Residency
In 2008 Lin Holland and I undertook a joint artists' residency in the two cathedrals of Liverpool.
During the year we made six site-specific works, which included multi-media installations, moving image projections, a major inter-generational community-based project, and a live performance piece. The work responded to the architectural settings as well as to the religious functions of the cathedrals and raised secular/spiritual debates, including ‘fact/faith’ and ‘permanence/transformation’.
In 2009 Holland and I were nominated for the Northern Art Prize for this body of work.
In 2010 we were commissioned by Liverpool Cathedral to make a further installation for the Chapter House to be shown as part of its Liverpool Biennial programme.
The Residency report can be viewed here and the catalogue here
Please click on the tabs below to view individual pieces and visit the website www.sitematerialobject.com for further information.
Two Seas : High Water
Two Seas : High Water
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Two Seas : High Water is a film of the two seas that border the east and west coasts of Britain - the North Sea and the Irish Sea. It was projected onto the High Altar of the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ The King in Liverpool in a continuous loop throughout its opening hours. The work referenced the use and symbolism of water within many religious faiths.
The moving image provided a meditative focus for worshippers and visitors to the cathedral:
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“The film makes it a living altar.” Canon Anthony O’Brien, Dean of the Metropolitan Cathedral. |
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Three Vessels
Three Vessels : Love's Labours
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Three Vessels : Love’s Labours showed three films of three unconsecrated acts of manual labour that take place within the cathedrals: the cleaning of sacristy vessels, the lighting of candles and the conducting of sacred music. The work suggested that, by their regularity and serious intent, these activities were, in themselves, acts of devotion. This work was shown first in the Unity Chapel of the Metropolitan Cathedral and later in the South Choir Aisle of Liverpool Cathedral.
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Untitled : Unknown
Untitled : Unknown
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Untitled : Unknown was a site-specific, time-based, multi-media installation made for the Chapter House of Liverpool Cathedral. It explored the scientific and faith-based theories of ‘creation’. Seven glass vessels rested on a large glass disc suspended from the high balcony of the Chapter House. The edge of the glass disc was inscribed with the symbols of the Periodic Table and the seven glass vessels were inscribed with the opening verses of the Book of Genesis. Six of the vessels were filled with water, upon which floated a thick layer of carbon. Over time, the carbon sank to the bottom of the vessels and the water gradually evaporated. The seventh vessel was empty. |
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Heartsounds
Heartsounds
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Heartsounds is a piece of music of approximately ten minutes duration, written for an unaccompanied solo female voice. It was a site-specific work, inspired by the sound of a human heart, and was devised in collaboration with composer, Robin Hartwell. The work was performed live at 11am each morning from 18 Sept-18 Oct 2008 from the balcony of Liverpool Cathedral’s Corona Gallery by one of a rota of three young sopranos: Sarah Legerwood, Kirsten Maltby and Julia Smith. The words of the composition are a combination of prayer and eulogy.
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To view the texts of the ten canticles of Heartsounds and listen to a live recording from the Corona Gallery by Julia Smith click on the slide show above |
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Journey
Journey
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Journey examined the effects of architecture, space and landscape on the experience of contemplation and prayer. A one-tenth-scale model of Temple Benan, a ruined oratory on Inishmore, the largest of the Aran islands off the west coast of Ireland, was centred in the great Well space of Liverpool Cathedral. Temple Benan is believed to be the smallest church in the world while Liverpool Cathedral is one of the largest. The high-gloss black tiles replicated the actual footprint of the oratory, reflecting the cathedral’s ornate architecture and stained glass windows, as well as the viewer as they approached the work.
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The Big Hope
The Big Hope
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The Big Hope was an inter-generational, community-based artwork. It involved a group of elders from Liverpool and a group of young international visitors who had gathered in the city for ‘The Big Hope’, a multi-faith youth congress. Together they made over three hundred paper flowers and ten thousand paper petals, which were used in processional and interventional events during the opening and closing ceremonies of the congress in the two cathedrals. The flower motif was chosen by the participants as a universal symbol of peace and welcome.
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Upon This Rock : Chris Lethbridge / Peter Halligan
The artist Chris Lethbridge was commissioned to write a text in response to the artworks produced on the residency. A recorded reading of the text by the Liverpool writer and poet Peter Halligan can be heard by clicking on the > on the bar below.
Earth and Æther
Earth and Æther
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Earth and Æther was commissioned by Liverpool Cathedral as part of its 2010 Liverpool Biennial programme and was the second site-specific installation for its Chapter House. A large block of gilded red sandstone was placed in the centre of the tiled floor. Suspended above it was a ‘mirrored house’, which was constantly transformed by the changing qualities of the polychromatic light of its environment. The work explored man’s attempts, through the sanctification of earthly objects, to approach a sense of the sublime. |
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