01/09/21
GRACE RODGERS
ACA offers a unique opportunity to explore the physical layers that make up Earth as we know it in the context of the rapid planetary climatic and ecological shifts taking place now, in 2021. Set within a national Geopark ACA offers opportunities to examine the stories behind ancient layers of rock in the darkness beneath Earth's crust. In the context of the climate crisis, many see dark and challenging times ahead, but I wonder what insight and inspiration can be gleaned from experiencing our place in the cosmos through the lens of ACA’s observatory in this rare Dark Skies AONB location.
Perhaps exploring our place in the macrocosm of our solar system, through the lens that ACA provides here on this blue and watery planet, could inform work that might lead to ideas for a more holistic transition to a living system that works with the flow of nature’s cycles, seasons and patterns. I will draw on the Permaculture Design Principles and scientist Fritjof Capra’s Systems-Thinking theory during my stay, and apply these ways of thinking to what I see in the land and sky at Allenheads.
I will seek the path of the water cycle running through the skyscapes and landscape at Allenheads, and try to trace its journey through the darkness of the Subterranean. I am curious about its role as carrier, its ability to dissolve and deposit minerals within the soil and to the creatures below. I seek to document this through mapping, historical research, drawing, photography and video, and to share this journal of discovery online, through a blog and social media.
In light of Allenheads history as a mining village, having utilised hydro-power to increase yield, I am interested in how it contributed to the rise of nearby Newcastle as a crucial hub in the seeding of the Industrial Revolution - of which England was the crucible. As the water’s flow may have been harnessed and used to create energy, I am interested to know who benefitted from the profit-streams that ran alongside. I would like to honour the toils of those people who contributed, in light of having had distant relatives who worked as miners.
On a global scale, it is vital that humanity evaluates the way in which capitalist thinking, and the commercialisation of Earth’s resources, has ruptured the delicate balance of climatic and ecological processes to maximise economic profit. Especially in view of COP26, taking place just a few miles North in November 2021.
The allure of visiting renowned yet unexplored territory sparks my curiosity and I hope to capture that sense of discovery and wonderment during my residency.
I plan to spend the first 24 hours primarily observing the site, being open to the people, history and any folklore that may come to light.
I hope to capture images or impressions of the new moon at 00.49 on Mon 6th /Tues 7th Sept and to then consider the presence of water bodies and other minerals there, and how they relate to those present on Earth, including the tidal influence of the moon’s gravity on Earth’s water bodies. If time permits, I plan to invite guests to visit a carefully curated installation that will combine video, photography, sound and/or naturally dyed textiles to reflect the unfolding of this residency.
As this will be an unusually long time spent away from the bounds of home and motherhood I look forward to sitting with this unfamiliar absence of responsibility, noise and LED's and to give space for thoughts and insights that may emerge. The experience of dwelling inside, in shadow, composting past memories in the dark perhaps, has become a familiar norm for many during the lockdowns enforced during COVID-19 and so I hope that sharing this reflective practise of percolation will strike connections in those who visit on the final day of the residency. I hope to inspire an appreciation of the dark as a tool for heightening sensory experience and to discover the hidden treasures that may exist there.
Diving into darkness.
