New works for 2014

Coleridge Way February 2014
 'and the rain came hammering down'

We are still early in 2014 and The Coleridge Way works are getting underway once more. Firstly Christopher Jelley will be working on the QR code poetry project with three new first schools -  Timberscombe & Crowcombe, Stogumber and Stogursey. The pupils will be out in March experiencing the Coleridge way and writing poetry influenced by their environment just as Wordsworth and Coleridge did 200 years ago. These will be turned into QR codes (square barcodes) and then laser etched onto slate to be installed along the Coleridge Way. This continues the work started in phase one last year by Christopher, with the fruits of the 2013 poetry excursions now being visible along certain sections of the trail. The future work to take place in March, will hopefully complete the picture.

So if you see a QR code, laser etched onto stone on one of the finger posts along the trail, scan it with your smart phone and you will reveal the poetry written by a local child who was influenced by the Somerset landscape.

New poetry pieces are to be installed ready for early summer 2014.

On The Coleridge Way, 'Holloway Track' above Monksilver.
During the great floods of 2014!

More Story Boxes.

After last year's great success, the story boxes will be revisited again this year. The concept is very simple -  find a box read the story so far, add a little text (or drawing) but no more, and then leave for the next walker. Here are some SoundCloud clips of last year's multi authored tales, each audio was written by at least five different authors but they flow together as one.

The locations of the new story boxes are yet to be decided, but we will keep you posted on all developments, though placements will be from June until September this year so keep your eyes peeled.

There are often details about this work on the Storywalks twitter feed including images of the tales so you can follow digitally if you are unable to get out onto the trail.

On the trail of the Coleridge Way
where water falls in to chocolate streams.

The final piece of Coleridge Way magic comes in the guise of the Fly Catcher Project which has been talked about in previous posts. Coleridge used to call his notebooks and journals Fly Catchers as he felt his ideas were like little flies that seemed to flit away if he did not catch them down immediately. For the Fly Catcher Project Christopher Jelley has worked with the British Library to capture extracts from Coleridge's journals which were penned during his time at Nether Stowey. Christopher has geo-located these into environments which relate to the journal extracts and then made them visible only in location, forcing users to travel to view, and so experience the very places which ignited Romantic poetry.

This exciting project is now complete and below are the web links which enable you to open an innovative web-app in your mobile browser, as the files are location sensitive you will then have to travel to the three locations to view, but don't forget to open the links first.

The first is on the castle mound at Nether Stowey and includes an interesting poem written by William Wordsworth for Coleridge's son Hartley, but actually penned by Coleridge himself. The elements reveal as you circle the mound with the final piece on the summit.

http://coleridge.storywalks.info/STC-Stowey

The second at Watchet West Quay, to reveal  after download, walk along the west harbour wall to reveal each element in turn. These are extracts of four pages from the infamous 'Gutch Book'.

http://coleridge.storywalks.info/STC-Watchet

The third is Kubla Khan, geo-located at Porlock Weir, travel over the metal bridge to reveal the first segment. This version of the poem varies from the first publication and these slight differences are noted at the end.

http://coleridge.storywalks.info/STC-Porlock

Just to clarify, you will need to open the URL above before you travel to the locations as there is very little mobile reception in West Somerset. The award winning web-app will initially cache the files on first click, so amazingly they will work without any data or mobile connection at all once opened.

Each file has instructions, directions and text support embedded.

I know it's wet and windy out now, some will enjoy venturing out in these elements but when the weather is warmer do go and see the work in the landscape that inspired it.

Story boxes, films and the Coleridge Way

All the story boxes are out in the field now and I wanted to create a film which evoked the mood of reading and writing, of discovering and then entering into a tale. The opening shots are filmed at Coleridge Cottage Nether Stowey, the weather was glorious and I had the garden to myself. So I set out all the boxes in the Arbor and started some filming, but no sooner did I have the camera out than I had people looking and opening the boxes (which is what they are about).

Ken Luxon Story Teller
reading Taffy Thomas' Tale

A few conversations later, and I picked up the camera again, just to put it back down and to talk some more about the authors. One couple who had enjoyed the house and ready to move on asked me briefly about the boxes. 

'They are story boxes' I proudly said.

'Oh she replied, my husband Ken is a story teller.'

Well perhaps before you leave you might like to read this one which is started by Taffy Thomas?'

'What, thee Taffy Thomas?' they said in unison.

'Yes, Mr Story Teller Laureate himself.'

'Oh well I can't leave without reading Taffy's tale.' (Pictured Ken Luxon and his Wife)

The other major author is Jackie Morris, and her tale is magical, which also includes an illustration of a fox. (I have included paints in some of the boxes but not this one as I want it to stay really nice!) It was last seen at Coleridge Cottage in the clutches of a woman who was so attached she couldn't put it down to let the next walker write their piece, (she might still be there!)

Caroline Taylor (Assistant house manager of Coleridge Cottage NT) has started another, and of course I have done one too. The words in the film are mine and from the 'Watery Lane' story box, this place seemed just right for a Goblin Market style poem, or at least the start of one.

So now they are out, all in the wild, with tales to be guided and penned by wandering souls, some will stumble upon them, others hunted out. Some will be visited again and again, others more sparingly, but in September they are to be exhibited firstly at Porlock Arts Festival then in Dulverton for Christopher Jelley's Somerset Art Week, and finally at Coleridge Cottage itself in the garden room if all goes to plan.

So hunt them out, read, write, enjoy and let me know how you get on, and if you twitter use #storywalks, and here is a map to story box locations so you can plan your trip.

Calling all Romantics!

Ignite Somerset along with ARTlife had invited Somerset artist's working on projects associated with the Romantic poets to talk in front of a green screen at the Engine Room Bridgwater. The premise was simple, Richard Thomlinson (of Ignite Somerset pictured above with Lynn Mowat) had prepped the Engine Rooms studio with a floor to ceiling green screen, camera, microphone, lights etc and artist's were asked to book a slot and then talk about their projects straight to camera.

Amongst other artists attending were Alice Crane, pictured above amidst filming, she was talking and sewing at the same time, a task which was harder than expected - even after years of practice. Ralph Hoyte (geolocated sound-scapes, Satsymph - pictured below) and Frances Harrison (storyteller and visual artist also below) have major projects in respect to the Coleridge Way. In many ways Frances, Ralph and myself are the three corners of the current Coleridge Way projects and the meeting was for me an essential piece of networking. Touching base and choreographing (in the loosest sense) how our works fit together in a wider scheme.

Christopher Jelley, Frances Harrison, Ralph Hoyte
The Colridgeons!

At lunch time Richard screened three short films to the Artists present, one about each of The Colridgeons (I know, there is no such word) which we had made with Richard in the last few months. I always feel very self conscious about this kind of thing even in good company, but there was nothing to worry about, and it was brilliant to catch up with others, many of which are working in parallel towards the ever present yearly event of Somerset Art Week.

The Engine Room is a stunning facility and in this age of media where we are surrounded by screens at every turn, it makes the essential bridge between the artist and the technology, something which always seems to be shifting, never solid and simple like a canvas or a book. I have always tried to embrace the new but there is a point where you try to take stock and ask simple fundamental questions like, does this effort actually add to my creative practice, is it worth the hassle, toil and energy? What is the life span, who am I connecting to, will it be gone in a moment like twitter, or around for decades? and am I happy with that, is there another way?

Gordon Field

These are impossible questions to answer, and only in hindsight will we know truly the longevity of energies spent and where possible economies were to be had. In the mean time we have to embrace every opportunity on offer, give a little of our time and enjoy the simple things like chatting over coffee, and connecting to others who have climbed a different tree of craft to your own. Build connections, collaborations, try and be at the centre, and catch those opportunities right now whilst the camera's are running.

These works will be posted through the Ignite Somerset site.

Word Harvesting along the Coleridge Way

Mrs Mash with her harvested words from the children,
but written on the wooden board as the paper got so soggy in the rain.

I've been desperate to write about this day just before Easter, a day whose weather was so caustic that it felt endless, and all the stranger now sitting here with the sun shining! So just to re cap, I have worked with three First Schools in West Somerset, all are in the curtilage of the Coleridge Way. Nether Stowey at the head, Porlock at the tail, and Dunster, well a little off mid way, but the concept was simple, take a group out into the landscape and write words which reflect that experience in much the same manner as Coleridge and Wordsworth.

Watching the Exmoor foal disappear into the woods at the Jubilee Hut.

In some ways, the extreme weather, (and yes it was mad for all three separate days and schools!) was just the ticket, they needed something to write about and Cold, Icy, Fresh, Tingly, Breezy, are all in the mix.

These images here are from Porlock First St Dubricus School, who braved the weather up Webbers Post (Beneath Dunkery Beacon) This path is great, and a regular destination for St Dubricus, but as I drove over that morning I thought it was surly going to be cancelled, the rain was deep, the hills shrouded in mist, puddles right across the road. But no, the head master Mr Blazey was adamant that it would all pan out fine, and then he added that this was the walk they did when the weather was too bad at Pinkery Pond up on the Moors! When it comes down to it, the school know the limitations of their pupils far better than I do which is rightly so, and I am so pleased that we could go, as the old adage goes, 'there's no such thing as bad weather, just poor clothing.'

We tried to keep the paper dry by writing inside bags, but it was no use.

So the van dropped off the first party who thought that there was not enough water in the air so did some puddle jumping, and proper splashing. With that out of their system we were straight into word harvesting, what do you hear, feel, smell, what can you taste on the rain? And the kids were even more prolific than the clouds, for they poured forth endless phrases for us to jot down, faster than we could write.

One of the sculptures along the Coleridge Way trail at Webbers Post

Well we did have paper to write on but that soon turned to pulp, but by chance the clip boards were wooden, and not wanting to halt the kids flow, we just started to write on them, which oddly enough got better in the wet rather than worse. It reminded me about the great space race of the 60's, (before my time I know) where the Americans spent a huge budget in developing a biro style pen which would work in zero gravity, but the Russians just used a pencil! Doesn't rain in space though! 

Wet!

So the day went well, the first session harvesting out in the wilds, the afternoon writing up and working on their phrases. Jenny had a good structure for this, building in metaphor and simile into the structure of their writing, taking the ordinary and making it more, building, improving.

A great session.

So many thanks Jenny (Mrs Mash) for leading all the sessions, and thank you to all three schools for letting us loose in the wilds of Exmoor with their precious pupils. The poetry is all complete and I am just spell checking and proof reading to make sure that it's perfect before I etch the poetry into slate for re installation along the Coleridge Way. But you'll have to read other blogs for those details as I think that's plenty for one blog.

Word Harvesting in the Wild

Yesterday Christopher braved ice and snow and stepped out in Nether Stowey, which is the beginning of The Coleridge Way, and it is a littleover due as tomorrow he is working with Nether Stowey school and shall be word harvesting along this stretch of the path.

Watery Lane, so called as a little way up it becomes a stream.

Chris has already worked with Dunster and Porlock creating some fabulous poetry over the last couple of weeks, but now it's Nether Stowey's turn, and being at the foot of the trail it really is a key community. This project in some ways has been quite simple, work with local schools along and around the Coleridge Way route, and create poetry inspired by landscape and place in a similar manner to Coleridge and Wordsworth. 

Walkers go left here and Horse's right,
Horse's actually travel along the stream bed
for a few hundred yards or so.

But this didn't feel enough for Christopher, so he added a twist.

'If I turned the poetry into QR codes and then re install them along the route, walkers and families could find them, scan and reveal the poetry created in situ. Plus the QR codes could be printed on materials sympathetic to the location, almost camouflaged.' said Christopher

So yesterday was a mix of jobs, firstly to check the route for tomorrows walk with Stowey school, any trees blocking the path? or dangerous obstacles (you never know!) But he was also scouting out finger posts and way markers to see if he could install QR codes on them. But what is a QR code I hear you ask? Well, this is one, and the words hidden in it were written by Dunster First school last week. Try and scan with your smart phone right off the screen, (scan apps are free and they don't need wifi or 3G to work).

In the original concept, going into schools seemed a simple and easy exercise, but as Chris figured out the practicalities of delivering this himself, he came to the glaring realisation that he was way short on the teaching skills required for the ages of pupils involved. So by a chance meeting, in stepped Jenny Mash, a Teacher, Photographer, Jeweller and Artist in her own right, she agreed to work with him, and structure the days appropriately, and now with two schools under their belts, they have a really nice cache of poetry already made up into QR codes ready for the final stage.

Nether Stowey Castle (remains of)
on the tor above the village.

So wish Christopher and Jenny well with Nether Stowey school tomorrow (or Mr Jelley and Mrs Mash as they are known to the school children!), they will be out braving the icy blasts and harvesting words appropriately, up Watery Lane, and perhaps even on the ruined castle tor above the village.

But we shall finish on these words written last week at Webbers Post just under Dunkery Beacon in wind, cold, fog, rain etc (they had it all!) with Porlock St Dubricius's School.

Dawdling coldly on the stony path,
the smell of the gorse bush,
pitter patter,
rain hush,
rain hush.

Story Boxes coming in Spring 2013

There are three artists currently working on the Rejuvenation of the coleridge way, and this summer will see the first of these works come to fruition. Christopher Jelley's storyboxes are a simple concept, and one in wide use in many places. The blue boxes (pictured) will be placed along the path of the Coleridge way this summer, find one, read the story so far, add a paragraph or drawing but no more and then leave for the next family.

Here is a little google map of where they are due to be located, all permissions will be received before boxes are placed. 'This is a really exciting project and one which all ages and abilities can get something from' said Chris. 

View Coleridge Way Story Boxes Christopher Jelley in a larger map

Each box is to be started by a different author, but he won't tell us which is which, so you'll have to guess.

Current locations are Coleridge Cottage (National trust), Porlock visitor centre (End of the Coleridge Way 36miles), Horner Tea Gardens, and Webbers Post (Beneath Dunkery Beacon)