A THOUSAND SHEEP

A Conversation with the Landscape

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Our relationship with the land, throughout human history, has been governed by two vital needs: finding food and defending ourselves. The response through farming and military defence has progressively reshaped the British landscape and its ecology. In 2010, I created an art residency at the River Bourne Community Farm, Salisbury, UK, and was awarded an Arts Council England Grant to develop a large installation made from sheep fleece dyed with natural madder plants."A Thousand Sheep" was an open invitation to the public to get involved in making a large piece of contemporary art from natural resources.

 

The process was to provide a trigger for conversation and reflection on our impact on the environment and shape of the landscape.Through a commitment to using traditional processes and materials, the piece challenged the limits of sustainable living in a contemporary context. The project has seen over 15000 visitors and around 3000 participants in educational workshops and craft-making days. I have witnessed changes in attitudes in people within the community involved; the public became part of the work which was created, one conversation after the other, over 3 years.

The project development was documented on a blog: https://athousandsheep.blogspot.com/2013/11/a-thousand-sheep-project-best-of.html

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Thirteen years on, I am revisiting the piece, as part of my investigation of Un-making. 

 

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