talk and write about the landscape from their childhood memories with a plan to venture out for walks and a lunch.

CREATIVE EVENTS - Artist Talks

Top Left to Right Art Gene Stuart Bastik and Maddi Nicholson, Chris Hudson from the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) and Mark Ward Poet Bottom Left to Right: somewhere nowhere, Julia Parks and Jane Topping

Artist Talks Moving Mountains Arts was a programme of guest

Moving Mountains Arts offered opportunities for engagement and

speakers from a diverse selection of art practices; poets to engineer

participation through talks and other events over a six month period

designer and film makers to artists re-visioning the social natural and

during 2018.

built environment. Their presentations are intended to showcase the

‘Creative activity has long been known to have tangible effects on health

far-reaching and broad perspectives of what art and creativity is and

and quality of life. The arts, creativity and the imagination are agents of

how people from all walks of life can engage with contemporary art

wellness: they help keep the individual resilient, aid recovery and foster a

today.

flourishing society .‘ Culture, Health and wellbeing Alliance.

CREATIVE EVENTS - Artist Talks Back end White gulls stretch Pink worms Like tendons, In the plough’s wake.

It’s the back end.

Low sun Burns intensely Gives little warmth Do not forget me!

It seems to cry: Spilling its dying embers On the leaf litter.

From ‘The Visitor’s Book’

Above: Mark Wards Collection and poem left: Mark’s readings followed

Top: Mark Ward - Poet gave readings of his work to an appreciative audience

by a set from Jim Hodgson, a local musician singer and songwriter.

Far Left: Chris Hudson Millom Palladium poster concerning his talk about ‘Engineering and Working with Nature ‘ and Left: Chris gives a global perspective of engineering using some of the most famous examples of engineering including his amusing take on the Golden ratio with US President Donald Trump’s recognizable hairstyle.

CREATIVE EVENTS - Artist Talks, Julia Parks

Julia Parks practice encompasses film, animation and photography,

which refer to now obsolete industries. The film is to be seen as

often using series of photographs and projected 16mm film. Through this

projected in a loop, with the audience supporting the film as it travels

medium, she explores the different relationships between landscape,

around the room and back through the projector. The audience become

place and people, focusing on the west-coast of Cumbria. For the Artists

participants an engaging event with her actual work.

Talks at the Old Schoolroom Julia presented her study of natural and

Bottom Right : Megan Spragg Local young musician plays her Ukulele whilst

man-made circles found in the landscape of West Cumbria many of

entertaining the audience singing covers and her own compositions.

CREATIVE EVENTS - Artist Talks, Jane Topping

Jane Topping is a film maker and artist whose practice is interdisciplinary, but mostly she make films. Evolving from feminist film practice and science fiction, her films make use of appropriation and narrative to warp the established meanings of pop cultural texts. Her short film Peter won Best PKD Short at The Fifth Annual Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Film Festival, New York, 2017.

Currently Jane is Programme Leader of BA (Hons) Fine Art at the University of Cumbria Institute of the Arts.

For Artists Talks Jane’s presentation was an in-depth discussion about her practice and the concepts behind her film ‘Disaggregated Industries’ a short, atmospheric, science fiction film set in Millom Top: Jane Topping and her talk bottom left: a still from the film collaboration with Mark

collaborating with Sound Artist Mark Vernon an experimental work for

Vernon ‘Disaggregated Industries’ .

Irene Rogan’s Matter Matters, a multi media event at Millom Palladium.

ARTWORKS - Collaborations: TEN FARMERS TEN FARMERS This project evolved from a desire to connect with the agricultural community. Artist Irene Rogan invited local photographer Angela Dixon to collaborate with her on the project interviewing farmers and photographing them at work on their farms. Angela took this opportunity to take her photography in a new direction from that of wedding photographer, fulfilling a long term ambition to work in a spontaneous way in a new and challenging environment.

The primary aim of the exhibition for Rogan is to connect the town’s historic and present day agricultural heritage, alongside the evolution of Millom from small rural village to large scale industrial iron ore production site and back to rural again. Generating a dialogue between artist and farmers was assisted by Cumbria Farmers Network . ‘ Farms hold a long- term fascination for me since childhood when they seemed remote and somehow unreachable, disconnected with everyday life in Millom. Yet, here they are integral to life in the provision of food and shaping the natural environment.’ Irene Rogan

The exhibition of black and white photographs, text from farmers interviews and an installation titled ‘Vibrant Matter’ created from disused farm equipment, involved the following participating farms: Beck, Millom Castle, Lowscales, Langthwaite and Beckside, Whicham Valley.

Left : Ten Farmers poster

ARTWORKS - Collaborations TEN FARMERS ‘Irene this is really brings a ‘breath’ of fresh air into Millom area, and this could be the start of a really positive and interesting era. Her collaboration with Angela on the project is excellent’. B.B.K.

‘Fabulous photos and intriguing implements!

Thank you for this exhibition; can it visit other venues?‘ Adrianne Calsey ‘Excellent exhibition showing our true heritage, well done both.’

Sam Roylance

‘Great to focus on Millom & District’ Lady Mary Jardine

‘Nice to look at local folk’ Joyce King

‘Excellent photography & information. Very good. Well Done! Lovely to see the premises used’

Rob and Rowena Morris-Eyton ‘The building is a hidden gem and the exhibition is very creative and thought provoking’ Neil

Smith BBC Radio Cumbria

‘Hadn’t though of Farming as art before but now I see it! ‘ Philp Clague, Lake District National Park.

‘There’s a need for people like you that make a sort of connection between people coming from city and farmers Good work!’ Stefania Haurto

Top: Invitation to Ten Farmer Above: Open evening visitors right: Angela Dixon in discussion with farmers.

ARTWORKS - Collaborations: TEN FARMERS Angela Dixon Photography

Roger Holland, Low Scales Farm

Rowena and Robert Morris -Eyton, Beckside Farm, Whicham Valley

Pauline and Michael Park, Millom Castle Farm

Robert Tyson, Beck Farm Millom

Sandra Sharp and Michael Sharp, Langthwaite Farm, Millom

TEN FARMERS all the farmers were invited by Moving Mountains Art to select their portrait photographs taken by Angela during the interviews, it became then, a collaboration between artist, photographer and farmer. This connection was a vital element in the process of meeting and engaging with the agricultural community and generating trust and enduring relationships. Visiting the farms, some of which had buildings over three hundred years old, gave us new

insights into the landscape and the farmers lives, that we as the ‘town’s folk’ were both familiar with and yet unconnected to. The dialogue with farmers was greatly assisted by the Farmers Network, on interviewing Irene Rogan to discover motives for wanting to meet the farmers and concerning the content of the proposed exhibition. The Network’s approval and support proved pivotal in the success of meeting the farmers and discovering the different characteristics of each farm.

ARTWORKS - Collaborations: TEN FARMERS, Angela Dixon photography

Top l to r: Harvest time at Beckside Farm, Whicham Valley, herding cows Langwith Farm Millom, bottom l to r : Lowscales Farm and view of the Duddon Estuary, ‘decoy sheep’ during sheep shearing, Silage hand to hand.

TEN FARMERS: Angela accompanied Irene Rogan to interview

Amongst the farmers there was enthusiasm for sharing their passion for

farmers from five farms around Millom, the ‘Ten Farmers’ title of the

their work which made it easier for us. Our approach was carry out to

exhibition refers to the fact that these farms are run or owned by

the visits, interviews and photography in an informal manner, initially

couples. For artist and photographer it was the first time in visiting

with Angela photographing at a discreet distance, helping the farmers

these locations, although the landscape was familiar and known to us,

to feel at ease, later we were invited to visit their homes giving us a

being on the farm itself was a new experience. Farmers were always

more intimate view of their lives. All the farmers were generous in

busy of course particularly at this time of the year during harvest time

participating and giving their time. We learned a little more about their

sometimes we were invited to meetings at short notice.

lives and farming and hope to develop collaborations in the future.

ARTWORKS - Collaborations: TEN FARMERS - Irene Rogan, Vibrant Matter Installation

Above: Tines, fleece bucket and breaker top right: Hydroelectric machinery - the hidden parts Bottom: right digger and tines

VIBRANT MATTER installation Vibrant Matter is a collection of farm objects selected by the artist during the interviews for Ten Farmers. The objects have been removed from obscurity and re-presented as sculptures. The working life of the farming tools both in the past and in their relationship with the landscape; digging the earth, breaking the ground or utilising our natural resources.

Their functionality now obsolete but their presence as objects, still resonates, looking beyond nostalgia they reveal an aesthetic value.

Vibrant Matter installation is presented as part of Ten Farmers and black and white photography by Angela Dixon. It is not only a collaboration of artist and photographer but includes the farmers. It informs and reveals aspects of the farmers and the landscape both the familiar and with a new perspective. Their concerns are reflected in their words in the texts accompanying the show from interviews for the exhibition. Photographs, text and farm objects were selected working together with the farmers - a collaboration throughout.

The appreciation of the objects having aesthetic value held no surprise for the farmers who supported the whole event as participants in interviews and black and white photography and also in delivering and collecting their ‘agricultural artworks’.

ARTWORKS - Collaborations: TEN FARMERS - Irene Rogan, Vibrant Matter

Vibrant Matter Top l to r: five fleeces from Sheep Shearing at Bankside Farm, Fiddle Seed Sower and fleece - Millom Castle Farm bottom l to r: vintage tractor wheel hubs - Lowscales and vintage Hydroelectric machinery from Beckside, Whicham Valley

ARTWORKS - Collaborations: MATTER MATTERS Installation IRENE ROGAN

Irene Rogan is embarking on a new perspective in her current work, influenced by a move from urban to a rural environment. Focusing on Millom, her localised experience of place, being and dwelling, sees her juxtaposing literature and landscape exploration, contributing to her long term research. In exploring the poetry of place and space found in the work of both Norman Nicholson and Rilke, she examines the significance and possibilities of the making of a cultural landscape.

In Matter Matters the installation uses found natural and man-made materials from the local environment. These elements have real and symbolic significance; in the slag stone referencing the past industrial heritage of Millom, in the living grass turf from local farmland, reflecting the environmental and sustainable modes of economy within the town. The artwork is a timeline of Millom’s past, present and future hope, resonant of our own human temporal and spiritual reality - life, renewal and death.

Rogan’s installation encourages participation, the audience were offered handmade daisies (the flower represents purity, hope and renewal) made by children and local support group Hope and Cope. On entering the auditorium they were invited to place their daisy into Matter Matters artwork joining the artist in a gesture of optimism.

Inviting Kris Hughes to collaborate on the installation with two poems

by Bohemian-Austrian poet Ranier Maria Rilke was a means by which to infuse the installation with spiritual significance. Hughes adapted the poems ‘I am alone but not alone enough’ and ‘All that has never yet been spoken.’ from Rilke’s Book of Hours and she composed music for both Blackcombe Primary School Choir and her own solo performance as part of Matter Matters installation. Hughes adaptation of the poems for the pupils incorporates a haunting melody that reflects Rilke’s lyrically intense prose.

ARTWORKS - Collaborations : Matter Matters Installation, Irene Rogan, Materials

Top:Jim Hodgson and Irene Rogan collecting slag stone. Bottom L to R: Robert Morris-Eyton, farmer, delivering turf, Irene cutting and Phil Northcott and Irene installing the work

Matter Matters environmental installation The preparation for the installation is as much a part of the artwork as the work itself and by juxtaposing industrial materials and techniques with found natural materials of slag stone and living grass, a symbolic relationship develops, eliciting a physical reaction as well as intellectual response.

Local residents and farmers engaged with Matter Matters artwork, became co-workers and collaborators in the creation of the piece, measuring the stone, cutting, gathering and carrying the turf indoors

represents the real and symbolic act of labour, of taking and returning (later on).

The timing for Matter Matters was made significant in the knowledge that the date for the sudden closure of the iron ore mines that made Millom the place it is, was almost exactly 50 years ago. The work also acted as an acknowledgement of the workers and the industrial heritage of the town. Through bringing together materials from recognisable and familiar terrain Matter Matters offers a visual timeline of Millom’s past, present and future.

ARTWORKS - Collaborations: MATTER MATTERS installation Irene Rogan

Matter Matters Environmental Installation - slag stone and living grass with handmade daises , Millom Palladium

ARTWORKS - Collaborations: MATTER MATTERS - Kris Hughes, singer and songwriter

Kris Hughes Her adaption of the Rilke’s poems ‘I am alone but not alone enough’ and ‘All That Has Never Yet Been Spoken’ sung by Blackcombe School choir and Hughes, she created two haunting melodies that reflect Rilke’s lyrically intense prose. For Irene Rogan’s Matter Matters installation.

Kris Hughes, has a band ‘My Girl The River ‘ hailing from Louisiana, US. Famous for her Americana roots and folk and she has international recognition for her music.

Top: Matter Matters at Millom Palladium with Blackcombe School Choir and Hannah Robinson their teacher singing with Kris Hughes, singer and composer. Bottom l to r: The audience participate and place their daisies in Rogan’s installation and Kris Hughes playing her solo final song.. A short video of highlights of the event by Jem Freiesleben has been created see listing on Summary page.

ARTWORKS - Collaborations: MATTER MATTERS The Rilke Poems

RAINIER MARIA RILKE Ich bin der Welt und doch nicht allein genus I’m too alone in the world, yet not alone enough to make each hour holy, I’m too small in the world, yet not small enough To be simply in your presence, like a thing --just as it is.

BOOK OF HOURS Love Poems to God translated by Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy

Ich glaube an Alles noch nie Gesagte I believe in all that has never been spoken.

I want to free what waits within me so that what no one has dared to wish for may for once spring clear without my contriving.

I want to know my own will and move within it.

And I want in the hushed moments when the nameless draws near, to be among the wise one --or alone.

If this arrogant, God forgive me, but this is what I need to say. may what I do flow from me like a rover, no forcing and no holding back, the way it is with children.

I want to mirror your immensity I want to never be too weak or too old to bear the heavy, lurching image of you.

Then these swelling and ebbing currents, these deepening tides moving out, returning, I will sing you as no one ever has,

I want to unfold.

Let no place in me hold itself closed, for when I am closed, I am false I want to stay clear in your sight.

streaming through widening channels into the open sea

I would describe myself Like a landscape I’ve studied At length in detail; like a word I’m coming to understand like a pitcher I pour from at mealtime like a mother’s face; like a ship that carried me when the waters raged.

ARTWORKS - Collaborations: Matter Matters The Rilke Poems adaptation by Kris Hughes Kris Hughes adaptation of Rilke Poems ‘I’m too alone in the world, yet not alone enough’ Kris Hughes adaptation of Rilke Poem

‘All That Has Never Yet Been Spoken’ Kris Hughes adaptation of Rilke Poem

I’m too alone in the world, yet not alone enough to make each hour holy. (children sing this with Kris in unison) I’m too small in the world, yet not small enough to simply be in your presence, like a thing – just as it is. (children sing this with Kris in unison) I want to know my own will and to move with it.

And I want, in the hushed moments when the nameless draws near, (children sing this with Kris in unison) to be among the wise ones – or alone. (children sing this first one with Kris in unison)

Choir’s song VERSE 1 (all children) I believe in all yet to be said I want to free what lies ahead So that wishes no one dare say May appear without imposing my way Pre-chorus (two parts with melody and harmony) If this is arrogant, God forgive me, But this is what I need to say Chorus (two parts with melody and oooohs) May what I do flow from me like a river (oooooh) No forcing and no holding back (oooooh) The way it is with children (oooooh) The way it is with children (all)

I want to mirror your immensity.

I want never to be too weak or too old to bear the heavy lurching image of you. (*children can sing this with me on the second one IF they can get the phrasing right) I want to unfold.

Let no place in me hold itself closed, for where I am closed, I am false.

I want to stay clear in your sight. (repeat, children sing with Kris) I would describe myself like a landscape I’ve studied at length, in detail; (children sing ‘in detail’ with Kris) like a word I’m coming to understand; like a pitcher I pour from at mealtime; like my mother’s face; like a ship that carried me when the waters raged. (children join in on the repeats of this line) Children do the answer to: I’m too alone in this world YET NOT ALONE ENOUGH I’m too small in the this world YET NOT SMALL ENOUGH to the end full choir. They can stay on the melody, not go to the high harmony.

VERSE 2 (all children) Then in these swelling and ebbing currents These deepening tides and their reoccurrence I will sing you completely unique Streaming through channels into the open sea Pre-chorus (two parts with melody and harmony) If this is arrogant, God forgive me, But this is what I need to say Chorus (two parts with melody and oooohs) May what I do flow from me like a river (oooooh) No forcing and no holding back (oooooh) The way it is with children (oooooh) The way it is with children (all) Ending has three parts that layer by the end of the song Harmony 1: Into the open sea Harmony 2: Swirling ebbing deepening tides

ARTWORKS - Collaborations: Matter Matters - Jane Topping Short Film Disaggregated Industries

Matter Matters: a still from ‘Disaggregated Industries ’ short film

'Disaggregated Industries’ by Jane Topping and Mark Vernon is a

Cumbrian landscape both rural and industrial, memories of its people

short, atmospheric, science fiction film set in Millom.'

and the contradictory sounds of nature and technology. We follow in the footsteps of a hooded figure, literally a man who fell to earth, as he

Moving Mountains Millom commissioned Glasgow-based artists to

walks a rocky coastal landscape, pursuing the ominous presence which

make a film based around Ghyll Scaur Quarry, Millom, Cumbria.

seems to threaten the past inhabitants of Millom.

Acutely aware of their ‘outsider’ status the approach was to imagine discovering Millom, its rich industrial past and its people, as if they were

In Disaggregated Industries the Cthulhu-like (a fictional cosmic entity

aliens, sifting through audio and images found in the ether. Using a

created by H.P. Lovecraft) creature might stand in for an industrial past

collage technique, Vernon and Topping pieced together a science

or a nuclear present. A fragment of a favourite Norman Nicholson

fiction narrative for the town, inspired by the poetry of Norman

poem, Shingle, appears in the film, offering layers of texture; of grey

Nicholson. Disaggregated Industries gathers together textures of the

waves, of stone and of butterbeans.

GARDEN OF EARTHLY DELIGHTS II by Irene Rogan

The Garden of Earthly Delights II, Beck Wood The title for the work references both Hieronymus Bosch: a painting depicting a panorama of Heaven and Hell showing humanity in a state of chaos and an earlier work created at Cruickshank Botanic Gardens, University of Aberdeen during the River Don Residency for Aberdeen City Council.

In this iteration of the work, the location is an abandoned paintball site in local woodland. Unwanted artificial flowers and displays are positioned in the natural environment in a paintball ‘war zone’, a symbolic gesture of the conflict within the global community over the environment and sustainability, between the natural and the manmade.

The vivid summer colours of artificial flowers, when viewed against the backdrop of a dormant wintertime woodland are both engaging and at the same time jarring; for many this eruption of colour produces a smile with all its implications of kitsch or postmodern irony. However, the feeling generated in the sensory site of woodland is one of disquiet; gaudy artifice disrupting the tranquillity of this 'sleeping' space. The work serves as a reminder to us all of the perils we may face if humankind continues on a path whereby nature is increasingly supplanted by dubious human creations.

The project will continue to evolve throughout Spring 2019 visitors will be invited to participate with an opportunity for portrait photography of a surreal woodland glade as a backdrop.

Top main: HQ for paintball with photo impression of floral decorations . Top right: Irene Rogan arranging the artificial flowers in the woodland setting Right: ’Bouquet’ leaves with found tyre and camouflage netting from paintball activities.

ARTWORKS - IRENE ROGAN WOOD STUMP ELEVATION

The Wood Stump Elevation located on top of Millom

‘I think that I shall never see A poem lovely as a tree.’ (Joyce Kilmer, ‘Trees’)

Park, a much loved site by local residents for walks and is also where Ghyll Scaur Quarry operates on the same hill, removing the trees land and rock in supplying high grade aggregate for highways throughout the UK.

Rogan’s work is concerned with elevating the humble timber plantation of remnant Pine tree stumps from harvesting in

The tree stumps each have labels marked with mysterious ‘consignment codes’ of tree species from the ‘Forestry Commission’s Forest Technical Document’ with dates from a number of sources devised by the artist for example: Pi: 000 100552/18 and poetic phrases from diverse sources; Larkin and Kilmer, Nicholson and Nan Shepherd to Rosetti and The Psalms.

2012, the wood they produced is used throughout the world for the most basic materials fencing, plywood, poles and pulp. This work is an acknowledgement of the value of the wood beyond that of commerce and industry. A simple label fluttering in the breeze animates the immediate space of the stump, once more attracting attention to their presence.

ARTWORKS - SOS by IRENE ROGAN

The Seaweed Code The work is made out of material found on the shores of the Duddon Estuary, an arrangement of seaweed in a Morse code for SOS meaning save our seas, a temporary artwork, to be carried away in the next tide.

Whilst the work was being created, passersby discussed it with Irene, the climate, the presence of plastic and pollution od the environment. The installation was present for a week before strong winds and high seas took it away.

A video was produced in collaboration with local videographer Jem Freiesleben, titled SOS, it is a short film of the artist creating the work.

SUMMARY: Feedback analysis and video links

Moving Mountains Art

from other arts, such as Art Gene – that the Moving Mountains Art

Artist Talks and feedback analysis

acted as a means of informing people in Millom about wider activity in Cumbria that they were not previously familiar with. As a result of these

Context Moving Mountains Art was undertaken during the period OctoberDecember 2018 as part of the ACE-funded ‘Art in the Environment’

overwhelming positive local benefits, over 95% of those who attended said they would recommend future events of this kind to friends and work colleagues.

project. During the course of this programme audience members attending each event were invited to fill in a short feedback form. The questions were designed to reveal the extent to which the population of Millom are receptive to the arts both in terms of this project and potential future activities.

During the period of this programme of events it is clear that such word of mouth recommendations accounted in large part for event attendance, which was also stimulated to a lesser extent by social media (which also functions much like word of mouth, or friend recommendations anyway). The future challenge for growing the

Brief analysis

influence of Moving Mountains Art would be to gain more exposure via

Based on the feedback from audiences who attended the various

local print and broadcast media in the run up to, and after, the events.

events the evidence is clear that the overwhelming majority had little or no knowledge of Moving Mountains Art before actually attending one of the events and, as such, the subsequent feedback reflects the challenges and opportunities faced the artist moving into new and uncultivated cultural terrain.

This was evident in the fact that more than two-thirds of those attending

Dr John Scanlan In Certain Places University of Central Lancashire 01 March 2019

thought that there was a lack of existing cultural or creative outlets for people in the town of Millom. Further to this, when the audiences were asked if they would be interested in more events such as artist talks,

FILMS FROM THE PROJECT

over 95% of them agreed not only that they would be in favour of this, but that they also thought that these events provided a means of bringing together a community that had few other opportunities to meet to share a common interest in the arts and other cultural activities.

It is also clear from the responses of those attending the events that the Artist Talks programme of events – bringing in artists, and speakers

Disaggregated Industries Jane Topping and Mark Vernon - short film an atmospheric, science fiction film set in Millom https://youtu.be/DccwL6BlFYc SOS (Save Our Seas) Video collaboration with Jem Freiesleben and Irene Rogan https://youtu.be/3Gf4HSCSYKk Matter Matters performance, installation and short film event highlights https://youtu.be/nxmaYDbEIoI filmed by Jem Freiesleben

CREDITS To the individuals, community groups and organisation who the artist met and discussed

Photo credits:

Moving Mountains Art in the Environment with, developed and coordinated projects with , to

Front Cover to Credits Irene Rogan apart from|

thank them all for their commitment and sharing their talents and their spirit of collaboration:

p7: Millom Library Days Debbie Haine| p8 Stone carving workshop with Shawn Williamson Jem Freiesleben | p12: Artist Talks poster Phil Northcott|

The Farmers: Holland, Morris-Eyton, Park, Sharp and Tyson.

p14: Ten Farmers poster Irene Rogan photo Angela

Bill Amos, Frank Brown, Peter Cairns, Adrianne Calsey, Dr David Cooper MMU, Tony Dixon,

Dixon| p15-18Ten Farmers Angela Dixon | p19: Matter

Trevor Dixon, Antoinette Fawcett, Jem Freiesleben, Debbie Haine, Debbie Harkness, Laurie

Matters Poster Phil Northcott| p24: Matter Matters

Gribbin, Jim Hodgson, Phil Northcott, Jonathan Powell, Julia Rice, Dr John Scanlan UCLAN,

video stills Jem Freiesleben| p25: Down by the rocks

Howard Shimmin, Megan Spragg, Dean Steele, Teresa Toms, Noel Troughton.

Karen Jackson-Smith | p26: Disaggregated Industries still Jane Topping|p29: Summary map John

Moving Mountains was assisted in projects with support from the following organisations and groups: Millom Town Council, Millom Library, Coffee and Chat at Millom Library, Millom Discovery Centre, Millom Hope and Cope, , Millom Community Church, Millom Community Coffee Lounge, Millom Methodist Church, MIND, Darren Grange and pupils Millom School, Blackcombe Junior School and staff, Millom, Sheldon Construction Services, Garden Harmony Millom, Diane and Barry Vernon Millom Palladium, Duddon Estuary Partnership, Signal Media Barrow, Art Gene, Jane Micklethwaite Mayor Millom Town Council, Mike Starkie Elected Mayor Copeland Borough Council, David Savage South Copeland Partnership, Duddon Estuary Partnership, Chris Hudson Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), Anthony Parkinson Aggregates Ltd, Ghyll Scaur, Andrew Whitworth Lowther Forestry, Wayne Ruddy Tornado, Charlie Lambert The Norman Nicholson Society, Holy Trinity Church Wardens, BBC Radio Cumbria, NW Mail, Urban Splash.

Bartholomew & Son Ltd| p30 : Credits Irene Rogan