S.H.E.D at Departure Lounge Festival 2019

Abstract

This was the premier outing for S.H.E.D which had been commissioned by In Good Company to be the outdoor venue for the Departure Lounge festival 2019. This installation provided the opportunity to explore how S.H.E.D could reconfigure to support multiple activities over the course of 3 days. Dr Jones was invited to commission works that would be appropriate to the research ambitions of S.H.E.D and the notion of how the projects presented are dealing with, or exploring through artistic practice ways to shed preconceptions about people and place. It was also a research-generation residency for the wider S.H.E.D team, to develop installation and design methods - test out the physical limits and possibilities for the installation. This project was funded by BigHouse2 and for Departure Lounge 2019, S.H.E.D was premiered as a Site-Specific installation, reconfigurable mobile arts space as an exploration of spatial and temporal limitations to time and It is concerned with the dialectic exchanges between S.H.E.D and the places in which its meaning is defined. Oppositions between space/place, place/non-place (Marc Auge), and immobility/movement, public/private to articulate the spatial and temporal limitations that delineate this site-specific practice and its experience. S.H.E.D positioned itself both as an artwork and outdoor venue for Departure Lounge, located in Debry Theatre car park. And, as a live research project through which Jones created an environment in which the spectator–object relationship was highlighted in relation to place, and ‘site-specificity’ (Kaye 2000: 3). The location was noted as a critical aspect for the research process as well as the activities that were delivered in S.H.E.D and the selected configurations. A triangulation for research methodology was established: place-space-design. In order to test this, three configurations were designed and works were commissioned to specially respond to the designs selected; and in turn to support the delivery of the activity / performance undertaken in S.H.E.D. To test this, the three designs created were: S.H.E.D performance space for Inspiration Exchange (Dr Alexander Kelly, Artistic Director Third Angel and Reader Performance from Leeds Beckett), S.H.E.D Closed space with pods as waiting areas (Jake Bowen, one to one performance Plea Bargain), S.H.E.D Cinema space (series of 11 artists film works co-curated with Transnational Dialogues). Changing the constructions and its purpose was part of the enquiry tested at Departure Lounge festival that saw over 800 visitors. As a result, the configuration created supported Jones in the delivery of a series of bespoke spaces, and activities and tested its design, conceptual and methodological underpinning. To this end, the project adopts the position that in this way, the artistic field itself can function as an ‘environment’ and the S.H.E.D offered a unique outdoor environment for the festival, whilst also supporting the transformation of the designs over the course of the festival. Every day S.H.E.D was encountered in a different configuration. Commissioned by Jones for S.H.E.D: Alexander Kelly, Jake Bowen, Phil Harris, UK; ;a place, of their own, UK/IR; Third Angel, UK; Kelly + Jones, Germany/UK; Francesca Steele, UK; Wellington Dias, Brazil; Marc Bosward, UK; Tom Estes, Spain; Zohu Bin, China. S.H.E.D Team: Sarah Webb, Mark Hawkhead, Simon Burrows, Victoria Barker, Ben Anderson. “The S.H.E.D became the perfect outdoor versatile venue, allowing us to present different works throughout the festival and handle the different weather conditions the festival always endures. From a shed, to a stage, to an outdoor cinema, it was a feature of the festival from 2019 and something we’ll always remember. To think that its legacy since that first premier has been cemented so spectacularly with tours across the region and providing work for artists, and space for artistic intervention. We are immensely proud to have played a pivotal role in that.” Ben Anderson, Creative Producer, In Good Company and Departure Lounge Festival.