See below a rough walk through of what we are aiming to deliver to Glasto. Helen and I have had a complicated vision and with the pleasure of working with carefully selected people we seem to have done it. We have worked very hard on this but it would not have been possible without the help of the volunteers we have had in the last couple of weeks and the amazingly skilled crew we put together. What have we done and who has been involved? Well, read on.
Outside the beautiful white canvas geodesic dome you will see a sign with 'The Outside Inn', which has been illustrated by Alice Fletcher. Before you walk in you will be side tracked by two quirky photo opportunity boards (the types where your face will fit through and pose on top of a comedy body). You can choose to either be the strongest man in the world (including moustache), lifting a cider drinking Mike Eavis who is aided by large British butterflies or pose as a nudist surfer on Studland Beach. The bottoms of these gigantic postcards are a blackboard for people to leave comments on so that they can create personalised photo cards for their friends or as a memento. The designs have been interpreted by Ryan Orme.
When you step inside the dome onto lovely timber flooring you will see patches of large blue butterflies bursting out of the dome canvas. A wave shaped sky bar with lower ends for kids with tree stumps around to sit on. Our lovely Brody carpented this piece of beautiful furniture. The front of the bar looks like an unfinished wood tapestry. When you look closer you can see that people have decorated the pieces of wood with doodles and writing relating to what they experience when they spend time in the country side (the outdoors). Some people have carved, others have scribbled or drawn. Some of these messages were collected before the festival and expressed by artists. You will be invited to leave your own message and you can take place at the 'bar' to do this. A volunteer will give you a piece of wood and there is a box with a range of writing/drawing materials. Over the duration of the festival the wave shaped bar front will be cladded with people's memories, impressions and messages about what they feel when they experience the countryside.
You will also notice two standalone structures in the shape of rocks with a wooden box on top of each, these are sensory boxes, which have been carpented by Will Kinnell. The box is beautifully decorated with magical illustrations (Alice Fletcher) of landscapes overflowing into eachother when you walk round it. On either end you will see a small viser and below it another hole which reads 'sniff'. When you stick your nose in you will be pleasantly surprised. Natural curiosity will lead you to the viser and when you look in you will see a diorama based on a particular National Trust site. It will tell you above the viser which site it is an impression of. You want to smell again as it is now clear that the smell is also based on the real landscape. Amongst the sensory experiences is The Tor and Prawle Point.
If this is all a bit too subtle and low action for you, you can beat the top scorer in the two player Tor labyrinth marble run made by Helen Bentley.
However, if you are in real need to get away from the crowds, basslines and wet mud then this is for you: in exchange for your footwear you can get a pair of official Silent Disco headphones and a mud free path to the ultimate chill. A volunteer will take your mud caked wellies and slot them into a rack, a bit like a bowling lane shoe exchange (carpentry Ben Irwin). You can even clean your wellies in especially designed welly brushes (Malky Pantz). You can then walk through and hang your coat on the peg which corresponds with your welly slot (so you can keep an eye on it). You have been told that you can choose from two channels on your headphones . Look ahead and you will realise that you are standing in a soft pebble landscape, too inviting to be true. In the middle of these heaps of comfort (seamstress: Ruby Exley -Meyers and Sally Doxey) you can see a steel cable collumn with bits of wood sewn onto the cables forming a deconstructed tree trunk (R&D on entire tree Ben Irwin). There are bits of bark, plank,furniture, plie: wood in all stages of life. When you look up there are branches of real Ash coming out of a ring off the ceiling. Under the branches there is a landscape of all sorts of mini sculptures and pendants made out of mostly recycled materials, creating a deck of 'leaves'. When you lie down (max capacity is 20 people) and sink into the pebbles, listening to the soundscape, watching the canopy sofly swing you may just realise that the light is changing (light production Matt Jackson) with your soundscape. The soundscapes are inspired and created from the specific sonic qualities of two National Trust sites (audio artist Andrew Binnie). The first takes you on a journey through Lydford Gorge where you lie back, seemingly transported with the water to where the River Burn and River Lyd meet – and without getting your feet wet! On the second channel you are invited to experience the beautiful coastal Holnicote Estate and explore the Bossington Marshes, listening out for its variety of birds and wildlife. Don't worry, this is not just birdsong and water, this is a beautifully made soundscape with a mixture of audio.
You are experiencing from dawn to dusk in 15 minutes. If soundscapes are not really your thing, kick your shoes off and have a snooze on the softest pebbles in the world while sniffing the fresh
meadow grass with wildflower which is growing around you in throughs. You can always go the Cider Bus and come back ;-)
Credits:
Colette Cudihy - National Trust project manager
Ben Irwin - lead build & design interpretation. R&D on deconstructed tree and carpentry of shoe racks.
Brody - carpentry (wave sky bar)
Will Kinnell - carpentry (sensory boxes, throughs, freak board stands)
Art Space Life Space at Bridewell Island- Studio Hire and generally for being the most helpful and resourceful organisation to work with.
Alice Fletcher - Illustration (sensory boxes, pub sign, shoe racks)
Matt Jackson - Light programming production
Andrew Binnie - Soundscapes
Ruby Exley-Meyers - Seamstress pebble cushions
Sally Doxey - Seamstress pebble cushions
Ryan Orme - Freakboard artwork
Malco Pantz - carpentry of boot brushes, laptop housing, lock fitting, the list goes on
Mike Ford - geodesic dome advice
Liam Beech - rigging
National Trust - for getting us into this adventure in the first place
Lex - Truck driver, delivery and advice
Pervasive Media Studio - office space and advice and for being the link in this project
Production volunteers:
Katrina, Amy C, Raquel, Hazel, Julie, Aphra, Maya, Sarah, Danny, Amy H, Baj, Jenny, Andy, Monica.
We also hand picked a really successful team of 10 volunteers from the National Trust pool who will man the installation at the festival.
And everyone else we have had chats with or advice from...which is many people!
