Everything Will Be Alright in the Stables at Cheeseburn

Thank you to all who visited the Cheeseburn Open Weekends in May and saw my audio installation 'Everything Will Be Alright' in the Stables.

As well as setting up and closing down my installation, I spent both weekends assisting the small team involved in making the event happen. My duties included greeting visitors, giving directions to all the different places to explore within the grounds, providing information about the artworks and artists, handing out maps, offering marbles to visitors to use to vote for the artist they wanted to win the The Gillian Dickinson North East Young Sculptor of The Year award, and generally facilitating the visitor experience. 

We had a remarkable number of people through the gates, and the record for the highest visitor number to Cheeseburn per day was exceeded by a significant amount. Arguably more important was the incredibly positive feedback that we received. 

Visitors commented that the friendly and informative welcome that we offered contributed greatly to their experience of Cheeseburn, and this personal approach echoed Joanna's generosity in permitting the public into her living quarters.

I had some great interactions with people who thoroughly enjoyed my installation. Some had experienced it when it was previously exhibited in Newcastle University as part of my MFA Summer exhibition, and for others it was their first encounter with the work. For me, as well as for others, the work changed with its new surroundings of the Stables. Some found it more relaxing because it was no longer in a black space, but others thought the metal dividers in the stables that cast the shadows on the wall added to the unsettling nature of the work. I was concerned that the situation may detract from the audio and confuse the audience, but this was not the case.

There will be a different sound installation "Lost Voices" happening in the stable yard on the next two open weekends on July 1st/2nd and 8th/9th. There will also be a different exhibition in the gallery. It is well worth a visit.

Everything Will Be Alright at Cheeseburn on May 20th/21st, 27th/28th/29th, 11am-4pm

I am delighted to be exhibiting 'Everything Will Be Alright' in the Stables at Cheeseburn Sculpture during the May 2017 open weekends (20th/21st, 27th/28th/29th).

http://cheeseburn.com/events/everything-will-be-alright/

Cheeseburn  supports artists projects and provides a showcase for sculpture, sound and educational projects with a unique atmosphere where people can encounter the work of new and established artists in the setting of the historic architecture and gardens of Cheeseburn Grange, Northumberland.         

Cheeseburn Sculpture is a fantastic new destination for contemporary art in the North East of England. Our sculpture and exhibition programme for 2017 will feature three curated gallery exhibitions and new artworks and installations throughout the gardens.  

   Joanna Riddell and Matthew Jarratt  

In addition to my installation and the permanent sculptures situated within the Cheeseburn grounds, the May open weekends will be an opportunity to see Cheeseburn's largest commission to date; 'Scurry', an installation in the Walled Garden of 2000 red and grey ceramic squirrels by Dan Gough, winner of the Gillian Dickinson North East Young Sculptor of the Year Award 2016. 

Having viewed the exhibition of proposals from the 12 young North East artists nominated for the Gillian Dickinson North East Young Sculptor of the Year Award 2018, visitors will get the chance to register their vote.

Visitors are very welcome to visit the May 2017 open weekends, 11am - 4pm on May 20th/21st, 27th/28th/29th

Cheeseburn is on the B6324 (Stamfordham Road) 10miles West of Newcastle. 

I hope to see you there!

Creating a cocoon

With the help of Fang Qi I've been covering the space with black material in order to create a cocoon in which my 4  channel audio installation will be housed.

TRIGGER audio now available online - vimeo, soundcloud and YouTube

Good news for those who are unable to visit Kielder Water and Forest Park to experience TRIGGER, an audio installation by Pipi Lovell-Smith and me.

The TRIGGER audio is now available to listen to online.

You wouldn't get the full experience because you would miss out on the spectacular scenery that is Kielder Water and Forest Park. But at least you could imagine it!

Even if you are able to get to Kielder, it may be worth downloading the audio incase the weather is bad and there has not been enough solar energy to charge the speaker. If that is the unfortunate situation, at least you could listen to it if you had downloaded it.

It is available on soundcloud, YouTube and Vimeo at the following addresses:

https://soundcloud.com/heleninglasgow/trigger-an-audio-installation-at-kielder-water-and-forest-park

https://youtu.be/oV9bAgwORg8

https://vimeo.com/174118618

We hope you enjoy it. Let us know what you think.

TRIGGER working again!

Today Pipi and I went up to Kielder to do some maintenance work on our audio installation. When we first installed the work, the solar panel was supplying the speaker with the power necessary to play the audio and it was working well. However, at the opening event we were very disappointed to discover that the sound was no longer playing and the speaker would not switch on.

Today we went to investigate the nature of the problem and try to find a solution. We were armed with all kinds of tools and equipment giving us plenty of options that could be used to solve the problem.



On arrival we checked that the solar panel was charging (which it was), unplugged the speaker and plugged a MP3 player into the solar panel to check whether the problem was with the speaker or the solar panel. When plugged into the solar panel the MP3 player began to play our audio. This indicated that the speaker was the problem. We had sealed the speaker in a plastic box and placed that within the box of the structure. All joins were sealed to minimise any water getting into the speaker. After what seemed like hours of peeling the silicone off all the joins, we were able to remove the speaker from the shelf within the structure. We were surprised to discover that the speaker was full of water. We could hear it splashing around inside.

It was clear that we were going to have to find an alternative to using the speaker, and so decided to replace it with the MP3 player and headphones. Once again we sealed all the equipment into place and filled any holes with silicone in order to prevent any water entering the structure and damaging the equipment. The MP3 player is powered by the solar panel, and because it requires less energy than the speaker, it should remain charged for a long period of time. 

Now all we have to do is keep our fingers crossed that the sun shines and there are no more storms. 



If you do visit, please share your thoughts about the work with us. We are keen to hear what you think.

You are invited to the opening event of KEILDER: ON SITE - Thursday 16th June 2016 - FREE TRANSPORT

You are invited to the opening event of KEILDER: ON SITE

 

Opening event: Thursday 16th June 2016

 

KIELDER: ONSITE / OFFSITE is a collaborative project between Newcastle University’s Fine Art Department and The Kielder Partnership. An ambitious year-long project, it explores opportunities for visual arts within the unique environment of Kielder Water & Forest Park. 

 

ONSITE is the culmination of the project, a set of temporary works situated in and around the forest. The works are site responsive and interpret the forest in different ways. Although diverse they explore contemporary interrelated themes of narrative, identity, place and transience. 

 

TRANSPORT ARRANGEMENTS

A coach will leave the lay-by near the Hancock Museum on Claremont Road, Newcastle at 10:30am.

It will drive to Kielder Water and Forest Park and will stop at Lewisburn inlet, Kielder Castle and Kielder Observatory. 

At each location we will visit the artworks situated in the area before boarding the coach and travelling to the next site. 

It is anticipated that the coach will depart from Kielder Water and Forest Park at 6pm at the latest, expecting to be back in Newcastle by 8pm. 

The coach will return to the lay-by near the Hancock Museum on Claremont Road.

 

Although the coach will depart promptly at 10:30am, the timings for the rest of the day are not exact so some flexibility is required. 

 

The coach is free but there are limited places on the coach so booking is required.

If you would like to attend the opening event please leave a message on the KIELDER: ONSITE/OFFSITE website stating how many places you would like to book on the coach.

https://kielderonsite2016.wordpress.com/contact/

Participating Artists:

Mirela Bistran / Rochus Braun / Simon Court / Sarah Grundy / Anthony Hensman / Oliver Hoffmeister & Harry Pickup / Eve Kossmann / JJ Lloyd / Helen Shaddock and Pipi-Lovell Smith / Leina Taylor  

 KEILDER: ONSITE / OFFSITE is funded by The Bartlett Fine Art Endowment, and supported by The Forestry Commission, Northumbrian Water and Keilder Art and Architecture.

TRIGGER preparatory install

Today was a big day in terms of our artwork Trigger. We drove up to Kielder Forest and Water Park where we had access to the Art and Architecture studio for the day and were going to prepare the structure ready for installation. 

The Forestry Commission had kindly delivered the timber from Kielder that we requested to use for the posts for our structure.



Our first task was to attach the jubilee clips to the box in which the equipment will be housed. The jubilee clips will hold the posts in place and attached to the outside of the box.

With only 3 pairs of hands, 4 posts at over 4metres long, and a set of ladders that were slightly too small for our needs, erecting the structure fully was rather challenging and took many attempts.



On the patch of land outside the studio, we measured out the distance between the poles at the base of the structure and dug 4 holes in the ground in which our poles would fit in. We hoisted the 2 diagonal poles and marked the angle and position where the coach bolt should go in order to attach the two poles together.

Back on the ground, I then used a hand borer to bore the holes through the logs.

We then hoisted the diagonal poles together and Eddie positioned the coach bolt inside the posts. 

Following the same procedure for the other diagonals was impossible, and we came across various problems such as the coach bolt being too short because we had to go further down the pole in order not to meet the other coach bolt. We did mange to get 4 poles up and into position with the holes for the coach bolts in place. On the actual day of install we will need double the number of people (6 in total) to enable us to safely get the poles in place, bolted together and attach the box to the poles. Lets not forget that we also need to get the solar panel connected to the box and the speaker, and then to decide upon the suitable volume for the audio!

Any volunteers greatly appreciated! Please contact me (email address below) if you are up for a challenge!

helen.shaddock@yahoo.co.uk