Northern Soil.

Saturday 6th of November was the opening of the newest exhibition, Northern Soil, in Allenheads Contemporary Arts which was formerly Allenheads’ Post Office but has been converted into a lovely little art gallery.
     Allenheads is a rural village where it seems to be autumn all of the time. I’ve never been to the old Post Office without being thoroughly wrapped up in numerous winter coats, scarves, hats and gloves; it seems to be the permanent dress code. In recent years Allenheads has become infested with art, the sleepy village has really been brought to life by the culture and seems to be embracing it.
As we walked into the entrance of the white modest country building we were greeted by one of the artists and offered a selection of delicious canapés and refreshments. In the downstairs gallery, which is quite a small room, the atmosphere of excitement and enthusiasm was very welcoming as were the artists themselves.
     The pieces that first caught my eye were two huge mural paintings (made up of a series of smaller paintings on canvasses) by Bridget Kennedy, part of her ‘Where does North become South’ installation (which also included two pieces of sculpture in marble and granite) The murals were beside one another, one was black with white ink and the other was white with black ink. I spoke to Bridget and she explained that the installation was exploring the divide between north and south within Northumbria, she described the murals as “large reversed ‘painting by numbers’ pictures” because she had taken photographs of the Northumbrian countryside, edited it to  find the colour of each pixel and then written number of the colour onto her painting. This process produced a very intriguing outcome, from a few metres away the paintings do look slightly like a conceptual monotone landscape, then on closer inspection the words and numbers become clear and seem very uniformed, precise and clear, the complete opposite to the natural, wild and rugged landscapes of the Northumbria that I was driven through on my way to Allenheads.
     The next piece that I saw was a collaborative piece between Alan Smith and Phil Ogg, they had worked together to create 100 minutes of film and sound. Just being able to experience the picture and sound combination was an enjoyable experience but it was when I was able to talk to Alan that I was amazed by the process. Alan explained that he and Phil, who was kind enough to greet me at the door,   had collaborated on this piece but in a very strange way. The whole 100 minutes were made ten minutes at a time, Alan made ten minutes of picture, Phil made ten minutes of audio, they didn’t discuss the content or their reactions when they were able to see the ten minute fragments with picture and audio. This process produced an interesting result, once I knew about the process I paid more attention to how well the audio complimented the film considering they could have clashed so easily!
I wasn’t very taken by Paul Grimmer’s pieces; Chimera and Transhumation. One was a video in a museum case and the other was a large circular digital print. I didn’t get a chance to talk to Paul Grimmer, maybe if I had spoken with him about his work and process of making it, I would be able to properly understand its meaning and how it connected to the other pieces being shown – at the moment, it’s hard to see a clear connection.
     The last piece that I saw was Tod Hanson’s “Tectonic Dish” it was an amazing piece. From afar it resembles antique china in white and blue but with closer inspection the background wasn’t white and the blue pattern was an allegorical map of Allenheads. It was a very intriguing piece that provoked lots of conversation and I found myself spending more time inspecting this piece than I did with any of the others and I came away still feeling like I’d missed something.
     Overall, I think that Northern Soil is an interesting show in an interesting environment; I really enjoyed hearing from the artists and getting to know exactly what the pieces were about. Coming away from the small, quaint and secluded gallery space I felt as if I’d just shared something very private. Part of me genuinely enjoyed feeling this way because it made my experience more special and intimate but another part of me felt that the show was too private. Without having the chance to talk to the artists and being told the process and thoughts of the pieces I wouldn’t have known what they were actually about. I think that if each piece had a detailed description of the process then everybody would be able to decide their own meaning of the art and it would feel as if we’re allowed in to the small world of Allenheads Contemporary Arts.

By Poppy Jarratt.