One of the projects that has followed on from the Sound Spaces project in Liverpool has been to undertake a similar creative project, focussed on a particular site, in collaboration with arts and humanities academics, creative businesses, and those associated with this site. In this case: the 14th Century Church of St. Andrew in Heckington, Lincolnshire and the team of parishioners pursuing Heritage Lottery Funding for its preservation and development; my previous collaborators John Bowers, Tim Shaw and Magnus Williamson; and the Liverpool-based creative business Draw & Code and architectural illustrator Allan T. Adams.
The church has exemplary medieval gothic architecture, a rich history, and particular, if not unique, spatial qualities. It is also a place of particular significance to the parishioners we worked with, and somewhere they want to encourage others to engage with and use as a cultural and social resource.
Across two weeks of intensive creative work on-site in Heckington, separated by three months of planning and development in between, my collaborators and I developed several artworks that engage visitors with the site, its history, and the community around it. This culminated in a public exhibition and performance on 29 April, with several artworks remaining in place for the coming few months.
We have only just begun documenting the work:
- A collection of photographs on Flickr;
- A short video explaining ‘Speculative Rood’ one of the artworks.
The exhibition has also attracted some local press attention.