Mirrors with memory: The Gravesend Triptych

After much consideration and with the help and support of the Steering Group, I have decided what I would like to create as the outcome of my Artist's residency. Here is my proposal:

“Rebuilt in 1836” it says on the façade of the Old Town Hall, tying the place to a time of Victorian enterprise, when thronging visitors brought prosperity and civic pride to Gravesend. The ‘show-off’ portico’s Greek Revival style originated in the Grand Tour, a period of exploration, when cultural objects were collected in cabinets of curiosities, as memory tokens and souvenirs.

By 1849, with the opening of the railway, the tourist were abandoning Gravesend and seeking novelty at rival destinations, precipitating a slow decline in fortunes. Does this short, self-confident interlude in the 1830s and 40s, embodied in the fabric of the Old Town Hall, still represent Gravesend at it’s finest?

In 1837 Louis Daguerre created his first photograph, by fixing a transient moment of light and shadow on a polished silver surface. His daguerreotypes, always more beautiful than rival techniques, remain the most detailed, subtle and incorruptible of all photographic images and each one is unique. Described as 'mirrors with memory' they were created to be treasured keepsakes.

By 1850 the process had been superseded by glass plate negatives, which allowed multiple copies of the same moment to be made, resulting an abandonment of Daguerre’s method. Does this pioneering creative period in the 1830s and 40s, captured by these jewel like objects, still represent photography at it’s finest?

Gravesend and daguerreotypes, a place and a process, both the product of Victorian creativity and enterprise, both of which rose to prominence only to fade in influence, as technological advances bought irrevocable change.

Daguerrotype of Charles Dickens taken in London around1850

(From - http://www.photohistory-sussex.co.uk/DickensCharlesPortraits.htm)

The desire to hold onto the past and bear witness to the changes that have happened in Gravesend has inspired the heritage project ‘Talking Halls’. A process that will delve into the archives to uncover and interpret the ‘what’ and the ‘when’ of the Old Town Hall’s multiple stories. Heritage has become a form of tourist attraction, with the building now becoming the repository of selected selected.

The building already has two conspicuous commemorative symbols; the war memorials. Along with the portraits of the Mayors and the ceremonial chairs, they represent an official, communal form of remembering. But what about the ‘how’ of memory? What about the personal, everyday acts of remembrance? What about the unofficial voices of unrecorded Gravesend lives?

In the Town Hall's parlour, above the fireplace, there is mirror freckled with age. One of the few remnants of imperfection in an otherwise pristinely restored building. My proposal is to commission a triptych of beautifully framed daguerreotypes, to be installed in the parlour to complement this original mirror and echo its proportions and detail.

The subject of the images will be arrived at through conversations with three people from Gravesend, based around their personal everyday acts of remembrance. Not so much ‘what’ they remember, as ‘how’ they remember; tapping into our universal need to hold onto our own stories. Combining the latest digital photographic techniques with the historic daguerreotype process will produce objects that are precious, unique, incorruptible and celebrate these ‘unofficial’ stories within the reinterpretation of the Old Town Hall’s heritage.

It will make an important statement about the place of local people in the future of the Old Town Hall that these are valuable and fixed representations of their personal stories. These ‘mirrors with memory’, will reflect the viewer in the space, as they draw close to examine the intricate images that capture a contemporary moment in time.

Each of the objects will be the by-product of a collected story. In order to retain this link, in a way that parallels the research process of the ‘Talking Halls’ heritage interpretation project, I will produce a book containing fragments of the stories, for future visitors to discover.

The daguerreotypes will be manufactured by Christopher Brenton West, who is a leading expert in this intricate photographic process, which is rarely practiced today. Examples of his beautiful work can be seen on his website www.daguerreotypes.co.uk

Lucy

Interesting day of developments on Friday.

Meeting with Dennis the Market manager. Some stallholders have been around for 40 years, but the market has been in severe decline over the last decade. Talking about Dennis’ experiences gave me some interesting leads on the mechanisms of remembering. We talked about the smell of steam trains and turning the pages of the heavy bound copies of archive newspapers in the Old Town Hall.


Tour of the Civic Centre with Brian Tourle. Display cases full of gold mayoral chains and silver trophies. Councillor group photos on the walls of the Mayor’s office. Register of objects in storage from the Museum that once occupied part of the Old Town Hall. 1000 items including three pairs of curling tongs and five bell rumblers.

Brainstorming session with Maxine, John, Chris, Stephen and Annie after the second Steering Group meeting. How should the artist’s residency interface with the heritage interpretation work? How permanent should the artwork be? How can we ensure that the right people influence the outcome of the artwork? Their feedback was invaluable and set me back on the right track.


On the train on the way home an idea struck me. A good idea that ties together so many research strands. Really excited to develop it further into a proposal to present to the Steering Group.


Lucy 

Gravesend described by Charles Dickens in his Sketches by Boz, 1836.

Annie has discovered this fantastic account of Gravesend tourism written by none other than 'local boy' Charles Dickens himself.


"One of the most amusing places we know is the steam-wharf of the London Bridge, or St. Katharine's Dock Company, on a Saturday morning in summer, when the Gravesend and Margate steamers are usually crowded to excess; and as we have just taken a glance at the river above bridge, we hope our readers will not object to accompany us on board a Gravesend packet. Coaches are every moment setting down at the entrance to the wharf, and the stare of bewildered astonishment with which the 'fares' resign themselves and their luggage into the hands of the porters, who seize all the packages at once as a matter of course, and run away with them, heaven knows where, is laughable in the extreme. A Margate boat lies alongside the wharf, the Gravesend boat (which starts first) lies alongside that again; and as a temporary communication is formed between the two, by means of a plank and hand-rail, the natural confusion of the scene is by no means diminished.
'Gravesend?' inquires a stout father of a stout family, who follow him, under the guidance of their mother, and a servant, at the no small risk of two or three of them being left behind in the confusion. 'Gravesend?' 'Pass on, if you please, sir,' replies the attendant - 'other boat, sir.' Hereupon the stout father, being rather mystified, and the stout mother rather distracted by maternal anxiety, the whole party deposit themselves in the Margate boat, and after having congratulated himself on having secured very comfortable seats, the stout father sallies to the chimney to look for his luggage, which he has a faint recollection of having given some man, something, to take somewhere. No luggage, however, bearing the most remote resemblance to his own, in shape or form, is to be discovered; on which the stout father calls very loudly for an officer, to whom he states the case, in the presence of another father of another family - a little thin man - who entirely concurs with him (the stout father) in thinking that it's high time something was done with these steam companies, and that as the Corporation Bill failed to do it, something else must; for really people's property is not to be sacrificed in this way; and that if the luggage isn't restored without delay, he will take care it shall be put in the papers, for the public is not to be the victim of these great monopolies. To this, the officer, in his turn, replies, that that company, ever since it has been St. Kat'rine's Dock Company, has protected life and property; that if it had been the London Bridge Wharf Company, indeed, he shouldn't have wondered, seeing that the morality of that company (they being the opposition) can't be answered for, by no one; but as it is, he's convinced there must be some mistake, and he wouldn't mind making a solemn oath afore a magistrate that the gentleman'll find his luggage afore he gets to Margate.
Here the stout father, thinking he is making a capital point, replies, that as it happens, he is not going to Margate at all, and that 'Passenger to Gravesend' was on the luggage, in letters of full two inches long; on which the officer rapidly explains the mistake, and the stout mother, and the stout children, and the servant, are hurried with all possible despatch on board the Gravesend boat, which they reached just in time to discover that their luggage is there, and that their comfortable seats are not. Then the bell, which is the signal for the Gravesend boat starting, begins to ring most furiously: and people keep time to the bell, by running in and out of our boat at a double-quick pace. The bell stops; the boat starts: people who have been taking leave of their friends on board, are carried away against their will; and people who have been taking leave of their friends on shore, find that they have performed a very needless ceremony, in consequence of their not being carried away at all. The regular passengers, who have season tickets, go below to breakfast; people who have purchased morning papers, compose themselves to read them; and people who have not been down the river before, think that both the shipping and the water, look a great deal better at a distance.
When we get down about as far as Blackwall, and begin to move at a quicker rate, the spirits of the passengers appear to rise in proportion. Old women who have brought large wicker hand-baskets with them, set seriously to work at the demolition of heavy sandwiches, and pass round a wine-glass, which is frequently replenished from a flat bottle like a stomach-warmer, with considerable glee: handing it first to the gentleman in the foraging-cap, who plays the harp - partly as an expression of satisfaction with his previous exertions, and partly to induce him to play 'Dumbledumbdeary,' for 'Alick' to dance to; which being done, Alick, who is a damp earthy child in red worsted socks, takes certain small jumps upon the deck, to the unspeakable satisfaction of his family circle. Girls who have brought the first volume of some new novel in their reticule, become extremely plaintive, and expatiate to Mr. Brown, or young Mr. O'Brien, who has been looking over them, on the blueness of the sky, and brightness of the water; on which Mr. Brown or Mr. O'Brien, as the case may be, remarks in a low voice that he has been quite insensible of late to the beauties of nature, that his whole thoughts and wishes have centred in one object alone - whereupon the young lady looks up, and failing in her attempt to appear unconscious, looks down again; and turns over the next leaf with great difficulty, in order to afford opportunity for a lengthened pressure of the hand.
Telescopes, sandwiches, and glasses of brandy-and-water cold without, begin to be in great requisition; and bashful men who have been looking down the hatchway at the engine, find, to their great relief, a subject on which they can converse with one another - and a copious one too - Steam. 'Wonderful thing steam, sir.' 'Ah! (a deep-drawn sigh) it is indeed, sir.' 'Great power, sir.' 'Immense - immense!' 'Great deal done by steam, sir.' 'Ah! (another sigh at the immensity of the subject, and a knowing shake of the head) you may say that, sir.' 'Still in its infancy, they say, sir.' Novel remarks of this kind, are generally the commencement of a conversation which is prolonged until the conclusion of the trip, and, perhaps, lays the foundation of a speaking acquaintance between half-a-dozen gentlemen, who, having their families at Gravesend, take season tickets for the boat, and dine on board regularly every afternoon."

Gravesend featured in Punch, 1842.

Research by Annie shows the less salubrious side the Gravesend tourisim boom -


"It is - according to Malthus, and to a higher authority, Alderman Lucas,- to the over population of this country that we are indebted for its present depressed condition. Of the numerous remedies applicable to the evil, none have been found so effectual as Steam-boats; and, although their superiority over the small-pox and rail-roads has been disputed, yet, from the increased favour in which, every succeeding season, they are held, as engines of destruction, it is clear that the highest opinion is entertained of their efficacy.


In proof of this, the stranger has only to trust himself on board a six-penny Gravesend boat on a fine Whit-Sunday. The deck crammed, and no standing-room on the paddle-boxes, he will be wedged in by the crowd so tightly as to preclude the use of his limbs when the accident, which is sure to occur, takes place. Exactly at the moment of the start, an opposition boat will also set off, so that the speed will be deliciously exhilarating. In trying to give "Bugsby hole" as narrow a berth as possible, each captain will foul his adversary, and a few passengers will to make an additional hole or two be missed from the paddle-boxes, in the water. As they will very likely amount to a dozen, - quite enough to help one another, - it would be nonsense to stop either vessel, so the speed is doubled.


In furtherance of the praiseworthy object for which these vessels were originally started, (the reduction of the population,) they are ordered to "go on" at the precise moment a passenger is stepping off.


If the stranger get a sight of the cabin, it will be a mistake to imagine that its occupants are confined there as a punishment for some misdemeanour, however much their imprisoned and crowded condition might warrant the supposition. The error will be corrected when he hears them giving vent to bottled porter, and to songs of a comic character; the latter are "volunteers," but the former a compulsory employment, the heat of the "saloon" being so intense that the malt would open itself in spite of the corks.


As the number of passengers gradually decreases at the various stopping-places, - by means of "easing her," and then suddenly going on just in time to send the debarkers into the water instead of into the wherry waiting to receive them - several of the tappers of stout escape from their confinement to the deck and commence a series of pleasing practical jokes, in the course of which numerous hats, (with a wearer sometimes attached,) find their way either to the bottom, or to the Nore. So you are sure to get to Gravesend, either in due course, or by means of a cold bath in the Thames.


For a full account of the Above-bridge Steamer Fleet, we must refer the inquisitive stranger to "Punch, Vol. 1., page 35," and to "A Sentimental Journey along the Coasts of the Thames," published in recent Numbers."

Sampling words from the blog / distilling themes.

Exchange/interdependence/exclusion/missing links.
Freedom at the margins/marginalized.
New arrivals/new visitors/transience/permanence.
Good/ugly/distinctive/self-destructive.
Loss/change/resistance/altered perception.
Discovery/over exposure/reinterpretation.
Derelict industry/countryside/riverside/horizons.
Vision/civic aspiration/regeneration reality.
Pretensions/missed opportunities/protection.
Uncomfortable social relationships/conflict/control.
Tourism as industry/heritage as leisure.
Grand tour/collectors/voices/inaccessible memories.
Spectacles/parades/goodwill/pleasure seeking.
Decorative/superficial/robust/formal/ceremonial.
Mute/wiped clean/unreal/stage set/reinvention.


EXCHANGE
MARGINS
PERCEPTION
HORIZONS
PROTECTION
GOODWILL
REINVENTION


Where will these concepts lead?


Lucy 

Really good talking today at the Old Town Hall

Had a great day of meeting interesting and helpful people at the Old Town Hall today. 
Lyndsey and Brian from the Arts and Heritage part of Gravesham Borough Council. Dennis, the Market Manager. Dennis, Jenny, Elle and John from Kent Savers. Richard and Brian in the Old Town Hall.
Much appreciated!
Lucy 

Interview with Reverend Henwood. On regeneration, vision and art.

Reverend Martin Henwood was involved in the restoration of the Old Town Hall from the outset, founding Whole Community Works in 1993. He speaks passionately about the need for the local community of Kent to benefit from the regeneration of the area.

“Plenty of lip service is being paid to the fact that the regeneration is going to enable the poor to access opportunities, a lot of which does not actually happen,” he says, giving the example of a project teaching local people to sing. “The leader asked the children’s choir to close their eyes and put up their hands if they didn’t think they were any good. Every child put up their hand. Then he did the same with the adult choir and they all put up their hands too. People in this community do not have a strong sense that they really are capable of transforming the world or that they have possibilities.” He explains, “the dictionary definition of regeneration is ‘the recovery of excluded parts’, like when an animal regenerates a lost tail, but it also means spiritual renewal. Faith communities must be at the heart of regeneration.”

Martin describes his vision for the Old Town Hall. “It is right in the town centre and historically it was the place where everybody came together to meet and trade. You went with something to offer, made an exchange and came away with something you needed. Over its life the function changed, so at the end it became an excluding institution, which eventually died. This was a wonderful chance to return it to its founding vision in the heart of community. To ask the faith communities what they believed was being excluded. Together we could show that, through interdependence and exchange, you could provide people with the opportunity to give, feel the pleasure of sharing and value their humanity.

He outlines the Old Town Hall project’s responses to the practical realities of regeneration:
•      Embracing the role of the Private Sector for wealth generation, by including the restaurant.
•      Enabling the Public Sector to act as neutral public custodians, by including services such as the Kent Savers.
•      Establishing opportunities for the voluntary sector and faith communities to use the space for out-reach projects, which provide safe spaces for the young and the old.
•      Connectivity between all the parts, so that encounters between different groups generate interdependence and spiritual renewal.

Through consultation with faith leaders common concerns for excluded communities such as the new arrivals from Eastern Europe were uncovered. The Sikh, Muslim and Hindu communities empathised with the experience of being pushed to the margins and there was a shared desire across faiths to centre attention on people at the margins, by extending the hand of hospitality.

Martin has strong views about what art should be. “At the heart of the Old Town Hall should be the symbol of human suffering. One that shows what we as a community are going to do to wipe away someone else’s tears. How can we honour the worlds of the most excluded people right in the heart of the town? Historically there has always been a mix of good and ugly things in Gravesend and art should hold up a mirror to show those extremes today. To show people the difference between aspirations and realities, so that they can make change happen themselves.”

Even though he is not directly involved in the project anymore, Martin says that the process of getting it off the ground felt like “holding it all and then giving it all away.” “I started with a vision and went through a process of trying to get others to catch it. I got to the end feeling, well has it been lost? Has anyone really really caught the vision? Has it all been worthwhile? Having poured my heart out once more, I would like to see to what extent the vision is going to be picked up again. Now the building is re-opened, will the vision remain intact at the heart of the Old Town Hall?”
Lucy