Issue 2 Autumn 2010

WWW.FeRmYnWOODs.CO.uK

Simon HeijdenS

Art Auction

open online

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Our artist residency venue in Fermyn Woods is available for hire for short periods of time during the autumn and winter. The Lodge has uninterrupted views of the surrounding countryside, including woodland and a wild flower meadow. The property consists of two small independent, semi-detached cottages, each of which sleeps up to three people. This is an ideal space for anyone wishing solitude for reflection or to make new work. Please email info@fermynwoods.co.uk for further information.

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IntRODuCtIOn

After a stimulating summer programme during which artists explored FeRmYn WOODs through sound and tim simmons projected large photographs from Iceland onto an outdoor screen, which one visitor brought his wife to see as a surprise on their wedding anniversary, we now turn our attention to the autumn winter programme.

this autumn, two significant new arts venues will open in Corby; the Corby Cube and the Kingswood school’s new site. this is also the tenth anniversary of the Forestry Commission’s AnCIent WOODlAnD RestORAtIOn project. In recognition of these events, we have commissioned a new work by international artist sImOn heIJDens. Images of trees drawn by a combination of computer programming and the surrounding environmental conditions will be projected onto the Corby Cube after dark. We are also holding our very first ARt AuCtIOn at the new Kingswood school, which is a specialist arts college, and hope you will join us for an exciting evening. the concept of taking art into people’s homes continues through our Open OnlIne, an exhibition of artwork created for the Internet.

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ARt AuCtIOn 23 OCtOBeR

We are holding our first Art Auction to support and promote artists through sales of work and to fund our forth-coming Education Programme. Join us for an exciting evening bidding for work by local and national artists, many of whom have a longstanding connection with Fermynwoods. Original works of art will include paintings, prints and photographs as well as drawings and textiles touching on the theme of the environment and prices will start at under £100. Artists will receive 50% of the sales price and the remaining income will support our work with schools and communities across Northamptonshire. Catalogues and bidding cards will be issued along with tickets for the event, and the work can be viewed on the afternoon before the sale at Kingswood School or on our website. Advance bids can be made by phone until 21 October and Fermynwoods staff can also represent bidders at the auction itself.

Tickets £10 per person, includes light refreshments. Tickets can be purchased individually or book a whole table for up to 10 people.

TheKingswoodSchoolGainsborough Road, Corby NN18 9NS Saturday 23 October from 6pm Viewing from 2pm View online from 14 October

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INTERACTIVE PROJECTION

In 2008 the un reported that more people now live in cities than in rural areas. however, compared to the natural environment, which is always changing shape, colour and atmosphere, our urban environment is often relatively static and constant, as we strive to control indoor climates, lighting and noise. unpredictable, natural elements such as a lifting breeze, a sudden shower or changes in sunlight are becoming in- creasingly rare events in our daily lives. this lack of connection with our natural environment concerns artist simon heijdens and he seeks to offer alternative perspectives on our environment through creating digital living organisms and projecting them onto facades of buildings in busy cities. these unique, computer generated trees grow, sway and move depending on the changing climate around them; as the actual sunshine, rainfall and wind alters, the trees respond.

From 30 October to 6 november, after dusk has fallen in Corby, the white silhouette of a life-sized, large tree will be seen projected onto the facade of the Cube, amazingly its branches and leaves will move according to the intensity of the wind that blows around it. the movement is precise, yet natural, as short, thick branches move less than long, thin ones. the tree also records other activity taking place in its surr-oundings; each time someone passes by, the tree looses one of its leaves, becoming increasingly bare. simon’s installation traces and amplifies the leftovers of nature in the urban surroundings. natural processes are carefully reproduced, poetically revealing and mirroring events taking place in nearby hazel and thoroughsale Woods. however, we will need to slow down to the wood’s natural pace and return, in order to recognise and appreciate them.

Tree was first developed for the city of eindhoven, the netherlands, since then it has been exhibited in Berlin, milan, new York and shanghai, among many other places.

Tree was commissioned in collaboration with Blink, the northampton Festival, 23 July – 1 August 2010.

Simon Heijdens (b. Netherlands, 1978), studied experimental film at Udk in Berlin and Product Design at the Eindhoven Design Academy, graduating in 2002. Simon believes that all the things around us act as continuous collectors of images, sensations and memories from their immediate environs, including the people who use and inhabit them.

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WORKShOPS

Mind map demonstrating process working towards school workshops

Since closing the gallery at the Water Tower last year, we have been busy exploring alternative ways to exhibit art and our recent website redesign has provided us with the opportunity to exhibit artwork specifically created to be viewed via the internet. A panel consisting of Andrew Langford (Reader in Fine Art and Design, University of Northampton) and artist Simon Woolham alongside Fermynwoods’ staff will select the works from an open submission process (please see the back page of this leaflet for details on how to apply). We invite you to view Open Online by visiting the Current Programme section of our website to see some of the most innovative artwork around.

Open OnlIne 15 nOvemBeR 2010 tO 14 nOvemBeR 2011

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To help school children engage with Simon heijdens’ installation, our Education Officer has put together a number of workshops for schools. Using a Pro-bot (a small progra-mmable robot) to help understand the complex processes undergone by heijdens, they will explore drawing and how this can be modelled using new technology. If you are a Key Stage 1 or 2 Teacher and would like your school to take part in a workshop covering the following key areas, please contact James Steventon on 01832 733009 or via james@fermynwoods.co.uk

leARnIng IntentIOns Programming a Pro-bot Understanding different Art forms

CROss CuRRICulAR lInKs Art & Design; ICT; maths

nAtIOnAl CuRRICulum lInKs KeyStage1Art & Design 4b, 5c, 5dICT 2c, 5b, 5cMaths ma3 2a, ma3 2c, ma3 3b KeyStage2Art & Design 2c, 5c, 5dICT 2b, 4b, 5cMaths ma2 1b, ma3 2a, ma3 3b

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Please also register your interest for a professional development session focusing on the use of Pro-bots in Art & Design at Key Stage 1 & 2. Students from The Kingswood School, Corby will also be exploring the connection between mathematics and heijdens work.

WeeklyWorkshopsFor the school year 2010–11, Fermynwoods Contemporary Art will be running a series of weekly workshops led by artists from around the country with children from William Knibb Complimentary Education Centre. based in and around Fermyn Woods the workshops will explore the practices of artists including Simon Woolham, Kenneth James martin, Rebecca Lee and others.

This summer artists Vidha Saumya and Rebecca Lee were in residence at Sudborough Green Lodge. One of the outcomes of their stay was The Leaf Song, a book and audio CD containing leaf songs and leaf sounds. In order to familiarise themselves with Fermyn Woods, the artists had walked different paths each day, identifying the surrounding trees and birds using guide books. They also shared some of the ways they had played in the woods when they were young – in India, children make sounds by blowing through rolled up leaves and in britain we blow through blades of grass held between our thumbs. These experiences inspired Vidha and Rebecca to create their own guide book for the trees, which takes the

form of a traditional reference book, with beautifully photographed images of leaves alongside their Latin names, but the artists’ book also stirs the imagination through poetry based on some of the myths and traditions associated with the trees. Each tree makes a different sound as wind passes through it, and in turn, each leaf creates a unique sound when it is played. The artists recorded and edited these sounds to produce leaf songs. however, these songs are not conventionally musical, instead they present us with a new way of listening to the forest.

The Leaf Song Book and CD are available to purchase through our website www.fermynwoods.co.uk

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Company Registered no. 5434735 Registered Charity no. 1122678

FCA acknowledges the support of the late Doris ella reynolds

ArtistApplications,ArtAuctionWe are looking for small to medium scale original artwork, including drawings, prints, photographs, paintings and textiles that relates to our environment. To submit your work to be sold at the Art Auction, please request an application form by telephone 01832 733009 or email info@fermynwoods.co.uk – artists will receive 50% of the sale price. The deadline is 4 October 2010.

ArtistSubmissions,OpenOnlineWe are inviting applications from artists who have produced artwork specifically created for presenting via the virtual world that explores ideas around ecology and our relationship to the environment. This could include text based work, as well as series of photographs, sound and moving images. Read the Open Online page in this leaflet for further details about the exhibition and request an application form by telephone 01832 733009 or email info@fermynwoods.co.uk The deadline is 8 November 2010.

There are no application fees and full application details can be found for both opportunities in the Latest News section of our website.

LookoutforusonTwitterThis autumn Fermynwoods is joining the twitteratti – follow our tweets at www.twitter.com/fermynwoods and join us as we discover and reveal some interesting links between the virtual and natural worlds.

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FermynwoodsContemporaryArtmontague house Chancery Lane, Thrapston Northamptonshire NN14 4LN T +44 (0)1832 733009E info@fermynwoods.co.uk www.fermynwoods.co.uk