Project Five: Human Nature: Siobhan Davies Dance Art, Horticulture & Choreography across the growing season
London clay samples collected across Southwark.
Unless otherwise stated all work © Kim Norton.
Image © Gorm Ashurst
Explore Siobhan Davies Dance - Human Nature: Art, Horticulture & Choreography Across The Growing Season
"We are as much natural material as plants are and it is in our nature to create with all the materials we can reach." Siobhan Davies, Artistic Director
"Curated by Vicky Long (arts producer) and Alison Proctor (producer, Siobhan Davies Dance), makers have been invited to create work in synchronicity with the seasons. Working with live material, the collaborators draw attention to changes in nature which can be easily missed, or which we often only experience at a distance." Siobhan Davies exhibition text
Lines, Levels, Layers
Soil: The upper layer of earth in which plants grow, a black or dark brown material typically consisting of a mixture of organic remains, clay, and rock particles. Oxford English dictionary
With Special Thanks to
Alison Proctor
Vicky Long
Clare Twomey
Lines, Levels, Layers: An exploration into Soil and clay soil.
The three installations positioned throughout the building leads the visitor through the series of processes involved from clay / soil collection across the borough of Southwark to the final large-scale wall hung work. London has been built on clay soil and London brick has been made from the very material the city stands upon. Soil is the foundation for gardeners and gardening without that plants would not be able to survive, grow and thrive.
The secondary strand is the similarities between the formal and the informal layout of London's allotments and 16th-17th century formal and kitchen gardens. London's garden spaces and particularly allotment spaces have provided local communities, families, and individuals with a place to grow food and plants but in some cases have also provided an alternative garden space to retreat to. The grid system and the formality that kitchen gardens adhere to is echoed in the final work which was initially triggered by the first visit to Siobhan Davies Dance. Several elements running throughout the building were initially noticed. The original brickwork and the staircase that feels very much like the core enabling movement throughout the space.
