Monday 23 April 2012

nowhwereness

stunning alan bank,


Today found me waking up with Helm crag and Silver Howe replacing my curtains, nestled beneath is the village of Grasmere and in it, Grasmere primary school.
Working with Manchester Camerata composer Andrew Smith we began to explore, with a group of year 5 children, what it means to be growing up in Grasmere. I was particularly interested in the children's relationship with a landscape that has inspired great artists for the past 400 years.
We took a sensory walk around their locality and paused to record memories, thoughts and ideas about the area: streams, churchyards, fells and forests led us to the national trust's newly acquired Alan Bank.
Alan Bank had suffered from a devastating fire in recent years and is being patched back together by the national trust. Visitors are filling walls with scribbled suggestions of how the building should develop and there seems to be some debate about whether it is ok to renovate or restore.
Its walls are a patchwork of time, etched with stains and scratches, scars and blisters. Many want the building to stay in this transitional state. It truly is an inspiring place as it stands. It is its 'nowhereness' that inspires; it doesn't belong in a fixed time, it is in motion.