looking down

The area outside the Brewhouse is seriously lacking and a connection between the façade of the building and this area is vital in improving access to the Theatre & Art Centre.

red carpet event 21/2/09

Today I made a sign saying 'this is for YOU' and placed it at the end of the red carpet. To preempt the question nearly everyone would ask me 'who is this for?', I left the sign at the far end of the carpet and the participatory documents at the other end, encouraging people to walk up to the building. 

I went around to all the local businesses (including Morrisons), encouraging staff and customers to participate and then went and sat on the roof of the Brewhouse to watch people interact with the space.

red carpet event 20/2/09

I moved my 'office' under the shelter of the building and continued writing, drawing, chatting and collecting anecdotal information about the Brewhouse. Alongside the conversations with and drawings made by passers by I spoke to various stakeholders in the Brewhouse including the landscape architects that have been appointed by Project Taunton to develop the area outside the Theatre & Art Centre, the local arts officer, the arts and disability officer, Brewhouse staff, and artists.

red carpet event 19/2/09

Award season is upon us, Baftas, Brits and Oscars flood the media. I borrowed the red carpet and laid it out in front of the Brewhouse, but Danny Boyle and Kate Winslet were nowhere to be seen.

This red carpet was not here to soften the pavement and keep the soles of celebrities shoes clean, it was for you. 

Tapping into the insatiable interest in celebrity culture the carpet was here to encourage passers-by look twice at the Brewhouse and act as an ice-breaker encouraging conversation and participation in Entry level.

I set up my al fresco office at the end of the red carpet, and spent the day chatting, handing out participatory documents and helping people visualise their ideas.

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Event dates

Somersets leading Theatre & Art centre (4)

                                                                                                                                                   47 people have taken photos of me in front of the Brewhouse and only 2 have asked why. 

Will walking past or the mention of the Brewhouse bring back a memory of photographing a stranger? Will this encounter effect the way the photographer sees the Brewhouse? or will it be forgotten seconds after the encounter?

Somersets leading Theatre & Art centre (3)

Again no one asked why I wanted my photo in front of the Brewhouse, so no opportunities arose to discuss "Somersets leading Theatre & Art Centre". 

Although no conversations arose about the Brewhouse I did pose for the most creative young photographer so far. Not content for me to just stand in my normal slightly uncomfortable stance he asked me to jump up on to the raised planter and put my arms around the tree. 

Somersets leading Theatre & Art centre (2)

None of the photographers asked me why I wanted my photo taken in front of the Brewhouse, although one person decided the composition would be better in portrait format. I had a long chat with the last photographer about a number of things including the history of the Brewhouse (run by volunteers), memories of it being built, a feeling that it was going to move to new site down river, the sight lines of the 2 churches being effected because of the new cricket ground development, the new flats overlooking the cricket ground being really expensive and finally about his friend who parked in the park-and-ride and wasn't allowed to walk into town.