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What are you looking at?
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Morecambe is famed for its view, but which view captures it for you?
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Date
Project first launched on 3rd & 4th September at Vintage by the Sea Festival 2022
Location
Morecambe Promenade, The Sands Care Home and Online
Client
Self initiated
Lead Artist
Hannah Fox
Web design and brand development
Salt and Sister Studio
Funder
Arts Council England, Lancaster City Council, Morecambe Town Council
Project highlight
Looking through the developed photographs taken by visitors to Vintage by the Sea 2022
WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT? is a project exploring Morecambe’s famous views, scenes and best bits, as documented by locals and visitors to Vintage by the Sea Festival 2022 and residents of a local care home.
On the 3rd and 4th September 2022, Festival audiences were equipped with postcards, pens and cameras to capture their in-the-moment responses to the question ‘Morecambe is famed for its view, but which view captures it for you?’.
Commissioned by Deco Publique to explore the changing landscape of Morecambe, artist Hannah Fox developed activity prompts to open conversations with the community centred on the view; as it was and as it may become. Hannah and her artist assistants, Sian and Macy, acted as ‘caretakers of the view’, based in a vintage caravan which was reimagined by Hannah and Signwriter Ian Whiteoak from a previous artistic commission by Culturapedia.
As a legacy of the project, an online archive was developed with Salt and Sister Studio as well as a sound piece reflecting conversations with participants over the festival weekend, produced by Hannah Fox. Click here to see the archive and listen to the sound piece.
Project Areas
Creative Direction | Project Management | Arts Commissioning |Budget Control |Fundraising
The Activities
Festival-goers shared their opinions, stories and memories relating to the famous Morecambe view and were invited to take part in activities including writing, drawing and photography with polaroid and disposable cameras. Hannah prompted the participants to consider how the view has changed and how it may continue to change in the future - using photography to capture a moment in time. The activities were designed to encourage participants to think about the landscape in both the physical but also cultural offering and engaged young and old people alike - often generating conversation between strangers.
The Archive
The wealth of drawings, conversations and photographs captured through the project inspired the creation of an online archive. We commissioned Salt and Sister Studio to develop the brand originally created by Hannah and Signwriter Ian Whiteoak, and worked with them to produce a website. Click here to view the archive and scroll through the many drawings and photographs captured by participants.
WhatAreYouLookingAt.squarespace.com
The Sands Care Home
As part of the project we visited The Sands Care Home in Morecambe, where we shared an afternoon of conversation and music with residents. Over afternoon tea and vintage songs from Hattie Bee, we invited residents to reflect on their own memories of the view. We also chatted about the scenery outside the care home, with its sweeping vistas of the Bay.
Voices of Morecambe
The sound piece ‘Voices of Morecambe’ by Hannah Fox is a collection of stories and memories shared by locals and visitors over the festival weekend. Conversations were re-recorded for the artistic development of the piece by the following people who lent their voice to the project: Reuben, Molly, Amanda, Tony, Kate and Helen.
Listen to Voices of Morecambe on the website here
“The best view is at night when I’ve come out of the pub. I walk home along the promenade with my side right against the railings. You can hear the water hitting the pebbles. It reminds me so much of being back at sea again. The waves washing the pebbles sounds like the sea on the bow of my ship. Like I’m sailing down the coast of some foreign country. You can blank out this side and look out at the lights across at Grange and you wonder what they’re doing at night in that foreign place.”
- Recorded Conversation with Participant
Credits:
Photography - Project participants, Robin Zahler and Johnny Bean
Header image of webpage - Robin Zahler
Vintage caravan donated by - Culturapedia
Web design and brand development - Salt & Sister Studio