TIERRAS
Research residency / funded invitation. 2012
JOYA: arte + ecología

Tierras – a fieldwork programme

aguacero / aguazero was an invitation for artists to respond to a theme of ‘water’ in the context of Los Gázquez – aguacero (downpour), aguazero (no water).

“The [residency] has an environmental agenda requesting submissions to reference the contrary character of climate change. For example, increased desertification and the escalating effects of weather events such as flooding and soil erosion. The work should be based on observation, experience and invention. It must be as involved with the process and materials of painting/drawing etc as with the response to climate change. We are interested in works that invite close scrutiny and, like environmental events in the world around us, reveal themselves gradually and steadily over time, prompting reaction and renewed contemplation of the ecological challenges the world faces.”

Summary:
Research residency staying at an off-grid arts centre / artist talk / environmental land-use programme

Selected artist:
Anna Macleod

Invited artists:
Luce Choules
Laura Harrington

Project initiators:
Simon and Donna Beckmann, Founders of Los Gázquez and JOYA: arte + ecología, Almería, Spain

Keywords:
Environmental Art, Curated Landscape, Ecology, Fieldwork.

Funded by:

Images: Joya AiR

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WORKS

In April 2012, I spent two weeks at Cortijada Los Gázquez exploring the surrounding area of the Parque Natural de Sierra María–Los Vélez in Almería, Spain – an environment described as ‘Mediterranean alpine’. I stayed with JOYA, an off-grid arts centre just north of Vélez-Blanco, a sparsely-populated mountainous region situated in northern Andalucía. I made a series of different walks to collect rocks and ideas about water – producing work in the field, and in the studio space on site. I was especially interested in the dry colours of the landscape and how the light moved over this space throughout the day. I made a large number of different photographic field studies in the area, in addition to stage 4 of An Atlas of Walks; and two new pieces Tierras and Estudio de Campos – both a series of watercolour studies.

ADDITIONAL RESIDENCY

I was also invited back to further research the area and make new works over the course of a 1-month stay in the summer of 2012. During this time, I made a significant series of photographic field studies – surveying the water courses and terrace systems connected to the residency, in addition to mnany experimental works involving performance-based pieces and investigations of sculptural forms.

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FILM

Joya AiR (2012) by Simon Beckmann and Gonzaga Gómez-Cortázar Romero
Film Language: English with Spanish subtitles