OFF THE BEATEN TRACK

Mangotsfield Folly, Bristol, 2022

Off The Beaten Track was a group exhibition at the Former Mangotsfield Station in Bristol as part of the Mangotsfield Folly project, the site is located on the Bath to Bristol cycle path and therefore we had a audience consisting of viewers who previously knew of the exhibition through our social media promotion as well as those who were using the path and happened upon the exhibition. The location had some remaining walls of the old station, there was also a new addition of the folly, these were used to house our work during the duration of the day as well as the use of the land within the remains, this location had an industrialised feel to it which created harmony between the space and my metalwork.

Within the exhibition we had a variety of different artist practices, from printworks and live painting to my sculptures, despite this they all cohered together to create a united exhibition which allowed the audience to discuss and question the practices and what our aims were. These audience interactions gave us an understanding of how our practices are observed by viewers and their thoughts surrounding our practices, as well as this we were given a better understanding of the site we were situated in from those who were experiencing the space as a new art hub as well as their experiences of it when it was a working station.

This exhibition allowed me to view my works in an outdoor setting, the nature juxtaposing with the metal used in my work gave me a new perspective of how it can be viewed in comparison to the white walled spaced of a gallery or studio space. The works used the structure of the space, in doorways, next to polls, oof the struts and on the bench in the middle of the folly, this allowed my work to react to the space and slot into its setting.