Emily Speed, currently Artist-in-Residence with Energy House 2.0, discusses sustainability and her practice with Castlefield Gallery in the most recent addition to their ongoing series Spotlight: Artists and Sustainability.
Click here to read the full interview on the Castlefield Gallery website, where Speed discusses how her work relates to issues of climate change, the ways she works more sustainably in her artist practice, and her thoughts about the role of arts and art institutions in tackling the climate crisis.
Emily Speed was awarded the second of two 18-month artist residencies at Energy House 2.0, in partnership with Castlefield Gallery, Manchester and Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool in early 2023 and she is currently engaged in research, working closely with the Energy House Labs team.
Artist Lizzie King shares why working on the Sustaining Photography project is important to her. Lizzie King is a former Graduate Scholar with the Collection, and is currently studying for her MA in Contemporary Fine Art at the University.
As artists, as makers, as creators there is a journey that results in us adopting processes or ways of making. We take these processes into our vernacular and use them to describe ourselves, to define our way of practising. The list of these words seems endless: documentary, abstract, commercial, photographer, image maker, artist, content creator… and the list carries on. They don’t just define ourselves but how we are different from others. How about the word ‘ecological’ or ‘eco’ or ‘green’ or ‘sustainable’ or ‘climate aware’? How does this define a maker? How does this mark a difference between one maker and another? In this day and age should these words really be something we can define or differentiate ourselves on?
My journey towards using greener processes has been born out of a continual curiosity about alternative photographic processes. Years experimenting with different versions and iterations of caffenol (coffee based homemade developer) recipes showed me the extent that these recipes could be pushed to. The thought of the impact that the standard photographic chemicals were having had never particularly crossed my mind until I started to try to make developers from plant matter. As I explored the possibilities of using plants in the creation processes and their unique compounds and properties that make particular developers work so well, I started to think about how working this way was really allowing my work to talk about the environment while also being kinder to the environment. I use these plant based processes because I am fascinated by being able to use a wide range of materials in making my imagery. The experimentation and the time spent outside looking intently at nature brings me joy.
Anthotypes for Sustianing Photography. Courtesy Lizzie King.
The United Nations recognises that we are in the midst of a climate emergency. There is clear guidance from scientists that the world (let’s be honest, the world’s riches countries) needs to act now to be able to see a change from the current trajectory. What does this look like for our practices? At the end of the day this is about working in a way that is aware of ourselves, our precarious stance on earth, how we are intertwined with the earth. As Timothy Morton puts it, “We are all burnt by ultraviolet rays. We all contain water in about the same ratio as Earth does, and salt water in the same ratio that the oceans do. We are poems about the hyperobject Earth.” (Morton, 2013)
Our society has done everything it can to see nature as other to who we are rather than accept the reality that we are a part of nature. Can we really afford as a community of makers to have a small grouping of makers who are ‘sustainable.’ Can we progress to a stage where it is common understanding that everyone’s practice is as sustainable as possible?
Many people say ‘there is no green way of doing this’, ‘Photography is never going to be sustainable’ and ‘The only way to do it green is to not do it at all’. This is not about stopping making. What I hope you get from this zine is that we have choices. We’ve presented a few options for different processes you could adopt. You can choose to make these your own. They might open up a new creative avenue for you. You might find that making something using an alternative greener process gives you a new aesthetic that you’ve been looking for or a new way to relate to the world around you. Perhaps these processes aren’t for you but reading this can start to raise the question within your way of working: how can I do this better?
I don’t think I have ever written a piece of writing with more questions in it, but the fact is we don’t have all the answers. Analogue photography has a long history of toxic chemical output and unsustainable mining from the earth. Digital photography has problems with mass server usage for storing on the cloud on top of the precious materials being mined from the earth to create the high-tech equipment. Being aware is the first step to being able to change our ways. I hope that the future will see makers discover more sustainable ways of producing what we make. This is all about producing what we do but better.
Sustaining Photography is a collaborative project by Lizzie King & Gwen Riley Jones to connect and engage students at the University of Salford with sustainable photographic processes, using produce from the University’s Community Growing Space. The project is based at The University of Salford and has been funded by the Salford Advantage Fund and The University of Salford Art Collection.
In 2019, The British Youth Council declared the climate emergency the “biggest issue facing young people”. This headline is taken from the Planting for the Planet exhibition, held at RHS Garden Bridgewater in 2022. In this exhibition, I worked with young people from Action for Conservation to explore nature-based solutions to climate change. Through the process of collaborating with, and learning from, a group of young people to make images for the exhibition, my creative practice changed forever.
We were making work about nature-based solutions to climate change, so I wondered, are there any plant-based photographic techniques? Turns out there’s loads.
As soon as I started to learn about it – it made total sense – plants create energy using light – they are light sensitive, they contain pigments that adapt and change with changes in light intensity. My mind was blown, I was hooked.
But what hooked me in deeper was that I could suddenly create photographs in my kitchen at home. The process is safe and non-toxic, even edible, and I could create anthotype paper at home in my kitchen whilst I made my daughter’s breakfast. I’ve been a photographer for 20 years but setting up a home darkroom has always felt like too big a task – for many reasons, not least, toxic waste.
A participant exploring sustainable photographic methods as part of Gwen’s workshops during Rediscovering Salford.
Perfection in the imperfection.
It is a parody of the industrial world that in searching for photographic perfection, faster shutter speeds, sharper images – steps towards the sublime – we have created a toxic world. Maybe the perfection is actually found in the imperfections, in these green pictures which will fade to nothing when left out in the sun.
And from here, well it makes you wonder, if we don’t need to use these harmful substances, why do we?
So I now work with sustainable photographic processes almost as a metaphor for sustainable practices, sustainable lives. As a way of starting a conversation – if we can do this using only plants – what else can we do using only plants?
I grew some beetroot, made anthotypes out of the juice, film developer out of the peelings, and pickled the beets to eat for lunch. You don’t need much money and you certainly don’t need perfection. The beauty of this process is in the imperfection, and the accessibility of the practice.
So we invite you to join us: pick some spinach from the community growing space (but also make sure you join in and plant some more!) make some anthotypes, cook a curry, use the vegetable peelings to develop your film, ask some new questions.
Share the spoils of your practice with those around you. Put up a picture, pass on a plate of food, share your experience. And let us know what else you decide to do differently.
Sustaining Photography is a collaborative project by Lizzie King & Gwen Riley Jones to connect and engage students at the University of Salford with sustainable photographic processes, using produce from the University’s Community Growing Space. The project is based at The University of Salford and has been funded by the Salford Advantage Fund and The University of Salford Art Collection.
Want to give green film developing a go? Here are the instructions for making film developer from vegetable food waste.
What you’ll need:
900ml water
3 heaped tsp Vitamin C (powdered not tablet)
9 tsp Soda Crystals (Can usually be found in the household cleaning area)
Suggestions of foods we have used:
potato peelings
spinach, ½ romaine lettuce, and ½ savoy cabbage
Red onion, tomatoes, broccoli, green bean, cabbage, bananas
Behind the scenes with Sustaining Photography. Courtesy Lizzie King.
Behind the scenes with Sustaining Photography. Courtesy Lizzie King.
Method:
Step 1: Place vegetable waste in a container with a lid, a mason jar or pan works well. Cover the vegetable waste with boiling water and leave overnight. Or boil the contents like you would for eating. (If you are making your tea by boiling veg you could just save the water from this and use it in your developing mix)
Step 2: After 12 hours remove the vegetable waste and keep the water
Step 3: Add the vitamin C and the soda crystals into your water (Make sure you are doing this in a container that has extra space. When you add them together as it can fizz up.)
Step 4: Mix well
Step 5: You can now develop your film as you normally would but using your homemade developer.
I. For Ilford HP5 we developed for 15 mins agitating continuously for the first minute then once every minute (Check the resources page for a suggestion on where to look for time information for different films)
II. Then stop bath and fix as you normally would.
Step 6: It is safe to just pour this developer down the sink as it only contains things you would find in your kitchen!
Sustaining Photography is a collaborative project by Lizzie King & Gwen Riley Jones to connect and engage students at the University of Salford with sustainable photographic processes, using produce from the University’s Community Growing Space. The project is based at The University of Salford and has been funded by the Salford Advantage Fund and The University of Salford Art Collection.
August’s artwork of the month is Salford Faces by Gwilym Hughes. This artwork is currently on display in our New Adelphi Exhibition Gallery as part of Visibilities: Shaping a story of now. For this artwork of the month, Visibilities Curator Rowan Pritchard explores the work in more detail.
In Salford Faces, four layers of giclee prints in cyan, magenta, yellow and black are superimposed to form a portrait
Gwilym Hughes found this face in a photograph at the Salford Local History Library. With an ongoing interest in anonymous faces, whose names are no longer recorded, or who might never have known they were having their photograph taken, Gwilym’s work brings close attention to these people who are ‘lost’ in the archives.
The image is painstakingly hand-drawn using slow and intensive techniques. Rendered first as an intimate relief etching, the portrait is then enlarged and presented as a lightbox. The face, once forgotten, can no longer be overlooked when displayed at this scale, illuminated as it stares back at us.
Installation View: Visibilities: Shaping a story of now, 2023.
Speaking about Salford Faces, Rowan shares:
“I picked this work because it speaks directly to the ideas of preservation, questioning whose names we write down and record.
In Visibilities, I wanted to dig a little into who is represented in the University’s collecting; whose stories, artworks, and achievements are we preserving as an institution? And this work relates to that directly. In the exhibition, Salford Faces is presented next to Silver Triple Pop by Gavin Turk, an artwork full of reference and reverence for men like Elvis, Andy Warhol, and Sid Vicious, whose names and images are inviolably linked to our understandings of culture – preserved and remembered.
In contrast, Salford Faces not only begins to question why some people are remembered while others are not but creates a space for those forgotten voices to be remembered, re-enshrining them into the archives through their new representation in the University Art Collection.”
Gavin Turk, Silver Triple Pop, 2009, print. Courtesy the artist. Photography by Museums Photography North West.
Gwilym Hughes, Salford Faces, 2018, lightbox. Courtesy the artist.
Visibilities continues at the New Adelphi Exhibition Gallery until the end of the month, closing on the 25th of August. You can read more about the exhibition here.
Join Visibilities curator Rowan Pritchard, with Stephanie Fletcher (Art Collection, Assistant Curator) for a lunchtime tour of Visibilities: Shaping a story of now, our current exhibition on display at our New Adelphi Gallery, before it closes at the end of August!
Wu Yue, Reconnected, 2020. Courtesy the Artist.
Visibilities brings together works from the Collection to explore and examine who and what is represented in our contemporary collecting, and how these visibilities shape what we think of as our ‘stories of now’.
This informal tour will provide greater insight into the themes behind the exhibition and the work of the University’s Art Collection, as well as offer a chance to ask any questions you may have for the curatorial team about the exhibition.
The University of Salford Art Collection, alongside Castlefield Gallery, Manchester are pleased to announce the five recipients of the 2023/24 Graduate Scholarships.
Each year, a number of bespoke scholarships are offered to graduating students from the University of Salford School of Arts, Media, and Creative Technology. This year the recipients are:
Each recipient will receive 12 months of bespoke support tailored to their individual needs and aspirations, including a programme of mentoring, coaching and professional development, Castlefield Gallery Associates membership, and studio space or place on a programme with one of our industry partners; Hot Bed Press, Islington Mill, Paradise Works, and Redeye, The Photography Network.
Director and Artistic Director of Castlefield Gallery, Helen Wewiora says:
We are delighted to welcome Adam, Megan, Lucy, Zan and Maggie to the 2023/24 Graduate Scholars programme. We can’t wait to start working with everyone. The standard of applications this year was particularly high. I know all those involved from across the Graduate Scholars programme partnership will agree that it was really tough deciding on the final awards. As the programme enters its 10th year it is really exciting to know we’ll be working with such a talented and committed group of practitioners and we look forward to another 10 successful years of the working with Salford Scholars!
In Autumn 2023 we also celebrate the 10th year of the Graduate Scholarship scheme. Over 50 graduates have taken part in the scheme since it began, from across the School of Arts, Media and Creative Technology. Throughout the year we will reflect on and celebrate some of our scholars stories, journeys and successes – watch this space for more announcements soon!
Adam Rawlinson, It’s Nice to Be Alive, 2023. Courtesy the artist.
Zan Atkinson, A Castle in the Air, 2023. Courtesy the artist.
Megan Brierly, Blue Figure 3, 2023. Courtesy the artist.
Lucy Claire, Distorted Beauty, 2023. Courtesy the artist.
Maggie Stick, Untitled, 2023. Courtesy the artist.
The Graduate Scholarship Programme is run annually alongside Castlefield Gallery, with support from our studio partners Hot Bed Press, Islington Mill and Paradise Works, and Redeye the Photography Network.
The University of Salford Art Collection, in partnership with Castlefield Gallery, is delighted to announce that the second of two artist residencies at Energy House 2.0 has been awarded to Emily Speed.
Cheshire-based Speed joins artist Mishka Henner, who was announced as the first artist-in-residence at the University’s world-leading research facility earlier this year, with the University of Salford Art Collection in partnership with Open Eye Gallery.
Speed was selected from an open call in early 2023 which received over 70 expressions of interest. As artist in residence, Speed will work closely with the Energy House 2.0 team over the next 18 months to develop new work in response to the groundbreaking research being carried out, around topics of energy efficiency, the climate crisis, net zero research, and the future of housing and homes.
Innards, 2018, working fountain at Knole House for ‘A Woman’s Place’ curated by Day & Gluckman, courtesy the artist.
Flatland, 2021, commissioned by Tate Liverpool for the Art North West award, photograph by Lucy Dawkins
Ideas around shelter and habitation lie at the core of much of Speed’s work, which spans disciplines from drawing to installation and performance. With two large environmentally-controllable chambers – able to accommodate two full-sized detached houses each and capable of simulating wind, rain, snow, solar radiation and extreme temperatures – the world-leading Energy House 2.0 facility, part-funded by the European Research Development Fund (ERDF), provides a unique opportunity to explore these themes and the future of housing.
On being selected for the residency, Speed says:
“I feel incredibly fortunate to have time and access to this fantastic facility and to be able to work alongside experts to develop research into the home, and how we might live in the future.”
Professor Richard Fitton, Energy House:
“Our artist in residence programme has grown from strength to strength in the past few years, and we are now on our 3rd residency, this scheme aims to take some of the building science work done at Energy House 2.0 and create ground breaking artworks – we see this as a positive impact to the work we do, engaging the public in ways that we simply could not have done beforehand. The quality of bids that we saw was amazing and Emily has some tough competition. We are now really eager to get Emily involved as part of the teams and see what she will achieve.”
Lindsay Taylor, Curator, University of Salford Art Collection:
“We were delighted to receive so many high quality applications by some fantastic artists. It was very hard to agree a shortlist and a finalist, however the panel all agreed that Emily’s interest in gender, the body and the domestic environment would bring a unique perspective to the work at Energy House 2.0”
Known for her work examining the relationship between the body and architecture, Speed’s practice considers how a person is shaped by the buildings they have occupied and how a person occupies their own psychological space. Working in sculpture, performance, drawing and film, Speed’s work looks at the relationship between people and buildings and in particular the power dynamics at play in built space. Her work plays with scale and creates layers around the body, often hybrid forms of clothing and architecture.
Over the last few years, Speed has had solo presentations at Tate Liverpool, Tate St Ives, TRUCK, Calgary, and Fort Worth Contemporary Arts, Texas. She has been commissioned to make performances for Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Laumeier Sculpture Park (St Louis) and Edinburgh Art Festival among others and recent exhibitions include: A Woman’s Place at Knole House; Body Builders at Exeter Phoenix Gallery; and The Happenstance, Scotland + Venice at the Architecture Biennale in 2018. Emily Speed lives and works in Cheshire, UK.
Launched in February 2022, Energy House 2.0 is a unique research facility, with two environmental chambers each able to accommodate two full sized detached houses. The research team can recreate a variety of environmental conditions – from extreme temperatures (-20˚C to +40˚C) to simulate wind, rain, snow, and solar radiation – in order to test out the latest innovations in the built environment. The £16m facility, part-funded by the European Research Development Fund (ERDF), is the largest facility of its type and plays a key role in accelerating progress towards low carbon and net zero housing design building upon the success of the original Energy House Laboratory which opened in 2012.
Castlefield Gallery is a contemporary art gallery and artist development organisation. Established in 1984, they’ve led the way in artist development for almost 40 years. They provide creative and career development, exhibition opportunities and commissions for artists and independents. Working from galleries in Manchester, off-site, online and in the public realm, they create long-lasting impacts in the Manchester city region, North West of England and beyond. Their national and international activities focus on artist exchange. Castlefield Gallery’s public and participation programmes provoke new ways of thinking, bringing together artists, creatives, communities and audiences to explore the art and issues of the time. They believe when artists and communities come together, they can help shape a better world.
They support more than 250 Castlefield Gallery Associates and a host of creatives through person-centred development programmes. Castlefield Gallery New Art Spaces provide affordable making and project space in the North West, including on the high street. They are a home for artists and creatives. They are advocates for what they believe in: the power of new art. They make new art happen.
Ryan Gander OBE is Castlefield Gallery’s Artist Patron. Castlefield are a registered charity, supported by Arts Council England and Manchester City Council.
Open Eye Gallery is a photography organisation based in Liverpool, UK, working worldwide. They produce exhibitions, long-term collaborative projects, publications, festivals, and university courses — locally and worldwide. They welcome over 85,000 visitors to the gallery every year, over 200,000 to projects in other venues, and many more to the online spaces. They proactively take risks to spark crucial conversations and enable creative expression. Open Eye Gallery takes a lead on socially engaged photography nationally. Bringing different voices, photographers and communities together, they establish projects where the collaborative process is just as important as the final product. openeye.org.uk
Are you a final year BA student or current MA student with an interest in socially engaged and documentary photography? Do you want to gain valuable experience of being commissioned to make new work? – ideal for your CV!
We are inviting applications from students in response to the exhibition Is Anybody Listening: Our Time, Our Place. The exhibition includes 2 series of photographs by alumnus Craig Easton, Sony World Photographer of the Year 2021: Bank Top and Thatcher’s Children.
It is a significant occasion for a Northwest artist – Craig Easton – to win Sony World Photographer of the Year (2021) with his series Bank Top, created in Blackburn, as well as second place in the documentary category for Thatcher’s Children, made in Blackpool. Due to Covid-19, we were unable to celebrate this achievement within his home region.
Easton tackles stereotypes and responds to the negative way in which the main-stream media often portrays Northern communities. The relevance of Easton’s work has resurfaced in a new light as communities endure the cost-of-living crisis and face new challenges and segregation. Our Time Our Place is a touring exhibition, engagement programme and symposium delivered in partnership with University of Salford, LeftCoast, Open Eye, Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery and the Williamson Art Gallery and Museum. The exhibition is displayed at Blackpool School of Art from 11th April – 31 May.
Purpose
We are offering four graduating artists an opportunity to make new work, along with a platform to showcase it, and mentoring to support the process.
The commissions aim to bridge the gaps between graduation and career launch – as well as developing connections between the University Art Collection, audiences and heritage. The four selected artists will take the exhibition Is Anybody Listening? Our Time, Our Place as a starting point – assessing how it engages people – and then take steps to involve themselves more deeply in the issues and communities of their own lived experience.
We are offering four awards of £1500 each for commissions in response to the themes in the exhibition. As well as the cash award you will also receive mentoring by Gwen Riley Jones. The selected photographers will be expected to produce new work between June – September 2023, which will be displayed in New Adelphi atrium from Nov – Dec 2023 (coinciding with the Craig Easton exhibition in New Adelphi Exhibition Gallery which launches in September and also runs to December).
How to apply and the selection process
Micro residency (University of Salford, School of Arts, Media and Creative Technology) Please send a CV, images of past work and a covering letter no larger than 10 MB to:
Explain why you are interested in this opportunity (300 words) and how you would respond to this brief (300-500 words). Please keep your CV no longer than 2 pages of A4 and include two references from recent or current employers/ clients/ lecturers. All applications will be acknowledged with an email receipt. Should you be shortlisted, we will invite you to interview.
Interviews expected to take place Wednesday 24th May.
For more information please contact: Rowan Pritchard: r.t.pritchard@salford.ac.uk
Fee
A total of £1500 is available per micro-commission. This includes your fee and all expenses such as materials, public liability insurance, expenses, site visit, meetings, user events, administration, meetings, VAT.
Is Anybody Listening? Our Time, Our Place – Timeline
Open Eye, Liverpool – Exhibition and engagement programme January 2023 – April 2023
LeftCoast and Blackpool School of Art – Exhibition and engagement programme April 2023- June 2023
Blackburn Museum and Arts Gallery – Engagement programme June 2023- July 2023
University of Salford -Exhibition and engagement programme including micro-commissions September 2023- December 2023
Williamson Art Gallery and Museum – Exhibition, engagement programme and symposium January 2024 – March 2024
For March, we asked Marta Strzelecka, Sustainability Engagement Officer at the University to select our artwork of the month in honour of Go Green Salford, the University’s annual programme of activity promoting and celebrating sustainable work happening across campus. Go Green Saloford invites students, colleagues and local community members to get involved throughout the month in making Salford a more sustainable place to live.
Marta has chosen Market Scene (1972) by Colin T Johnson.
Colin T Johnson, Market Scene, 1972, Painting. Courtesy the artist. Photography by Museums Photography North West.
On Market Scene, Marta says:
I selected Colin T Johnson’s Market Scene because the first thing that came to my mind when I saw it was: community. I believe that connecting with other people, exchanging ideas and opinions, and providing and receiving support, is vital to achieving social and environmental sustainability, as well as our wellbeing. Recently, the power of these became evident during the Covid-19 pandemic, when community-based actions and initiatives became lifelines for many. Markets have always provided an opportunity for all of these things: a platform to come together, purchase locally made goods and produce, catch up with neighbours and friends, and spend time outdoors. I believe that empowering and supporting community-led action is essential in building a sustainable, just and inclusive society, where local citizens are at the core in the process of identifying and solving local challenges. The colours and the general feel of the painting also remind me of a Sunday morning which, from my childhood memories, is the best time for a trip to the markets, spending time with family, and preparing for the week ahead.
Marta and the Enviromental Sustainability team’s work continues throughout the year and there are always ways you can get involved. Click here to find out more about.
Colin T Johnson (1942-2017) was a prolific artist born in Blackpool. He went on to study at Salford School of Art, 1957–9, then Manchester College of Art, 1959–60, before later moving to St. Ives. Among Johnson’s many activities, he was director of the first Bolton Festival, 1979, he was artist-in-residence at Manchester Festival, 1980, and at Wigan International Jazz Festival, 1986–7.
