Moon View
A public art project by Stephen Turner - visit moon view website
What creatures come alive as the moon rises into the heavens and the tides are drawn up from neaps to springs?
This is just one question posed by artist Stephen Turner who explored the night-time environment of the ‘wilder’ parts of Gravesham, Medway and Swale over the 28 days of a lunar month from mid July to mid August 08.
Locations:
He used infra red photography, drawings and text to create a personal response to observations of the moon and the lives of different nocturnal creatures.
Material from these observances is presented through the blog, which was updated daily with notations on the experience of each night's activity.
Familiar places can seem like alien lands in complete darkness and I would like my work to communicate the thrill of exploring my passage through undiscovered country. I hope to find the extraordinary within the ordinary and excitement in the routine and commonplace that can sometimes be glimpsed though intensive looking.
A series of Moon View Celebrations accompanied the project in September 08. Haiku poems were composed and read, ‘moon food’ was consumed and projections of wildlife drawings by local artists were used to complement the light of the September moon. Celebrations of the moon are common to cultures around the world from South East Asia to Europe (where much lore surrounds the harvest moon for example). Chinese and Japanese customs of moon viewing or Tsukimi, date back to the first century AD.
Watch a short film that documents the Moon View Celebrations
Moon View Film loading
In addition to the live action aspect of the commission, Stephen Turner has produced ‘moon-light’ boxes to represent his journey as a sort of ‘book of hours’ that helps to reconnect people with nature and the importance of natural cycles. These are a key element of the three Moon View exhibitions across the region:
29 October - 5 November 08
Towncentric
18a St Georges Square
Gravesend, Kent DA11 0TB
Monday – Saturday 9am-5pm
Closed on Sunday
Opening reception/Meet the Artist on Saturday 1 November 11.30am-1pm
15 - 30 November 08
Castle Gallery
12a Woodhall Terrace
Queenborough, Kent ME11 5AH
Saturday – Sunday 11am-5pm
Closed Monday – Friday
Opening reception/Meet the Artist on Saturday 15 November 1-3pm
3 – 9 December 08
The Brook Theatre Gallery
Old Town Hall
Chatham, Kent ME4 4SE
Monday – Saturday 10am – 9pm
Closed on Sunday
Meet the Artist on Tuesday 9 December 5-7pm
The exhibitions also feature a selection of artwork created by Moon View workshop participants. Special thanks to all the local artists, writers and young people who have been part of the project through drawing workshops with Stephen Turner, sculpture workshops with artist Wendy Daws and Haiku poetry sessions with writer Katherine May.
About the Artist
Stephen Turner often spends long periods in odd, abandoned places, noting changes in the complex relationship between nature and the man-made, between the permanent and transient, chance and predictability.
Previous projects have explored these themes through both permanent and temporary work. For Grotta, a cairn of oyster shells was built on Whitstable beach and then washed back into the sea close to the oyster beds, in recognition of an ancient custom; for Time and Tide three thousand clay boats were ‘sailed’ and then gradually dissolved back into the estuary mud. Other works have used river mud and forest debris to slowly chart changes on canvas.
Many of these activities have been inspired by the particular environment of the Thames Gateway from Bow Creek on the Thames to the marsh islands of the Medway below Chatham and the Mauncell Seaforts east of the Nore.
There have been related shows for Turner Contemporary in Margate and Trinity Buoy Wharf in London and in 2007, work from the Seafort Project was shown in 'Theatrum Mundi; performance architecture', at the Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art in Sunderland.
Turner has been artist in residence in Kings Wood, for Stour Valley Arts, and in Rye for Coastal Currents. He won the Hunting Art Prize (Drawing) in 2003 and in 2006 was lead artist for Four Shores, a project along the paths and shorelines of the Isle of Sheppey. In 2007 his research project “Materia Prima” for University College Falmouth was part of their inaugural Artful Ecologies Conference and exhibition. He is currently working for Safla (Public Art Wales) on a commission for the St David’s2 development in Cardiff.