Field (Portishead). The Folk Hall, Portishead. 2023.
Field, consisting of 27,000 cast plaster limpet shells, was an installation that took place in Portishead over 23rd and 24th September 2023. Visitors were invited to choose and pick up a shell from the installation to take away with them. Over the duration of the installation the artwork became dispersed in and looked after by the community.
Each shell was accompanied by a certificate of authenticity stamped #PORTISFIELD. The hashtag serves to distinguish the Portishead Field from other Field works by Hamish Young and is a way for visitors to share what happened to the installation shells after they were taken away. It is a way to keep the individuals connected to the whole.
Field, consisting of 27,000 cast plaster limpet shells, was an installation that took place in Portishead over 23rd and 24th September 2023. Visitors were invited to choose and pick up a shell from the installation to take away with them. Over the duration of the installation the artwork became dispersed in and looked after by the community.
Each shell was accompanied by a certificate of authenticity stamped #PORTISFIELD. The hashtag serves to distinguish the Portishead Field from other Field works by Hamish Young and is a way for visitors to share what happened to the installation shells after they were taken away. It is a way to keep the individuals connected to the whole.
Field (Wells). Paper on porcelain. Wells Cathedral. 2023.
Four shells (one found object and three made). Found object and water colour on cast paper. Wells Cathedral. 2021.
During the exhibition, the found element (the 'real' shell) in this installation was taken. It was an uninvited, but intriguing intervention by a member of the public. Why did someone take that one? and not one of the painted ones? They took the one that I myself had removed from the beach, rather than the ones that I had made. In discussion with the Wells installation curator we agreed to place the following additional text alongside the work.
The story of 'Four Shells (One found object and three made)'
"You look so much like your father" I remember friends of my adoptive parents saying. I never really knew what to do with that comment. How could this found object (me) look like this other unrelated object (my adoptive dad)?
Was that comment intended as reassurance that I was a 'good' fit? Was it indicative of the secrecy often surrounding adoption, particularly in the1970s, that no one would notice? Or was it intended to highlight that I am not, in fact, my dad's biological son?
You have to look hard at these shells to spot the real shell from the those that are made from paper and painted with watercolour. It may take a little time. But you can spot it.
Recently, however, the found object was removed from here without permission. The made objects were left where they were. I'm reminded of those feelings of loss and abandonment that have followed me as an adoptee, of being removed without my consent, of being a found object.
I wonder where that shell is, if it is ok and I wonder about reunion. I wonder about all those who are currently experiencing displacement in the world, if they are safe and I wonder about reunion.
I heard a kindly story of someone who was so moved by this that they felt they wanted to leave a shell that they happened to have in their pocket with my work. They grappled with that decision, but couldn’t quite bring themselves to part with it. The power of the object.
The story of 'Four Shells (One found object and three made)'
"You look so much like your father" I remember friends of my adoptive parents saying. I never really knew what to do with that comment. How could this found object (me) look like this other unrelated object (my adoptive dad)?
Was that comment intended as reassurance that I was a 'good' fit? Was it indicative of the secrecy often surrounding adoption, particularly in the1970s, that no one would notice? Or was it intended to highlight that I am not, in fact, my dad's biological son?
You have to look hard at these shells to spot the real shell from the those that are made from paper and painted with watercolour. It may take a little time. But you can spot it.
Recently, however, the found object was removed from here without permission. The made objects were left where they were. I'm reminded of those feelings of loss and abandonment that have followed me as an adoptee, of being removed without my consent, of being a found object.
I wonder where that shell is, if it is ok and I wonder about reunion. I wonder about all those who are currently experiencing displacement in the world, if they are safe and I wonder about reunion.
I heard a kindly story of someone who was so moved by this that they felt they wanted to leave a shell that they happened to have in their pocket with my work. They grappled with that decision, but couldn’t quite bring themselves to part with it. The power of the object.