2. Work Process and Research Methods part 1

My practice is sited in Herefordshire. It is a kind of field work, engaged, holistic and emphatic.

My research is based on the Harrisons’ collaborative work process – responsive to the particularities of local soil, place and people. The Harrisons also provided a research method to understand the scope of the project. (See blog 06-12-18)

How big is here and how long is our Now - understood as an instant, but the instant may be 250 years long? How can what’s happening here be understood and engaged? What patterns are forming or reforming? And how can we, and those with us, add to the well-being of the now of this place? (A MANIFESTO FOR THE 21ST CENTURY)

Given that I work in a collaborative manner I needed ethical principles. I borrowed these from art critic Lucy Lippard. Lippard’s list of eight criteria for ‘an art governed by [a] place-ethic’ (1997:286) has been adapted to fit the context. The criteria are:

SPECIFIC enough to engage people in Herefordshire on the level of their own lived experiences of soils, to say something about their native soil and place as it is or could be.

COLLABORATIVE at least to the extent of seeking information, advice and feedback from these people.

GENEROUS and OPEN-ENDED enough to be accessible to a wide variety of participants and people from different classes and cultures, to different interpretations and tastes.

APPEALING enough either visually or emotionally to catch the eye and be memorable.

SIMPLE and FAMILIAR enough, at least on the surface not to confuse or repel potential viewer-participants.

LAYERED, COMPLEX and UNFAMILIAR enough to hold people’s attention once they’ve been attracted, to make them wonder, and to offer deeper experiences and references to those who hang in.

EVOCATIVE enough to make people recall related moments, places and emotions in their own lives.

PROVOCATIVE and CRITICAL, yet safe enough to make people think about soil and its issues.