The blind man's guide,
Meek and neglected thing, of no renown!
Soon will peep forth the primrose, ere it fades
Friends shall I have at dawn, blackbird and thrush
To rouse me, and a hundred warblers more!

from 'The Recluse' by William Wordsworth

Choreographed by Birds

Barefoot Blindfold took place on Friday the 18th May at 5am. on Loughborough University campus where artists Anne-Marie Culhane and Paul Conneally were joined by nine others.

From Anne-Marie 'slow walking' the group into the recently planted orchard at the top of her new Fruit Route at Loughborough University to being blindfold barefoot to breakfast and discussion in the Landscaping Our Society garden shed the piece has produced much to reflect on beyond the experience.

It was good also to hear from artist Marion Michell that she too joined in from afar - if you want to do it yourself please do and share back with Culhane & Conneally your experiences.

Here is a link to Marion's blog where you can find her thoughts on this and lots of other thoughts too!

http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/sing...

Culhane and Conneally will share back more fully elements of Barefoot Blindfold shortly but in the meantime here is Paul Conneally Barefoot Blindfold being chorographed by birdsong. The video was shot by movement artist Miriam Keye of Strandlooper.

Heres a bit more on Miriam who is a key element to the success of Barefoot Blindfold and many other of the Fruit Route works:

Miriam Keye

Miriam Keye is a movement artist who performs, choreographs and teaches internationally including the NottDance Festival (Nottm), Royal Opera House (London), Glastonbury Festival (Somerset), Trafalgar Square (London), Crookes Allotments (Sheffield), a disused abbatoir (Surrey), Canadian Fringe Festivals and Salamanca Market (Australia).

Projects include:
Silver Swimmers; a street arts piece that distills butoh, martial arts and meditation techniques to create hypnotic and mesmerizing imagery. www.strandlooper.org

Transglobal Duets with Anne Marie Culhane, Jo Salter and guest artists. Exhibited in Dis:locate 07 (Tokyo),a symposium examining the relationship between art, technology and locality. www.transglobalduets.myzen.co.uk

‘Peak Time at The Performance Café’; commissioned by Made in Leicester Festival and LCF this is a collaboration with Speakeasy Theatre Company with whom Miriam is associate artist.

Miriam teaches dance to professional dancers, as well as in community and educational settings. Specializing in Early Years and people with Special Needs she was dance lecturer for Loughborough College New Pathways programme. In 2005 she attended the International Study Week at Reggio Emilia, Italy, with Second Skin, Creative Partnerships Coventry. She is a resident dance artist with Bamboozle Theatre Company (Leics), a regular choreographer for the So…. Dancers and Dance Dangerous (Northampton). In December 2005 she was artist in residence at Earthdance Centre for Contact Improvisation, Massachusetts, USA

In The Blink of An Eye - By Jo Lawrence
National Media Museum

Our world is constantly in motion. This exhibition reveals our fascination with movement and our desire to capture it through photography, film, television and new media. Alongside material from the National Media Museum's Collection this exhibition will feature two new commissions by artists Anne-Marie Culhane & Bob Levene and Davide Quayola & Memo Akten.

In the Blink of an Eye is part of New Worlds which is a strand of imove, a Cultural Olympiad programme in Yorkshire. imove has been funded by Legacy Trust UK, creating a lasting impact from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games by funding ideas and local talent to inspire creativity across the UK. imove is also funded by Arts Council England

Train 595
Paul Conneally 2012
Appropriated Oasis Wet Foam and Pearl Headed Pins 

Train 595 is in from the Memory Foam series and was recovered by Paul Conneally and Maurice Maguire from a rubbish skip in a church graveyard.

Train 595 - some have already railed against the use of this train in presenting it as a new work of art or in fact presenting it at all. Conneally has been called "ghoulish" and others have opined that it's disrespectful.

Conneally says: "Its neither - it's oasis wet foam and pearl headed pins from a rubbish skip"

A nother worries: "What if the family of the dead person it was originally made for see it? Won't they be upset?"

The truth is these trains are, according to florists, a standard pattern, a popular shape to temporarily memorialise children and men that love trains.

Conneally says:

"It's not important which church yard it came from - it's the one in your head right now."

DAD
Paul Conneally 2012
Oasis Wet Foam Frame Sculpture

I am sorry for your loss.

Fond memories, from your friend

Our thoughts and prayers are with you.

We are thinking of you.

We are thinking of you during this difficult time.

With deepest sympathy,

My sincere sympathy,

Our warmest condolences,

Dearest (name of deceased) may you rest in peace,

Our hearts are filled with sorrow,

With heartfelt condolences,

Please accept my condolences,

You are in my thoughts.

We are deeply sorry to hear about the death of “name of deceased”.

Remember that we love and care about you.

With loving memories of “name of deceased”,

Sent with love and remembrance,

Our hearts go out to you in your time of sorrow.

“Name of Deceased” will remain in our hearts forever.

We pray the love of God enfolds you during your journey through grief.

Please accept our most heartfelt sympathies for your loss.

Our thoughts are with you and your family during this difficult time.

With love and hugs,

We will miss “name of deceased”. 

Remembering you and “name of deceased” in our minds and in our hearts.

With thoughts of peace and courage for you,

We send you thoughts of peace and courage.

May your heart and soul find peace and comfort.

Missed more than words can say, but in our hearts for ever.

No more tomorrows to share, but memories will always be there.

Peace, Prayers and Blessings,

DAD is an an OASIS Foam sculpture that is usually pinned with fresh flowers to make a sympathy arrangement.The frames are usually made to order or to set popular patterns from most florists or florists suppliers.

Conneally's own Dad is very much alive the florists and funeral card merchants and now Conneally deliver us our own memories through the memory foam of universal Dad, Mum, Uncle, Friend.

Pieces made or appropriated by Conneally for OASIS are part of the wider MEMORY FOAM ongoing series of works an investigation of dispersed media, an open cell structure to explore cultural memory, individual and community, through a process of flow, link and shift.

'Memory Foam' is an ongoing series of works which sees Conneally working both alone and in collaboration with other artists and communities to instigate and make works that explore cultural memory.

Conneally says: "Memory Foam is an investigation of dispersed media, an open cell structure exploring cultural memory, both individual and community, through a process of flow, link and shift"

Step Inside Love! at Artists Talking Exposing Contemporay Visual Artists' Practice

A knitting pattern for a leaf – from  "Knit one for Worcester" project

Help create the largest knitted tree ever!

Feel free to knit and send! All addition gratefully received! Perhaps you could theme them to reflect your museum/gallery!

Any colour, any size.

Send them to:

Sue Pope
Commandery Manager/Learning & Outreach Manager
Museums Worcestershire
The CommanderyWorcester
West Midlands

done with fighting she leaves her husband by text

paul conneally

Fruit Routes Wassail Ceremony - Loughborough University

To Wassail is to honour fruit trees and nature. The ceremony has many forms but its roots are pagan and essentially English. Here the Wassail is part of artist Anne-Marie Culhane's Fruit Routes work at Loughborough University with a newly planted orchard area being wassailed. The Wassail is performed by one of Ways of the Wyrd Border Morris who also performed music and modern Morris Dance including an Olympic Morris Dance.

The film was made by Paul Conneally entirely on an iPhone.

Fruit Routes is an artist led initiative that started in 2011 to develop the university grounds as an edible landscape anchored around fruit tree planting, increasing the foraging opportunities on campus and sharing knowledge with the university and wider community through events, participation and mapping. Fruit Routes aims to create a legacy of several hundred fruit trees on site which will bear fruit for years to come for people to harvest, share and enjoy.

Fruit Routes was conceived by Anne-Marie Culhane and is supported by the Sustainability Team at Loughborough University and is in partnership with the Landscaping Our Society Group.

Fruit Routes Artists Include: Miriam Keye, Paul Conneally, Jo Salter, David Blayze, Ways of the Wyrd Border Morris, Bob Levene, Stephen Watts, Gillian Whiteley

Fruit Routes sends out a big thanks to: the Landscaping Our Society (now called The Landscaping and Gardening Society) team, the tireless LU staff Karen, Mark and Amy and student volunteer Laura Senior.

Fruit Routes - Some Thoughts
Participants in the  Fruit Routes tree planting weekend across Loughborough University campus share some of their thoughts about Fruit Routes. The film was shot entirely on iPhone by Paul Conneally.

Fruit Routes is an artist led initiative that started in 2011 to develop the university grounds as an edible landscape anchored around fruit tree planting, increasing the foraging opportunities on campus and sharing knowledge with the university and wider community through events, participation and mapping. Fruit Routes aims to create a legacy of several hundred fruit trees on site which will bear fruit for years to come for people to harvest, share and enjoy.

Fruit Routes was conceived by Anne-Marie Culhane and is supported by the Sustainability Team at Loughborough University and is in partnership with the Landscaping Our Society Group. 

Fruit Routes Artists Include: Miriam Keye, Paul Conneally,  Jo Salter, David Blayze, Ways of the Wyrd Border Morris, Bob Levene, Stephen Watts, Gillian Whiteley

Fruit Routes sends out a big thanks to: the Landscaping Our Society (now called The Landscaping and Gardening Society) team,  the tireless LU staff Karen, Mark and Amy and student volunteer Laura Senior.

one hundred trees
how small this blister
on my  thumb

Paul Conneally
Fruit Routes Poet