I have a passion for Industrial Archaeology, fuelled by my love of photography. I have been known to trespass in derelict buildings in search of a good shot. (1978, O level photography exam, theme disintegration; me: Woolwich Maternity Hospital which had just been abandoned- yards and yards of doors stacked in an alleyway, broken frosted glass, I loved it – now an unattractive block of flats). I use my camera as a note-taker, as well as an art tool.
I discovered The Old Vinyl Factory in Hayes through MVMNT cafe in Greenwich, which is owned by the same development company, and after a site visit (with camera of course) and a huge amount of support from Site Manager Jacqui Tudor (networker extraordinaire), organised to run a workshop there, through Hillingdon ArtsWeek.
I wanted to pull in the history of the site (EMI HQ from 1900’s) but actually it was the space and its uses, and the contrast between the clean white spaces of the refurbished buildings and the distressed, broken windowed, rooflessness of the yet to be refurbished that shaped the workshop.
We explored the site and the archive exhibition, and trod carefully around dead pigeons, discarded fire extinguishers and broken glass, writing as we went and paying particular attention to space and movement, to play around with kinesthetic language. We barely scraped the surface of the potential of the place. if you get a chance to look around, take it!
If you would like to find out more about our writing workshops please take a look here, where you can also sign up to be alerted to workshops booked near you. Or you can always ask us to book something specially, if you can provide participants!
© Cherry Potts/ Arachne Press 2013
