Thinking into Doing

Dance, found poetry, spoken word and song, woven in to the landscape. Earth Day 2020 seems like the perfect day to share this film, created by Emmie Coxey.

Emmie was one of the artists on last September’s Into the Light of Things residency programme, and put this film together as a reflection of her experience. We love it! It’s a glimpse into the style of her work, and how she’ll be approaching the final piece for exhibition at the Wordsworth Trust (dates to be confirmed). Here’s what Emmie says about this:

“This is a short film I am presenting to give a sense of the experience, thoughts and ideas generated through the residency in the Duddon Valley. The footage taken was initially intended for my own record of exploration, which I could then come back to when creating the final work; not for creating a film. As a result it has been haphazardly recorded on a phone and details such as composition, dramaturgy and quality were not considered. Although it’s worth mentioning this, I also think the raw appearance of the footage reflects well the still tangled state of our ideas after musing on that thought-provoking week.”

“I directly recorded all the audio that is used in the film during the residency week. Most of these came from discussions, readings and quotes*. Thanks to Harriet Fraser for allowing me to use her voice. The singing is of myself and two of the other residency artists, Melissa and Hugo. One evening, huddled round the fire in the camping barn, we decided to learn the harmonies for ‘And Am I Born to Die?’ by Charles Wesley. Hugo being our brilliant teacher. Please enjoy ‘Thinking into Doing’ and I hope it gives you an insight into my thoughts leading up to creating the piece to be exhibited next year.”

*The spoken words in the film begin with a blackout poem created by Emmie during the residency, then include quotes from writing by Olafur Eliasson, on the subject of the role of artists (taken from ‘Why Art Has the Power to Change the World” ) and by Adam Nicholson, talking about Umwelt (from The Seabird’s Cry).

To find out more about Emmie’s response to the residency, you can read her earlier blog here. There’s also a short film featuring all the residents talking about their experience here.