22 Steps - A National Trust Exhibition From Little Acorns: Art Inspired by Sissinghurst

Image Credit: Ylanite Koppens via Pexels

Some people enjoy Social Media, but I'm not one of them. However, it was Instagram that led me to this opportunity. Having a profile and following other writers, publishers and areas that interest you is instant exposure to many opportunities to get your writing out there.

In the summer of 2022, the National Trust used Instagram to invite applications for an artist residency day in the Gazebo at Sissinghurst Castle and Gardens. The history of Sissinghurst has always appealed to me, with the Bloomsbury Group and Virginia Woolf being part of the stories hidden in the walls. 

At this time, multimodal art was a prominent feature in my Post-Digital module, and it was something I wanted to explore further for this opportunity. I decided to invite friends of mine, The Postman artists and musician Cloud Signals Music, to collaborate on whatever creation I came up with in the Gazebo. 

22 Steps started with me counting the tower steps up to Vita's writing room. Looking at the creativity hidden in the walls, it celebrates the freedom of art and love. The history of the gardens at Sissinghurst mentions that the planting choices made by Vita and Harold were unconventional; this resonated with me - it felt intertwined with their modern lives and inspired the underlying themes of equality and gender.

"22 Steps is a homage to the artistic freedom and expression celebrated by Vita & Harold."

When I arrived for my day in the Gazebo, I started with photography. Teaming up with The Postman, the camera helped me focus on the planting, the different areas and why it might have been viewed as eccentric. The images became an important visual for the written piece, so I used them to create a video and turn the written words into spoken ones. The recording felt rhythmic, and at the final editing stage, Cloud Signals added the music and bird song, creating a complete sound experience. As the layers came together, the piece took on an immersive form using the QR code embedded in a brick in the physical art by The Postman - creating a multimodal piece of art. 

Click here to find out more about the exhibition on the National Trust website.

The exhibition is running from Saturday 21 January 2023 to Sunday 19 March 2023 at Sissinghurst Castle Garden, Kent UK.

By Jax Purchase
Instagram: @jax.p.writes
Website: www.jaxwrites.co.uk

Edited by Eoin Murray