Solo exhibition and events Arnolfini,
Bristol 2015
 

“The museum of Lost Process does not have glass cases, interpretation panels or visitor surveys. Skills are not learnt,they are found. There is no history here,only tales-told,times-when,memories-of. Rough-ragged,lightly-rolled,exquisitely-hewn,these are the congealings of nature-culture,insect-mouthed, finger-and-thumbed. A process is lost to be found again. Hands and mouths move silently in the shadows of history. Listen for the bell. A crisp call to consciousness that places us back. Back where? Back to where we have not quite been”
-Ben Cranfield
 

Staged across the first floor galleries at Arnolfini, back to where we have not quite been, brought together sculpture, performance, song, and workshops to merge ideas from anthropology,science and psychoanalysis. The work and events sought to suggest a new folk tale and ways of communing as outcomes to a residency, Resilience Lab that took place in Bristol between April – October 2015.

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Over four days the galleries were punctuated by a series of performances and public events, telling new stories using old ways, ancient processes, engaging with tactile objects and surfaces, a dreaming workshop and the consumption of ‘the beginnings of culture’, available to visitors for communal drinking.

The exhibition and events also included collaborations with The Island Folk Choir, Gail Barker, Dr Ben Cranfield Director PhD in Humanities and cultural studies Birkbeck University, Sarah Deco,Group Analyst,Psychotherapist and Storyteller and Dr Julian Manley, Researcher at the Psychosoical Research Unit, University of Central Lancashire.

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Events and performances included:

Handed down and Handled
Thurs 26th Nov, opening night performance, with Gail Barker and the Island Folk Choir.The performance took place as a durational encounter throughout the evening,weaving together sounds and actions as a new folk tale.

Public dreaming
Fri 27th Nov, workshop that used sounds and objects to explore ways of forming a new collective ‘social imaginary’ around the themes of the show, followed by a discussion.

back to where we have not quite been
Sat 28th Nov, conference with contributions from Sarah Deco, Ben Cranfield and Gail Barker. This one day event brought together themes of resilience including a selection of talks and performances. The gathering presented an alternative format of knowledge exchange across fields of research. Contributors included storytellers, scientists and a group of elders.

Constructed by many mouths
Sun 29th Nov, performance, an afternoon of traditional and new folk song and sounds brought to the gallery by The Island Folk Choir.

Visual Matrix hosted by Dr Julian Manley Researcher at the Psychosocial Research Unit.
Sun 29th Nov, A final evaluation that unconventionally measured and analyzed the wider psychological impacts and associations of ‘resilience’. The session linked with the objects and occurrences within the show. Dr Julian Manley has a special interest in ‘Social Dreaming’ and related ways of encouraging dialogue through images and associations.

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More information on residency process here
Videos from exhibition and events can be found here