Art Commissioned Outside of the Arts Sector

River Droplet Installation on Closing Night: CREDIT: Jayne Jackson Photography

Public artwork is usually commissioned and exhibited in non-arts spaces; town centre spaces, estate gardens, hospitals, commercial buildings, new housing estates, etc. This differs from art exhibited in galleries which may already exist and it is meant to be site-specific.

I have applied for many temporary public art commissions within the arts sector, commissions with briefs written by arts organisations. These commissions have often been designed to frame a piece of public space which will then be activated with other events such as temporary sculpture, performances and music. The ‘River Droplet’ commission I completed in September 2024 was in collaboration with Lorna Rees/Gobbledegook Theatre and was commissioned by Dorset National Landscape.

There have been some interesting advantages in being commissioned by a landscape organisation rather than a body within the arts sector.

‘River Droplet’ was the pilot for Dorset National Landscape’s ‘Sitting Spaces’. The aim of ‘Sitting Spaces’ is to connect people to the local geology of a place and the landscape along with historic food production in that landscape and increase dwell time. We chose to focus on the River Frome which is a chalk stream running through Dorset and provides the perfect conditions for diverted water to be used to grow watercress. Dorset is one of the world’s largest producers of watercress. We suspended 600 bottles of water from the River Frome in a droplet formation from a temporary scaffold. The work was installed in Frampton, Dorset, on their Millenium Green and the structure became a room which hosted a range of events and music.

The project was not dissimilar in form to ‘Art Vaults’ shown in Canute’s Palace, Southampton in 2018, commissioned by A Space Arts. This involved hanging 1,000 bottles of water from the Solent which related to the fact that the Old Town in Southampton is reclaimed land, once flooded by the sea. The space then hosted a month of events including live bands and temporary sculpture and performance, many related to water or seafaring.

ArtVaults 2018, rope installation and workshop under the exhibit. CREDIT: Amanda Moore

The main comparison between the Dorset project and the Southampton project was the key outcomes. Dorset National Landscape were aiming to highlight ‘specialness’ of the area and to attract new visitors to the Food Trail, a cycle route which runs past the location. The project was not designed specifically for arts visitors, those who are already interested in the arts. It was installed in an unexpected location, not close to an arts organisation, and did not have an invitee mailing list from an arts organisation. Although this meant a smaller attendance, partly due to the rural location, the advantage here was that the project attracted an audience organically over the month, from local people within the village, to cycle trail riders and those hearing about it by word of mouth. The positive feedback about the project was hard-earned and developed over time, often coming from those who were initially sceptical about art. The audience later included those with a special interest in the history of the river including farmers and geologists. That's not to say that art organisations aren't aiming to attract a diverse audience.

The installation itself was extremely site-specific as the water displayed above peoples’ heads was taken from the adjacent river which is sunken down in the site, thereby showcasing it. The chalky river sediment could be seen in the bottles. The events and music put together by Gobbledegook were also incredibly site-specific and stepped outside of the art world into the world of scientists and geologists. Songs were written which could be played via QR codes in the space. The first of these was a folk song about watercress production in the chalky stream. Later, additional versions were produced which sampled the voices of local watercress growers, local residents and recordings of the river. People smiled when they heard a recording of their voice worked into the tracks when they were played via mini-rig speakers. Lorna had recorded people talking about tasting watercress and had interviewed specialists including the director of a local watercress company.

People tasting watercress and being recorded inside 'River Droplet'. CREDIT: Jayne Jackson Photography

Every Tuesday night we hosted ‘Glow-ming’ events which celebrated sunset and highlighted how much shorter the day became throughout the month. These events included a talk by geologist Dr Anjana Khatwa one evening, storyteller Martin Maudsley another and expert nutritionist Dr Sumanto Halder on another. The attendees all talked about a very specific aspect of the location which gave more variation to the project outside of the arts, but did rely on the visual spectacle of the chandelier of water droplets in the background to elevate the talks somewhat.

Talk with Dr Sumanto Halder. CREDIT: Amanda Moore

Bookmark hand-outs I created relating to different aspects of the installation during the month, commemorating the different talks.

The closing event included new songs developed through the month being performed and also a fire juggling act which lit up the droplets of water with a golden glow. The performer even sourced a white outfit to represent the chalk. Throughout the events, Lorna had produced costumes including overalls for us to wear with elements about the work and local geology embroidered onto them and a chalk head piece for her to wear one evening. People became more and more engaged and were encouraged to sing or to light candles in the space. The project aimed more and more to deepen people's understanding of the location rather than become of showcase of artist's work.

Fire juggling on closing night. CREDIT: Jayne Jackson Photography

Another interesting aspect of all of this was that the installation became a project which evolved over the course of the month. More and more audio recordings taken were worked into the songs written for the installation. Artworks were made in the space including photographs of it lit in different ways. Events had been partly programmed at the start but also developed and changed in response to what had worked well. Even times shifted for Glow-mings due to changing sunsets and a celebration of the Harvest Moon was included with costumes and props when we realised that it was occurring whilst the installation was open.

The legacy of the project is that more Sitting Spaces may be commissioned and ‘River Droplet’ is well documented and will be included in the village archives. Deeper legacy includes greater appreciation of the local landscape by residents and visitors and memories of the spectacles seen and songs played. We jotted down reactions and comments by visitors throughout the month which form part of the documentation of the project.

Working on a commission with a landscape organisation over an arts organisation meant attracting a wider audience than an arts audience and improving perceptions about the worth of art and what it is for. The project also included collaborators outside of the art world who in turn brought their own wider audience. The project also had the freedom to develop over time and respond changes in the site and audience feedback, it treated the audience as participants over an audience being performed to.

Dorset National Landscape attended all events as hosts, providing a welcome to visitors and tying the project back to its purpose. CREDIT: Jayne Jackson Photography