LECTURES
LIVING WITH WATER – The Moss Meditations
Pre-recorded / Live Event (photographic imagery, poetic script). 2021 – ongoing
This lecture uses a dynamic and changing script and projected images to talk about our dependence on water.
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LIVING ON AIR – The Lichen Lectures
Pre-recorded / Live Event (photographic imagery, poetic script). 2021 – ongoing
This lecture uses a dynamic and changing script and projected images to talk about our dependence on air.
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ANXIETY IN EXTRACTIVE PRAXIS
Pre-recorded / Live Event (photographic imagery, poetic script). 2020 – ongoing
This lecture uses texts and images to question the problematic depletion of mineral resources.
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PERFORMANCE LECTURES
THE ROCK AND THE SEA
Performance / Live Event (projected photographic imagery, poetic script, books, natural objects). 2019
The Rock and the Sea is part of a body of work made at Cap de Creus during a research residency in 2019, and field trips with cultural geographer Rosa Cerarols Ramirez, Universitat Pompeu Fabra. This live performance uses a format of projected imagery, spoken word and literary readings to take an audience on a poetic journey to the rugged geological forms and contested natural features of coastal Catalonia in northeast Spain. This work explores the transformation of materials through a physical study of coastal erosion by the tramontana wind and Mediterranean Sea. The work also highlights the presence of landscape furniture in the newly-rewilded site, the cultural constructions that frame the natural environment and the recent history of ruination.
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THE GLACIER AND THE ROCK
Performance / Live Event (projected photographic imagery, poetic script, books, natural objects). 2018
The Glacier and the Rock is part of a larger body of work Guide74 – a decade-long study of the Haute-Savoie. This live performance uses a format of projected imagery, spoken word and literary readings to take an audience on a poetic journey to the high features of Alpine France. Through a detailed survey into the structures and systems of Alpine glaciers in the Mont-Blanc massif, this work is an investigation into accelerated change, collapsing environments and the transportation of material.
Performed:
2019 – Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), London, UK (as part of Explore 2019)
2018 – GroundWork Gallery, King’s Lynn, Norfolk, UK (as part of a study day event)
Excerpt from narrated script:
Flows over bedrock | Deflated of ice mass | Heavy with debris | Heated – by long summers
Loose rock – weathered | And falling | Geology in its undoing | And future making
A small orange marker | Shows passage | Across the moraine | A place of two states – of mobile – and solid – matter
Comment:
“Your performance… has stayed with me, a very gentle, heartfelt, natural ‘river’ sensation. I loved the way you almost gave the space to the river. It was a gorgeous piece of work. Thank you for sharing it.” (RGS-IBG)
“Your performance was the highlight of the [RGS Explore 2019] weekend and I felt quite strong resonances with what I am endeavouring to do with my own work.” (RGS-IBG)
“That was such a wonderful performance … very moving – steady, strong, absolutely stunning to watch, very poetic… We were all mesmerised.” (GroundWork Gallery)
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CONFLUENCES
Performance / Live Event (projected photographic imagery, poetic script, books). 2018
Confluences is a large body of work made through a series of extensive studies in a natural park spanning France and Belgium. This live performance uses a format of projected imagery, spoken word and literary readings to take an audience on a poetic journey to the fluid features of a post-industrial region in northern Europe. Through a detailed survey into the structures and systems of industrial and leisure canal networks, open and closed river systems, SSSI locations and ephemeral water this work is an investigation into accelerated change, collapsing environments and the transportation of material.
Performed:
2018 – Wheal Martyn Museum, St Austell, Cornwall, UK (as part of ‘Landscapes in Limbo: Creativity and Stewardship’, Heritage Futures Transformation Theme Knowledge-Exchange, Cultural Geography, University of Exeter)
Comment:
“Absolutely not what I expected, your performance was given with so much care.” (Wheal Martyn Museum)
“Such gorgeous imagery in your writing and photographs… please tell me you will publish it as a book!” (Wheal Martyn Museum)
Footnotes:
In May 2018, the Transformation Theme of the Heritage Futures project hosted a knowledge-exchange workshop in Cornwall. The event brought together a diverse group of people to talk about artists’ research and work alongside landscape management and development activity in changing landscapes.
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ESTUDIO DE CAMPO
Performance / Live Event (projected photographic imagery, poetic script, books, natural objects). 2018
Estudio de Campo is a large body of work made through a series of extensive studies in different regions of Spain over a seven-year period. This live performance uses a format of projected imagery, spoken word and literary readings to take an audience on a poetic journey to the natural and artificial features of mainland Spain. Through a detailed survey into the structures and systems of the barranco, carcavas and agricultural land this work is an investigation into accelerated change, collapsing environments and the transportation of material.
Performed:
2019 – AADK (Centro Negra), Blanca, Spain
2019 – Hangar, Barcelona, Spain
2018 – Museu Molí Paperer de Capellades, Barcelona, Spain (to open exhibition ‘Esparto: new ground’)
Comment:
“I really enjoyed your performance, your writing was very moving; you have a great ability to say exactly what you need to without saying too much.” (AADK)
“Your work crosses boundaries of poetry and art so effortlessly that I closed my eyes against your photographs to see your writing more clearly.” (Hangar)
“Wow, your voice is so calm and sure. It was so deep into the landscape, I cried.” (Museu Molí Paperer de Capellades)
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THE LAKE AND THE ISLAND
Performance / Live Event (projected photographic imagery, poetic script, books, natural objects). 2017
The Lake and the Island is part of a body of work made on Rabbit Island in Lake Superior, during a solitary month-long environmental arts residency in 2016. This live performance uses a format of projected imagery, spoken word and literary readings to take an audience on a poetic journey to the interior facets and littoral features of a remote island in America. Through a series of embodied fieldworks and immersive surveys of the forested rocky outcrop, this work explores microcosms, remoteness and the scales of wilderness.
Excerpt from narrated script:
Higher up – rough boulders piled | And littered | Make shadows | Deep around the island – broken
Across great slabs – softened | By lapping water | Where small plants cling – alone | And grouped together
Drying | In the summer air | Skeletons of spring
Performed:
2018 – Saffron Screen (live cinema), Saffron Walden, Essex, UK
Comment:
“A surprisingly accomplished piece of work to witness on a Sunday afternoon in Saffron Walden!” (Saffron Screen)
“Mesmerising! I feel as though I was transported with you to that island.” (Saffron Screen)
“Your voice is beautiful.” (Saffron Screen)
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A MOUNTAIN RECORDING ACTIVITY
Collaborative Performance / Live Event (projected photographic imagery, poetic script, books). 2017
Performed:
2018 – British Library and King’s Cross, London, UK (with Laura Harrington, as part of ‘Lunch at the Summit: on high ground’, Choules+Harrington of TSOEG.org, at the Invisible Dust ‘Under Her Eye: Women and Climate Change’ international summit)
Comment:
“Seemless. I have to tell you I savoured every minute. The collaboration worked so well between your landscapes.” (Invisible Dust)
“We are really pleased we switched presentations at the last minute to see you and Laura!” (Invisible Dust)
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WILDERNESS GUIDE: RABBIT ISLAND
Performance / Live Event (projected photographic imagery, poetic script, books). 2017
Performed:
2018 – Baltic 39 (WOON Studios), Newcastle upon Tyne, UK (as part of ‘Assembly: Performative Symposium’)
2017 – DeVos Art Museum, Michigan, USA (as part of Rabbit Island residency 2016)
Comment:
“How do I get to go to this island?” (Baltic 39)
“As a geographer, it’s fascinating to witness your intimate connection with the details of the earth.” (DeVos Art Museum)
“A landscape we thought we knew well, but through your eyes it still reveals. Truly wonderful.” (DeVos Art Museum)
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A JOURNEY THROUGH FIELDWORK
Performance / Live Event (projected photographic imagery, poetic script, books). 2016
Performed:
2018 – Baltic 39 (WOON Studios), Newcastle upon Tyne, UK (as part of ‘Assembly: Performative Exhibition’)
2018 – Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Plaça de la Mercè, Barcelona, Spain
Comment:
“I’m so so sorry for falling asleep during your performance! The combination of a warm room and your lulling voice was irresistible.” (Baltic 39)
“Your fieldwork imagery in photographs and poetry opens so many possibilities in cultural geography.” (Universitat Pompeu Fabra)
“I never knew fieldwork could be like this! I want to develop it in my own work.” (Universitat Pompeu Fabra)
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GUIDE74
Performance / Live Event (projected photographic imagery, poetic script, books, natural objects). 2015
Performed:
2017 – Royal Holloway University of London, Bedford Square, London, UK (as part of RHUL Centre for the GeoHumanities events programme 2017-2018)
2016 – University of Lincoln, UK
2016 – Parasol unit foundation for contemporary art, London, UK
2015 – Joya: arte + ecología, Cortijada Los Gázquez, Almería, Spain, with Aberystwyth University (Fine Art)
2015 – The Burton Art Gallery, Devon, UK
2015 – Peter Richards Room at Hughes Hall, University of Cambridge, UK (Cambridge University Expeditions Society)
2015 – Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), London, UK (as part of Explore 2015)
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DURATIONAL PERFORMANCES
INSTRUMENTAL
Performance / Live Event (small percussion instruments). 2019 – ongoing
Instrumental is a durational performance piece made over several hours, days or weeks. Exploring sound, resonance and turbulence, small percussion instruments are used to animate the air – through these sonic actions the artist calls attention to the presence of this element. Thinking through the structures and systems of air quality and behaviour, this work is a direct action about accelerated change, collapsing environments and the transformation of material.
Images show 1-hour performance (triangle), Ulea, Murcia, Spain 2019
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LAC BLANC 2352M
Performance (glacial lake). 2011
Lac Blanc 2352m is a performance piece made over 42 minutes in a glacial lake in the Haute-Savoie, France. Swimming towards the centre of the lake, the artist makes a series of images en route. This action explores bouyancy, lightness and material relationship. The performance physically plays out the act of moving through different material fields to embody the notion of displacement.
Additional data: the performance took place on 16th August
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TALKS
Readings:
2020 – ONCA gallery, UK (presented Itinerant Actions as part of the POLLEN20 ‘Weaving Connections’ webinar)
2019 – MIMA, UK (presented Material Field: North Pennines remotely as part of Laura Harrington’s ‘Artist Camp’ discussion panel)
2016 – Rabbit Island, Lake Superior, Michigan, USA (presented Wilderness Guide as part of the Rabbit Island remote residency)
2014 – Joya: arte + ecología, Los Gázquez, Spain (presented Terreno: a survey (part 1), as part of ‘Encuentro Internacional #1’)
2012 – Anatomy Theatre, King’s College, London, UK (presented In Search of Flora virtual walking tour, as part of ‘Strandlines / Artist Cabinet collective’)
2012 – Museum of London, UK (presented Experimental Fieldwork, as part of Neal White’s ‘Experimental Ruins’, with Arts Catalyst, London)
2010 – Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK (presented Flow with Nicola Hewish, as part of ‘The Culture of Rowing and Swimming’ symposium with Oxford Brookes Cultural Olympiad and the Creative Campus Initiative)
Panel discussions:
2019 – Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), London, UK (organiser of Artists in the Field for ‘Explore: expeditions and fieldwork planning’ since 2007)
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PERFORMANCE PAPERS
A MOUNTAIN RECORDING ACTIVITY
Performance / Live Event (projected photographic imagery, poetic script). 2017
Performed:
2018 – University of Leeds, UK (as part of ‘Performing Mountains: an International Symposium on Mountain Culture’)
2017 – University of Leeds and Sheffield University, UK (as part of ASLE UKI and LAND 2 Cross-Disciplinary Conference and Exhibition on Writing, Art and Environment)
2016 – Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), London, UK (as part of the University of Brighton session ‘Sensory orientations: transversal practices and dissemination within art and geography’, AC2016 conference)
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FIELDWORK IN PRACTICE: performance, survey, document / shared geographies
Performance / Live Event (projected photographic imagery, poetic script). 2016
Performed:
2016 – College of Arts, University of Lincoln, UK (as part of the Performing Arts symposium ‘The Alternative Document’)
2014 – Plymouth University, UK (as part of the conference ‘Of the Earth’, co-hosted by Land/Water and the Visual Arts, Plymouth University and WALK at Sunderland University in conjunction with the exhibition Walk On)
2014 – Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), London, UK (as part of the Royal Holloway University of London session ‘Geoaesthetics: Art, Environment and Co-production’, AC2014 conference)
2013 – Facultad de Bellas Artes, Universidad de Barcelona University, Spain (as part of the ‘1 simposio Internacional Topografías de lo Invisible: estrategias crítica entre arte y geographía’)
Images shows Fieldwork in Practice performance paper in the publication Topografías de lo Invisible
Published by Facultad de Bellas Artes, Universidad de Barcelona University
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PERFORMANCE POSTER
A MOUNTAIN RECORDING ACTIVITY
Printed Folded Map (1270mm x 952mm). 2015
Presented:
2016 – Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), London, UK (as part of the ‘Nexus Thinking’ research poster exhibition, RGS-IBG AC2016)
2016 – London Art Fair, UK (as part of the ‘Field Mapping’ event with Parasol unit of contemporary art, London)
2016 – Aberystwyth University, Wales (as part of ‘STRATA: Art and Science Collaborations in the Antropocene’)
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FILMS
THE GROWING INTO
Artist film (digital, running time 01:10). 2020
The Growing Into is a film by artist Luce Choules in collaboration with the forest. It is dedicated to artist Edwina fitzPatrick for her project ‘The Archive of the Trees’ (archiveofthetrees.co.uk). The film follows on from a ‘Folium’ meeting with the forest on Friday 5th June 2020, and energy work made during that time.
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THE CALLING UNDER
Artist film (digital, running time 01:10). 2020
The Calling Under is a film by artist Luce Choules in collaboration with the ocean. It is dedicated to artist Consol Llupià for her project ‘Vibraera’ (vibraera.net/inicio). The film follows on from a ‘Vibraera’ meeting with the ocean on Friday 22nd May 2020, and energy work made during that time.
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AFTER-IMAGE
Artist film (digital, running time 07:17). 2019
After-image was filmed on location at Cap de Creus in Catalunya, Spain as part of the Encura #3 research residency in 2019 with Hangar, Barcelona and Curators’ Network, Madrid. The film moves beyond abstract concepts of landscape and environment to explore the enduring material field. The film is about persistence, where natural processes continue – rock becomes smaller rock, becomes compressed, becomes rock, becomes smaller rock, and so on. It has a rhythm played out over millions of years – the single event of geology. This speculative fieldwork imagines a post-human space of the vast future.
Screenings:
2020 – AADK (Centro Negra), Blanca, Spain
2019 – Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), London, UK
2019 – Hangar, Barcelona, Spain
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Link to other films
Laroche (aka Luce Choules) 