Artists will make new works in and for the house and garden, in a combination of sculpture, moving image and sound works, publications and printed ephemera from July to December 2014. Kieren Reed will make a wooden sculpture in the extensive garden – drawing on Morris’ concept of the garden as a series of ‘external rooms’ . Reed’s structure will then be available to host work and activities throughout the project (and beyond) as a studio, meeting space, and hub for exchange. The project will begin with a residency by artist Melanie Jackson who will generate a ceramic and video work, and artist Benedict Drew who will make a sound work and radio/web broadcast from Red House.
The Nomadic Reading Room, a peripatetic library of artist’s publications curated by Connie Butler will be located in The Studio inside Red House, along with writings on and by Morris and the legacies explored by the project will be available for visitors, staff and artists throughout the project. Writers and scholars Esther Leslie, Mathew Beaumont and Petra Lange Berndt will publish a series of pamphlets, a form much loved and used by Morris to spread his ideas, which will be available for visitors, staff and students.
A programme of occupations, residencies, exhibitions and events will follow by artists and writers associated with the Slade School of Fine Art between July and December 2014.