My conversation with Amanda Couch took place at the Museum of English Rural Life in Reading, where Amanda is co-curator and contributing artist for The Commons: Re-Enchanting the World, a collaborative artistic response to the many ways in which the commons – land, air and water – are a vital shared social resource.
I particularly wanted to catch up with Amanda because I was intrigued by the way in which she uses guts, entrails, offal and all things intestinal in her work – where did this interest come from and how does it manifest itself in her work? Her answer definitely surprised me and was not what I was expecting!
In this episode Amanda prepares me a picnic to sample some of her foraged food – an offer which I couldn’t resist – although things don’t quite go according to plan, and I attempt to persuade Amanda that I have wild carrot growing in my garden.
I especially liked the way in which Amanda considers her role as an artist not so much as a creator of a work as an initiator of a process. Amanda also pointed out to me (sadly during a moment when we were not recording) that she thinks this podcast forms part of my research practice, which I had never thought of, but she is right: it is my way of learning more about the artistic process.
The sound quality in this episode is not the best in places, as our outdoor conversation takes place against a backdrop – rather fittingly, in the context of Amanda’s concerns to re-engage with community and tradition – of families enjoying an afternoon out in a shared open space.
Many thanks to Amanda for a lovely visit.
You can listen to this episode here: https://soundcloud.com/robertgood_art/amanda-couch
Next week: Egidija Čiricaitė discusses artists books and her researches into relevance theory.
