We Took from Nature to Make this Charcoal – How Does it Feel?

The Young People’s Collective (YPC) embarked on a collaborative journey to explore A Fragile Correspondence exhibition’s concept, themes and works, meeting artists and curators, site visits and socials before conceiving their own public response, directly outside the exhibition.

Over the course of 12 weeks YPC explored land, language and architecture. We caught up with YPC Member, Eve to tell us about her experience.

The first time I visited the exhibition, I loved the different mediums used to express the artists’ creativity, though it was overwhelming as I hadn’t learned about it before joining YPC. But, as we walked with the curators, we asked questions and developed ideas of a romanticised Scotland and environmental extraction. I immediately felt like I was a part of a collective, understanding an exhibition deeper than I had ever before. In our first workshop session, we worked with Linsey McIntosh to create a manifesto on how we would like to work together, emphasising active listening, creating a judgement-free space and fostering a positive, inclusive environment (with a cup of tea, of course!), which I’d never done before. I’d always been quieter at school, so fostering this environment allowed me to express my own ideas and learn so much from listening to others. This  created a solid foundation that I feel made us work openly together.

Spending time outside V&A Dundee, on a trip to Ravenscraig, we were able to get to know each other beyond the project. As we walked through the silver birch to the site, it deepened our understanding of the exhibition, as I could see the destruction the steelworks caused to the landscape, but simultaneously the beauty from the silver birch that emerged from its demolition. There was layer of frost and fog that created an atmospheric, almost post-apocalyptic feel, which emphasised the damage that had be done , cementing the idea of creating a project that linked into taking from the land. This became central to our discussions and we felt a personal attachment to Ravenscraig following our visit.

In the first half of the 12 weeks, Alissar Riachi from -ism Magazine led a session on ‘stewardship’, when it is right to take from the land? This also resonated with my thoughts on Orkney, and the North Sea oil rigs nearby, and the debate on whether it’s right or wrong to extract oil from the land. We created a mind map responding to the question ‘Why are you here?’ to remind us of our motivations for joining the YPC, this helped guide our public response. We knew we wanted a personal and interactive response from the public. I had concerns that doing this with 10 people would be difficult, as everyone has different views. But, our manifesto allowed everyone’s ideas to be heard, which was rewarding.

We knew we wanted to create an intervention that sparked conversations and critique. We liked the idea of generating a response to the exhibition with an object that itself could be controversial. We worked with Soul of Fire, to learn how to ethically produce our own artist charcoal from willow trees. This would form the invitation to the public, to make their mark in an interactive charcoal mural that would evolve over a weekend, outside the exhibition.

In the early stages, it felt like a daunting task, as there were multiple elements that needed to be organised; posters, invitations and health & safety. But I knew as a group we could tackle it, delegating tasks between us, with different ideas coming together to create the project.

 ‘Carbon Marks’ aimed to provide a response to A Fragile Correspondence, exploring when it’s right to take from nature. We used charcoal as an avenue of thought, as the willow used to make the charcoal had to be removed, burnt (releasing fossil fuels), then used again to create art. Is this right to do? Although we are taking from nature, we are using it again to convey beauty and meaning. Would the willow like being turned into charcoal? This prompted the question, ‘We took from nature to make this charcoal. How does it feel?’.

I enjoyed seeing the marks evolve over the weekend, on the first day, someone drew an outline of a house, this was added to by other contributors , adding tiles and plants to it, but also flames, which I didn’t anticipate. My favourite interaction was five minutes before we closed on the last day, when a girl, around seven-years-old, came up to us and said ‘This is so special!’, which was a very touching and honest response to something that I was incredibly proud of.

This experience was an invaluable opportunity to create an intervention piece inside the V&A Dundee. It was incredibly rewarding to work with other young people from different backgrounds, creating an outcome which reflected our time together. The Ravenscraig trip was a highlight for me, as I felt I was getting to know everyone on a personal level, rather than simply talking about the project. Seeing our final mural outside the exhibition entrance, witnessing the public interact with our idea and learning about our project, I feel very proud to have been a part of it.

The Young People's Collective is made up of about 20 members of young people living in Dundee, The current collective is Bethan, Cameron, Euan, Eve, Evie, Isla, Keelan, Leyla, Mike, Natalia, Natalia, Tana & Vanessa. 

Thanks to Linsey McIntosh, Soul of Fire, Alissar Riachi, Frank McElhinney, Hamshya Rajkumar and all of the A Fragile Correspondence artists and curators.

Images by Blair Leeson.