Show Us Your Tools

At the beginning of May, Open Jar Collective were in residence at Scottish Sculpture Workshop, investigating the history and philosophy of land based tools.  Here are some of the questions we’ve been asking:

What brings a tool to life?

What is a dead (end) tool?

What are the tools of your trade?

What isn’t a tool?

Are tools inert and useless without human agency?

Do tools represent human ‘control’ over nature?

How do tools disrupt or enhance our ability to inhabit our environment?

We’ll be back at SSW in September to continue the research.

EAF (Environmental Arts Festival Scotland) Research Trip, Part 2

The second trip we took down to the Gatehouse of Fleet region, the whole team were present. We split into two research teams and tried to fit in as many visits as we could with a two day time frame. We held interviews and recorded sounds and imagery, as well as the odd onsite sketch. Barstobrick and Littleton Farm, the Dairy Research Centre and Locharthur farm and visitor centre were on the cards.

It was a pleasure to get a behind-the-scenes insight into dairy farming, Most people that were interviewed were keen to show us where the cows eat, sleep, and are milked. It was encouraging to get the impression that animal welfare was fundamental and integral to the milking process, even at the non-organic sites.

It was also really interesting to hear farmers’ plans for the future – technological advancements, expansion/reduction, as well as plans for their own families and their legacy.

Part 3 to come…

EAF (Environmental Arts Festival Scotland) Research Trip, Part 1

Here’s some pictures from our visit back in June to Cream of Galloway, an organic dairy farm in the Gatehouse of Fleet area . At this stage in our research we wanted to visually record activities at the farm, record interviews and generally get a closer look at the dairy industry in this area.

We wanted to mainly get the farmer’s perspective on the industry and to encourage them to share both their passions and concerns.

Initially, we thought that we would focus on the processes involved in dairy farming (imagery of heavy machinery and food miles Vs. natural and local), but we soon discovered that the stories, hetitage and perspectives of people were much more engaging.

Part 2 to come…