John Cockram proposes to construct a three walled glass structure creating a ‘room’ on the South East coast. As the tides rise and fall against its glass walls, ROOM will encroach into the sea to act as a stunning focal point for creative contemplation of the environment, the effects of global warming and our complex relationship with the waters surrounding this corner of the British Isles. Constructed from steel and glass, it will encourage use of the space both for personal reflection and collective activity - a space for performances, exhibitions or simply looking at the view. Associated projects will draw on a range of community and youth expertise, encouraging involvement from all sections of society. The structure will act as an open-air gallery, performance and meeting space, providing a venue for local programming and events.
Location: South East coast
Community Engagement
Three artists commissions will result in audio visual work to be projected onto the structure from dusk onwards. In addition three schools projects are proposed:
ROOM with a View
This will explore children’s ideas about the kind of environment they would wish for their future. A project will be developed in which all southeast primary schools will be invited to participate. Children will be asked to create a picture of the view that each would ideally like to see out of their window when they reach adulthood. Thousands of ‘rapid-fire’ images will be assembled on DVD and projected onto the end wall of ROOM – a visual voice from the children of today to the adults of tomorrow.
Hands across the Water
Participation and cultural links on a global scale will be created through a series of creatively inspired dialogues between primary age children in this country and their counterparts in those cities which have previously hosted and are currently bidding for the next Olympics. The Internet will be used to support an exchange of experiences of the unfolding 2012 Games and hopes for an environmental and Olympic future.
Message in a Bottle
This will involve children from ten primary schools in coastal locations to develop ideas, images and questions about sporting and environmental futures. These will be inserted with contact details into glass bottles, each with a tracking device, then sealed and cast adrift at sea by regional seafarers. The timeframe, location and content of the conversations that ensue will be entirely down to the tides and elements.
See the shortlisted entries for this region and read about the judging panel
John Cockram is an artist, researcher and lecturer based in Tunbridge Wells. His artistic focus is in public art and social engagement, supported by a studio practice involving large-scale drawing and mixed media. In his role as part-time Senior Lecturer at the University of East London he supports student residencies and work based learning, while his recent PhD explored the value of community engagement within Fine Art education. John’s proposal is for an unique structure to raise questions about climate change and the rising sea levels that will soon be encroaching on this low lying corner of the country. However ROOM is also an installation designed to facilitate the involvement, ideas and activities of others. His interest in educational and participation has led the artist to develop this proposal in a way that will actively involve thousands of children and the wider community across the southeast region.
The Team
The creation of ROOM and its associated projects will be supported by Tim Daplyn, founder and director of Red Brick Media Group. Tim will bring extensive technical and management skills plus a decade’s experience as an independent project manager and analytics consultant. Youth and community programming for the project will be led by Loraine Leeson of cSPACE. Loraine is a visual artist with a public art and community based creative practice of world repute. She is known for her collaborative work interweaving community and youth engagement with large scale art initiatives for the virtual and public domains. Extensively exhibited and published internationally, her recently completed PhD explores the relationship of aesthetics to social change.