Tree Hugging

Check out all these fab tree hug pics! Hmm. It won't let me load the pics. Oh well.

On The Road

Site visit/ recce with the Arcadian crew: Chris, Darren and photographer Andi. We called into Tony at Interlock and got a better map of the N.P.E area. I took Arcadian to all the sitea I had been shown by Doreen and for where I have planned events. Chris and I put the world to rights al the way there and all the way back. The obligatopry stop was made ata transportcafe just outside The Zone where we had late brunch. Teas, coffees and snickers bars were also essential re-fuel items. It rained the minute we arrived in N.P.E and cleared up beautifully justas we left. The extraordinary number of magpies hopping around in Northlands Park was noted as was the fact that he whole area is made up of barrriers, fences, things toi divide. No vistas. No openness. Andi was told to "fuck off" more than once as he wandered around snapping. The park was more claustrophobic than I had remebered. We had stood to the right of the play park. But if you approach from the playpark it's all big wire fences, everything fenced in: the kid's playground, a ball-park, the skate park. Not very friendly and a bit of a blight on the park views. Sadly the cafe, where I had hoped we would have lunch, was closed. We thought itwould be a very good idea to stencil up the Art U Need logo, plus map, plus list of events onto the cafe walls.

More charts

I now have a Sasco Year Planner for 2007 on my wall next to the dry wipe board and an A3 print out of teh map of Northlands Park Estate. Also a brown paper bag, a sample I was sent when researching bags for the Goody Bag. this is my campaign wall.

My House is a Mess

I'm like the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland, constantly motoring through, pushing the mess aside. There's the morning pre-school scramble then the 4pm to bedtime scramble. Then bed, and hopefully to sleep (ha ha) then it ll starts again in the morning. Saturday is potentialy the catch-up day but more often than not we are away. I was here this Saturday and spent all day being domestic and just about got the ground floor reasonable, but it just turns into the mess you see on these pictures again within 24 hours! laundry piled up, stairs that need cleaning and painting etc etc.And the scramble in my brain as represented on the blackboard.

Welcome to Arcadia

Monday 16 October 9.30am the boys are on my doorstep ready for meeting 1 as scheduled. The Arcadia collective are Darren Leader, Chris Lowthorpe and Marie-Claire Isaaman, plus photographer Andi. Darren + Chris are designing the Art U Need Needs U Diary Publication with me. I want the whole project to have a low-tech "just-turn up" ethos to it, so that no-one should feel they can't do something because they haven't got the right equipment or whatever. Chris + Darren are keemn to emphasis me + my working process through the book. We both came up with the notion of making use of my blackboard wall + dry wipe board for writing up Diary pages which are then photographed to become the page. They took it a step further by suggesting I possibly hand-write the entire thing, which is a very nice concept. Here they are. See pic:

My Many Coloured Days

I had an idea to colour code the events, so for instance all performance events and workshops are coded blue; walks, trails and tours are green; mass events are red; suggested activities will be yellow and designated days black. Either the type will be the colour or possibly the page on which the events fall. This put me in mind of a fab book called 'My Many Coloured Days' by Dr Seuss. Maybe that's where I got the idea?

Boring Postcards

I got this book at the weekend. 'Boring Postcards' by photographer Martin Parr. Check out Basildon. Not the best photos but I couldn't work out how to turn off the flash.

Update 11 October 2006

Subsequent to the meeting of October 3rd with the steering committee there was a slight concern as to how I would reach U. I went away and thought about that and happened to be looking at the Serpentine's latest Diary Publication. I liked their first one and had held onto this one. It details all the events, exhibitions, talks, screenings in their ever expanding programme. I had a lightbulb moment. This is how I will do it: turn the whole project around on its head. I will begin with a similar Diary Publication, scheduling in all the events, walks, tours and mass events. And I can add in suggested outdoor activities and also do some designated days. For instance, instead of National Walk To School Day, let's have Northlands Park Estate Walk To School Day etc. And there will be space for U to add in your own drawings and writings about stuff U see out there and your thoughts about stuff. The project now seems much more more focused and a three phase thing: 1 Diary 2 Events (Jan-Mar 07) 3 A Goody Bag. Documentation of the events will provide the source material for the goody bag which will contain for instance a pull out photographic guide of events and a newly named map on the back, a wildlife wallchart - made out of the guided walk/draw event in Nevendon Woods, a badge, a postcard, a CD of the Poetry Corner Street Slam event, a frisbee?? etc etc and some other fun stuff. Artist Julia Devonshire's Burberry Cap perhaps? I will print and distribute 2000 copies of the Diary. With your collaboration these become a joint limited edition artwork. All diary participants will then recieve their goody bag. There will also be a competition for the best book, a final film screening event for the documentary which your own film crew will make. And I will schedule in some fun days. I just came across a great picture of a dressed up dog. Battersea Dogs Home held a dog dress up competition. That would be a great event for the meadow field site. See pic.

Guerilla Gigs

Nearly forgot. I hope to do some guerilla gigs initially with the Arcadia bands but maybe there are local bands. I feel the Teenage Village sites are ideal for this.

Venue 6 The Street Corner = Poetry Slam

This corner is like a stage; it has a platform which lends itself perfectly to a performance event. This could happen over a weekend; there could be workshops in the container, then perhaps a performance by poets on the Sat night, with open mic for anyone brave enoughto have a go. The event would be recorded by sound artist and poet Fiona Curran and we could create a CD to go with the publication.

Venue 5 Green = Street Art

As No Ball Games are allowed here I thought I might suggest an alterantive use for this site. Have any of U been to Leicester Square and seen the artists who set up their easels and offer to draw your portrait? Let's do that. I'll organise easels and boards and canvases and paints and an artist to guide you. The person who has their portrait painted gets to keep the canvas. The painter has their worked photographed for the publication.

Venue 4 Teenage Village at side of road = Speaker's Corner

Speaker's Corner. Hopefully some of U have something U reall;y wantto shout about? Like the Speaker's atSpeaker's Corner in Hyde Park? Or does any one remeber the man who walked up and down Oxford Street with his placards about eating less meat?

Venue 3 Fields,meadow,pond = Pancake Day Event

I must ask Doreen for the actual names of all these places.

this area rerally lends itself to be the site of a Country Fayre, but with everything else going on I don't think I have the resources to do that and U already have the Pitsea Carnival. Plus it's the wrong time of year. It would have been good to have done something in October when the berries and apples and pears were out. A fruit-picking trail and bake-off.

Ah ha. Shrove Tuesday 20 Feb 2007 Pancake Day Lets have a three legged Pancake Race and make that the new Northlands Park Estate tradition? Like welly throwing or cabre tossing...let's do something fun and funny involving pancakes and as many peopel as pssible.

Venue 2 Nevendon Woods = Trails + Tours

Trails
I would like to create a trail with rangers/Essex Wildlife Trust that I can map and that initially we take schookl kids on. I would give each child a paper bag, some paper, some wax crayons, pencils etc. They could collect as much evidence by way of leaves, bark rubbings, petals, berries etc of wildlife and nature. We would then come back to class and draw our finds, and perhaps we could make up some mythical beasts that we think we may h ave seen in the Wild Woods. The drawings will be gathered and turned into a poster/wallchart like the ones which The Guardian Newspaper have lately been giving out. This poster along with a map of the trail would go into a bag printed up with a special Northlands PArk logo, created with your help. I thought we could make up a Coat of Arms. I would then organise an further event where U could collect your Goody Bag of Poster and Map and do the trail yourself guided by the children's drawings.

Guided Tour
I have commissioned artist and writer to make up a story, with some truth in it, of a local legendary figure. This story will go into the publication. I will then create a Guided Tour like the tours in London around the EastEnd for Jack the Ripper for instance. The Guided Tours will be a further event for thosae of U brave enough to come along.

mapping
At the end of all the trails and tours how would we rename the woods?

Venue 1 Northlands Park = Surreptitious Mass Happenings

Surreptitious Happenings
As this park is so large I think it makes the ideal space for lots of en mass events -
a mass frisbee event
a mass tree climbing event
a mass tree hugging event

Mapping
I would also like people to start thinking about what they might like to have in certain areas of the park, and or what they do or might like to renmame areas of the park. For instance, are there any angling stories? Did someone catch an enormous carp or perch or anything else in the lake? Could we rename th elake after that pewrson eg McElligot's pool. A sort of cretaing of legends or local icons? In order to get people thinking along these lines I would encourage peopel to come to the conbtainer and tell me or type up their stories. Also led walks by artist and rangers could encourage peopel to see the site in new ways?? I need to think more about this one.

Publication
I would like to commission artist Fiona Banner to produce a word landscape painting. The live painting would itself be an event. If Fiona were not able to do this perhaps instead we could have residents do their own versions and one could be chosen to go into the publication?

Publication

I am currently favouring this publication, The Rough Guide to Poker, as a blueprint for my publication: The Art U Need Guide to Northlands Park Estate. I like its size and shape and the structure of the content is also good.

Surreptitious Happenings

Expect things to happen surreptitiously in the area between now and March 2007.

Signs and Adverts

Expect to see notices attached to trees and lampposts,, Shrek style, in the near future.

Coats of Arms

I ploan to create a Coat of Arms for Northlands Park Estate which will be printed on to paper bags which will be handed out with a poster cretaed by local kids from their nature walks and a map. That's the plan. It will also feature in the publication. Any ideas please post your comments.

My Working Process

Local Legends, Urban Myths

If U know of any please post your comments

Nature Trails

Speaker's Corner

Container

The container will be my office and a point of focus for U the residents. There will be a letterbox in the door so U can post in any stories, photos, poems, pictures etc. These will be put up on one wall. Another wall will have a large dry wipe board on it to detail all the events. There will also be a map of the area up on anotherwall on which I would like people to map their mostregular routes. We should end up with a greta drawing which will go into the publication. I also plan to have an old fashioned typewriter in here so that U can come in and under the heading An Outdoor Revoluton write what you think could/should happen in these open spaces or write what you do do or what an outdoor revolution represents to you or make up a story on this theme. Some of these pieces will be published in the publication. All will be archived; perhaps loaded onto a website that U could continue to use and add to when the project is finished?

I will also want to recruit people to take part in the events, to know your ideas for a Coat Of Arms, to hearyour stories and urban legends about the area etc. I will have to make up Questions to pin up.

Do U have something U want to shout about> Sign here for the Speaker's Corner Event.
Are U mouthy and full of ambition? How about trying your luck as a Slam Poet? Sign up here.
Are U fabulous at flipping? Sign here for the Pancake Event.
Do U like painting? Or wouldn't mind having a mugshot done? Sign here for the StreetArt event.
Are U a memeber of a local band. Would U like to perform live?

Do U know something I don't? Do U know any local stories, myths, legends. Are U an angler? Has someone pulled a whopper out of the lake? Do you have any ideas about how we could rename the park?
etc etc

Art U Need Needs U

From Me To U

Getting from me to to U entails a two hour train journey from Norwich to London, a ten minute walk from Liverpool Street Station to Fenchurch Station, forty minutes on the train to Basildon and finally a bus journey to the Felmore Shops. The train journey from Norwich is very pretty - big skies, amazing clouds, fields and water. And containers. I'm crazy for containers. I saw a fabulous line up of them, all colours, just before Colchester or Manningtree with names on like Skaersk and lovely logos but didn't have my camera ready. The walk in London is also gorgeous. A ten minute wander througgh the heart of The City of London, along streets with fabulous names such as Billiter Street and Camomile Street. Last time I made the journey I came out of Fenchurch Street and asked a lady how to get to Liverpool Street Station and she siad "just head for The Gherkin". As I was walking along this time, without use of an A-Z, I was remembering my route from last time and looking at street signs rather than buildings, I suddenly thought where's the Gherkin then? I looked across to my right and there it was, in all its glory, right across the road. It's quite a thing when you're standing right next to it. Weirdly, it seems to me, there is a bog standard Newsagents in its ground floor. Anyway, ten minute wander down streets with fabulous names like Billiter Street and Camomile Street - there's the Lloyds building, the Gherkin, all the old stuff, ancient pubs, narrow streets and tall tall buildings leading your eyes up to those Sex and The City style blue skies. Such a contrast to all the low-rise buildings in Basildon. But we're not there yet. Forty minutes on the train to Shoeburyness. I get off at Basildon, walk out of the station and around the corner, across the road into the parade of shops and bus stands. I've discovered that the bus I need is a number 5 to Pitsea Tesco's. It currently stops at Stand S. I was about seven minutes late in the end for the 3pm meeting, despite having left home at 11am.
The purpose of this particular journey was for my first meeting since being appointed a sthe artist for the Northlands Park Estate site of the Art U Need project. Itwas slightly less terrifying than the interview with only six faces around the table as opposed to the ten or twelve atthe interview, and by now I knew mostof them. Joanna Baxendale and Hannah Thomas from Commissions East, Tony Guyon from Interlock, Doreen Bolton from Interlock and the Residents Association, Paul Nagle from Basildon District Arts Association and Mike Harrington from Start - the retiring Chairman. He also runs the Basildon Art Group and is a trustee of the Basildon Arts Trust. Paul apparently lives opposite Northlands Park and has promised to show me around. I intend to come over a weekend 14/15 October with Chris , Marie-Claire and Darren of Arcadia, the collective who are going to be assisting on the project in various guises. From my point of view the meeting went well. No-one leapt up in horror atany of my suggestions. It was agreed I have a few too many ideas currently on the boil, but I will be honing it all down to a definable and manageable amount of things as I go along. I plan to spend the next few months running up to the Christmas Fayre planning so that by the time of teh fayre I should have a timetable of events to promote. The only visible thing thatmay happen before then is the installation of the container. It was agreed that the Northlands Park car park might be a good spot.