On 29th June- 2nd July 2012 I attended the
MEND*RS research symposium which was hosted in the various out-buildings of a
beautiful farm in Docker, South Cumbria. This event
was first ever large-scale gathering dedicated to mending in the UK, with a
series of events, publications and activist projects around mending. Visit the
MEND*RS website here.
The site at sunset on the first evening, and a handmade sign in situ on farm building
My contributions to the symposium included
hand-made signage for the site, a set of artist’s multiples in the form of ‘Helping
Hands’, both of which were created before the event to be installed on-site. Throughout the duration of the symposium I
worked to create the ‘MEND*RS toolkit’ which became an assemblage of practical &
usable materials gathered on site as a document of activity. More about the separate pieces of work
below:
 |
| The printed hands on canvas before being cut out to go their seperate ways |
Helping Hands
These were a series of life-size helping hands, carrying out
direct (mending) action. The images of working hands were taken from household repair
manuals of times gone by, and aimed to bring ideas of craftsmanship and mending
into the future to promote positive direct action and the idea of ‘leave this
place better than you found it’- a permaculture principle.
 |
| The collection of 12 Helping Hands |
 |
|
|
A Helping Hand at work to highlight an area in need of repair
|
The hands worked on-site wherever they were placed by visitors and participants
to highlight mending activity that needed to take place or were positioned to
highlight a completed repair job. The hands were distributed by participants at
the symposium and it was great to see the hands re-appear across various
locations on-site.
 |
| Repair needed on upholstery fabric of an old chair |
Some remained on-site: in the library (seen above), which also housed a selection of books that consituted the MEND*RS library
 |
| The Library |
One of the hands became a
gift to the farm’s resident mender & Folk musician Steve Grundy as a thanks
for the folk music, singing, & stories he offered, his lathe workshop demo and his friendliness.
I also enjoyed being shown his father’s signwriting set, (seen above, with one of his father's postcards)
I hope the remaining
helping hands will find equally suitable homes too.
I also intend to develop more of these ‘helping hands’ as
interventions to highlight areas in need of mending in various locations.
The signs I created were made from canvas scraps, natural
resin-based emulsion, emulsion paint, food colouring, natural beeswax, found
wool, & recycled paper. I was originally inspired by the MEND*RS theme and
made use of graphics of working hands (the same used for the Helping Hand
Artwork) taken from old DIY & repair manuals- in keeping with the MEND*RS
theme.
I enjoyed making and installing these. They fit in well on the
site too, amongst a patchwork of brick, stone, wood, and metal of the buildings
that have been functioning workshops and barns for many years.
The process of making these signs was a return to working with textiles
and some painting and printing methods I love. The stencilled lettering was created using
‘The Econasign Super Outfit’ sign writers set from 1928, which is always a
pleasure to use. I took the stencils on-site for people to have a go with too,
to create labels for the MEND*RS Toolkit...
THE MEND*RS TOOLKIT
The MEND*RS Toolkit was intended to
become assemblage of practical and usable materials, including
swatches, tools, index of artists, handwritten instructions & techniques, collected
on site to document the activity at the
MEND*RS Mending Research Symposium.
Contributions were invited from
all practitioners involved, resulting
with an assemblage of site-specific materials truly representative of the
mending activities that happened on site throughout the duration of the
symposium.
The box for the toolkit was completed on site and was created from a salvaged kitchen wall shelf and scrap ply wood, I created hinges using the left over canvas scraps from the sign-making.
I had intended to paint the whole toolkit black, however I did like the look of the scrap wood remaining on the outside, with pencil marks and notes from the making process. I am still debating whether or not to paint it black.
The toolkit also contains a hand bound booklet which is where the conributions were archived. Each contributor labelled, numbered and descibed the material along with any related processes and techniques.
Thank you
to everyone who took the time to contribute and archive their material. The
toolkit is still being compiled with some contributions to arrive by post.
Below: Contributions coming in (left to right)
tomof holland writing up his darning technique
MEND*R Jonnet Middleton
Steve from Flowering Elbow
The complete
toolkit and each individual item/materials with corresponding labels and info will
be photographed and mapped for an on-line version to exist. I hope the toolkit
will provide a visual & physical documentation of the 1st MEND*RS
symposium, that can become an accessible resource and archive of the activity that happened
there.
Some of the mending activity that became documented in the toolkit:
 |
| tomofholland reparing Jonnet's trainers with jute string & darning wool |
 |
| Clare Thomas' Rubbish Walk |
 |
| Resident Mender Steve Grundy in the workshop |
Unfortunately part of the MEND*RS site had been flooded the day
before the Symposium was due to start, due to the rainfall, and a cobbled yard 150
years old had been churned up and destroyed. In true MEND*RS style a group got together
to level the ground once the water had receded.
On a
personal level, the toolkit became a means of meeting individuals and
exchanging conversation & materials. It provided a great platform to meet
other menders and gain insight into their working practices and
methods of mending. The toolkit assemblage really shows the vast variety of
materials and processes being discussed and put into practice by many skilled
menders throughout the symposium. I will treasure it whist it remains in my
hands, however I am still thinking about where the completed toolkit should
reside and any suggestions would be welcomed.
I think I should also mention the amazing food that was
created in the MEND*RS kitchen, which fuelled the MEND*RS throughtout
the weekend- Thankyou!
And
we were treated to folk songs, music and antics each evening Thanks to
Bill Lloyd and Steve Grundy, amongst others & a gaint tea pot full
of local ale!
 |
| Old tools ready for the 'guess the tool' game |
 |
| This teapot was huge- picture doesn't do it justice |
I will be writing another follow-up
blog post about my personal experiences and thoughts about the MEND*RS Symposium,
and also look out the online version of the completed MEND*RS Toolkit within
the coming months.
