Collaborative & Collective Works: In the Garden

The Garden Museum, London: Unless otherwise stated all work © Kim Norton.

In the garden with Entelechy Arts and Siobhan Davies at the Garden Museum

This opportunity to work and collaborate with Entelechy arts was linked with the Human Nature season at Siobhan Davies dance in 2014

Entelechy run from the Albany Theatre in Deptford South London where they provide a programme of weekly workshops such as Ambient Jam working with people of varying levels of disability the elderly and the local community. 

'Entelechy Arts is a participatory arts company based in south east London. Entelechy works with people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds to produce high quality theatre, music, dance and video events and performances.' 

The final outcome was to help create a multi sensory movement based performance piece within the walled garden at the Garden Museum in Lambeth. 

The ideas underpinning the performance were directly linked to my exhibition Lines, Levels, Layers showing at Siobhan Davies. Thinking about London clay and clay soils, ideas around being rooted within a place or space and being aware of the subtle nuances of the environment. 

I initially worked with Rebecca Swift to begin discussions around the possibilities of the final performance and together we talked about phenomenology. 

The sounds surrounding the building the textures such as the paving the grassed areas the materials used wooden benches, stone tombs, glass greenhouses along with the various plants and trees. 

We considered the physical journey that would be made throughout the building such as the entrance into the museum. The different scents and the amalgamation of sounds along the way from the heavy traffic thundering by the other side of the walls, airplanes flying above to the scent of the roses in full bloom. To the cool shade cast by the coverage from the trees. 

Most importantly everyone involved knew that this wasn't about creating a carefully choreographed performance the preliminary work was about creating an essence or a mood and the rest was left to unfold naturally during the afternoon. 

The performance took place at the garden museum on Sunday 6th July 2014 

With special thanks to
Rebecca Swift
Entelechy arts
Alison Proctor
The Garden Museum, Lambeth. 

ALL Photography taken by Gorm Ashurst throughout the performance.