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| Preston Street Union | Anyone may come and go - launch event 15/02/20 | Photo: Tim King |
For the past year, we have been investigating the flow of people, artefacts and ideas that have enabled Exeter to prosper. Our new work centres on the construction of tillet wrappers used in the city’s historic wool trade.
It consists of a pearwood and redwood printing block, carved by master woodcarver Saena Ku from an original, collective drawing by Preston Street Union; 15 metres of red woollen serge; and a painted, printed and stiffened tillet wrapper. The show is accompanied by a digital print on paper, distributed free around Exeter and beyond.
Yet, for me, the most significant aspect of this project isn't the finished objects we've produced, but the processes that led to their creation. This exploration of trade, industry and labour has been enacted -- through a collective approach to thinking and making.
A significant chunk of our time was devoted to using our practical skills to interrogate research by local historian Michael A Patrick. His new findings challenge the accepted narrative about how tillet wrappers were produced and used.
This interrogation meant creating our own version of a printed tillet wrapper, and included the testing of a range of materials from fabrics to glues, primers and paints. It's important to note that, when working together, Preston Street Union don't make objects (beyond a few simple props) - until now. So we had to invent a collective making process. As individuals we might have adopted tried-and-tested methods - for example to mix colours or manage registration in printing. But as a group, we evolved a much more organic way of working.
As we started to make, we became itinerant, relying on borrowed studio space and carrying our materials, tools and work from place to place. Different hands and minds tackled tasks during different working sessions, and communication wasn't always faultless. Therefore each new working session began by looking at what had already happened and improvising from there. Those who turned up had to solve the problems that had arisen, not try to unpick what had already happened just because it hadn't been done 'the right way'. It was messy and time-consuming and often exhausting, but it had its own kind of logic. And ultimately, it produced results.
This interrogation meant creating our own version of a printed tillet wrapper, and included the testing of a range of materials from fabrics to glues, primers and paints. It's important to note that, when working together, Preston Street Union don't make objects (beyond a few simple props) - until now. So we had to invent a collective making process. As individuals we might have adopted tried-and-tested methods - for example to mix colours or manage registration in printing. But as a group, we evolved a much more organic way of working.
As we started to make, we became itinerant, relying on borrowed studio space and carrying our materials, tools and work from place to place. Different hands and minds tackled tasks during different working sessions, and communication wasn't always faultless. Therefore each new working session began by looking at what had already happened and improvising from there. Those who turned up had to solve the problems that had arisen, not try to unpick what had already happened just because it hadn't been done 'the right way'. It was messy and time-consuming and often exhausting, but it had its own kind of logic. And ultimately, it produced results.
So we have not done any of this perfectly, but we have done it. The process and the tensions within the making touched on themes such as improvisation versus technique, imagination versus research, resistance versus consensus...there's still so much to unpack. Ultimately it's been about the difficulties and rewards of collaboration and connection -- of doing work together. And, as I said in a previous blog entry, it all feels very appropriate to our subject matter -- and the times we find ourselves in.
Anyone may come and go, Making History galleries, RAMM, Queen Street, Exeter EX4 3RX
Saturday 15th February - Sunday 29th March 2020
Saturday 15th February - Sunday 29th March 2020
Preston Street Union would like to thank: Saena Ku (master woodcarver), Michael A Patrick (historian), Simon Ripley & Double Elephant Print Workshop, Lara Goodband and Tom Cadbury (RAMM curators), Kathy Norris (Exeter Phoenix), Topos Exeter, Exeter Custom House, Topsham Museum, Ebdon's Refreshments.
RAMM's contemporary art programme is supported by Arts Council England
RAMM's contemporary art programme is supported by Arts Council England
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