Movement artist Simon Whitehead works from his base in rural West Wales.
He has developed a body of work from the pedestrian. Encountering situations
at walking pace, his works are place-sensitive and often involve a process
of ritual reconstruction through the body, live performance, sound and
sensual media. Over the last 5 years he has collaborated closely with
sound artist Barnaby Oliver.
My work moves from the desire to travel a distance in order to encounter
the other. The smallest and most subtle part of my work is in the telling.
The majority of the work happens whilst in motion - on the street,
the hill or in a room. In this way my process is place and energetically-sensitive,
the outcome often unresolved and indeterminate. May 2003.
www.untitledstates.net is
the digital online resource of Whitehead's work.
A sample of work :
HOST (transPlant) 2003
'If the world was to end tomorrow, I would still plant an apple tree today'
Martin Luther
An overland journey by foot and train from Abercych, Wales to Darmstadt,
Germany with an apple tree (Afal Pen Caled.Llanddudoch)
The record of the transit of a tree in sound and photograph
2 Sept, walk from home through the Cych valley towards Carmarthen
3 Sept, Train from Carmarthen to London Paddington
Walk from Paddington to Waterloo
4 Sept, Train from Waterloo to Paris
Walk from Paris Nord to Paris Est
Train to Frankfurt
5 Sept, Walk from Frankfurt to Darmstadt
6 Sept, plant Apple tree in garden of hosts, make pie, install garden shed
7 Sept, return to Abercych
A project for TRANSITARTEN, Vogelfrai, Darmstadt. Germany
Other recent exhibitions and projects
2mph (a pace for walking in rough country with cattle and sheep) 2002
Work made in transit on 300 mile walk along drovers roads from Abercych West
Wales to Smithfield Market London.
collaboration with Peter Bodenham; web presence Barnaby Oliver
BRENIN-KING 2004
Performance film in association with BBC Wales for the series 'Mad, Bad and
Dangerous'. Broadcast May 2004
CRWYDRO 2003 - 2005
co-ordinator and contributor for intercultural exchange project between, ointment,
a Wales artists group, and Boreal Art/Nature collective, Quebec.
Preseli hills, West Wales, 2003
Quebec exchange project 2005
OUT OF THE WOODS 2003
part of Whitehead's locator series: an ongoing body of research, artist retreats
and events concerned with developing an approach to deep ecology through movement
practice and solo work.
Latest project: Tyncanol Woods, West Wales
commission from Dance 4/ Now Festival 2003
AWAKE2 2004
Over 4 seasons, 4 dances and transpersonal rites made in green sites throughout
Glasgow with dancer/gardener Jon Lochrie.
dance and video installation, Tramway Theatre, Glasgow
RUPTURE AND RESIDUE 2004
Artist-in-Residence, Brisbane Powerhouse, Australia
CYSGOD 2002
cysgod.shade, shelter, shadow
From the Eisteddfod field to a secret shelter the walker is led by the sound
of a horse. Through the act of walking she/he assumes the presence of the animal,
residing in its breath, pauses and footfalls.
somasonicspirit 2000
soma : body as distinct from soul
sonic : related to or using sound waves
spirit : animated / life-giving principles in a person or place
A performance/installation, sunrise - sunset, part inspired by the summer
rite of well/spring dressing in parts of Northern England, an act of
remembrance and prayer for continuance of the source.
Beginning at sunrise, Whitehead walks the moorland at Clougha Pike near Lancaster,
locating springs and water sources. At each source he drinks, and via mobile
phone, transmits the sound of water to a large stairwell in Lancaster University,
during the Between Nature conference. The space is installed with bottles and
jars containing samples of mosses, grasses and reeds gathered from Clougha
Pike the day before.
The transmissions, together with the ambience of the space, are picked up by
2 microphones at the top of the stairwell and recycled back into the sound
system after a delay of 7' 24", resulting in a shifting texture
of past and present events, a blend of the sounds of the moor, the acoustics
of the stairwell and the presence of the viewer.
somasonicspirit #2 taff 2000
A lament for the loss of the tidal nature of the Taff, the capital city's cosmology
usurped.
From midday- 8 pm, transmissions are made along the course of the river Taff,
from central Cardiff to the Cardiff Bay Barrage, using an underwater microphone.
At the installation at Chapter Arts Centre Studio, the transmission with a
sound delay is played, bottles are placed at intervals - part filled with river
water. Small speakers and cables create a labyrinth/map on the floor. Viewers
navigate the room, make paper boats written with a wish for the river and place
them in the space. Over the afternoon the room fills with sound, movement,
and boats. On the following day, the boats are launched into the river.
Contact
w : www.untitledstates.net
e : white.simon at virgin.net
Photo Credits
Photographs of HOST (transPlant) are provided by and copyright
of Simon Whitehead