Watching the wind on the lake after attending a talk by Tanya Barson about Lygia Pape’s Magnetised Space at the Serpentine Gallery. See the stills film here.
links
London
I have been making the first of the Elevation drawings using a tiny amount of the 100ml of glacial water I collected from Lac Blanc (2352m) with acrylic paint on paper. Starting at a height of 1252m, the walk up to Lac Blanc gained 1100m of ascent and about 100m of descent to reach the lake. I wanted to show this as a linear journey, rather than a plan drawing of the terrain, showing instead a line of elevation. The walk took 3h28m and included some photography on the way up.
For a new experiential mapping work, I have been making a series of photographic studies that look at rivers as sources and resources. The first image is up near the source of the l’Arveyron Torrent near les Bois, and the second image is across the other side of the valley on a stretch of l’Arve Torrent near les Praz de Chamonix. The two rivers merge at les Nants after sediment is captured from l’Arveyron.
Breeze, Chamonix 2011 is a multiple-image work in the Stills Film series, capturing a cool breeze on a stretch of the Petit Balcon Sud below Bois du Plagnolet. Stretching above the trail is the Réserve Naturelle des Aiguilles Rouges and opposite the Massif du Mont-Blanc. The interior of this event was recorded at 12:31 (French time) 17.08.11.
Foehn, Chamonix 2011 is a multiple-image work in the Stills Film series, capturing warm foehn wind puffs on a stretch of the Petit Balcon Sud below Bois de la Trappe. Stretching above the trail is the Réserve Naturelle des Aiguilles Rouges and opposite the Massif du Mont-Blanc. The interior of this event was recorded at 11:19 (French time) 12.08.11.
London
I have been making the first Water Colour test pieces using about half of the 100ml of glacial water I collected from Lac Blanc (2352m) on my recent trip to the Chamonix valley. I observed five colours in the lake – two looking east, two looking west and one looking north – and will use watercolour paints and the reverse of a large piece of primed fine linen to create 15 ‘pools’ of varying depth.
I have been swimming in Lac Blanc. It is a glacial lake situated in the French Alps at an altitude of 2352 metres above sea level. I admit it took me a few minutes to get in (it is quite cold), but once I was, it was amazing! A few days beforehand, I made some field studies by taking readings for the colour of the water, and I collected 100ml of the glacial water to make small paintings with back in the studio.
1 74 is the first waymarking stone for An Atlas of Walks. When all the walks for this trip have been completed, the photographic documents will appear on guidetohere.com, marking the first stage of this sequential and ongoing journey-mapping project.
Chamonix Valley
I am heading off to the Haute-Savoie to make some new work. In preparation, I painted a huge canvas which becomes a ‘legend’ to my new sequential mapping project An Atlas of Walks – see guidetohere). The canvas will rest in the studio, whilst I go off to make the walks. On the day I left the valley last year, I picked up a small piece of quartz from the river bed near Argentière – in my mind it became a temporary souvenir – and so, a year and a half later, I find the opportunity to return it to the valley. I call this rock a ‘companion stone’ and it will become the first waymark in a series of walks.
Taking some time out by the harbour to watch the sea after helping to install ‘Etagram’ at Turner Contemporary. See the stills film here.
Taking some time out on the ferry to watch the sea during a cycle trip from Paris to London last week, made me think more about my nomadic life over the last few years – and how much I’ve enjoyed it. See the stills film here.
Oxfordshire
On a warm, breezy July morning on the banks of the river Thames, 50 or so people gather for an event organised by the Outdoor Swimming Society. Although I have swum in many outdoor locations – sea, river and lake – I am on dry land this time witnessing the Silent Swim with my camera. I joined in with the meditation before and after the swim and walked in silence along the river bank thinking about my noiseless contribution to the day – it was fantastic.
Gust, Audley End 2010 is a multiple-image work in the Stills Film series, capturing gusts of cool NNW wind in Audley End Park near Saffron Walden in Essex. The interior of this event was recorded at 15:45 (UK time) 20.06.10.
Foehn, Chamonix 2010 is a multiple-image work in the Stills Film series, capturing warm foehn wind puffs on a stretch of the Petit Balcon Sud below Chalet de la Floria. Stretching above the trail is the Réserve Naturelle des Aiguilles Rouges and opposite the Massif du Mont-Blanc. The interior of this event was recorded at 13:15 (French time) 08.05.10.
French Alps
The spring foehn winds have arrived in the valley and the snow is disappearing fast. All the walking routes below 1800 metres have been fully revealed, caked in the pressed debris of the previous autumn. This is one of my favourite times of year – small bright green leaves on the silver birch, vivid lime-green brushes of larch needles appearing, unburdened deep evergreen pines, revealed autumn leaves drying brown and gold in the sun, and clusters of tiny purple flowers scattered near the trail. In just over a week I will be leaving this amazing place.
For details see the field studies archive
For details see the field studies archive
For details see the field studies archive
French Alps
The snow is down to the valley floor and all the boulders have been disguised in a thick white cloak. Meanwhile, in the forest, the needle-less larch is picked out against the winter skies, the river is icing over and the snowshoes are at the ready. And, it won’t be long until the ski de fond season is underway – the tracks are already being prepared.
For details see the field studies archive
For details see the field studies archive
French Alps
Work has started on my new series Erratic. This forms part of a larger body of work about rocks at rest – glacial deposits and other deposited landmarks in the natural landscape. Erratic is a single project with many fragmented parts. Once collated, images will appear here in their editorial form.
For details see the field studies archive
I have been editing part one of the Logged series…
Northern France
Dimitri is out on the rivers and canals of the PNR Scarpe-Escaut already – set adrift on a small craft. I will be there in just over a week’s time, on the land that traces these waterways – preparations in the form of notes, maps and kit are already underway. If I have the chance to take to the water with Dimitri I won’t say no… although as you will read… the boat has a leak. So we shall see.
French Alps
Work has started on my new series Logged. This forms part of a larger body of work that looks at the forest as a natural resource, and how people have shaped this land – converting resources from natural state, to real estate. Mapping is at the heart of this project, and Logged forms Volume One in a trilogy of works toward Portrait of a Forest. Once collated, images will appear here in their editorial form.
Northern France
Continuing on the theme of location, notation, references and grids, the title of my residency project is 59230. In the first week of July, I will be setting off for the north of France. I have a nice little set of logistics in order to get there – needless to say, I am now an expert in the bus and train network of France! Here goes… minibus from Chamonix to Geneva Airport / train to Geneva centre / train to Paris Gare de Lyon / cycle to Paris Gare du Nord / train to Lille Flandres / train to St-Amand-les-Eaux / cycle to the campsite in the forest… where I begin my residency. I will be spending six weeks cycling around Nord to make the work, living outside the whole time in a small tent. I will be making outdoor photographic works on location and I heard it rains a lot there, so I have one extra piece of kit for this trip… a golfing umbrella! For more info on the project see the TravelNotion site.
For details see the field studies archive
Northern France
I have just returned from a short trip to Nord Pas-de-Calais, and my mind is full of ideas for my residency. When I go there in the summer, I will be cycle-touring around the Scarpe-Escaut regional park, following the waterways. I will be linking up with another artist Dimitri Vazemsky who is also working in the park but on a different project – we are looking to see how we can make connections in our work for a publication with the PNRSE. In the same area (but as a separate project), I have been asked if I can also think about making work in nearby Douchy-les-Mines. I have ideas already.
For details see the field studies archive
For details see the field studies archive
I have set up a new site to archive my Field Work images – you will find the link to the mappalogue Tumblr site here (and a permanent link to it is also under the OTHER PROJECTS title at the foot of this site).
DECEMBER 2008: (view) Mgne de Peclerey from Argentière, France.
French Alps
The Petit Balcon Sud by snowshoes is a great way to start thinking of new project ideas, especially creating new maps. I was out there today walking from Argentière to Chamonix. You can get a lot of thinking done in 3 hours of trudging through the snow. And so… I have some thoughts about creating a photographic community mapping project. As soon as it is properly formed, I will post a PDF here.
In the meantime I have also been out and about, on the north-facing slopes of the ski de fond in Argentière, making images for the first of the Drift works.
DRIFT
Made on glaciers, pistes and in the high mountains, Drift is a series of photographic and text-based works. Within this body of work about white landscapes, I seek colour and variation. These works apply a spontaneous approach to journeys, itineraries and photographic recording.
French Alps
It’s been snowing. Metres and metres of snow. The frozen forest is carpeted and my snowshoes and cross-country skis can finally be put to good use again. This also means I can begin my new winter series of works. I have already been out into the forest to look for sites that contain potential for the Barriers, Landmarks and Orientation themes.
The air is beautifully crisp in the early morning and this is my favourite time to make work… there are very few folk in the forest which makes for peaceful study. By midday, I am back in the studio planning the next foray while the sunlight dazzles the valley. The first part of the Drift works has begun.
French Alps
I am able to collect many single-image viewpoints here in the Mont Blanc massif, as the walking is right on the doorstep. From my studio in the village of Argentière, I look up to the glacier perched high above the tree line. Because the village is small, it feels as though the whole mountain range is in my back garden. I have wanted to live and make work here for a long time, and I am making the most of every moment.
Right now, I am concentrating on collecting more imagery for the Landmarks and Orientation series. Although the editing process is harsh, I am looking for reference pieces that have a gentle quality to them – I have exhibited these as single images, but they are also part of a much larger project.
Building on my editorial cartography work, I have started to construct a visual narrative based on walking, which marks my first foray into a location-specific experiential map.
Spatial Arrangements are films composed of layered stills – the body of work is made up of both scenes and locations. The stills become maps of ‘situation’ rather than ‘place’, and draw on ideas from my photo-topography and editorial cartography work. These new works will inform an ambitious photographic map-making project which I will be working on toward the end of this year.
BARRIERS / STRONGHOLD / ORIENTATION / LANDMARKS
Currently, single images are made for each series, but these will also be collected together for my new project Spatial Arrangement. This is an exciting time – I have wanted to make a conceptual film for a long time and finally I have made the imagery I have been looking for.
LANDMARKS PROJECT
Over the next twelve months, I will be making new work in the Chamonix valley, France. The visual mapping of familiar places together with text references will be used to describe a personal geography of place.
This body of work begins in September 2008, and follows a recent Art & Sport commission Flow: Edit. (see the link to the ‘PROfile 003‘ mappazine publication).
The reverse of the PROfile sheet was an opportunity to show selected images from field studies made in the last six years. The most recent images on the sheet are part of the Mappalogue project which seeks to document the time and place in which photo-topographic activity happened.
This side also includes an essay by artist Liz Jackson, who observed the method of image collection in my work when I accompanied her on an expedition to the Le Tour glacier as part of her iNOMAD award. Some images made from the trip became part of the presentation she made in January this year at the Royal Geographical Society, London.
Following my arts commission from Birmigham-based FusionPlus, I was also commissioned to produce a publication about the project. Having worked with other artists as a designer and publisher on the growing Foldedsheet PROfile series, and because the project lends itself to the single page / multiple narrative format, I chose for Flow: Edit. to be disseminated through this type of portable art space.
The images are made in various locations, they reveal hidden landscapes and unnoticed viewpoints.
FEBRUARY 2008: Siruana Castle, Catalunya, Spain.
NOVEMBER 2007: Tarragona Beach, Catalunya, Spain.
SEPTEMBER 2007: Le Tour glacier, Mont Blanc massif, France.
Flow
The aim of this project was to reflect the plurality of silent aspects in Nicola’s sport and the kinetic activities associated with the sport of rowing. The work looked to document the sport through Nicola, and to investigate a quiet sense of her placement in and around the boat. Flanked by immaculately preserved architectural legacies of the Industrial Revolution, a formidable stretch of the River Severn provides a training ground and race venue for the club. The historic setting felt as powerful as the rowers at full stroke.
The output of this project was the six-part photographic editorial portrait Flow, which can be viewed on the FusionPlus site.
I will also be working with Nicola on her part of the project, which is to produce a visual guide to rowing terms, showing a selection of associated sign-language. The provisional title for this work is Manual.
Background Information
Organisation: FusionPlus
Supported by: Birmingham City Council
Project manager: Alison Saint
Athlete: Nicola Hewish
Artist: Luce Choules
This project was initiated by FusionPlus, an organisation based in Birmingham, dedicated to unique collaborative projects in the disability Arts and Sports arena. Nicola Hewish is a young, disabled athlete and member of Ironbridge Rowing Club. She is deaf, yet she competes in the regatta calendar with hearing team-mates. The open-brief commission was a collaborative project between the artist and the athlete.
