Here's a letter from someone that didn't seem to like the garden at the NGS day. All the things we like and think are good they felt the exact opposite about. It seems like a very urban view of what gardens should be like - full of flowers and hard edged borders. Wild flower meadows that are 'features' rather than real meadows. Anyone that has visited the Lawson Park garden will know it is quite naturalistic and not very flowery or colourful, funny how even this sort of very mild subversion can elicit such fury. I guess it seemed threatening to these visitors, still its years since I got such an angry letter.
Nice to know we can still annoy.

Posted by Adam Sutherland on 17/09/08 at 16:07 : 2 Comments

Topics: 'complaint' 'meadow'

Brantwood, Coniston. Home of John Ruskin and now museum

Just tidying my desktop and came across this image of Brantwood, home of John Ruskin. Looking a bit dog eared but probably much as Ruskin left it, he may have been the voice of architecture but his own improvements to the building look a bit 'extensions and conservatories from B&Q'. He declared a total lack of interest in his own surroundings, a very sensible approach if you ask me, a house is just a place to live not life itself - with the ongoing housing crash this may become a more common position. I remember the last crash and the blessed relief from house price discussion it brought to the country.

Posted by Adam Sutherland on 15/09/08 at 09:34

Note to self: make an application to the Rodent Smith Trust

We’ve been in a few discussions with the village about reshaping the Coniston Institute to bring it back into use, or at least increase its use and redefine its function. Ann Hall, the Conservative Councillor, brought us in after she came to an impasse with the conservatives (small c) in the village over the published plans to modernise the institute. Many want to retain the etched memories and faded grandeur, which you can see the appeal of, as it’s pretty much a fantasist’s version of 20’s rural function rooms: dusty library; voluminous, staged hall; English Rose kitchen and billiard room. The council want to improve the current library offer of opening half a day on Wednesday, by working with the village so that they will run it themselves and open it more often, on their terms. Which is all very interesting. Anyway the plan is to work with Guestroom to make it a sizeable project that links with the library and kitchen at Lawson Park – a new concept for what a library might be and all that. Ramping up the old and the new at the same time, I would think.

One thing’s certain though, no one wanted the otter in the library, so we came away with it. For now, at least, until they realise this is the original Ruskin Giant Otter of 1898 with a tattoo of Venice on the back of its left buttock.

Posted by Alistair Hudson on 11/09/08 at 14:27

Here's a nice article in the Herald (Glasgow) from shortly before the NGS Garden Open Day.
You can read it as a PDF here....

Posted by Dorian Moore on 07/09/08 at 22:15
Originally posted at www.lawsonpark.org/blog/1655

We've been talking about lighting for the new building for so long now and all the time it's been right here in front of our faces.

Posted by Dorian Moore on 05/09/08 at 19:40
Originally posted at www.lawsonpark.org/blog/1669

Alistair and Adam reminisce about the 'summer' including Alistair's adventures at Creamfields....

Posted by Karen Guthrie on 05/09/08 at 16:09

Topics: 'Creamfields'

Keeping a safe distance, as art always does.

Last weekend, whilst the open garden at Lawson Park roared with the appreciative nodding of the gathering gentiles, I descended into the pit of heathen depravity that was Creamfields dance music festival. Grizedale were there to collaborate with John Moores University’s SITE projects department to experiment with an almost-live internet TV station for Creamfields.

From the sanctity of a makeshift edit suite in a portakabin in the production compound, pairs of camera crews wheeled away into the 40,000 morass of heavy beats, fake tan and neon bra tops. The scene in production subsequently took on the feel of a WWII RAF camp, with crews coming and going with tales of the front line and rest, tea and fags on the summer grass between.

The project was an attempt to equate the gentle world of art making with the extreme experience spectacle of mass popular culture. A meeting that ordinarily ends up with art getting its head stamped on. With Grizedale contributions to the big screen, you can see it’s hard for art to come close to making an impact in its usual mindset. Marcus Coates was due to perform the ultimate conclusion to his shaman act on the big stage, to the baying sea of e-ed up scallywags and wannawags. Cream got cold feet, not really because it was too weird, but more for his own safety. But it could’ve been pretty good. Carnage, but pretty good.

It’s this taking on of the mess of the bigger world that we need and aim to do. At this stage I’d give the project a 5 out of 10, but I’d go back for a 8.5 next year and by 2012 looking to meet the LOCOG and DCMS targets for straight golds in mass participation and synchronised vomiting.

For a taste of the action and some light discussion go to www.creamTVfields.tv

Posted by Alistair Hudson on 29/08/08 at 14:39

We'll be back in the yard next week Friday 5th September, welcoming autumn....

Posted by Dorian Moore on 29/08/08 at 11:51 : 0 Comments

Can't believe how long it's taken, bearing in mind it has been on the agenda of our monthly site meetings since December, but the official signboard has now been installed. 

Posted by Dorian Moore on 27/08/08 at 19:44
Originally posted at www.lawsonpark.org/blog/1670

Best use Google Earth next time

Yesterday saw Team Grizedale (& Team Guthrie, Pope-Olden, Watson, Quinn, Falconer et al) welcome several hundred visitors to the first Open Garden at our HQ Lawson Park.
Exact figures and photos to come - but a huge thankyou to all involved.

Posted by Karen Guthrie on 25/08/08 at 15:39

Topics: 'NGS'