Edge 2013
Here is the exhibition Brief and write up taken from the website For Heathercombe wrote by Mel Bambury of High Heathercombe. Please do take a look at the website for full details of all that they do.
http://www.highheathercombecentre.org.uk/
also the grounds of Heathercombe and past events at;-
ARTIST BRIEF AND SUBMISSION 2013
The Heathercombe EDGE Sculpture Trail is an annual arts event sited in the beautiful Fairy Wood at
Heathercombe Woodlands, Manaton, Dartmoor.
The EDGE is run in partnership between the High Heathercombe Trust
and the Heathercombe Woodlands Trust.
WE ARE NOW INVITING INDIVIDUAL ARTISTS AND GROUPS TO SUBMIT PROPOSALS
FOR EDGE 2013.
THE THEME FOR THIS YEAR’S EDGE EXHIBITION IS 'ONE'
The roots of art have always been deeply embedded in exploring ways of seeing, and how we as a culture
describe what we see. The EDGE is about reconnecting ourselves to the living web of life that we are one
with. It is about looking again at the extraordinary beauty of the complex systems within which we exist, and
re-grounding ourselves deep in the rich and very old earth that is our home.
So what does ONE mean to us? How do we experience ourselves as individuals and as a culture at this time?
What are the things that many of us take for granted or don't hold up for question in those definitions of self
that regulate our actions, our relationships and our impact on the planet?
In December 1968 humanity had access to the first images of the Earth from space, the Earth as a whole.
'We are among the first in human history to have had this remarkable view. It came at the same time as the
development in science of a radical new understanding of how our world works. Looking at our planet as a
whole, Gaia theory proposes that the Earth functions as a self-regulating living system.
During the past forty years, those Earth photos, along with Gaia theory and environmental challenges have provoked the emergence of a new way of thinking about ourselves. No longer just citizens of this country or that, we are discovering a deeper collective identity.
A shift of consciousness is taking place, as we move into a larger landscape of what we are.'
(Macy and Johnstone - Active Hope)
It is this larger landscape of self and interconnection that this year's theme is inviting us to explore.
Over the past 18 months we have held numerous courses and events at the High Heathercombe Centre. What strikes me, as I look back over this time, is the humbling and joyful community growing around the centre. People come to Heathercombe in many ways, for courses, volunteering and group work. Many come back time and time again, to support the evolving vision, relationships and on-going work here, and often express that a deep sense of belonging and community is part of what brings them back. I believe that it makes us hopeful, creative and more courageous when we experience ourselves as belonging or contributing to something bigger. It extends our sense of self and that to which we belong, that larger landscape of what we are.
'When we perceive our deeper identity as an ecological self that includes not just us but also
all life on earth, then acting for the sake of our world doesn't seem like a sacrifice.
It seems a natural thing to do.' Arne Naess
Community has become an overused word in our media and has begun to ring hollow for a lot of people.
However it is a powerful, hopeful word when spoken from the heart, from a desire for change and to create
real resilience. 'We can think of community as having different levels. Each progressively widens our sense of what we belong to, what we receive from, and what we act for. These levels are: groups we feel at home in, the wider community around us, the global community of humanity and the Earth community of life…
The process of building community is self-reinforcing since not only does it contribute to the healing of our
world, but it also enhances the quality of our lives.' (Macy and Johnstone - Active Hope)
In our culture of bigger, and ever faster industrial growth economy, our lives have speeded up, and our time to reflect, observe and 're-member' ourselves gets lost in the demands of business and busyness.
In order to reframe this predominant and erroneous sense of isolation it is imperative that we claw back time in our hectic lives for reconnection, with ourselves, our families, our communities and with the whole living planet.
Having become distanced from that deep and simple connection with the nature of all life, many people are
beginning to perceive themselves as increasingly alienated, separate and afraid. In that paradigm of
separateness we do not hold ourselves accountable in the short-term time spans that the present economic
growth-at-any-cost model dictates.
As a culture, we do not feel ourselves to be accountable to the whole or to the future.
The birth of our planet is currently dated by scientists to about 4.54 billion years ago, and modern humans
(homo sapiens) to approximately 200,000 years ago. Our presence in the grand evolutionary picture is minute
by comparison, however our footprints on the planet we call home are not.
So how do we as a community, and as individuals, fall back in love with life? The whole of life.
How do we, as Paul Kingsnorth describes, become those who 'loved the land, in their hearts as well as their
heads.'
What experiences enable us to touch that deeper connection and wider sense of self? There are choices we
can make that create space and time for deeper connection, for finding ways of re-enchanting our daily lives,
and as artists and makers we can offer experiences to others that create new paths.
Thomas Moore says, 'enchantment offers us experiences that' swell the heart and stretch the limits of belief
and understanding. An enchanted world is one that speaks to the soul, to the mysterious depths of the heart
and imagination where we find value, love and union with the world around us.'
If we can shift our gaze to look through a more ecocentric lense, then we see ourselves as part of the whole,
within it and of it.
From that place of belonging we can re-enchant our journeys, our decisions and our futures.
We can create new stories that move us beyond the business-as-usual model, to a place where
our creativity and the real wealth of our imagination and intelligence can be focused in meaningful ways
towards a more holistic paradigm and future.
'In such a moment, writers, artists, poets and storytellers of all kinds have a critical role to play.
Creativity remains the most uncontrollable of human forces: without it, the project of civilisation is
inconceivable, yet no part of life remains so untamed and undomesticated. Words and images can
change minds, hearts, even the course of history. Their makers shape the stories people carry through
their lives, unearth old ones and breathe them back to life, add new twists, point to unexpected
endings. It is time to pick up the threads and make the stories new, as they must always be made new,
starting from where we are.' (From the Dark Mountain Manifesto)
This year's EDGE is an invitation. To reconnect and to explore the wider 'landscape of what we are' in
the context of ONE, the magnificent, mysterious, living, breathing whole.
Mel Bambury High Heathercombe 2013
For EDGE 2013
The EDGE Exhibition represents work from all parts of the community, with professional artists showing alongside work made by a range community groups, producing a rich and diverse creative experience for both participants and visitors.
During the Sculpture Exhibition the wider Heathercombe gardens and woodlands will be open to the public,
offering the opportunity to explore the beautiful Heathercombe ‘EDGE’ of moors and woodlands.
South Heathercombe tearooms will be open, offering refreshments throughout the event.
SEE THE PREVIOUS EXHIBITIONS PAGE ON THE WEBSITE
www.heathercombe.com
DATES
EDGE opens SATURDAY 7TH SEPTEMBER and closes SUNDAY 29TH SEPTEMBER 2013
http://www.highheathercombecentre.org.uk/docs-pdfs/EDGE-artists-brief-2013.pdf
