lost cuckoo, in mailout magazine june-july 2012

7/31/2019 Lost Cuckoo, in Mailout Magazine June-July 2012

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The Barn

61A Manor Road,

Blackburn, BB2 6LX

01254 674777

[email protected]

www.mailout.co

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Robert Howell

Sue Robinson

Lyndsey Wilson

Claire Williams

Kajol LallyCulturapedia

Main photo: Lakes Alive at

Whitehaven courtesy of

Legacy Trust UK

Thumbnail: The Lost Cuckoo

Project Credit: 2hD Architects

& Marcus Rowlands

is the national

magazine for peopledeveloping participation in

the arts. The Mailout Trust

aims to promote and advance

the practice, understanding

and profile of high quality

participatory arts in the UK.

The Mailout Trust Ltd is a

company Ltd by Guarantee.

Registered in England No.

5252801

ISSN 2048-2647

Contents

Artman 3

Postcard from the editors 3

Funding 50

4

Kajol Lally interviews Chief Executive of LTUK

10

Bedford Creative Arts mission to resurrect a

declining craft

14

One artist and three architects collaborate with

cardboard

20Anfield builds a stronger community

23

Filip Van Huffel challenges typical conventions

of choreography

33

Presenting theatre in its purest form

37

Share their love of crafting their surroundings

40

Unleash their interactive arts programme for

2012

42

Contacts festival shapes the next generation of

artists

25mailout starts the debate on the latest ACE fund

44Adele Thomas on her personal journey ofrediscovery for one forgotten town


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As the UK is frantically

preparing for an Olympiad

summer and Arts Council

England is drowning under an

overwhelming demand for

Grants for the Arts, your editors

have headed for a short break in

Bavaria. Weve not seen

much evidence of

participatory arts but

have a couple of

interesting observations

to pass on.

The Olympics were here in

1972. The Olympiapark is

still a major leisure andsporting complex, just to

the north of the city. As

we passed through it was

hosting the 2012 Special

Olympics Deutschland.

We stopped to watch

some swimming and

cycling.

Our other find was the statue of

Roland De Lattre, Court

Composer to Ludwig the First of

Bavaria, which has become an

impromptu shrine to Michael

Jackson. Ludwig had a passion

for the arts and his downfall

came at the hands of the Irish

dancer, Lola Montez.

Presumably the fact that De

Lattre was a composer has

inspired Jacksons mourners.

This is an example of the

community taking something

over for their own needs. Roland

is still there and none of themessages cover his name. It is

all intact with fresh flowers,

endless messages and

photographs. Munich is a very

liberal city in a very

conservative Bavaria. Whilst not

really able to understand the

devotion of Jacko fans we loved

the expression and the tolerance

of it.

greetingsfromb

avaria


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: At our first

real meeting I brought a book

on cardboard architecture but

remember thinking: I have no

idea where this is going. Therewas no head scratching just

an immediate response that we

wanted to work together and

would use cardboard.

In the working

relationship I knew that you

two would hit it off but of

course you didn't know each

other. But it worked!

Working with you two

enabled a sense of security,

coming from being able to

visualise the ideas. At the same

time our conversations were

often challenging or

befuddling; we'd sometimes

take a direction I didn't expect

and I'd need some time

afterwards to digest andassimilate what had happened.

Most successful for us was

that it came together without a

particular brief, it was very

open at the start. That was

quite scary for us because in

our practice there are always

parameters and restrictions to

what we can do... often all

predetermined before wearrive. This was a step into the

unknown. It was all about the

people involved.

That's also about your own

humility as a practice. Working

with you both brought about a

very different rigour to my

thinking and approach. This

was highlighted in your need tovisually represent each others

thoughts. Most of my thoughts

stay in my head, as I do not

have to share them as

consistently as you. I found it

shocking at first: the noise of

someone typing, talking and

drawing all at the same time I

thought it was going to be

dynamically incompatible.

Working as a group of three

was hard at times...

With Thibaut living in

Serbia we really tried to think

cardboard

collaboration


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cardboardcollaboration

Parents during

an experimentaldesign workshop,

at Brocklewood

Junior School

(Nottingham,

UK)

how best to share what was

happening in the design

sessions in schools, but also

what we were thinking. We set

up a web cam hanging fromthe ceiling to show the pictures

and thoughts.

I remember Thibaut and I

called you and we were going

round and round with ideas

and responses to the families

creations. You finally said: 'Is

there a question you want to

ask me?

It was useful to have one of

us on the outside, ideas did not

get lost; instead we moved

them on to another level. You

need people you trust, to give

you an opinion on your ideas.

This is some kind of antithesis

to conventional architectural

training, which puts the

architect at the centre of

things. In this view at the

centre of everyone's minds willbe the design generated from

the genius of the architect.

But of course it ain't like that! I

imagine to some extent that

the role of artist is sometimes

seen the same way. You are an

individual, you are your own

brand and it's all about what

you do.

When you are an artist you

are doing it for yourself. Assoon as you step into working

in the community you realise

that this would not work. In our

collaboration we were all clear

This is some kind of antithesis to conventional

architectural training, which puts the architect

at the centre of things. In this view at the centre

of everyone's minds will be the design


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from the beginning that the

exciting bit was placing the

families in the middle.

I think when they turned up

they weren't expecting that but

they very soon got it. There are

some boxes. Please begin!' And

they did.

We were walking around

trying to grasp how quickly

they were moving things

forward. To me it was like they

were sketching for us Think

about the physicality of the

Dads and their need to build

high. Remember the two Mums

who wrapped and wrapped

boxes creating a massive

volume the size of a room. The

success was based on

everyones enthusiasm and the

fact that we were all learning

from each other.

The activity was absorbing

and it was easy to forget the

normal constraints. The

excitement of rapid progress in

the building, balanced with the

uncertainty of what was going

to happen, whether it was

going to fall, or not fit

We actively gave them

permission to explore and

made it clear we would be

documenting the process to

influence our thinking. Even

when Thibaut got concerned

about people using canes to

stab the boxes, it informed our

design choices. I think the

material choice was right.

Cardboard was familiar and

light

At the beginning,

remember, one of the aims was

to not lose the familiarity of

the box. I wonder whether this

was its success. It's a box

without a corner, away you

go We could have easily

complicated it with fixings,

decorations, etc.

Even though we say its just

a cardboard box, the process it

went through was fundamental

to the end result. We had a

relationship with it.

There would be no

challenge without the corner

detail. I remember two boys

working together and they

found themselves right on the

edge throughout the

experience. Their parent was

concerned about the closeness

cardboard

collaboration

Experimenting

with the

cardboard

construction

modules in

public spaces

(Nottingham,UK)


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cardboard

collaboration

of a fight breaking out. No, a

cardboard box would not do

that.

Alongside the permission

to explore, there was the

notion of holding a space for

the families. It seemed key to

allowing them to zoom off

confidently and get engaged

with the project.

Can you

explain what you mean exactly

by holding the space?

You do not actually instruct

people, you can just create

some conditions within which

they can be creative. Space

where there is nothing to

constrain you.

It is something that is

important in my practice and

that of a few others, but I don't

think it is a valued or

recognised enough, mainly

because it is just too slippery. A

lot of projects fail because they

don't recognise the importance

of that stage: they value the

doing and the product, but notthe skill and time involved in

creating a space that allows

creativity to develop.

A lot of projects fail because

they don't recognise the

importance of that stage: they

value the doing and the

product, but not the skill and

time involved in creating a

space that allows creativity todevelop.

This space that is held It

might involve a physical space

but not necessarily, it is a

creative space or imaginary

space that people can occupy

Yes, it is working on anenergetic level within a space.

An awareness of this is needed

on projects like The Lost Cuckoo

because you are dealing with

so many different individuals.

As soon as someone signs up

to do a workshop, anything

could happen; that needs to be

recognised rather than abused

or overlooked.

Working with the public is

something we often dont dare

do, as there is a big expectation

about an architects

involvement.

Our practice clients may

not always be obviously

vulnerable, but by inviting us

along to design something for

them they are makingthemselves vulnerable. They

You do not actually instruct people, you can

just create some conditions within which theycan be creative. Space where there is nothing to

constrain you.

Experimental

design

workshop, at

Portland

Primary School

(Nottingham,

UK)


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are opening up to us finding

out about them, and we can

end up influencing their lives.

Do you allow yourself that

same vulnerability in theprocess or do you find that you

have to play the role of the

professional to reassure them?

It is an interesting mix to

get right. If we invite their

expertise about their needs we

can come across sounding like

we don't know any answers.

Given that we've probably

been hired to give them theanswer, thats a tricky

conundrum! The Lost Cuckoo

project has taught us a lot

about the value of not being

the controlling professional.

MR: This comes full circle back

to the idea of ethos. Some

people get frightened by not

knowing what the outcome will

be, and just won't give me the

work. When I work with peoplewho value the not knowing and

the letting go, the work just

sails.

What I love witnessing is

the building-up of energy and

quality of attention in families

that get entrenched in an

activity and a location over a

period of time. Could this be

done with a moving-trail type

activity?

It could be a question ofcreating a necklace of different

sites that have their own

unique qualities. Each site

could give the opportunity for

people to become entrenched

in it.

There is a chaos within a

designated, protected space

which means it is much more

acceptable to create there thanat random sites

But how can we factor-in

the response people have to

different places? I am

fascinated by people doing

something different in reaction

to a particular place...

What is our level of

involvement? With the Lost

Cuckoo I felt like I did very little

at the festival. I would like to

see if this open approach could

be applied to more permanentspaces and the use of harder

materials than cardboard. I like

the idea of creating a walk

where you create friction at

certain points that make you

change course or action.

How far could you take

people on a journey without

being present? For instance,

how do you hold and expandspace, whilst allowing freedom

for people to be creative? How

do you remove yourself, whilst

giving freedom to interact

without being inhibited?

What I love witnessing is the building-up of

energy and quality of attention in families that

get entrenched in an activity and a location

over a period of time.

cardboard

collaboration

The Lost Cuckoo

at the Wheee!

International

Childrens'Theatre and

Dance

Festival at

Nottingham's

Lakeside Arts

Centre. (June

2011,

Nottingham,

UK)


9/9

cardboard

collaboration

Could we work with small groups and create a

series of interventions to explore? The site could

move rather than the activity being different.

Leaving a trail of devastation and creation

behind us as we go

I want to be the one rowing a boat carrying

the boxes. Where we land is where we build

As long as I can carry a blow torch.

On a bike

Experimenting

with the

cardboard

constructionmodules in

public spaces

(Nottingham,

UK) Credit: 2hD

Architects &

Marcus

Rowlands

lost cuckoo, in mailout magazine june-july 2012

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