AnnaMargaret Art

Looking back through my photos from our site visit to Saltaire in January 2023, I was struck by how many I have of the allotments site, and I remember the pull towards old domestic objects that had been used by the plot holders. I decided against using a growing medium for this project, but will revisit it for future work using slower-growing plants and still with ethical considerations. I'm now going with the pull towards using old, unwanted objects that can be re-purposed.  This sits well with many elements of the project for me: my own dislike of waste and unnecessary expense, a keen interest in how objects can be reused long after their expected use is over, the ethical and sustainable bent we are expected to explore within this project, and a desire to explore how these ideas will connect with the atmosphere and history of Saltaire. I've previously come across artists who embroider/stitch onto old/domestic/industrial/unexpected objects, creating unusual talking points.  Th

  As a lover of reading and writing, I had to dig deeper into the definition and meaning of 'habitat'. What does the dictionary say?   How do we interpret the word itself and similar or opposite words? What does it feel like? Dictionaries and scientific sources are in broad agreement about a basic definition: Merriam Webster says "the place or environment where a plant or animal naturally or normally grows", and National Geographic states "a habitat is a place where an organism makes its home.  A habitat meets all the environmental conditions an organism needs to survive." A straw poll amongst friends and work colleagues gave similar answers. We tend to think of habitat in quite narrow terms - where a plant or animal grows or lives - but we can think more widely than this if we understand the root of the word.  We understand that habitats can be sustaining or inimical to life and organisms, and that the behaviour of organisms, even beneficial ones, changes t

  Following the last post, I monitored my cress word to see how/if it grew, and how it changed during the week or so. As it was only on damp kitchen roll, it had a tendency to dry out quickly, so needed checking more frequently than if I'd grown in soil or compost. Day 8 By day 10, the cress was growing well (and I was remembering to water it!).  It grew unevenly, whether because of its position on my dining table, uneven spread of seeds, or quality of seeds, I'm not sure.   Day 10 Day 10 I usually grow cress in tub or plant pots, in some kind of soil medium, so growing on kitchen roll on a glass tray felt wrong in some way, like I was depriving the seeds of their 'normal' habitat or nutrients. Maybe this is how people or animals feel, when they're transplanted or have to make do with 'less' than they need?  Interesting idea to think about - I'm all for trying new growing ideas, but realise that plants/people/other organisms need much more than basic wat

Following my initial thinking about habitat words, I've begun to experiment with different ways of expressing/displaying/recording these words. I wanted quick results, so my first idea was to draw the word 'habitat' on some kitchen roll, wrap it around a scrap of thick vinyl wallpaper for stability, dampen it, and then sow some cress seeds along the line of my handwriting. I've taken photos of the first few days, and will monitor how/if the seeds grow, and whether there's mileage in the idea.  I'm not sure yet how this might translate into something a little more substantial for my project, or whether I might need to use a different 'growing' idea. It was incredibly fiddly to get the seeds to 'behave' and line up on the damp paper - as they became damp themselves they stuck together, to my fingers, and to the tools I was using.  If I take this idea further, I will look at less frustrating and more efficient ways of 'sowing' seeds! Day 1 D

  We had a site visit to Saltaire in January 2023, including a wander around the private allotment site, taking photographs in and around Salts Mill, and investigating the Old Washhouse Garden, to give context for the piece of work for this module. Letting the experience sink in afterwards, I thought about the definition of the word ‘habitat’, and related words and synonyms (one of my ‘things’ has always been around words). Playing with these words I realised that the ones that resonated deeply were ones like ‘home’, ‘safety’, ‘haven’, and so on.   I also looked at antonyms (opposites) just for balance, and again the words that resonated were the opposites of the words above, around the idea of being restricted, hemmed in, or feeling unsafe. I played with the idea of habitats as containers, literally and metaphorically, and created some different objects.   I chopped up an old, plastic milk carton and stitched it back together to make a ‘house’, plaited and corded different sorts of pl

Our current module focuses on the theme of Habitat, and we have been asked to produce a piece of work inspired by this to feature in the Saltaire Arts Trail in May 2023. To give us background and inspiration, we visited Saltaire in January 2023 to see Salts Mill, the private allotment site, and the Old Wash House Garden - the latter being the site for our art works.   I love how nature slowly encroaches onto, into, and through man-made structures, and the allotment, in particular, had plenty of evidence of this: moss and algae covers almost all wooden surfaces, metals are rusting, old bathtubs are full of life of all kinds, and plants overgrow them all. I like the fact that the old furniture has taken on a new lease of life in the allotment, and not just been thrown away once no longer needed in someone's home.  It feeds into my interest in re-using as much as possible for as long as possible. I was intrigued by how different elements became layered up with these objects.  The varn