yoke and zoom

2009-07-07T14:23:00.001+01:00

Mobile cottage at Tate Modern Long Weekend with the House of Fairytales

2009-05-22T01:22:00.002+01:00

Mobile cottage at Tate Modern Long Weekend with the House of Fairytales

Come and have a chat and we will peddle you a clover, in our mock provera tudor style. We will arrive at Tate on 22nd and 23rd May 2009, then off to Shropshire to Attingham Park, a national Trust property host to the "Give me shelter " exhibition, organised by Meadow Arts.

So excited, Alex and Phoenixwill tow the cottage and I will meet them in London.

Yoke and Zoom mobile cottage with the house of fairytales, zoo art fair. Burlington Gardens. London W1

2008-10-20T12:03:00.027+01:00

Sunday 19th Oct 2008.

We got up around 5.30 to take the mobile cottage to meet up with the Deborah Curtis and Gavin Turk's House of Fairytales at Zoo Art Fair, Royal Academy of Art, Burlington Gardens, London.

At first the cottage was really pulling on the car and we were worried that we would be too slow for the hills on the M40 into London. Closer to Oxford, the cottage seemed to loosen up a bit and started towing well, so we drove ahead onto the M40 and into London. It was surreal driving in and across West London with a tudor cottage behind us. We were happy to be exposing it to many different types of architecture as its temporary neighbors when we stopped at lights or jams.

When we arrived at Zoo, The house of fairytales couldn't stop the horseboxes engine from running, even though the keys were out. Gavin Turk got under the truck and tried to disconnect the battery. We washed the mud off the cottage with spring water we had collected from the hills.

We drove the cottage round the block and into its place.

Inside the cottage we collected stories from people about four leaf clovers and their experiences of looking for them, sometimes finding them, often not. Many people told us how they had been told by their mother or grandmother to look for one. We posted the stories onto the wall of the cottage alongside others we had collected at Cell project space in 2005. The amount built up over the day.

Thanks to Sally Lemsford and Sveta Stamenkovic for assisting us throughout the day. Sally for her great selection, thoughtfulness and hospitality and Sveta for his dry humour and stunning photographs.

artworks hung in a horsebox, a tudorized caravan crammed full of people fascinated by 4 leaf clovers, a workshop in the gutter, real live snakes and a puppet show of sorts. Back to the cottage... I was in my element inviting people in to share personal stories, draw pictures on postits, laugh, discuss the serious issue of marriage superstitions and breast feed even hide! Sally Lemsford 2008.

We opened the cottage up to anyone who wanted to come in.It was a place to sit down, to talk, to swap stories, to feed babies and to hide. It was used by the Zoo staff and by fair goers, curators, artists, and people walking by. We couldnt offer tea because both us and the house of fairytales had run out of gas.

We put four leaf clover clones in 7 stands on the art fair for people to hunt for or stumble upon, thankyou to:

ICA, London
Riflemakers, London
MOT International, London
Eastside projects, Birmingham
Brown,London
Workplace Gallery, Gateshead
Blancpain Art Contemporain, Geneva

So people did actually finf=d them and come to us to find out more.

If we met people who were single we offered them a four leaf clover to put in their right shoe, according to folklore, if you do so you wil marry the next eligible person you meet.

Piff the magic dradon, House of Fairytales, studying four leaf clover clone.

Workshops happened in the gutter and around the grand pillars.

We left at 7pm and returned home at Midnight.Thanks to the House of Fairytales for their open ended approach to the project and their generosity in allowing us to get involved so last minute!

yoke and zoom to take the cottage to zoo art fair with the house of fairytales

2008-10-14T12:06:00.002+01:00

on sunday the 19th oct 2008. The mobile cottage will visit zoo art fair

yoke and zoom sleepover in the mobile cottage

2008-10-14T12:05:00.002+01:00

one night during late august Alex slept in the mobile cottage at cherry cottage. He had a good nights rest.....

Phase 2. Post residency. The return from The Big Chill.

2008-08-06T10:36:00.002+01:00

4th Aug 2008.

2008-08-05T13:51:00.007+01:00

Phase 2. Post residency.
1-3rd Aug 2008.The Big Chill

We really enjoyed bringing the mobile cottage to the big chill. We had a fantastic view over the whole site and the cottage had alot of space around it. It was interesting to live in the cottage for a few days and to be able to run through the daily routines of cooking, cleaning, sleeping, chatting,playing, etc, inside an artwork.

Lots of people visited the cottage, including a group of fake morris dancers and the big hairy bikers who filmed by the cottage. Living back in a vehicle was a reminder of the 4 years Yoke and Zoom spent living in vintage caravans.

images by Kirsty Isserlis....

Images by Mander Graham

Images by Rachel Johnson

Images by Nathaniel Pitt

The Big Chill set up

2008-08-05T01:32:00.002+01:00

Phase 2. Post residency.

31st July 2008.

Yoke and Zoom were assisted by Ali Blake and Phoenix and Storm Coulson-Johnson, put bunting up, further kitted out the cottage.

2008-08-05T00:29:00.006+01:00

Phase 2. Post residency.

30th July 2008.The Big Chill.Eastnor Deer Park, Malvern Hills.

Towed the mobile cottage into the big chill, assisted by Phoenix Coulson- Johnson. Got a great spot on the top of the hill looking over the whole site.Tried to get the essentials in, Gas / Water / bedding/survival kit, before vehicles are banned from the site.

Straight forward tow- 45 minutes. No problems except for the side windows being loose.

2008-07-29T01:33:00.004+01:00

Phase 2. Post residency.

28th July 2008.

In typical yoke and zoom last minute style, we have got the mobile cottage into the big chill art trail. Its really close to where we live- just around the hill. So we are preparing the cottage for its new environment.

We havent visited the cottage for a few weeks, so we are looking forward to spending some time in residency at the cottage in the beautiful grounds of Eastnor Castle. Herefordshire.

We have still got alot to write about the residency but we need to process it first.

We will be in residency between the 30th July and 4th August.

2008-07-09T02:13:00.005+01:00

8th july 2008.

residency completed. went to level the cottage, tested how easily the beds are to assemble.

It is really interesting to bring the cottage back to where it started from after it has been through such a profoundly different experience. We are aware that we have created a new chapter in its history.

2008-07-09T01:16:00.011+01:00

7th July 2008. Residency day 31. The big move

Got all of our stuff out of the studio, took the thatch off and moved the cottage out of Walsall.

2008-07-07T23:51:00.010+01:00

5th July 2008. Residency day 30

The second tea party....we got up at midnight and made 150 scones.
the weather was bad, rain all day. So we held the party inside in the foyer. Which was very different because it had become a private space within the public gallery and now it was to become public too. It was much darker inside and therefore more intimate, the advantage of having the party inside was that the wind dint blow everything off the table and more people came in.

We love providing food for people.

2008-07-07T23:44:00.003+01:00

July 2008. Residency day 29

both went in to do the finishing touches before the last tea party.

this is a place we drive past, a miniature cottage in worcestershire.

2008-07-04T00:48:00.003+01:00

3rd July 2008. Residency day 28

Just one of us went in. Added the last beams, tidied the studio ready to move on. We want to try to get some drawings done tomorrow.

Tonight our drawing of the winged mobile cottage is being shown at G39 in Cardiff.

2008-07-02T10:03:00.026+01:00

1st July 2008. Residency day 27

The first tea party. Pictures courtesy of yoke and zoom, Victoria Skelding, Alice Wright, Bill Andrews.

The hottest day of the year. It was great to get the cottage out into the sunshine. It felt like giving birth.We made 100 scones, and about 60 were eaten.

More text to follow....

Images courtesy of Alice Wright

Images courtesy of yoke and zoom!

Image courtesy of Bill Andrews

Images courtesy of Victoria Skelding

Images courtesy of yoke and zoom!

New Images courtesy of Zoe Mckeeman (more to follow)

2008-06-30T22:32:00.012+01:00

30th June 2008. Residency day 26

Today really was to tie up loose ends. The cushions fit perfectly, the inside is looking smart. I cant believe it compared to the way it was last summer when we slept in it. Then there was bad fitting foam cushions to make up the bed, they used to stick to the old carpet tape on the wall and rip. Now, it is looking so homely.But, it also feels so kind of over cutesy. So olde English.

Went out bought the jam and cream and ingredients for scones.Fixed thatch bundles to the roof, painted the gables black, attached the window box. Sorted insurance, bought a hairnet and new baking trays.

We are going to make our cottage into a public space. We have decided to organise the tea party in a speed dating fashion, so with one minute changeovers, we can have 10 pairs visiting the cottage an hour, 5 minutes each inside with tea and scones. Thats 20 scones per hour.

2008-06-30T21:55:00.002+01:00

28th June 2008. Residency day 25

Sunday went into Walsall with my Dad.
more work on the beams - don't know when they'll be finished.
Dad had a wander round the town and a welcome sit down on the leather couch in the studio.

had lunch at Wetherspoons which is an old cinema /theatre. you have to walk down into the old orhestra pit to get to the bar. Sat in a snug where we saw a photo of "Epstein and friend" and a barmy portrait of Epstein by Augustus John.

nipping back to the gallery in the rain I walked thro the bus station. A glazed circular flat-roofed building with holes cut out of the canopy. it looks 70s Sci-fi though it was probably built in 80s or 90's.

had some really good responses today for the cottage and enjoyed
the slower Sunday pace of the gallery. Didn't quite finish the beams
but have to really concentrate on the thatched roof tomorrow.

2008-06-27T22:59:00.003+01:00

27th June 2008. Residency day 24

Did our 4th day this week,things are starting to come together.

It as about an hour and a half to two hours drive each way. We have been getting really tired of driving it because there have been so many road works. One town we drive through is Sedgley and its traffic is usually really snared up, so we have been thinking of routes to avoid it but cant find any. Last night, we found out that Alex's Grandma lived there as a child, around 1910. So today we saw it in a new light, maybe thats why we couldn't avoid it.

There were two significant happenings on todays journey:

1) i am sure i saw a ghost, at a junction, i looked over the road and saw a woman, wearing a sage coat, white hair, moving quite fast, then it appeared to change like a transition on a video and she dissappeared, i looked all around but there was nowhere she could have gone. I got the shudders and goosepimples. The Stourbridge Specter had spooked me.

2)We saw a burnt out tractor on the back of lorry, it was the image of rural decline. it conjured Images of a mad farmer setting it alight in pure desperation at the state of the industry, or of a couple of vigilantes or townies burning it down during a vandalism spree in the countryside.

Absolute inspiration. We wish we had turned around and tried to find out where it was going or had a decent camera to take a picture of it. We both said at the same time that we would love to put it in a gallery just as it was. But like our split village hall, it just isn't possible. The art world is so future planned that it is impossible to just rescue a large object and use it. Unless you have a big bit of space or are extremely well connected.

We got the cushions back from being fixed, plus we picked up the covers- put that together but we need to make adjustments after the tea party.

Fixed the interior walls, Mike, the technician, made us a window box.

Getting loads of ideas for works.

2008-06-27T22:58:00.001+01:00

26th June 2008. Residency day 23

This our our 3rd day working on it this week, we are going to put in extra days until it is ready for the tea party. Produced a user manual for the cottage.

The cottage seems to be coming on really slowly, inside the walls are still not constructed, we still have to make a flower box, we still have beams to make and the roof to perfect. We have bought items for the cottages users.

This project has taken alot more work than i expected and we really wanted more time to think about our work- instead it has become mainly focused on production. I am really pleased that the caravan has been reconstructed in the open public space of the gallery foyer. It is really interesting to have actually brought this practice of caravan reconstruction into our work as yoke and zoom, previously it was very separate to our practice as artists.

As the residency has developed we have become less concerned with the fact that we are working in a very visible environment. Often the barriers are up- if we are using power tools or making a mess-

Sometimes, i find my self sat inside the cottage, working on something- like putting up the curtains, and someone looking in catches my eye- that is odd because i am not a performance artist and there is an awareness can you are working in a performative way.

It is like living in a very public environment in a protected space.

There is anticipation that something is being created that is emerging from the private to the public realm, as on the days of the tea party the cottage will itself become a public space.

2008-06-25T01:24:00.009+01:00

24th June 2008. Residency day 22

I found 1 four leaf clover and 1 seven leaf clover today, the seven leaf clover was a real gem- it was formed into a perfect front facing four leaf clover with a 3 leaf clover on top in reverse- like two plants had fused.

3 working days until our first Walsall tea party. This residency has gone so fast and there are loads of things we dint get a chance to do.

2008-06-25T01:21:00.006+01:00

23rd June 2008. Residency day 21

We worked on the beams, repainting the interior, damping the thatch, constructing the flower displays.

juneau projects were working in the foyer, putting up something in the window....

2008-06-24T21:50:00.002+01:00

17th June 2008. Residency day 20

Went to see kerry to get a quote for making covers for the new bed cushions.

Had a meeting with Vicky and Helen who organize the residency, to work out the logistics of the two tea parties we will be holding in July.

Did a load of work on the beams.

2008-06-17T00:31:00.010+01:00

16th June 2008. Residency day 19

This morning we brought our friend Sveta, he agreed to assist in putting up the corner beams and was also an official yoke and zoom mobile cottage photographer. Which we are glad of because he knows his cameras.

The cottage is beginning to look like something from a fairytale, like hansel and gretels cottage.

We have recently discovered an amount of rotten framework that we will have to replace. We still have alot to do and time is running out.

Tommorow we are having a meeting to plan the tea parties we will be having on the 1st and 5th July. We will make scones and serve tea. in the gallery square.

We have now added roes around the door and have selected a cariety of fake flowers for window boxes or a garden.

Images courtesy of Sveta Stamenkovic

Images courtesy of ourselves.

2008-06-10T21:08:00.006+01:00

10th June 2008. Residency day 18

Found one four leaf clover today, but earlier in the day we got a 30.00 parking ticket.

The cottage is beginning to take shape.