Site specific installation, National Trust Mottisfont, Romsey, Hampshire (2013)
Commissioned by National Trust as part of A Place for Art
In 2013 we were artists in residence at Mottisfont National Trust – the third of six co-creative art residencies initiated through A Place for Art. This project formed part of Storyscape, a major National Trust initiative to build new visitor facilities and reinterpret Mottisfont for future visitors. Each residency involved working co-creatively with groups from the local community. Central to our project were our co-creative partners: Winchester School of Art students and graduates, and members of the Test Valley and Romsey U3A (University of the 3rd Age) group.
Mottisfont’s name comes from the spring (font) around which the local community would meet(moot). Throughout the summer we came together with the group for a series of ‘moots’. Our intention was to enable creative exploration to flourish within a supportive and imaginative group and to make art in response to the many layers, stories, vistas and illusions that seem to permeate the history, landscape and architecture of this place.
Raison d’être is the installation we created for the stable block at Mottisfont and the idea for it evolved in response to the many layers, stories, vistas and illusions that permeate the history, landscape and architecture of Mottisfont. The whole process of investigation and the different lines of enquiry that filled our time at Mottisfont eventually led us to the water source that generated the impulse to originally meet here – the font of Mottisfont. Raison d’être is both a response to these early origins of Mottisfont and its present day existence and ‘reason for being’.
The installation comprised of a mirrored chamber containing a diorama of a small river running through it. Viewed through a slot within the doorway, an infinitely meandering stream weaves a path through a landscape as far as the eye can see – beyond the physical boundaries of the building. An ambient woodland sound recording created by the composer and sonic artist Hywel Davies was also incorporated within the installation which was remixed to fade in and out on a 30 minute loop. We wanted the sound to alter how the installation was perceived and subtly blur fact with fiction.
Mirrors were chosen for their illusory quality and ability to suggest infinite space whilst at the same time acting as a barrier to what lay behind. We purposefully made the installation as beautiful and seductive as possible to draw viewers into its warm red entrance and magical reflecting interior. The installation ran throughout the winter months and offered an additional attraction for visitors to Mottisfont.
Visit our blog at Mottisfont: A Place for Art
