Helen had returned to the valley in 2021 to explore her adolescent experiences, growing up there in the 1970’s.
We wanted to explore themes of grief and personal narratives through visual and auditory elements of our combined individual practices.
The residency enabled us to bring and test out two installations together.
Vein: a rendering of a film, shown in black and white on 3 old television sets. The tv’s sat on gabion boxes attempting to contain coal.
The aim was to capture the essence of our individual stories and responses to universal themes of life and the enduring presence of industrialisation and colonisation of the place.
The soundtrack for the film was engineered by Jameson and Courtney Beckford, enhancing the immersive experience of cross-generational encounters with death and mourning.
Home: a sound installation of recordings of individual responses to the idea of home. (Countney Beckford)
It was really valuable to have the opportunity to test out this work together, physically putting together the installations and having conversations with each other and visitors to the space.
It enabled us to pause, think about and document the work at this particular stage, and plan next steps.
Thanks to (UWE students) Aphra Beart-Albrecht and Will Hilless for making the zine and helping to put the exhibition together.
Helen Acklam: https://www.helenacklam.com
Jameson White: https://www.jamesonwhite.co.uk
Courtney Beckford: https://www.watershed.co.uk/studio/residents/hi5ghost-courtney-beckford
