Book of the week

The book this week is Nathan Coley's Urban/Wild where he presents a series of expeditions. From Los Angeles to Death Valley, from Rio de Janeiro to Amazonas, from Edinburgh to Rannoch Moor, the artist explores the places where urban space meets the wilderness.

Wand – Interim Report

Wand. c.1200, from O.N. vondr "rod, switch," [cf. Goth. wandus "rod," M.Swed. vander), from P.Gmc. *wend- "to turn," see wind (v.)]. The notion is of a bending, flexible stick. Cf. cognate O.N. veggr, O.E. wag "wall," O.S., Du. wand, O.H.G. want, Ger. Wand "wall," orig. "wickerwork for making walls," or "wall made of wattle-work" (an insight into early Gmc. domestic architecture). Magic wand is attested from c.1400 and shows the etymological sense of "suppleness" already had been lost.

This work brings together some of the approaches that I have been involved with over time: Sculpture (found objects/installation), Performance (within and without the gallery); conversation as art and text. I’ve adopted the form of the exhibition to hold a range of works together that exist interdependently under the title. The work revolves, on one level, around the notion of walking; by myself past and present and also by those of visitors to Plymouth Art Centre. It exists as an enquiry into the potential for a Radical Antiquarianism (http://www.radicalantiquarianism.com).

In the lower room a range of objects, guidebooks and documents refer to earlier walk-works that I have made which I refer to as manoeuvres. These all utilise the quotation as a device to wrench the viewer/walker back and forth through various historical, contemporary and imaginative contexts across the line of a route walked. The exhibition of trace elements is one which I may have at one time resisted as many may have associated this with an over willingness of a performer to a) blatantly commodify their activities, and b) leave their practice open to mythology. However, a performance always has an objecthood, even if this lies at the conceptual level of memory. Furthermore, the entire development of antiquarianism into the formal discourse of History relies upon the subject (antiquarian/ curious party) talking to the artefact. These objects therefore exist in-concert as an ongoing reliquary.

In the upper room a dais offers a horde of over 50 walking sticks for inspection - each propped against the wall. Although the basic form-function is common to all (a generic stick) there is a broad stylistic range including the familiar hip-height stick with bent handle; canes with pommels; horn-handled shafts and shoulder length staffs bearing carved animal heads. This sculptural cameo has been punctuated by a performance, also entitled Wand.

The performance Wand involved the distribution of used postcards among a group of 14. Working with each individual, a series of duet readings and card exchanges were produced involving participants and myself. The set of postcards held by myself had been prepared with quotations and were un-franked. All of the postcards depicted a range of landscapes across the British Isles. Many of the quotations took the form of a fable and alluded to the range of animals represented among the sticks (horse, fox, hound, dog, rabbit, owl, badger, ram, squirrel), to the white chalk giant(s) cut into Plymouth Hoe (now beneath the Citadel), to the battle between Corinaeus and Gogmagog and to the discovery of chalk figures discovered elsewhere in the English landscape. The group then selected a walking stick from a bundle, bound with red ribbon that I had introduced into the space prior to the performance. Whilst participants collected their stick, I placed my left arm in a red sling and invited them to return after 2 weeks to engage in a ‘walkshop’ with me.

Wand

Thanks to all those that came on Friday's performance of Wand.
Don't forget to come back on Saturday the 18th to participate in Tim Brennan's Walkshop.
Some photos from the performance.

Book of the week!

This week book is Simon Faithfull's Going Nowhere

Book of the week

Here at the Itinerant Toolkit shed the Keeper of the Itinerant Toolkit has been posting a book of the week, as a way into the collection/library at the Itinerant Toolkit.
So far we have had:
Week 1: Janet Cardiff 'The Walk book'
week 2: Rebecca Solnit A Field Guide to Getting Lost
And this week's is Bruce Chatwin's The Songlines

If you have any suggestions for the itinerant Toolkit Library then leave a comment of drop us an email.

The Itinerant Toolkit is now on Facebook.

Join the itinerant Toolkit Facebook Group here

Correspondence from Richard Carew to Tim Brennan 30 August 2010

Goode freynde,

A worde of warninge from mine archiv -

One day the lionne feignede to be ƒick and went a limping up to the unicorn, his chief enemy. He did grete himme and said to unto himme, 'Let us put aƒide all that we have donne in the paƒt, because I am no longer able to harme anyone at all. Fore, I am olde and suffering from physicke various. May afore I dye, I would verye much likke to ƒpeak with my wiffe who is in yon wildernesse. So, kind ƒir, if I might be ƒo bolde, lende me thine horne to uƒe aƒ a walking ƒticke on my journey ƒince it iƒ just the right lengthe and very ƒturdy. I promise to return it to ye aƒ ƒoon aƒ I reach my wife; I give you my word.' The unicorn believed himme welle and pitied hiƒ feignede diƒtreƒƒ, ƒo he loanede the lyon hiƒ horne and waƒ thus left defenceleƒ. Said lion then inflicted a serious wounde upon the unicorn and laid him low. The unicorn ƒaid, 'You are guilty not ƒo much of cruelty as of treachere, ƒince you repaid my kindeneƒƒe with actƒ wickede and dothe betraye the promiƒe ye made unto me.' The lyon ƒaid, ‘Thou art a foole, don't you knowe welle the ƒaying,

The man who prolongƒ hiƒ enemyeƒ life
Takes ƒomething from hiƒ own;
clemence dothe notte entail
Showing mercy to oneƒ enemye.

The unicorn replied, 'Thou art a traitor, do you not knoweƒt that in the ƒame boke it iƒ written:

Let the victory which we contriveƒt by the ƒword
Be an honourable victorye or no victorye at all
Let not poƒterity rede that I won by guile; no perfidy
Should obƒcure my triumph.

Therefor, aƒ we read in Eccleƒiaƒticuƒ XII: Do not ever truƒteth thine enemye. Alwayƒ protect thine ƒelf from himme, even if he comths to thee humble and ƒupplicating. The truth of thiƒ be playne to ƒee.

Thine humble servant
RC