Spiky Black

Spiky Black And audio artwork by Alison Carlier & Amanda Loomes New digital artwork makes link between punk and the ancient art of breeding roses Launch Date: Wed 14 June: 5pm - 8pm Open Day: Sat 17 June: 11am-3pm + 12noon: Artists' talk & Q&A Venue: Rose Garden and Chalkwell Hall, Chalkwell Park, Southend SS0 8NB Spiky Black is a new site-specific audio artwork made for NetPark by artists Alison Carlier and Amanda Loomes. It responds to the historic Rose Garden in Chalkwell Park, Southend-on-Sea which has been a feature and source of local pride since 1908. Whilst developing the year-long project the artists have spent time in residence with Metal and worked closely with Chalkwell Park’s gardeners, one of whom (recently retired) inspired the title and concept for the artwork. He grew up a punk and now imagines creating and naming a rose ‘Spiky Black’ in memory of his youth. Working with the words of rose growers from around the UK including Peter Beale’s rose nursery in Norfolk, Spiky Black playfully shifts register from the pragmatic to the poetic, incorporating language sourced from punk bands, historic rose catalogues, horticultural terminology and first person interviews. It provides a transformative audio layer to the rose garden experience, giving listeners an intimate and alternative insight into the thoughts and language of those committed to growing roses. Supported using public funding by Arts Council England.