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.

2008-06-09T20:43:00.006+01:00

9th June 2008. Residency day 17

Our eldest son came with us today as an assistant, there was no school. The day started off pretty bad, we overslept, and had to go and get a punctured tire fixed on our car.

When we tried attaching the beams we couldn't get a good bond, we thought that it would be straight forward and its a nightmare.

By the end of the day we had managed to find a way and have now attached over half of the exterior beams.

It was really good to work with our son, he is our harshest critic! He didn't like the thatch.

Images courtesy of Phoenix Coulson-Johnson.

2008-06-09T01:28:00.004+01:00

5th June 2008. Residency day 16

We did an extra day this week, we are becoming increasing aware how fast time is passing on this residency. We are thinking of doing up to four a days a week on the project during this final phase.

We spent the day replacing the beams and trying the fit the exterior corner mock beams, which have to bed around the caravan.

We are just starting to feel at home and soon we have to leave. We found out today that we have received the funding for MOVEMENT our project space. So after this residency we will be plunged into renovations, dealing with the building contracts, and beginning MOVEMENT projects.

We were looking through our sketch books and found this old drawing of a freight container cottage, from 2004.

2008-06-09T01:20:00.003+01:00

3rd June 2008. Residency day 15

Found 16 four leaf clovers today in the park near to the house of Yoke and Zoom.

Only one of us went in because our middle son was sick.

Worked on the roof and pulled out one of the panels inside the cottage to reveal a rotten beam.

Got sent a review on the project.

http://sites.a-n.co.uk/interface/reviews/single/436650

2008-06-02T23:59:00.006+01:00

2nd June 2008. Residency day 14

We dind't go into Walsall last week because it was half term, and it rained all week.

Its good to be back in the cottage. On our way into Walsall this morning, we got stuck in at least 7 sets of roadworks. It took over 2 hours, so we were late.

We met KADN who we have been sharing the foyer with.

We thatched the roof today. Thanks to Dean the technician, who worked with us to fix the thatch mats to the lattice frame that he had made for the cottage. The thatch mats fit really well and only need to be cut down a bit at each end. We are weighing the thatch down for a week to hold its shape on the roof.

We painted the walls inside, they were covered in carpet before and we couldn't get all the carpet tape off them.

Thanks to Nat Pitt for these Tudor Roses.

2008-05-20T23:57:00.006+01:00

2oth May- Residency day 13.

We hired a van and drove hundreds of miles to collect the thatch. We journeyed from Worcestershire to Devon. On the way we saw a concrete football- a Yoke and Zoom legend.

When we had collected the thatch from near the Blackdown Hills, we headed back up the M5, up to the Black Country where we dropped it off into our studio(above).

Headed back to Worcestershire to get home for our tea.

*During our residency we have have spotted two local shops that have a Tudor title. Tudor Hardware and Tudor Employment.

2008-05-19T23:22:00.005+01:00

19th May- Residency Day 12

The gallery is closed on a Monday, so we get to do alot of our practical work. Sanding the floor and trying to strip carpet tape of the interior walls, the cottage stank of white spirit, it was a bit intense in there all day.

Thinking about coupling and the male/female aspect of the mobile cottage and its tow vehicle.

We found a great manual that has some really good illustrations from the eighties, all about caravans-

Happy camper.

2008-05-18T23:41:00.001+01:00

13th May- Residency day 11

Had a research day.

Drew a picture of a caravan with wings like pegasus. Thats how we felt in the bluebird when we got together all those years ago, before the fire. Before we became Yoke and Zoom. Levitation.

Read up on Durer and Marcus Coates in the library.

Ordered the thatch for the roof.

Won 15.00 on a scratch card. That paid for lunch.

Overnight one of the faux beams has come off, working out what is the best way to do this.

2008-05-13T14:05:00.005+01:00

12th May 2008. Day 10

Yesterday, we found 35 four leaf clovers in our local park.

Today was our first day of practical work on the trailer- The technicians vhave made a lattice frame for the thatch roof. Its a big weight of my mind.

We sanded the floorboards in the cottage and put up two beams- one of which fell off overnight. The No More Nails isnt working on the cottage walls. We are thinking of different methods. It is difficult working on a project in such an open space over a period of time, we are showing the work at every unfinished stage. There is not the comfort of being able to make mistakes in private. The public foyer is now our workshop and we are very aware of the mess we make and how we have to tone down our behavior-

In the interior we are going to produce a cottage survival kit, including guest book, toilet roll, spade, teabags, coffee, water butt, and all other essentials needed when using the cottage.

When we got home I (Zoom) had a headache from using a sander all day whilst standing on the floorboards i was sanding, it was like using a pnuematic drill.

2008-05-09T23:59:00.002+01:00

2008-05-09T14:40:00.003+01:00

7th May- Residency day 9.

Alex found 20p on the floor in Woolworths, then 1p on the floor by the New Art Gallery, Walsall- thats 21 days good luck.

Realised we had left the gas bottle in the cottage- so got that shifted quick!

Decided to make a shelter kit for occupants of the cottage to use.

We have already started booking where it will be touring, ideas include taking it to Vienna towed behind a space shuttle, andvisiting the grounds of a stately home during the meadow galleries Shelter show, next year.

2008-05-09T12:26:00.001+01:00

May 6th 2008- Residency day 8

Bank holiday- so we had the day off.

2008-04-30T23:50:00.001+01:00

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.

2008-04-29T23:02:00.019+01:00

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.

2008-04-29T01:14:00.011+01:00

Residency day 5 continued, 28th April 2008.

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

2008-04-28T12:20:00.003+01:00

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.

2008-04-23T01:19:00.000+01:00

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.

2008-04-21T20:48:00.002+01:00

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

2008-04-20T22:20:00.000+01:00

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.