Sydenham Hill Wood SE26 - May 2005
The Art of Permanence and Change - An exhibition of contemporary art
Created in conjunction with the
London Wildlife Trust
Sydenham Hill Wood is contained within an old railway cutting that used to
be part of the line running from Peckham to Crystal Palace. The first day of the
Exhibition was bright , without being to sunny, providing the perfect lighting for
a walk in a beautiful haven within the quiet London suburb of Sydenham
Of all of the webpages that I have put together over the years this was the hardest
to compose, with a limited number of photo's, it proved hard to do both justice
to the Wood and justice to the exhibition. With more forethought I could have lead
the viewer through the Art of Permanence and Change, explained the concepts, provided
interviews with the organisers and artists, and highlighted individual exhibits.
As it is, I am left with to few images to present the exhibition as a whole, and
a feeling of frustration of a job half done. Never mind. This is my best effort
of a novel idea to present a comtemporary art exhibition out of doors in the beautiful
surroundings of Sydenham Hill Wood.
One could not help but be struck by the light coming through the leaf canopy, in
all it's variations of green. Then there were the trees themselves, such marvellous
shapes, silhouetted against the green.
Joanna Morse Palmer We arrived about 11:00 am just as the
Joanna was starting her performance, she approached out of nowhere, walking through
the audience of a dozen or so people, to take up her position below the powerful
looking rope hanging high from a bough of a tree. There followed a performance
that lasted about twenty minutes consisting mostly of rope work that looked deceptively
easy. Joanna is an extremely fit young lady who moved up and down the rope
with such skill that at times one could be forgiven for thinking that she was standing
on a solid structure rather than supporting her own weight. Her performance,
based on an Oscar Wilde tale about a nightingale, the need for a red rose and a
lover, was enjoyably gory, and it was nice to have a splash of red in all that green.
Joanne then disappeared back from whence she came, slowly, and we all moved on to
explore the rest of the day.
Helen Morse Palmer A way down the path we came across a stone
structure that had probably been a doorway in a past life, with arched stonework
typical of church entrances, but two small right angled wall sections were
all that remained. Hopeful of a second performance we were disappointed to
learn that Helen's small wooden assistants were stuck in traffic, probably somewhere
on the nearby South Circular. As one of the Exhibition organisers Helen decided
to put this setback behind her and wandered off to look for either a tripod or a
ladder............ as you would.
John Deller A series of three panels, each at the exit path
of a triangular clearing, provided a stark digital contrast to the softer shades
of green familiar in nature. A casual glance at such exhibits quickly becomes
replaced by an obsession to reconcile each black and white line with its natural
counterpart, we did however, stop short of a family row. John was an organiser,
and odd job man extrordinaire, for the Exhibition, however, I must admit to
a certain conflict of interest here, having been married to his mother for some
considerable period of time.
All of this fresh air and walking tends to feed the appetite so we adjorned to the
local pub for lunch. The Dulwich Wood House, just at the top of the road,
served a nice pint of Youngs bitter and had a fine lunchtime menu.
My only slight criticism of the event would be that a few more exhibitors would
have been welcome, together with more frequent performances by those artists who
were there on the weekend. Other than that it was a pleasent day out, so moving
on let's have a look at some of the other exhibits.
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