Wednesday, 30 April 2008

30th April, day 7

Got into Walsall at 11 ish - starting to find our way round the black country roads.half the ring road is dug up but managed to get thro diversion and found some free parking close to the gallery/saw our mate Jake at the desk waiting to have a meeting.

Black beams look great


talked to some local art students today who seemed interested in the project. showed them studio and trailer and they all went in - 4 at a time - and sat down. one really liked the smell!

at one point two sisters in their 60's knocked on the studio door and were telling us they were amazed to see the trailer downstairs as they remember their father owning one and told us they were brought up in trailers as they were showpeople. We chatted about airsteams and American trailers that her son had seen in Iowa.

Emailed a master thatcher about finials.


Tuesday, 29 April 2008

29th April- Residency day 6.

Late last night, I asked Alex if he thought the gallery would let us cook a fry up in the caravan while it is parked in the foyer, but he didnt hear me because he had fallen asleep.I love the idea of it though, maybe we could actually take up residence.

We both went into Walsall today,it was very interesting to see the cottage in such a new environment.

The mock half-timber beams have arrived as well. We spent the day working out if we have ordered enough, as we have made some adjustments to our original design.

It feels very small inside the caravan when it is inside the gallery, like being in a dolls house.You also feel a sense of privacy in a very public environment, like hiding in public space.

I have been thinking more about the roof, i would prefer to use plastic thatch because it will be more conceptually inline with the project, this is something we have to decide fast, so that we can order and build the structure.













Residency day 5 continued, 28th April 2008.

The tow into Walsall from Worcestershire.
Photographs courtesy of Adam Kay.










Monday, 28 April 2008

28th April 2008-Residency day 5.

The cottage arrived in the gallery around 8.45 am. A huge thankyou to our assistant Adam Kay for helping us to transport and install the cottage.

Wednesday, 23 April 2008

22nd April- residency day 4

We are exhausted by coach painting the cottage- but its just about ready to tow. It looks like a iced cake- its dazzling white. Or like a dolls house.

Monday, 21 April 2008

21 April 2008- residency day 3.

We spent the day
at Cherry Cottage painting the mobile cottage with a 3rd coat of coach paint, it is starting to look less patchy.

Conceptualizing about small mobile spaces and their romantic influence on Yoke and Zoom. Discussing the politics of living in the UK during the 'credit crunch'.

Thinking about finials: SATELLITE DISH OR CCTV CAMERA

Work identified on the interior: cover previously carpeted wall with yoke and zoom wallpaper, sand the floor,replace beading in some areas, cover bed cushions,make curtains.












Time for yoke and zoom coffee

Sunday, 20 April 2008


Mobile cottage industry by Yoke and Zoom, 2008.

Yoke and Zoom are artists in residence at the New Art Gallery, Walsall. Between the dates of April 14th and July 15th 2008.

During the residency at New Art Gallery, Walsall. Yoke and Zoom will produce Mobile Cottage Industry. This will take the form of the production of a small mobile cottage in the gallery foyer.

Yoke and Zoom will re-appropriate a 1957, 2 berth caravan bought on ebay, to create a black and white thatched cottage. The caravan, currently known as known as Penguin Cottage has travelled extensively throughout Europe with its previous owners.

We will add new features onto the exterior, including: removable thatch for the roof and permanent faux timber exterior beams. We will also make minor alterations to the interior. These add-ons will complement the caravan's original leaded windows, and transform penguin cottage into a genuine mock tudor idyll.

After the residency this mobile English cottage is ready to move to any location. Having the potential to park virtually anywhere and to be moved through many environments, the artwork becomes a mutable, recreational space and a provider of shelter.

Is the stability of the ideal home threatened by the possibility for sudden movement, or does this provide an example of a micro-utopian living situation that could be duplicated?

Simultaneously at home and away, the cottage questions the politics of home ownership, making its home in public space, both in rural and urban environments.

The cottage will be parked in the gallery foyer in anticipation of future touring.






During the residency we will be converting our 1957 Penguin caravan into a mock Tudor idyll.This is the cottage as it was, we have begun the residency period by re-painting the cottage.





Day 1. 14th April

We were on foot today- so we researched Tudor architecture in our local library.

Day 2. 15th April.

Our first day in Walsall,we were settled into our studio- this is such luxury, give keys, shown the facilities. Alex reads up on his Tudorism on the black leather sofa!

Really into the whole mock thing- thinking of lyrics to put to it:

We will We will Mock you.

We're gonna mock you.

Thinking on how to build the thatch onto the caravan, and whether to use plastic fake thatch or real thatch mats. We can't move penguin cottage into the gallery yet because the weather was bad and we ran out of coach paint. Waiting for a new order to arrive to get it painted and for the weather to clear up.