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Merz Barn

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Kurt Schwitters last Merzbau, Langdale Valley. Profile managed by @laingtateart & @catrionart

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Throwback to ‘Gigantic Pile’ at the Merz Barn in the Lake District 2022, @merzbarn 🪱 @as.old.as.the.hills @catrionart

As artist in residence at the Merz Barn I explored the landscape, walking the hills and mountains, learning about soil ecology and discovering residue of human activity. Abandoned quarry mines carved out of the mountains, trees cleared for cattle chewed landscapes and over trodden footpaths, an altered picture of what nature once was. There are hardly any truly ‘wild places’ anymore. The Merz Barn offered a refuge, a nature reserve allowed to grow wild again over what had once been a post-industrial landscape on Cylinders estate. Sharing these photos in anticipation of a residency I will take part in ‘this summer ‘As Old as the Hills’ exploring reconnection with nature. @as.old.as.the.hills

Living in the city I often feel both disconnected and connected to nature- we are surrounded by a synthetic environment as a human-made landscape. I see slippages as weeds and lichens grow around and back between the concrete cracks, moss spores latch onto bricks, tree roots undulate beneath the tarmac pavement, a persistent rewilding of the city. When I return to nature I reset my mind and my body, like plunging into cold water and resurfacing. ‘the experience of landscapes can give people a sense of bigness outside of themselves that has now somehow been lost’

Amazing photos by @tell_your_story_walking 📸 #artistresidency #asoldasthehills #landart #sculpture #merzbarn @zigzagglastonbury #artandenvironment #contemporaryart #wastematerials #sustainability #siteresponsive #installationart #sculpture #artincommunity
#communityartproject #contemporarysculpture #royalsculptors #catrionarobertson by @merzbarn

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2 years ago

We were very sorry to hear of the passing of Ian Hunter, Director of Littoral Arts and the Merz Barn in Langdale.

Anyone who met or worked with Ian knows just how passionate, energetic and dedicated he was to celebrating the life and work of Kurt Schwitters.

Ian endeavoured to preserve the Merz Barn as an artist-led space, where artists could reconnect with nature away from the city. He placed huge importance on sharing through creativity and collaborated with a whole range of artists over the years, always respecting the integrity of the environment at Cylinders Estate.

A memorial event will be held for Ian in Windermere in the Summer. Details to be announced.

Rest in peace Ian.

Signed,
Cat, Millie and the Merz Society

• Pictured is Ian in the Merz Barn, on the eve of opening the KS75 exhibition last summer taken in Merz Barn by @merzbarn

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4 years ago

‘ If a tree falls in the forest’

#contemporarysculpture #sculpture #woodlands #concrete #metalsculpture by @merzbarn

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4 years ago

It’s the last week to see ‘Gigantic Pile’ buried in the woodland at the Merz Barn, after which their doors will be closed to the public. @merzbarn

This land is prone to scaring as traces of past human activity are unearthed.
Like much of the local area in the Lake District, Cylinders Estate has suffered significant storm damage. Trees uprooted overnight, torn out of the ground and enormous trunks snapped like spindly twigs.
Larch in the area have become diseased and the local council insisted that all those infected should be cut down. About 100 years ago, the forest was cleared for industrial activity and the production of gunpowder, and landscapes cleared for cattle and sheep farming over the years has left the earth exposed. Without the elder trees providing stable rooting and resilience to disease for younger trees, the nutrients in the soil have been altered, resulting in both the trees and earth becoming increasingly vulnerable. Erosion caused by agricultural activity, bare landscapes and the spraying of fertilisers to omit unwanted native plants has led to weakened soil systems and flooding. As roots cling to crumbling dirt, these sculptures are a monument, but also as a symbol for rejuvenating ecosystems.

Open every day until 27th November 10-5.30pm

The Merz Barn will close its doors to the public after this. This is your last chance !

The Merz Barn, Lake District , Elterwater.

Photos by @tell_your_story_walking

#merzbarn #publicsculpture #contemporarysculpture #lakedistrict #kurtschwitters #royalsocietyofsculptors by @merzbarn

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4 years ago

Extended until 27th November, Daniel Ibbotson’s contemporary sculpture nestled in the woods echoes the ‘Grosse Merz-säule , the Large Merz Column by Kurt Schwitters.’ (1925-37) and his architectural collage - the Merz Bau, using fragments of detritus materials.

Ibbotson has collected what others have discarded, recycled waste timber, car crash debris, buckets, bicycle wheels, odd shoes, combined with organic materials, stones, and tree bark to form a constructed collage that is forever transforming. His continuous process of construction , deconstruction and reconstruction is integral to the work, where layering of paint surfaces erode, and reveal fragments of past relics that become a whole when combined. As if grown out of the ground from waste material this column highlights human disruptions that will eventually be reclaimed by nature.

Last opportunity to see public sculpture by the talented @danielibbotsonartist before the closure of the Merz Barn Project.

Merz Barn is open to visitors until 27th November
Open daily 10-5.30

Merz Barn, Cylinders Estate, Langdale, Ambleside LA22 9JB

Free entry @merzbarn

#kurtschwitters #kurtschwittersinspired #merz #merzaesthetics #abstractart #publicsculpture #sculpture #landscape#recycledart #recycledartwork #ecc_italy #ukartists #contemporarypainting #contemporarysculpture taken in Merz Barn by @merzbarn

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4 years ago

Very pleased to announce that I am the winner of the Royal Society of Sculptors Benson-Sedgwick Residency 🎉Thank you so much !

During the residency I will have the opportunity to develop new work at their Metal Fabrication workshop, using scrap material and learning from the experienced Engineers who collaborate with artists, design, sculpture, architecture..and more!
There’s something really empowering about being a female metalworker 💪 and I’m really excited to have this freedom of experimentation in a workshop environment supported by Benson Sedgwick.

Images:
‘GIGANTIC PILE’
It’s the last month to catch my sculpture currently on show at the Merz Barn in the Lake District as part of KS75. The exhibition has been extended until the 27th November 🪱Open to the public daily 10-5.30pm @merzbarn .

Reclaimed Corrugated metal, timber, plywood , cast paper-concrete

Dimensions : gigantic

Watch out for exciting things over the coming year 👀🪱

Photos by @tell_your_story_walking and @laingtateart August 2022

Thank you so much #royalsocietyofsculptors #merzbarn @royal_sculptors
@bensonsedgwick

#contemporarysculpture
#artistresidence
#gilbertbayesaward
#gba
#gba2022 #contemporaryart #contemporarysculpture #publicsculpture #lakedistrict #merzbarn #bensonsedgwick by @merzbarn

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4 years ago

Posted @withregram • @laingtateart
☀️
'Fir-cloud (a roarie-bummler)'
Summer 2022 @merzbarn
So long Stumpy 🥲
~
Here's a snippet about the work… Was a pleasure to help Stumpy sing out :)

Despite the ordeals it has faced, this particular fir tree Stump still seems to be holding out hope, searching for the sun. Angled up towards the gap in the canopy, Stump looks up to the sky, in conversation with clouds as they float past.

Like the moment of a splash or a billowing storm-cloud, Stump’s surface appears at once liquid and gaseous despite its obvious wooden solidity, as though the only thing containing its patterned innards is the curvy bark lining wrapping around its edge.

When light beams through neighbouring trees, the shadows cast by their leaves reach down to play. Choreographed by the wind, they start to dance around on Stump’s surface, shimmering and flickering atop the grain.

On a dull flat day when the sun is overcast by grey, Stump follows suit and stays dormant, patiently waiting to be reinvigorated once the light breaks through. taken in Merz Barn by @merzbarn

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4 years ago

🪱🪱🪱
I’ve been artist in residence at the Merz Barn for the last month building a gargantuan worm buried in the woodlands.
As trees came down during storms earlier in the year, they created cavities in the ground. My sculptures grow in and out of these excavation sites, uprooted, entangled in soils and rock unearthing a human made geology.

‘Gigantic Pile’
Reclaimed Corrugated steel, paper-concrete , timber, plywood. A special thanks to @splintershilife and David Middleton for all the amazing help installing 🙏💪

As part of KS75 curated by Ian Hunter , Celia Larner and @laingtateart , supported by the Littoral Trust. Come and visit if you find yourself in the Lake District ☀️🗻

July - November 2022

Merz Barn
Cylinders Estate
Langdale

#KS75 #kurtschwitters #lakedistrict #exhibition #kunst #artexhibition #openingevent #sculpture #contemporarysculpture #publicsculpture #concrete #merzbarn @merzbarn #royalsculptors #metalsculpture #womenmakers #womensculptors #artist #contemporaryart #royalsocietyofsculptors #bensonsedgwick by @merzbarn

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4 years ago

‘Ursonate Mauer’, by Millie Laing-Tate @laingtateart , with guidance from Ian Hunter 🪨
~~~
Howdy, Millie here!
Today marked the ‘completion’ of my drystone wall intervention at Cylinders Estate. Here’s an excerpt about my ideas behind the work, which has been an absolute pleasure to make 😊😊😊

The ‘Top Field Wall’ here at Cylinders Estate is made using the drystone walling technique, which is widely used throughout the Lake District. As the roots of the oak tree growing behind this section of the wall get pulled around in turbulent weather, the stones start to shift and become unbalanced. Eventually they fall in again, waiting to be rebuilt into their next configuration.

For me, the idea of an ‘elastic’, transient wall connects in many ways to Schwitters’ use of language, especially in his work: Ursonate (1922-32). An amalgam of poem, music and performance, the Ursonate is about the dissolution of language into its molecular entities. Like the Merz Barn, the Ursonate was built by the collaging together of fragments which in this case culminated in a vision of sounds, directly relating to the techniques he used when building his structures.  “My aim is the Merz composite work of art, that embraces all branches of art in an artistic unit.”… “The parts of the set move and change, and the set lives its life.” – Kurt Schwitters

In my sculptural reinterpretation ‘Ursonate Mauer’, the process of rebuilding and reconstructing is the most fundamental part of the work. It has given me the chance to introduce Schwitter’s ‘Ursonate’ to the landscape on a physical and geological level, with the Langdale Pikes watching on from across the valley. Only when the structure inevitably falls in again, will the poem be aired and potentially found. Although perhaps by then the fabric will have been eroded by moisture, swept aside by a fluffy tail or blown off by the wind – completely absorbed by the land.

❗️KS75 IS OPEN UNTIL END OF OCTOBER❗️Come along and check it out 😀

#kurtschwitters#merzbarn#sculpture#art#dada#ursonate#wall#langdalevalley#language#landscape#exhibitonopen taken in Merz Barn by @merzbarn

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4 years ago

🔻KS75 is officially OPEN🔺
And we are so excited to share it all with you! Here are a few sneak peeks of just some of the exciting things that have been materialising over these last few weeks, months, and years…!
~ On site you will find all kinds of art, and the culmination of an extraordinary body of work by the equally extraordinary (and incredibly ambitious) Ian Hunter and Celia Larner. The project has been curated by Ian Hunter and Millie Laing-Tate (@laingtateart).
~ The exhibition is free and open daily from 10-5pm. Continues until 16 October 2022.
📸 Pictured here are details of works by:
3. Merz Frauen Collective
4. @danielibbotsonartist
5 + 6. @laingtateart
7. @catrionart
8. @fiskedada
9. Children of Langdale Primary School, in collaboration with @thelaalcollective taken in Merz Barn by @merzbarn

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4 years ago

Daniel Ibbotson at work on his outdoor public sculpture installation ‘Whisstur - Trek - Leemarzu’ @danielibbotsonartist

The exhibition at the Merz Barn Project

Opening this Saturday 30th July 2022

Join us From 2pm for events, performances and speeches , link to free tickets in bio 👆

Merz Barn
Cylinders Estate
Langdale

Opening Event: 30th July from 12-10pm

Open until 16th October 2022

Open daily 10-6pm

#KS75 #kurtschwitters #lakedistrict #exhibition #kunst #artexhibition #openingevent #collage #sculpture #contemporarypainting taken in Merz Barn by @merzbarn

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4 years ago

❗️ALL STATIONS GO❗️
KS75 opens this time next week, yippeeee!
It’s been all hands on deck here at @merzbarn with ideas popping out all over the place, and now everything is unfolding in true MERZ style 🌪🌪🌪
We are very excited to welcome you next Saturday 30th July from 2pm onwards, for a day of celebration, reflection and a touch of madness 🤪
See you then!

#merz#merzbarn#kurtschwitters#art#landscape#creativity#fun#chaos#ks75#langdalevalley#lakedistrict#openingsoon taken in Merz Barn by @merzbarn

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