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The National Trust, Mottisfont - 1 year residency
'For the Time Being' Exhibition, Mottisfont House Gallery, 3 May - 7 July 2019 'Borrowed Light’. 2019 Artist’s book 14.8 x 21 x 2 cms Archival box containing: Book, cyanotype print, glassine envelope, silica gel & teabag. Each book is unique. Limited Edition of 7 Signed and dated. copies are available to buy from the the editions section The preventative conservation strategy of the National Trust, involves a method of observation that monitors the damaging effects of sunlight. A standardized system of placing dosimeters in each room is used. This is a simple rectangle of blue dyed wool that is sandwiched between two pieces of card. The front has a window cut out and the wool proceeds to fade, depending on the amount of light and other environmental factors. The varying faded blue shades are sent away for analysis and are an indication of the amount of light damage that has occurred. This relatively simple slow process has been re-appropriated in ‘Borrowed Light’. Using paper coated in cyanotype, a photographic process invented by Sir John Herschel in 1842, the light sensitive samples were left at Oakley Beat between October and February 2018. The changes in daylight, weather conditions and chance produced results that are both beautiful in their simplicity and striking in their subtle differences. One year of capturing light and observations by the river at Oakley Beat, Mottisfont. |