19 JULY - 2 NOV 2014 TYNTESFIELD & LEIGH WOODS
ASSEMBLE LONDON FIELDWORKS NINA SAUNDERS INSA WINKLER OWEN GRIFFITHS & FERN THOMAS
2
Tyntesfield Š National Trust images
INTRODUCTION
Anna Russell, General Manager In 2002 the National Trust purchased Tyntesfield House and Estate through generous public donations and grants and has since embarked upon an ambitious conservation and repair programme, to keep the estate intact and bring it back to life. Over 10 years later the spirit of Tyntesfield’s remarkable acquisition is strong and we are committed to the enhancement of public engagement through innovative projects that provide extraordinary experiences for our visitors, volunteers and team. Trust New Art Bristol’s inaugural exhibition STILL/life last year, was warmly received by visitors to Tyntesfield and Leigh Woods. I am delighted to see how different spaces can be activated by new contemporary art commissions. I hope visitors will enjoy PARADISE at Tyntesfield and Leigh Woods and rediscover these very special places. Trust New Art Contemporary art in National Trust places. The National Trust was founded in 1895 to preserve and present places of historic interest or natural beauty. Such places can include landscape and coastline, as well as country houses, villages and industrial buildings. Trust New Art is the Trust’s programme of contemporary art and craft. It began in 2009 through a partnership with Arts Council England, which continues today. It consists of high quality exhibitions, commissions, residencies, loans and other projects. Trust New Art Bristol is part of Trust New Art, dedicated to exploring how the production and presentation of contemporary art in places of historic interest or natural beauty, connects people to places in new and unexpected ways. www.trustnewartbristol.org
Tyntesfield, Wraxall, Bristol BS48 1NX 01275 461900 tyntesfield@nationaltrust.org.uk Monday – Sunday: (House and Chapel closed Thursday) House 11:00 – 17:00 h Chapel 11:00 – 17:00 h Estate 10:00 – 18:00 h Garden 10:00 – 18:00 h Refreshments 10:00 – 17:30 h Restaurant 10:30 – 17:30 h Shop 10:30 – 17:30 h Leigh Woods, Nr Bristol. Grid Ref: 172:ST555730
3
PARADISE When we build, let us think that we build forever John Ruskin, The Seven Lamps of Architecture, 1849 The design of our environment changes continually. Each passing design leaves a residual layer, which reveals a society, its principles and values. In this way, changing attitudes towards the town and country, the urban and the rural are reflected. Tracing how perception and values change as evidenced in design is a way of understanding our own patterns of habitation and land use, an understanding that might help contribute to a design for a contemporary paradise. The location of the new commissions, and the works themselves, invite consideration of Tyntesfield in terms of design. Found in spaces that are to some extent hidden or disused; an abandoned tennis court, a vacant Aviary, a hidden glen and often-overlooked ornamental garden, an interesting tension with the designed landscape is created. Each one seizes the opportunity to design a world within a world, creating a moment of possibility - a future paradise that might be sustainable, utopian or even otherworldly. PARADISE - A Design Tyntesfield is a hybrid of architectural styles, though today its significance is as a High Victorian Gothic mansion. Work began on Tyntesfield when the Gibbs family gained possession of the original modest country house in 1844. They employed different architects to transform it into a much grander, extended mansion. It is thought that a close architect-client relationship existed between the family and architects John Norton (1823 - 1904), Sir Arthur Blomfield (1829 - 1899) and Henry Woodyer (1816 - 1896), who modified, extended and constructed different elements 4
of the building between the 1860s - 1880s. John Norton undertook William Gibbs’ ambitious rebuilding project between 1863 1865. His work demonstrates how the Gothic Revival in architecture and design, which was profoundly influenced by the visionary architect Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin (1812 - 1852), developed into the distinctive High Victorian Gothic style. A revealing collection of architectural writing is found in the extensive library at Tyntesfield. This includes a fine collection of works by Pugin, and the highly influential English art critic and writer John Ruskin (1819 - 1900). Most notable perhaps is a 19th Century copy of Ruskin’s The Seven Lamps of Architecture 1849. This highly influential architectural essay guides the reader through the principles of architectural excellence by seven lamps: The Lamp of Sacrifice, The Lamp of Beauty, The Lamp of Power, The Lamp of Life, The Lamp of Truth, The Lamp of Memory and The Lamp of Obedience. The reader is encouraged to explore the process behind design and consider how and why certain things are valued. For Ruskin ‘every noble form of architecture is in some sort the embodiment of the Polity, Life, History and Religious Faith of nations’ The Seven Lamps of Architecture, The Lamp of Obedience, 1849
Politics of PARADISE Ruskin’s ideas were influential on the Gothic Revival style, the Arts and Crafts Movement, the founding of the National Trust and also the work and ideas of William Morris (1834 - 1896). Morris was an artist, environmental campaigner, socialist political theorist and designer who, through his lectures in the 1880s drove the international Arts and Crafts Movement. Some of Tyntesfield’s interior spaces demonstrate the influence of Morris’s designs. These designs convey the abundance of nature through an organic aesthetic which has a strong underlying structured pattern. He identified the physical, mental, and emotional rewards of the making process, which required a thorough understanding of the materials. For Morris, paradise was artistic freedom and freedom from capitalism. He believed abundance could be found by allowing the cycles of nature to produce bounty for all, achievable only through collective action.
Further Reading A.L Morton (ed). (1984) Political Writings of William Morris, Lawrence and Wishart Cumberlidge, C. a. L. M. (2007). Design and Landscape for people, new approaches to renewal, Thames and Hudson Carlsson, C. (2008). Nowtopia: How Pirate Programmers, Outlaw Bicyclists, and Vacant-Lot Gardeners Are Inventing the Future Today!, AK Press Read, A. (2000). Architecturally Speaking, practices of art and the everyday, Routledge Foundation, L. A. E. (2006). Fieldwork: Landscape Architecture Europe, Birkhauser Verlag AG Raymond, W. (1975). The Country and The City, Oxford University Press, USA Reed, P. S. and M. o. M. Art (2005). Groundswell: constructing the contemporary landscape, Museum of Modern Art Ruskin, J. (1854). The Seven Lamps of Architecture, John Wiley Virilo, P. A (2001) Landscape of Events (Writing Architecture), MIT Press Mitchell, W. J. T. (2002). Landscape and Power, Second Edition, University of Chicago Press
PARADISE - found The new commissions all contribute to a developed understanding of the relationship between humans, habitation, architecture, and design. They offer a powerful platform to consider design in terms of space; how the use of the space defines that space, the social function of design and its status. They ask for new interactions and also new re-imaginings of the way space is designed, used or not used. Ruth Gooding Curator, Contemporary Arts Programme Manager 5
LONDON FIELDWORKS
London Fieldworks have created two architectural structures as part of a fictional landscape where animals have overcome an environment controlled by humans. They have imagined the different ways animals might behave on the estate, the paths they might take and where they may rest. In doing so, they have designed an animal architecture for Tyntesfield. The items of furniture used to construct Assault Tower look as though they might have been found in the Tyntesfield collection, yet they have been attacked and infested. The design and construction appears to reflect a collective urgent housing need, in contrast to the individualist design statement of Tyntesfield. Landing Craft provides a subterranean creature access to the surface. The path skims across human territory to an animal underground, emphasising the folly of any human attempt to control nature. The structures are performative; we can imagine the labour of the industrious animal, though they also dictate how we negotiate the environment, highlighting the role design can play in socially engineering interactions.
Landing Craft was built by Dick Berry and the Somerset Bodgers. It is constructed from a Tyntesfield Cedar of Lebanon and Atlantic Cedar. The wooden furniture used to create Assault Tower was generously donated by Tyntesfield volunteers and ‘assaulted’ by Arts Assistant Emma Cooper, the Somerset Bodgers and Ashton Park School children.
6
Biography Bruce Gilchrist (b.1959) and Jo Joelson (b.1969) are based in East London. In 2000 they formed London Fieldworks, an interdisciplinary and collaborative arts practice. Their practice combines installation, architecture and social engagement, situating works in both gallery and landscape contexts. Selected recent exhibitions, projects and awards include: PUBLIC MISUNDERSTANDING OF SCIENCE, Microwave International New Media Arts Festival, Hong Kong (2011); Null Object: Gustav Metzger thinks about nothing (2012); Bluecoat Gallery, Liverpool (2014); Sprengel Museum, Hanover (2014). Recipients of British Council Artist Links residency, working in the Atlantic Rainforest, Brazil (2009), the outcome of which - Between Premonition and Knowledge was presented at Arts Catalyst’s Artist Airshow (2010); tranzit/ ro, Bucharest (2014); Trafó Gallery, Budapest (2014). They have received awards from Arts Electronica, Linz; Vida, Art and Artificial Life, Madrid and London Short Film Festival. www.londonfieldworks.com
Paradise Assault Tower is located in Paradise, Tyntesfield’s six acre arboretum, which was begun before 1850. It includes many notable exotic species such as Black Mulberry, Beech Chusan Palm, Sorbus, Hazel and Cedar. The cedar trees in this area were raised from seeds brought from Palestine by Mr J L Gibbs in 1858. The viewer is dwarfed by Assault Tower, which is in turn dwarfed by an ancient Cedar of Lebanon which is 156 years old.
Assault Tower, 2014 Tree of heaven from the Tyntesfield estate, reclaimed wooden furniture. Š Paul Blakemore
Landing Craft starts at the beginning of the broad walk, a line of mushroom shaped holly topiaries, and ends on the site of the old tennis court. It creates a rogue path which circumnavigates an Oriental Plane before disappearing underground.
7
NINA SAUNDERS
Birds, opulence, design and human relationships are all narratives from Tyntesfield’s history, which have influenced Golden Abundance, a new installation by Nina Saunders, which has transformed the Aviary. The Aviary is a space that sits on the cusp; it has been inhabited by both humans and non-humans; it is ornamental yet fully functional, and therefore becomes a space for the imagination and portal to another possible reality. A lavish chandelier now dominates the space. It is circled by a sparrow hawk-human hybrid. The human head has been meticulously upholstered in William Morris fabric, using a complex textile technique, which tufts the fabric into diamonds. The use of William Morris fabric makes reference to the design of some of Tyntesfield’s interior spaces, which were influenced by the Arts and Craft movement. This movement attempted to marry our physical and spiritual endeavors through design, and perhaps in doing so, make visible how an internal condition is echoed in the spaces we inhabit. Amongst the abundant decor of the new interior, eight delicate sparrow hawk eggs can be found. These may hold the key to the unfolding drama as they hint at the ornithological legacy ingrained in the fabric of Tyntesfield. In 1843 - 4, William Gibbs (1790 - 1875) purchased Tyntesfield using newfound wealth acquired from importing guano (fossilised bird droppings) from South America.
8
Biography Nina Saunders (b.1958) works across a range of materials and art forms, from textile to taxidermy. Her creations are often confounding, appearing on the one hand familiarly domestic, on the other darkly humorous and unsettling. Nina Saunders has exhibited widely across Europe and the United States as well as receiving much notoriety for her awards in Denmark. Selected exhibitions include: Katy’s Convoy, an exhibition that toured Denmark and the UK, 2009 - 2012; Venice Biennalle, The Collectors Danish and Nordic Pavillions 2009; Hidden Histories Untold Stories; Victoria & Albert Museum 2010, Fuori Salone (Salon del Mobile) Milan 2011; A Journey through a Nordic Fairytale, Martin Asbaek Galleri, New York 2012; Beastly Hall, A place where artists and creatures meet 2013. www.ninasaunders.eu
Aviary The Aviary is a grade II listed building, originally a house for birds, later converted into a playhouse by George Abraham Gibbs (1873 - 1931) and his first wife Via, for their daughter Doreen. The first record of the Aviary is on an 1883 OS map. When the National Trust took over the estate in 2002 the building was in danger of complete collapse but has since been carefully restored.
Golden Abundance, 2014 Wooden plinth, imitation gold leaf, plaster, resin, taxidermy sparrow hawk, tissue fiberglass, William Morris fabric (Acanthus Scroll), Art Deco style chandelier. Š Paul Blakemore
It has an ornamental character demonstrated by red and black diamond wall tiles and is a lasting legacy of the leisure habits of the family.
9
TYNTESFIELD ESTATE MAP
Home Farm Visitor Centre
Arboretum, Paradise London Fieldworks Assault Tower, 2014
Boating Lake
Tennis Court London Fieldworks Landing Craft, 2014
Aviary Nina Saunders Golden Abundance, 2014
10
Chapel Main House
Stable Yard
Orangery Cafe
Kitchen Garden area
Lady Wraxall’s Garden
Owen Griffiths & Fern Thomas The Green Room – a centre for soil preparation, 2014
Insa Winker Global Water Garden, 2014
11
INSA WINKLER
In response to Tyntesfield’s unusual water management history, guano legacy, and global concerns about the sustainability of our natural resources, artist and landscape designer Insa Winkler has transformed Lady Wraxall’s Garden. Working with the Tyntesfield Garden team, the planting system has been supplemented to imagine an oasis. Different tiers of tree ferns, ferns and grasses are planted in the shady south side, representing the wild wet areas of the planet. In contrast the sunnier part of the garden is planted with cypresses, palms and grasses to represent a drier climate. Eight topiary holly balls are in conversation with the historic architectural features, but also serve to introduce two new spherical sculptures to the space. The water sculptures demonstrate the potential of eco friendly and natural technology through incorporating ‘Effective Microorganism technology’ (EM Technology) into the design. ‘Effective Microorganisms’ are naturally occurring microorganisms and can be used widely from treating wastewater in disaster zones, to use as an alternative to agricultural chemicals. The first sculpture comprises of a globe made out of copper and vegetated felt pillows, representing the seven continents. By turning the globe, different lands are dipped in water enriched with Effective Microorganism and thus effectively fertilized. The second sculptures incorporate ceramic pipes, which are filtering impurities out of the water using EM Technology. Global Water Garden reflects how investment in research and new technologies can identify sustainable solutions which not only offer individual freedom, but may help us manage our natural resources sustainably for everyone. 12
Biography Insa Winkler (b.1960), works in the field of environmental art, exploring the relations between humans, nature, landscape, ecology and the philosophy of flora. Winkler coined the term ‘social land art’, as an interactive concept of a trans- disciplinary approach to the environment. She is currently undertaking a Ph.D at Leuphana University Lüneburg, exploring the dialogue between art and sustainability. Selected recent work: Ecomedia, Ecological Strategies in Today ́s Art, Edith Russ Haus f. Medienkunst, Oldenburg, D,CH,ES, 2008; Beijing Flower of Sustainability, Dialogue on Arts and Climate Change, Asia Europe Foundation/CAFA, CN, 2009; “(Re-) Cycles of Paradise”, Artport_ making waves, United Nations 2009-12; COP 15, DK, COP 16, Culture Center, Mexico City, MX, LACE, Los Angeles, USA; Hungry City, Kunstraum Kreuzberg/ Bethanien, Berlin, 2012. www.insawinkler.de
Lady Wraxall’s Garden and Tyntesfield’s Water History Lady Wraxall’s Garden was completed for Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897. It was an area built as the formal family entrance to the Kitchen Gardens. The design is attributed to Walter Cave who redesigned the whole kitchen garden in a classical style for Antony Gibbs. Its classical styling is in marked contrast to the predominantly Gothic style found elsewhere at Tyntesfield. Up until 2005, Tyntesfield was independent of mains water. Water was efficiently provided through a combination of spring, ground and rain water, which was managed using various unusual pumping and storing systems, such as a ‘watercatch’. These technological innovations reflect the pioneering approach of the Gibbs family.
Global Water Garden, 2014 Plants, EM ceramics, copper, sacking, water troughs from the Tyntesfield collection. © Paul Blakemore.
At certain times throughout the exhibition, EM Water and mains water will be available to sample at the Drinking Water Tasting Bar.
13
OWEN GRIFFITHS & FERN THOMAS
The Green Room – a centre for soil preparation, is an intervention into Tyntesfield’s historic landscape. It is designed as a space to host a programme of learning and events related to the imminent arrival of a new orchard in the neighbouring field. At 11 acres, this orchard will be one of the largest orchards in the South West. The platform is constructed using cedar wood from the Tyntesfield estate. Standing on the platform you can peer over the top of the yew hedge to see the site of the new orchard. It is framed by raised beds built from hay bales, which extend out towards the field where the orchard will be. The beds are planted with sensory and edible plants and demonstrate permaculture, companion planting, and forest gardening techniques. The principle of collaboration, shared space and the exchange of ideas are integral to the work, both in the way it is made, and the way it is used. The artists have worked in close collaboration with Dick Berry of the Somerset Bodgers, Orchard Volunteer team and National Trust staff to construct the space. Visitors can now use the space as a solace, a space for reflection and as a learning room. Over the course of the exhibition, Owen Griffiths and Fern Thomas will host a number of talks and workshops at the Green Room exploring ideas connected to land, sustainability and food. To keep up to date with the project and the events: www.aboutreconnection.com/greenroom/ aboutreconnection.com
14
Biography Owen Griffiths (b.1983) and Fern Thomas (b.1983) are based in South Wales, from where they work both locally and internationally. They are interested in collaboration as a means to explore contemporary cultural shifts and as a process of address to financial, social and environmental challenges. Past projects include: CIVIC, Mission Gallery Swansea, 2014; Adain Avion, Cultural Olympiad Wales, Vetch Veg, 2011; Lets see what happens... The Glynn Vivian Gallery, Swansea, 2012; For the Bees, 2010.
The Kitchen Garden and Orchard The yew hedge surrounding the Green Room was planted in the late 19th Century. It is adjacent to Tyntesfield’s Grade II listed Walled Garden. The garden was created for William Gibbs in the mid-19th century and is an exceptional model of a walled Victorian Kitchen Garden. It helps create a picture of the daily country house life in the 19th and 20th centuries, particularly because it has always been in continuous use.
The Green Room – a centre for soil preparation, 2014 Plants, hay, cedar wood from the Tyntesfield estate. © Paul Blakemore
In the 1940s an orchard was planted on the Tyntesfield estate. However it was not very productive, as the land had previously been used as hay crop. Finally, in the late 1950s a decision was taken to take out the fruit trees. This year (2014), Tyntesfield looks forward to reinstating the orchard and sharing its bounty across the South West.
15
ASSEMBLE
Leigh Woods Assemble are a collective of architects, designers and artists based in Stratford. Their working practice often follows an initiative or project over an extended period and is highly responsive to the immediate concerns of a site. Their ambition is to rethink how we live in our cities, creating opportunities to make public spaces more open and our interactions in them more joyful. Leigh Woods is an important natural space for the inhabitants of Bristol, consisting of 190 hectares of broadleaf woodland. It is covered by a number of important conservation designations and serves as a habitat for many different species of birds, mammals and invertebrates. On a day-to-day basis it is a well-loved destination for play, and work is underway to make Leigh Woods even more playable. Each property in the National Trust is guided by a document called ‘Spirit of Place’. This working document serves to capture what visitors find particular and special about each site and informs all aspects of activity. Assemble will produce a parallel piece of work which aims to explore and champion the things that make Leigh Woods so good for play. Part provocation and part experiment, Assemble will occupy the site with a series of four hands-on, collaborative workshop weekends. They will investigate how the Trust can encourage children to get the most from the site, with play that opens opportunities for risk, freedom and self-direction, asking how an atmosphere of permission to play can be established in sensitive environments. 16
The occupations and experiments will form the basis of a Spirit of Play ‘Tool kit’. This is a working document, which will be populated by discoveries made by children and participants during the occupations. This document will be highly location specific, but can be used as a prototype for further work across the National Trust to make other destinations become more ‘playable’. www.assemblestudio.co.uk
Weekends in the Woods
Spirit of Play, 2014 Four occupations of Leigh Woods and
19 July, 3pm - 4pm Talk - Leigh Woods
a play manifesto. Š Justin Yockney
6 & 7 August, 10am - 5pm Follow-your-nose Play 20 & 21 September, 10am - 5pm Tree Play 25 & 26 October, 10am - 4pm Mud Play Come prepared to get messy! For more information visit: www.trustnewartbristol.org or www.nationaltrust.org.uk/ leigh-woods/things-to-see-and-do/events/
17
The Promise A dialogue between the city and its people
Saturday 19 July to Sunday 9 November This summer Arnolfini presents The Promise, a new exhibition of international contemporary art with a focus on the city of Bristol, organised in association with PARADISE, a project by Trust New Art Bristol, National Trust. The exhibition in Arnolfini’s gallery spaces is complemented by installations, performances, sculptures, walks and family events, which will spread throughout Bristol exploring the relationship between the city and its residents, inspiring visitors to rediscover Bristol and view the city from new perspectives. Artists Assemble, Jeremiah Day, Jennifer Kabat, Gabriel Lester, Lost Property, Kate Newby and Oscar Tuazon have created artworks for significant locations across Bristol as part of The Promise to encourage discussion about and discovery of our city anew. For The Downs, one of Bristol’s oldest public parks, Oscar Tuazon has created a new 20 foot high, silver sculpture that doubles as a working barbeque and large fire pit. In Leigh Woods, art and design collective Assemble will initiate an interactive play project which will evolve throughout the summer. Other projects across the city include
18
Jeremiah Day’s billboard project. Sited under and using the history of the M32, he investigates how the motorway divides significant parts of Bristol. Outside Arnolfini there will be an installation of wind harps by Dutch artist Gabriel Lester, creating unexpected musical encounters by the harbourside. Inside the gallery spaces works include a detailed, large-scale model of the city centre that was initially presented at the Industrial Museum, and a futuristic plan for a museum in Castle Park. These fascinating items will give an overview of the diverse ways in which Bristol has been imagined, but not necessarily always realized. www.arnolfini.org.uk/whatson/the-promise
PARADISE
LIST OF WORKS
CREDITS
Leigh Woods
Curated by Ruth Gooding, Contemporary Arts Programme Manager
Assemble Spirit of Play, 2014 Four occupations of Leigh Woods and a play manifesto Tyntesfield Owen Griffiths & Fern Thomas The Green Room – a centre for soil preparation, 2014, plants, hay, cedar wood from the Tyntesfield estate London Fieldworks Assault Tower, 2014, tree of heaven from the Tyntesfield estate, reclaimed wooden furniture London Fieldworks Landing Craft, 2014, cedar wood from the Tyntesfield estate, tarmac Nina Saunders Golden Abundance, 2014, wooden plinth, imitation gold leaf, plaster, resin, taxidermy sparrow hawk, tissue fiberglass, William Morris fabric (Acanthus Scroll), Art Deco style chandelier Insa Winker Global Water Garden, 2014, plants, EM ceramics, copper, sacking, water troughs from the Tyntesfield collection
Assisted by Emma Cooper and Joeleen Lynch National Trust Anna Russell, General Manager Bristol Portfolio Janine Conner, Paul Evans, Tom Freshwater, Susie Foster-Clark, Darren Mait, Victoria Stanfield Special thanks to Dick Berry & Gym, Tom Walter and Isabel Griffin Orchard volunteers Matt Bishop, Stephen Carroll, Susan Gorwyn, Colin Kirchell, Mike Notton, Carole Pearson and Debbie Smith Trust New Art Bristol volunteers Tyntesfield Estate interpreters
Architecture Centre and Shape My City volunteers Graphic/website design www.rarecompany.co.uk
Commissioned for Tyntesfield by Trust New Art Bristol, National Trust
19
www.trustnewartbristol.org
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/tyntesfield
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/leigh-woods
01275 461900