Drawing Act VI

NEW territories (new discoveries)

Shepherd Manyika worked with a group of young people from The Blue Youth, who opted into the project as a way to spend their free time over half-term, exploring and making. Shepherd devised the project in response to UNBUILD: a site of possibility, a group exhibition which considers the impact of buildings on our bodies, our minds, our memories and our dreams. Shepherd and the young people spent time in the gallery, our new building and surrounding built environment, to experiment with ways to map the architecture with their bodies, movement, mark-making, collecting and sound.

Rubbings were made with graphite sticks to take imprints of textures from the surfaces of buildings. Weeds that grew up between paving slabs were picked and pressed into clay. Small debris from the recent renovation works were found outside and fossilised into Plaster of Paris objects, fixing what is new, in time. The group bought in instruments and objects which had sonic qualities. They spread throughout the buildings and courtyard to make noise, perform, record and listen back – playing with the acoustics of the architecture. Music, soundtrack voiceovers and podcasts grew out of their experiences of the place and project. This project culminated in a printed newspaper which brings together words and images from the project and points to online sound works.