Tying Down the Towner

Tying Down the Towner consisted of the installation of a series of ropes that spanned the building, tethered at points around its base, and protruding into the surrounding area. Over the period of a day a small team worked to install the ropes, negotiating the complicated roof space and communicating by walkie-talkie to those on the ground. The ropes behaved as lines in a drawing, describing the idiosyncrasies of the roof space, developed during the 200 year evolution of the building. Tying Down the Towner was commissioned by the Towner Art Gallery alongside the en-quire Schools Project. Three artists were invited to respond to the situation of the Towner Art Gallery on the eve of its relocation. A dialogue about the development of ideas and the realisation of the work was maintained with young people from The Cavendish School some of whom came to assist with the installation of the work. I am curious about the dialogue between activity and the built environment and how each shapes the other. It appeared that the Old Manor House and the activity of the Towner had outgrown each other. I wanted to explore this further. Through a series of investigations and material intervention I hoped to challenge an accepted or assumed understanding of the building. Research involved working in the gallery space on my own and with young people from Cavendish School. We looked for evidence of the evolution of the space and at its current state through observation, discussion, drawing, photography and constructing models. I extended the process in my studio, developing ideas for large scale intervention in collage, drawing and model making. I proposed to work in a variety of ways and after discussion with the curator Tying Down the Towner was researched further and the idea realised.