I have been watching, as if from afar, how my various environments have changed over the past few months(nearly 6 months-eek!) since I have relocated from London to the North West.
Living very near the city centre, my partner says that Manchester has all of the great aspects of London, with none of the bad aspects (ie.long commuting, general griminess, a grumpier more aggressive manner…etc). I can see this point, and it certainly feels as if I can make the most of the city and all the culture it has to offer. When a PV comes up, and I am quibbling whether to spend my budget on the train fare, it is usually for an event outwith the city (Leeds, Brum or Wakefield). But I guess all of this is just geography, and a growing disdain for the extortionate cost of rail fare.
It is also interesting in the workplace – I have noticed how working in a smaller, more rural area (Blackburn University Centre) the considerable longevity that staff seem to have in one organisation. In London, it was general practice to move around more often, but here sustained work, although not in the same role, but same organisation seems much more commonplace. Bonds seem tighter, and dare I say it more emotional.
The residency at Manchester School of Art has also offered me an interesting perspective, as not a student or lecturer in a HE institution but an artist/ user of its excellent resources (also watching as 3rd years begin to panic as time is drawing to a close..). The time at MMU has allowed me to develop several projects at once – 3 books, various range of prints, one animation and another one on the go, and last some sculptural cast objects after Easter. We are also working towards a group show which will be held in the Holden Gallery in August.
I attended a training session today, where the leader of the group quoted a researcher, Silvia Gherardi, with this statement, ‘Ideas travel globally, but they take root locally’. It is satisfying that it rhymes, but it also make me think about my own needs to develop my practice on a more ‘local’ level. And also in a more ‘local’ level to make me feel more supported and more able due to more time and less pressing financial requirements.
