| Project Title | Riggs Moor |
| Venue | Riggs Moor, Yorkshire and Northlight Arts Centre, Leeds, UK |
| Date | November 2023 |
the projecT
The project ‘Riggs Moor’ began as a marking of England‘s remotest location with a temporary sculpture. It gradually became an exploration in film of place and notions of presence intertwined with traditional landscape aesthetics and walking as sculptural practice. The initial idea came about after finding out England’s remotest location was in Yorkshire. This enabled fairly regular visits over a 6 month period.
The notion of presence was a direct result of my contextual studies module, where walking as art practice was explored. The decision to use moving image as my medium was influenced by ‘slow cinema’ films I had seen.
I incorporated ground level film shots that have a direct connection of earth to camera, and the film hinges on a direct physical involvement with landscape. The progression being made by the constant foot to earth repetition of walking tieing the walker to the earth’s surface achieving presence by simply following a path.
Being able to capture particularly atmospheric shots of mist was a defining moment of the project, landscape in this sense is an entirely unyeilding collaborator, indifferent to my presence.
The pole installation in the film represents a point of stillness with the reference to antipode reinforcing this selected point. One viewer likened it to a void, and this is interesting not in the sense that it is a point of destructive nothingness but more in the ‘zen’ sense of being a point of clarity and focus. Providing a position for the eye to rest on.
The antipode featured in the film is important in that it gives a global context and allows a mental exploration of relative distance. Being close to the world’s loneliest tree gave an opportunity for a shift in perspective. Renewing attention to where you are stood on the globe. The tree is also, despite its remote location, used by scientists as a marker of the Anthropocene. This fact although not explicitly stated in the film underpins the brief duration of our presence on earth and connects the film to deeper time frames that are implied with the statement about the formation of peat.
Installation on Riggs Moor
A QR code has also been installed at England’s remotest spot on Riggs Moor. This allows passing walkers to view the film on location.
animations
public showing of film
I had a small viewing in north Leeds at Northlight Art’s Centre that added an unexpected context to the film. The audience was over 35 miles from Riggs Moor and I would hope to contrast this with the eventual experience of it being viewed on location.
Instagram:
@annaturner.studio
Website:
www.annaturner.co.uk