Charente, August 08

Embarking upon a residency period at the house of artist Bernard Pras in Charente, France (August 2008) we had- really for the first time- the opportunity to work and play together, exploring the common ground of our interests. We spent time writing, building, dancing, drawing, talking, cooking, laughing, cycling, filming. We allowed our process to emerge through all these activities in the beautiful French countryside. The house was filled with all kinds of objects- strange and familiar, old and older still. We gradually orientated ourselves to various organisations of these objects. We worked separately at first, enjoying freedom of method. Each quietly set about exploring according to their interest. Elodie's project involved documenting artefacts found in the out-houses, composing an installation of object and owner in a hanging box in the garden (see photos). Janine collected up all the chairs (many and various) from the buildings and set about animating them into a heap escaping the house from windows and doors (see photos). As we talked about what we were doing some central ideas became apparent- those of organising objects and the history of objects/ possessions. From these beginnings we were able to identify a common ground and the central concerns of taxonomy and lineage.