There are currently two exhibitions open at Dartington Space in the new Space Gallery programme by art.earth. Nessie Reid’s The Milking Parlour and Exchange by Chris Drury and Kay Syrad. Both projects were produced by Cape Farewell are open during office and some evenings and weekends at Dartington Space (TQ9 6EL). Admission is free.
Exchange
Bury one hundred sheets of thick artist’s paper in the soil for 10 months, dig up a cubit of plant-rich turf and monoprint a selection of sixty plants onto this mineral-encrusted paper. Use these images as the foundation of the relationship of soil to plant to food and back to soil again as a metaphor for a sustainable way of farming.
The artist Chris Drury and writer Kay Syrad were commissioned by Cape Farewell to investigate sustainable ways of farming on three farms in Sydling St. Nicholas and Godmanston, West Dorset. The resulting exhibition includes photo-text works, map-works and plant soil prints, together with a large limited edition book featuring the mineral/plant prints and Kay Syrad’s poetry and prose based on close observation of the daily work and values of the farmers.
More information about Exchange
The Milking Parlour
For four nights and five days Artist Nessie Reid lived 24/7 with two pure-bred Guernsey cows in a temporary ‘Milking Parlour’ in Bristol city’s busy harbourside. Free and open to all, the installation explored the current state of farming and its impact on the environment as well as our wider human relationship to the food we eat and the farmers who produce it. Industrial agriculture is one of the largest contributors to climate change, biodiversity loss and soil degradation so like never before have we needed to scrutinise the systems that produce our food, and more specifically our milk: a substance many of us drink on a daily basis. This exhibition is a culmination of some of the debates which happened at The Milking Parlour each day, which brought together dairy farmers, vegans, food producers, academics and more. The project is an on-going investigation exploring how we feed ourselves, and our burgeoning population, without it costing the earth, whilst also considering if you can love something and still eat it.
More information about The Milking Parlour