Iced KUBE
An installation inspired by the journals of Mary Shelley presented by the artists groupWavyBlue ( Miriam Troth and Diane Roberts ) in collaboration with writer Christine Aziz.
I c e d K U B E and F u l l F l o w was the result of an experimental ArtLab residency spent at the invitation of KUBE.
F u l l F l o w 6pm Wednesday 28th October 2009
In conversation with: Christine Aziz and Diane Roberts. Issues arising from selected fragments of the Mary Shelley journals which provide disturbing insights into her turbulent life … ‘Percy's heart was kept in a book.…The idea for Frankenstein came at night…. like a dream……'
F u l l S t o p
As the song says.. 'We'll never get out of this world alive..'What will be your epitaph?
Background information.
ArtLab at KUBE is a new venture providing artists with time and space for collaborative experiments and artist led initiatives. At the heart of interpreting the work resulting from the residency will be issues arising from selected fragments of the Mary Shelley journals.
Ice. Water's full stop.
During one of her several miscarriages Percy placed Mary Shelley in a bath of ice thereby helping to stop the blood loss and possibly saving her life. In the first pages of ‘Frankenstein’ the ‘being’ appears in the icy wastes of the Arctic; giving birth to the character.
KUBE the College North Road Poole Dorset BH14 0LS Tel: 01202 205200
Before entering the building .
Outside the entrance to the KUBE gallery was a fugitive ice sculpture incorporating layers of material gathered from the Boscombe Shelley Manor site. This frozen section was like an archaeological core tracing a link to the past and the remote site. The trapped material included poppy seeds (the opium/laudenum possibly taken for a variety of reasons including pain relief) and seaweed narrative of Percy Shelley's death by drowning.
Use of ice as a means of visual representation... gathering seaweed drying and pressing it was a Victorian pastime undertaken by ladies. The lacy effect being reminiscent of the gloves without which they would never walk abroad.
On entering the gallery the visitor was surrounded by a soundscape of sinister echoing drips; heartfelt spoken whispers taken from the Mary Shelley journals; baby noises and prosaic domestic lists ...laundry, books etc..
From the ground floor looking up one could see a large screen suspended from the ceiling showing slides of ice work created in the previous months during workshops and discussions.
In addition, on the first floor: monitors showing a film of the site visit to the Shelley Theatre. The group, wearing hard hats and high vis jackets, appear like actors making their entrances and exits .
Finally 2 other monitors showing slides
