Emily Lucas reflections on ‘Leave / Stay / Arrive’ after an interview with the artists, 2021

The project began as the appreciation of a space when it is a ‘non-space’ – that is a construction site. I am thinking here that it was also a place of de-construction, or even destruction, before re-construction could take place.  When work on the project began, the space was in between uses and identities.
This carries with it connotations and implications of gentrification.  An essentially working class environment (brewery, then social club) fallen into disrepair and re-imagined as an art space – possibly not to be used by any of the same people who formerly frequented it.  This reflects changes within the surrounding area of Nailsworth.  I would ask here how the project is acknowledging this – is it nodding to the ‘loss’ of this era within Nailsworth’s working class history by shining a spotlight on the ‘insignificant’ parts of the building – by looking closely?

Alice suggested that for her, buildings can represent lives lived.  They are things in transition, with changes of use and stages of existence.  The building was taken apart and was rendered vulnerable, when surface materiality was stripped away, only the ‘bones’ of the interior structure remained, its innards laid bare.  This left an enormous sense of freedom – that the building could become anything – and this freedom left a space for the artists to fill.  The building itself was more present and on show than ever, almost ‘breathing’ and ‘listening’ for what was to come.  This wasn’t just visually, but also in the sounds and smells of the building – the echoes.  There is something here about the vulnerability of humanity through materiality.  The building contained no ‘cloak for set performances’ but was a blank canvas for exploring transient matters – drawing things into the light and then letting them go again.

Movement and dance was a way to explore this transient state of mind by being physical within that space.  Movement was a conduit to a creative mindset – allowing the thinking brain to relax and the intuitive brain to kick in.  The film pieces are an extension of this – also being born of movement around the space.  (This is where the split screen is interesting too – placing together two people’s different perspectives – same, but different – together as one piece).  The sound pieces too are unscripted – a stream of consciousness using descriptive language to describe what is being seen – giving it both an importance in the moment, again only to have it slip away as the words create images in the minds of the listener, one replacing another in an instant.  Everything is both something and nothing.  Except perhaps the photo book, which seeks to be a physical reminder of what has happened – a ‘souvenir’ – which cannot fully ever recreate momentary experience – almost a nod to a nostalgic standpoint.

The material work made takes the form of research in process – the teak skirting boards standing/hanging/hoisted like trees – but just for a while.  The bricks made of hops from Stroud Brewery a nod to the buildings former use. Conclusions:

-   Materials and material values have been a key factor in the production of the work – perhaps they are a key to unlocking the work for the audience.  In describing and showing the materials, the artists are inviting the audience to make their own connections and links.

-   There is a beautiful element of ‘not knowing’ quite why some decisions have been made which also reflects things in constant flux and change.  The artists have documented a moment in time in the life of the building – almost like time stopping on the inhalation of a breath, only to shift once again as the building ‘breathes out’ again.  Grasping and pinning down exactly what has happened within the building space is not necessary –more importantly I see the work as being about the acknowledgement of the impossibility of ever being able to completely document this ‘moment’.  Memory slips away, changes in hindsight, and is different for every person involved, existing in fragments that can never fully be pieced back together.

-   A key theme is transience and impermanence – why is this important to pay attention to?  Why are things in flux important?  Why look at the often overlooked? (plug sockets, skirting boards, wallpaper).  These things all exist at the edges – they are the borders – containers of what we might call a life – where things happen.  But, they are a reminder that nothing is permanent, that one thing always replaces another.  Being in the moment matters – stopping and paying attention won’t necessarily give any ‘answers’ but allows time for reflection and re-evaluation.  As materials are re-formed and re-noticed, perhaps this can have a knock on, embodied affect within a viewer.  The key is in how to translate the value of that paying attention and passing it on to a viewer of the work.

Artists notes:

I gained access to the building site of the former Comrades Club in Nailsworth in January. I chose the building because it was stripped of function and at its most vulnerable when taken back to its core.
I invited collaborators Rebecca Stapleford and Alex Howard to research the building with me and we worked in direct response to the space gathering information through our bodies. An improvisation for a small public audience was held in February.

I was then able to gain further access from February to June when building work was restricted due to the pandemic. I continued work with Rebecca, gathering information with sound recordings, film and photography, recording the emptiness that was in fact full.

Work with the building and Rebecca concluded in the exhibition, leave/stay/arrive, September 2021.