Description
Darkness ain’t that bad! At least I’m doing a job brings together work produced by artists in residence at Florence Arts Centre in Egremont, Cumbria. The residency was instigated by Doremifasolasido, and artist-run residency project that forges links between artists and arts organisations working in urban and rural settings.
Florence Arts Centre occupies the decommissioned Florence Mine, the last deep working iron ore mine in Europe until its closure in 2007. The deeply pigmented iron ore, or haematite,mined here has left a shimmering patina of red ochre upon thepithead buildings, equipment and tools that still populate the site. Still present, too, is the community of ex-miners and their families, who maintain the site and support its transformation into a centre for art and performance.
The work collected in this anthology evokes the oral histories and memorial narratives passed on by the community around Florence Mine, and the unique material qualities of the landscape and architecture of the site. Although working with varied media and approaches, the artists’ contributions share a sensitivity to ideas around surface, patina, burial, unearthing and transformation.
Featuring work by: Merlin Fulcher, Sarah Tew, Pippa Eason,Louis-Jack, Jackie Haynes, Lisa Risbec, David Lisser, Jacob Wolff,Freya Gabie, Stephanie Farmer, Esmeralda Valencia Lindström, Josh Wilson, Mark Essen, Jocelyn McGregor, Bess Martin and Lillian Wilkie