Happidrome


Summary of Happidrome Four by happidrome
March 13, 2011, 8:32 pm
Filed under: Happidrome 4

The Happidrome site

Happidrome Four was presented at the former WW2 RAF Dry Tree radar station on the Lizard peninsular in Cornwall. It involved five artists creating and presenting new work in response to the site over the weekend of 11-12 September 2010. Delivered in partnership with Natural England, (who manage the area as part of the 5,000 acre Lizard National Nature Reserve), the project attracted support from Arts Council England, Cornwall Council’s Feast touring arts programme and in-kind support from a local renewables company, Kraft Maus, who generated green energy for the event using wind and solar power. Organised by artist, Sara Bowler, Happidrome Four was the fourth manifestation at the site since 2007.

The weather was excellent (always a benefit with outdoor events) and helped in attracting 180 people over two days. Average daily visitors to the reserve are 35-50 in early autumn, mostly dog walkers. Many families attended specifically as a result of targeting publicity at schools (via Natural England’s Outreach Officer) and through posters placed in local villages the weekend before. Local press coverage aided awareness as did listings on several local community and magazine websites. The overall consensus from visitors, artists and partners was highly positive.

Sovay Berriman utilised TS Eliot’s The Waste Land as part of on ongoing series of ‘readings’ undertaken at specific locations by an actor under Sovay’s direction. Using a roofless but high walled building at the site, Eliot’s poem came alive through Laura Martin’s delivery. Presented to a highly attentive audience, the ruined setting complimented the reading, providing a highly evocative situation in which to consider the poem’s complex metropolitan metaphors.

Using local soil and vegetation, Sara Bowler created a scale model of the topography of Goonhily Downs inside the Happidrome. Tiny models of people and things, animals and cars, satellite dishes and standing stones, were placed on the ‘landscape’ reflecting its long and rich history. Goonhilly Taskscape presented centuries of activity, from Bronze Age burials to twentieth century telecommunications encouraging visitors to consider the area as an evolving, living environment rather than a static entity.

At Croft Noweth, an abandoned small-holding on the Downs, Sara presented the recreation of a folktale concerning its former piskey inhabitants. Part of her ongoing investigation into stories connected to Goonhilly, visitors were invited to step out across the heath with a map and the tale, to see if they could spot the piskeys. Dressed in leaves and flowers, the little people went about their business, watching out for any big folk who might stumble across them as they danced and played in the sunshine.

Sara Bowler, Detail from "Goonhilly Taskscape"

Space Hopper 2010: Travel Scheme provided an alternative mode of transport around the former RAF site by offering participants the chance to hire a hopper to bounce around a designated signposted track. Devised by Bruce Davies, it appeared to be a fun way to get around but beneath the humour, Bruce encouraged participants to consider what is ‘acceptable’ behaviour in the landscape in a challenge to the hegemony of walking as the primary motive for being outdoors. He questioned if we can develop new ways of ‘being’ in the landscape which enable us to explore and question long held assumptions about what the contemporary landscape is now for?

Bruce Davies. "Space Hopper 2010: Travel Scheme"

Patrick Lowry’s ‘Hidden Agenda’ created a fictitious ‘other’ space within the Happidrome referencing the secretive nature of military activity. By creating a facsimilie of a lift door inside the single storey building he created the illusion that it had been part of the building for decades, yet, unlike the defunct areas of the site, continued to offer access to a still used, but secret space, where unknown activities took place. Patrick wanted to encourage the audience to consider not only the site’s history but also how it represents the hidden agendas of military activity both past and present.

Patrick Lowry, "Restricted Area"

Also inside the Happidrome, Kate Ogley’s ‘Songs of Displacement’ was a powerfully moving audio visual work presented in the darkest space within the building. Shaped through associations of the impact of war on people, it portrayed individual asylum seekers singing a song from their homeland, an act of both remembrance and continuity. Their evocative voices filled the building throughout the weekend and brought one of the consequences of conflict – displacement – to Goonhilly, an area which historically had been home to those on the margins of society.

Kate Ogley, "Songs of Displacement"

Happidrome Four brought five artists, nearly 200 visitors, a government agency, a county council and a private business together to create a new way of considering a very distinctive area, rich in history, associations and resources. As organiser, I would like to thank all of those who contributed to a truly memorable weekend. Behind the scenes thanks are due to Elizabeth Masterton, Ray Lawman, Claire Scott, and Jonah Kinross.

Sara Bowler, Artist/organiser

Weblinks

http://happidrome.wordpress.com

http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/regions/south_west/

http://www.kraftmaus.com/

http://www.feastcornwall.org/

http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/funding/grants-arts/

http://www.sovayberriman.co.uk/Sovay_Berriman.html

http://www.sarabowler.info/home.html

http://www.axisweb.org/seCVPG.aspx?ARTISTID=13291 Bruce Davies
http://www.axisweb.org/seCVPG.aspx?ARTISTID=13002 Patrick Lowry



Kate Ogley: Songs of Displacement by kateogley
October 22, 2010, 6:37 pm
Filed under: Happidrome 4, Kate Ogley

Deleway is an asylum seeker from Afghanistan

The work situated in a World War 2 bunker makes the inherent connection between war and displaced people. I wanted to celebrate the traces of culture that people bring with them to this country from a diverse range of places. I invited a group of seven asylum seekers and refugees from the Devon and Cornwall Refugee Support Centre in Plymouth to sing songs from their homeland. I was concerned with the idea of the essential song or Cantus Firmus that expresses something fundamental about who we are.

Ghirat is an asylum seeker from Afghanistan

Abdillah is an asylum seeker from Somalia



Patrick Lowry: Restricted Area by patricklowry
October 18, 2010, 1:25 pm
Filed under: Happidrome 4, Patrick Lowry

The Happidrome’s particular site and its history of a second world war radar base, in many ways represents a particular aspect of military activity both contemporary and historic, which has by its nature been cloaked with secrecy. In response to this Restricted Area a construction that is visually integrated into the fabric of the existing receiver block and appears as an entrance to a fictitious ‘other’ space. The doorway, a lift door, giving the illusion that it was part of the building but, unlike the defunct areas of the site, continues to offer access to a still used, but secret space, where unknown activities take place.



Sara Bowler on Space>Hopper Travel Scheme by happidrome
October 6, 2010, 8:10 pm
Filed under: Bruce Davies, Happidrome 4, Sara Bowler

Bruce’s piece questioned acceptable uses of the countryside and asked participants to consider how it is both used and managed for the future. If the land is no longer the source of food, what is it for? By encouraging people to engage in an apparently ‘leisure’ activity – bouncing round a preset track on a space hopper – he humorously raised awareness of how we physically engage with ‘landscapes’. He also raised consideration of how people take travel for granted in the West. If we had to put as much effort as bouncing on a space hopper requires into our daily journeys, we might be more circumspect about our expectation to travel considerable distances on a daily basis.




Piskey Farm of Croft Noweth by happidrome
October 5, 2010, 8:31 pm
Filed under: Happidrome 4, Sara Bowler | Tags: , ,

Abandoned briar at Croft Noweth

Tale of the Croft Noweth piskies, Anon.


Location map showing paths to Croft Noweth on Goonhilly Downs

peeping piskies

dancing group

piskey look out

elderly piskey

watcher

family returning from piskey hunting




Goonhilly Taskscape by sarabowler
September 30, 2010, 9:13 pm
Filed under: Happidrome 4, Sara Bowler | Tags: , ,

Goonhilly Taskscape presented history, stories and folktales connected to the Downs. The area has been described as a ‘dreary waste’ but it is evident that the presence of people has fundamentally shaped what happens there and how it looks today. The topography of the area was created to scale in local soil, based on a cardboard contour model of the 1:25000 Ordnance Survey map of the Lizard. Numerous models from different historic periods were added, referencing the area’s ‘stories’, from the satellite dishes to Goonhilly ponies and the reputed Dry Tree gallows. The piece encouraged people to consider the Downs as an evolving landscape that is neither static nor 100% natural. The presence of people has shaped how the Downs look and continues to influence what happens today. For instance, in the next year or two it’s likely the satellite dishes will be removed, while larger wind turbines are currently being installed to replace 14 smaller ones that will be taken down. Curiously, the area has never been permanently settled but it has been utilised for symbolic and experimental purposes, which continues today.

Silhouetted satellite dishes

1930′s day trip to the Lizard

Hiker and wind turbines

19th Century Milkmaids and 20th Century tanker

Spitfire and airmen

Tiger Moth and airmen

Goonhilly ponies, now extinct

Mid-20th century car – Ford Cortina

WW2 anti-aircraft gun on Bronze Age barrow close to Croft Pasco forest during World War II

Satellite dishes, anti-glider defences, receiver masts, Dry Tree standing stone and Dry Tree gallows, 3,500BC-2000AD

The murder of William Hancock by John Thompson and John Barnicoat (who protested his innocence) but was still hanged at Bodmin for the crime in 1821. Both Johns were subsistence farmers at Croft Pasco and Croft Noweth respectively. The farms fell into disuse after their deaths. The piskies of Croft Noweth are a near forgotten folktale about the first farmers there.




SPACE>HOPPER TRAVEL SCHEME – THE MOVIE! by Bruce Davies
September 20, 2010, 3:42 pm
Filed under: Bruce Davies, Happidrome 4
For those unable to make the Happidrome 4 exhibition, a video record of Space Hopper 2010: Travel Scheme is now on You Tube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBGAx5Nxbk4


by sovayberriman
September 20, 2010, 10:30 am
Filed under: Happidrome 4, Sovay Berriman



Space>Hopper: Travel Scheme by Bruce Davies
September 15, 2010, 9:46 am
Filed under: Bruce Davies, Happidrome 4

A fantastic video work filmed by and starring artists Paul Glinkowski  and  Jane Bailey made in response to the Space>Hopper Travel scheme.

It can be found by following the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4MugksnsE4



Space>Hopper 2010: Travel Scheme by Bruce Davies
September 14, 2010, 10:40 am
Filed under: Bruce Davies, Happidrome 4



A good turn out by Bruce Davies
September 13, 2010, 12:18 pm
Filed under: Bruce Davies, Happidrome 4

A family outing

Sign your disclaimer on the dotted Line....

Sign your disclaimer on the dotted Line....

Space>Hopper Travel Scheme Hire Centre

Patrick Lowry taking time out from invigilation.

Patrick Lowry taking time out from invidulating in the bunker.

Patrick Lowry taking time out from invigilating in the bunker.

Nearly 200 people visited the exhibition and the site during the weekend and 42 brave souls had a bounce around the space hopper circuit in one way or another. 5 punctures 4 blowouts no injuries a lot of laughs.



Space>Hopper Travel Scheme by Bruce Davies
September 8, 2010, 6:49 pm
Filed under: Bruce Davies, Happidrome 4

Bounce yourself around the Happidrome site 11-4pm on Saturday and Sunday using this free travel scheme for visitors to the exhibition.



Piskey Farm of Croft Noweth by sarabowler
September 6, 2010, 8:24 pm
Filed under: Happidrome 4, Sara Bowler

People invent all sorts of things – but what’s real and what’s imagined? Piskey farm of Croft Noweth will take the adventurous on a stroll across the Downs to explore an abandoned farm and ponder the impact of nature on our imaginations over thousands of years. What’s fact and what’s fiction?



Goonhilly Taskscape by sarabowler
September 6, 2010, 8:20 pm
Filed under: Happidrome 4, Sara Bowler

For Happidrome Four I’ve been working on ideas to do with the impact of human agency on Goonhilly Downs. The more I look into the history of this apparently empty landscape, the more I find. Goonhilly Taskscape plays with these ideas, challenging our understanding about what is meant by rural, natural and man made.



Programme by happidrome
September 6, 2010, 8:06 pm
Filed under: Dispatches, Happidrome 4

11 September 11am-4pm

Bruce Davies: ‘Space Hopper 2010′ takes place around the site – wear suitable clothing for active sports

Patrick Lowry: Hidden Agenda, installation in the Happidrome

Kate Ogley: Sound installation within the Happidrome

Sara Bowler: ‘Goonhilly Taskscape’, installation in the Happidrome and ‘Piskey Farm of Croft Noweth’, installation at an abandoned farm on Goonhilly Downs – wear suitable clothing if walking on the Downs

11 September 4pm-5pm

Sovay Berriman: Reading Two: The Wasteland (T.S.Elliot) takes place in a building close to the car park – bring rugs, seats and blankets


12 September 11am-5pm

Bruce Davies: ‘Space Hopper 2010′ takes place around the site – wear suitable clothing for active sports

Patrick Lowry: Hidden Agenda, installation in the Happidrome

Kate Ogley: Sound installation within the Happidrome

Sara Bowler: ‘Goonhilly Taskscape’, installation in the Happidrome and ‘Piskey Farm of Croft Noweth’, installation at an abandoned farm on Goonhilly Downs – wear suitable clothing if walking on the Downs



HAPPIDROME FOUR 11-12 SEPTEMBER 2010 by happidrome
September 6, 2010, 7:55 am
Filed under: Dispatches, Happidrome 4

Happidrome Four presents the work of five artists – Sovay Berriman, Sara Bowler, Bruce Davies, Patrick Lowry and Kate Ogley. Each has responded in their own unique way to the site, drawing on its history and location to generate new work. Getting you, the audience, involved has been a major focus. Come prepared to walk, bounce, listen and see!

We’ll be adding more information in the coming weeks – so check back regularly. Each artist will upload images of their work as it progresses and we welcome comments and feedback.

Happidrome Four is part-funded by Arts Council England,FEAST and Natural England and powered by Kraft Maus. Thanks guys.




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