How drawing improves memory

Claudia Hammond talks to Professor of Psychology at the University of Leeds, Daryl O'Connor, about results from a new study on how drawing can improve your memory.

Over a number of years psychologists tested the memory of people in three different conditions. The challenge for all conditions was to remember a number of objects on a list.

CONDITION A
Memorise by writing the list of objects down

CONDITION B
Memorise by tracing drawings of pictures of the objects on the list


CONDITION C
Memorise by drawing pictures of the objects on the list.


The group with the best memory was Condition C; those who had drawn a picture of the objects from the list. It is thought that this is because drawing requires a deeper level of observation and attention in order to identify the object

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06tvxt5

A delightfully unexpected encounter with Claire Hignett

Earlier in the year I signed up to participate in a Practice Makes Practice weekend event organised by The NewBridge Project in which NewBridge members could engage with a group of artists from Islington Mill, Salford. Unfortunately the event had to be cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances, but it is due to be rearranged in the future. After doing some research into Islington Mill, I had ear-marked it as a place to visit.

Last week I made a visit to Manchester for a variety of art related events, and ended up spending most of my time in Salford. As I waited for entry into the exhibition at ArtWork Atelier, I got talking to a woman who was also waiting to see the exhibition. It turned out that I was talking to Claire Hignett, an artist with a studio at Islington Mill who had also intended to attend the NewBridge Project/Islington Mill weekend event earlier in the year. Claire kindly offered to show me around Islington Mill (see earlier blog post) http://helenshaddock.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/islington-mill.html and introduce me to her work.



Claire writes,

"I am fascinated by the effect time has on memory. How memories start to fragment and merge with others. How, as we move through time and gather new experiences, our perception of our memories changes. I am particularly intrigued by the way we attach memory to objects and how we keep things that are broken, useless or were cherished by someone else to try and hold on to our memories and to stop them fragmenting any more."

In 2012 Claire began working on a project "to find out more about a group of Basque refugee children who came to Salford following the bombing of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War."

In June 1937, 4000 Basque children arrived in Southampton as refugees and were dispersed around the country in “colonies”. One of these colonies was in Salford at Harold’s Memorial Orphanage, now demolished but only five minutes walk from Claire's current home, and they were taught at the Local Quaker Meeting House, now a British Legion building just a little further on. Claire mentioned the children to her friend’s Mum (age 83) and she was delighted to be asked. She remembered being 9 years old and leaving hospital after a bout of mumps. She went with her friends to look at the refugees because “we thought they would be exotic but [we] were dead disappointed because they looked just like us!”



Claire is in the process of preparing for her exhibition at Ordsall Hall from July 18th to 24th September 2017. Her exhibition will be based on the story of the Basque Children in Salford. "Finding stories in old newspapers and talking to people who still remember them, she will create the exhibition to tell this hidden story."

While in her studio at Islington Mill I saw some of the work that she has been developing for the exhibition, and I look forward to going to see the end result in the Summer.



For more about Claire's work visit her website:

http://www.clairehignett.co.uk/

and her blog:

http://www.clairehignett.co.uk/blog/

Claire is a member of the Islington Mill Art Academy, "a peer-led experiment into alternative modes of art education. Founded in 2007, IMAA emphasises shared responsibility, and its nature changes with its membership, with each member bringing their own ideas and energy. Within IMAA there is no differentiation between professor and pupil, and there are no set courses, but rather a shared propensity to learn and to strive for understanding. The group seek out and utilise the resources which they can find around them, and employ 'art method' towards diverse, and not necessarily artistic, outcomes. Whilst the nature of IMAA is fluid and subject to change, it is always crucial to share ideas, and to embrace the skills and knowledge of members."

For more information about the Islington Mill Art Academy visit:

http://islingtonmillartacademy.blogspot.co.uk/

Piotr Piasta: The Realm of Forgotten Existence at The Granary Gallery, Berwick-upon-Tweed

I first met Piotr Piasta towards the end of 2014 when he gave an artist talk at ISIS Arts in Newcastle at the beginning of his 6 month residency at Berwick Visual Arts, Berwick-upon-Tweed. I was really impressed with his work, and excited to see what he would produce during the residency. I was not disappointed.

His residency was "in partnership with the Centre for Rural Economy (CRE) at Newcastle University, a research centre specialising in interdisciplinary social science, researching rural development and policy, food and society, and the wellbeing of rural communities.

For this residency Berwick Visual Arts and CRE were interested in proposals from artists that responded to theme ‘Beyond the Rural Idyll’ and questioned what and who is rural, local, authentic or vernacular and that explore rural life and society beyond idyllic representations.


Piotr's artwork explores themes of history, time and memory often within a rural context and he is particularly interested in ageing within rural communities and the stories and memories of older people. His practice is particularly relevant to the themes of this residency, as an ageing rural population is a growing concern in rural areas, with social exclusion and isolation too often being part of growing old for many in the countryside.

During his residency Piotr has spent time with older people in Berwick, listening to stories about life in the town and using this to inform a series of oral history interviews with older people – many who have lived in Berwick all their life.

The resulting series of five short films combine these interviews with archive material from Berwick Record Office and new film footage of Berwick-upon-Tweed and Northumberland shot by the artist, in an attempt to interpret these stories."

http://www.berwickvisualarts.co.uk/whats-on/63/piotr-piasta-the-realm-of-forgotten-existence


Each film focuses on a particular aspect of rural life in Berwick-upon-Tweed, such as the building of walls, farming of cattle and sheep and mussel fishing. A different voice of an elderly resident of Berwick-upon-Tweed features in each film. The dialogue is very natural, not like a scripted reading, nor indeed an interview per se, but more like an extract from a conversation with only one person talking. 

The visuals move seamlessly from black and white into colour, blurring the boundary between archive material and recently filmed footage. The camera moves fluidly in both types of imagery; panning the scenery; surveying the land. This creates the continuity between past and present, and makes for pleasurable viewing. 

Piasta has a real talent for making moving paintings, and it is obvious from the accounts of the residents, that they have developed a strong friendship with the artist. He is extremely respectful of the individuals, and it is obvious from watching him talk to locals in the gallery today, that he is a valued member of the Berwick-upon-Tweed community.