Nicola Ellis, Return to Ritherdon: Photographs and Paintings

Return to Ritherdon

In February 201 8, I was introduced to Ritherdon & Co Ltd: a family owned manufacturer of steel enclosures in Darwen, Lancashire. I undertook an Art in Manufacturing residency at the Ritherdon factory, to make an artwork for the 201 8 iteration of the National Festival of Making.

The potenti al for fu rther cooperati on and col l aborati on between the Ri therdon workforce and I became quite diffcu l t to i gnore. After the festi val commissi on was compl ete, Ben Ri therdon, the M anaging Di rector, agreed to l et me retu rn and conti nue devel opi ng the recent work made on si te and i niti ate some new l i nes of i nquiry. The two-year proj ect Retu rn to Ri therdon began i n Febru ary 201 9, thanks to an Arts Cou nci l England Proj ect Grant and Ben's cu ri osi ty.

I am often asked why Ben agreed to l et me retu rn for two years. I asked him this questi on mysel f and he repl i ed wi th the fol l owi ng three reasons. Fi rstl y, su pporti ng an arti st wi th access to the factory seemed l i ke a good thing to do. Secondly, i t wou l d be i nteresti ng to see the reacti on at the factory. M aybe i t wou l d make worki ng there a bi t more i nteresti ng for everyone? Thirdly, the process wou l d expose everyone on-si te to a bi t more contemporary art.

Retu rn to Ri therdon i s a two-year peri od i n which I can stu dy the ecosystem of the Ri therdon factory and i ts bu si ness operati ons. In tu rn, this creates opportu niti es to devel op new artworks, ski l l s and methodol ogies. A parti cu l ar area of i nterest i n this ecosystem i s 5S (a system to ensu re effi ci ent, effecti ve and safe worki ng practi ces) and i ts rel ati onship to l ean manufactu ri ng philosophy. Al so, the occu rrence of an arti st pl acement i n i ndustry resonates wi th Arti st Pl acement Grou p (A. P. G) acti vi ty. Therefore, absorbi ng A. P. G. materi al at Tate Archive i s an on-goi ng acti on throu ghou t the proj ect. Overal l , the proj ect creates opportu niti es for an Arti st and M anufactu rer to wi tness each other's

work i n the factory, stu dio, gal l ery and respecti ve communiti es.

The arti st pl acement si tu ati on demands an on-goi ng assessment of ‘val u e’ , i n rel ati on to the process of maki ng art on an i ndustri al si te, and the artwork i t- sel f. M ost of the work l eaves the factory at some poi nt, therefore i ts ‘val u e’ changes according to the shift i n context. I try to u nderstand what i s gai ned or l ost as i t i s moved between the factory and the stu dio or gal l ery. And i f i t can exi st on i ts own terms ou tsi de of the manufactu ri ng envi ronment.

Some new sculpture has already made its way out of the factory, into exhibitions over the last twelve months. More works featuring audio, video and data visualisation are currently being developed with the help of some tech-wizards and knowledgeable collaborators. I l ook forward to sh ari n g th em after th e proj ect en d s i n Febru ary 2021 .

Covi d-1 9 restri cti ons pu t manufactu ri ng and arti st pl acement acti vi ty on pau se. This temporari l y shifted my focu s to the digital materi al amassed throu ghou t the proj ect to date. This pu bl i cati on contai ns some of this digital materi al : photographs and a sel ecti on of watercol ou r pai nti ngs, which reference them. The pai nti ngs cel ebrate both the fi xed and parambu l ati ng l andmarks i n the i ndustri al envi ronment, for thei r beau ty and thei r fu ncti onal rol e. Extracti ng these l andmarks from the manufactu ri ng context and recreati ng them i n a cl ean space i s my way of offeri ng them u p for consi derati on as scu l ptu re.

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Ritherdon & Co Ltd.

Ri th erd on & C o Ltd . was fou n d ed i n 1 895 by Percy Ri th erd on , th e cu rren t M an ag i n g D i rector’s g reatg ran d fath er. Operati n g i n a property on G reat M oor S t. B ol ton , th e com pan y focu s ed on el ectropl ati n g an d en am el l i n g proces s es for th e E d ward i an bi cycl e boom . Arch i ve m ateri al from Percy’s era, al s o, d ocu m en ts h i s i n teres t i n th e tech n i cal s i d e of en tertai n m en t an d perform an ce. As a tes tam en t to th i s i n teres t, h e open ed a s econ d Ri th erd on works h op at N orth B ri d g e M i l l , wh i ch fabri cated m ag i ci an ’s props an d tri cks . Wi l l D exter d es cri bed h i s vi s i t to th e works h op i n h i s book Th e Ri d d l e of C h u n g Li n g S oo, s tati n g ‘ n o two m en were perm i tted to h an d l e m ore th an on e part’ of each fabri cati on .

After th e tu rn of th e cen tu ry, Ri th erd on pl ated m an y m i l l i on s of parts for th e Fi rs t Worl d War effort, an d th e 1 920’s an d 30’s s aw th e i n trod u cti on of s h eet m etal work to th e factori es tech n i cal capaci ty. Rol an d Ri th erd on took over th e bu s i n es s i n 1 936 an d , u n d er h i s d i recti on , th e com pan y prod u ced th ei r fi rs t s teel en cl os u re for N avy s h i ps d u ri n g th e S econ d Worl d War. After m ovi n g to th e cu rren t D arwen prem i s es , Ri th erd on con ti n u ed to res pon d to th e d em an d for fu rth er s peci al i s ed s h eet m etal work th rou g h ou t th e m i d -twen ti eth C en tu ry, prod u ci n g con trol pan el s for th e earl y n u cl ear i n d u s try. D u ri n g th e 1 970’s , Ri th erd on worked cl os el y wi th th e el ectri ci ty board s to d evel op n ew prod u cts , th e d es i g n s for wh i ch i n form ed s everal prod u cts s ti l l bei n g m ad e at th e factory tod ay.

H oward Ri th erd on becam e M an ag i n g Di rector i n 1 986. I n th e fol l owi n g d ecad e, El ectropl ati n g process were ph ased ou t i n ord er to red u ce th e com pan y's en vi ron m en tal i m pact, al on g wi th secu ri n g th e fi rst

I n vestors i n Peopl e Award an d I SO 9001 (th en BS5750) accred i tati on for Qu al i ty M an ag em en t System s. Ben Ri th erd on took over from H oward i n 201 2, th e year a partn ersh i p wi th Leed s Ci ty Cou n ci l resu l ted i n th e fi rst Passi ve Fi re safety prod u cts. Th e Fi reSeal provi d ed an u pg rad e i n th e i n d u stry stan d ard fi re resi stan ce of m eter box an d ri ser h atch d oors. Th e worl d ’s fi rst passi vel y safe, crash -tested road si d e cabi n et was d evel oped at th e factory i n 201 3, wh i ch l ead to a kn owl ed g e tran sfer partn ersh i p wi th Th e U n i versi ty of M an ch ester i n 201 5.

I n 2020 - th e com pan y's 1 25th year - th e th i rty-n i n e m em bers of th e Ri th erd on workforce con ti n u e to d esi g n an d m an u factu re h i g h q u al i ty stai n l ess steel en cl osu res to h ou se power su ppl i es for bu i l d i n g s, con stru cti on si tes, el ectri c car ch arg ers an d oth er rel ated prod u cts.

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