Red River
Naomi Frears
A new moving image work commissioned by poet Dr John Wedgwood Clarke of the University of Exeter as part of Red River: Listening to a Polluted River: an 18-month research project that explores how creative writing can transform our relationship to a polluted, post-industrial river through listening to the human and non-human voices that have shaped, and continue to shape, its course.
Near the beginning of his research process for the project John Wedgwood Clarke approached artist Naomi Frears to ask her to make a moving image response. Naomi’s practice spans a range of formats, materials and subjects, with the Red River project marking her first opportunity to focus the lens of her camera on nature: looking at the range of bodies of water that exist within the river. Reflecting on John’s writings as they evolved and participating in the series of walks (organised by Field Notes) that drew together experts from different fields to explore the length of the river, Naomi’s understanding of the river has continually grown and shifted.
Throughout her work Red River the viewing formats of footage are controlled to reflect the extremities of the ways industry has affected the river, constraining it, changing the shape of it and forcing it to do certain things. Small sections of John’s poetry, selected in an order that corresponds to the flow from source to mouth, underpin the work. Sounds recorded by Rob Mackay are also interwoven with the visuals. The result is a work that corresponds to the collaborative and cross-disciplinary nature of the project as a whole and that offers a brief insight into the myriad of histories, interpretations of this small waterway that it has begun to excite and unravel.
Naomi Frears is a visual artist based in Porthmeor Studios in St Ives. Her practice includes work with film and video, as well as printmaking, painting, and collaborative curatorial projects. Her work is held in public and private collections including the Government Art Collection.
FUNDERS AND PARTNERS
Red River: Listening to Polluted River is supported by funds from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and the University of Exeter and produced in partnership with CAST Cornwall, Heartlands, Literature Works and Kernow Education Arts Partnership (KEaP). The project is also supported by National Trust, The Poetry Society, Westcountry Rivers Trust, King Edward Mine Museum and the Red River Rescuers.
GET IN TOUCH:
info@fieldnotes.org.ukThe development of this website was supported by Cultivator Cornwall
