The next ‘ritual for when the future comes’ and appearance of the Future Machine was planned for July 2020. To take place in Tilberthwaite Quarry, in collaboration with artist, writer and philosopher Wallace Heim after ongoing research and interviews with local people about the past, present and future of the quarry. Wallace remains in place, in her home near the River Leven in Cumbria. As I am in place on the River Lea in London. The advice is to not visit the Lake District, and Cumbria is the hardest hit region outside London. Of course we have not been able to work together in Tilberthwaite this Spring and Summer. The physical Future Machine is also in place in my studio, in Nottingham. So, we made the decision to conduct an artist residency ‘in the places where we are’, focusing on the rivers that are the common thread to both of our experiences of the lockdown.
This slow and careful process has enabled us to reflect on the themes we were exploring in Tilberthwaite Quarry – of extraction, the industrial past, tourism and the visceral experience of being in a dark cave in the quarry and walking into the light of the valley and overlooking fells. The journey of extraction from the quarry to the valley, down the river, to Lake Coniston, the river Crake, and out to sea, the movement of farming, slate and copper into the world beyond and the tourism, climbers, ramblers coming in.
These themes are evolving and changing, as we consider the river. As we, and our places appear to change.
