Grounding

This is an on-going research and development project to explore the slow act of walking, thinking, observing, and making can lead to creative responses and new ways of thinking about place.

Phase one of this project has focused on the Fylde coast. Two artists Tina Dempsey and Tracy Hill shared walking journeys between May and Dec 2023 documenting conversations, collating fieldnotes and recording sounds, colours, and thoughts as part of their wider investigation into the invisible energies and stories which shape our understanding of the Fylde coast with a particular focus on Blackpool.

Commissioned by The Grundy Art Gallery this project has provided a unique opportunity for exchange and collaboration between different disciplinary fields connecting with HM Coastguard, the National Coast watch Institution (NCI), Sally Pointer an expert in reconstructive heritage and experimental archaeology, geologist Trevor Lund specialising in coastal processes and protection works and a guided walk with the RNLI.
Focused shared walking journey’s enabled the artists to explore ideas and new ways of making, responding to ways of knowing, seeing, sensing and living on the coast.

The slow act of thinking through making explores conversations and observations captured during walking, providing the beginnings of a new body of work.