All Alone
Meadow Arts returned to Croft Castle to take up residence in the very special landscape of Fishpool Valley. This is a place with a spirit of its own, a set of qualities that makes it a favourite destination for many visitors and also those lucky enough to live nearby.
All Alone unfolded on two levels, an outdoor exhibition with sculpture and installations, and an ambitious online component that held the digital elements of some of the artworks in the valley, as well as artists’ films.
Through the work of five artists, All Alone proposed a creative re-examination of the human condition of aloneness, a topic that has known many interpretations over the centuries, but has recently, through the Covid-19 crisis, been brought sharply to the forefront of our collective consciousness. Beyond the physical pressures of being isolated, lockdown was a communal experience, but each individual experience is unique, which is isolating in itself. The title, All Alone, reflects on the paradoxical commonality of aloneness.
Aloneness could be best defined by its two opposite poles; on one end of the spectrum is isolation, a state mostly enforced on an individual, and on the other solitude, which might be the result of choice and has a more positive aspect. Loneliness is a relatively recent concept, although almost nine million people in Britain today define themselves as ‘lonely’, according to the Campaign to End Loneliness.
The project aimed to start conversations around aloneness; accompanying events included workshops, tours, artists’ talks and projects with local communities and groups.
Image: David Bethell, The Weight of Things. Commissioned by Urban Wilderness as part of the Wastelands. Photo: Stefan Handy.
About Fishpool Valley
In the 1870s Fishpool valley found itself defined as an almost perfect Picturesque landscape (an aesthetic and philosophical proposition that glorified the wildness of nature and man’s solitary place within it), with its steep banks, densely wooded slopes and fast flowing stream interrupted by semi natural pools. A grotto was added and paths opened for the sheer pleasure of walking or riding and taking in the spectacle.
Over 2019-21, Fishpool Valley was been hit by its own version of the pandemic. Ash die-back is a highly transmissible disease that affects ash trees by weakening their immunity. The response had to be quick and widespread; all the ash population, almost 40% of the trees in the valley, had to be felled and removed over the winter months. The landscape was for a while unrecognisable and that threatened our plans, but nature is resilient and so are the arts.
Featured Artists
David Bethell
David Bethell featured in All Alone at Croft Castle, 2021, and Synthetic Landscapes, Weston Park; Shrewsbury Museum and Art Gallery,…
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