LONDONFIELDWORKS

London Fieldworks: Little Earth is the second book by artists Bruce Gilchrist and Jo Joelson. It was published in 2005 to accompany the Little Earth exhibition.

London Fieldworks: Little Earth is a collection of writings and documentation charting the development of the Little Earth project. It contains much of the project research and process with contributions by collaborators from the fields of the visual arts and physical sciences.

This publication documents the formal twinning of the two mountain top observatories in Scotland and the Norwegian arctic in a special ceremony at the West Highland Museum in October 2004 and charts the development of the four-channel film work and sculptural installation.

Context is provided for the interpretation of London Fieldworks' projects by Tracey Warr alongside a written and visual document of the twinning ceremony by Jeni Walwin. Composer Dugal Mckinnon's essay describes his response to the Little Earth installation format and his approach to creating the surround sound work. The Little Earth narrative, written by James Flint for two voices has been included along with the accompanying video stills from the exhibition. The historical significance of the two scientists, their instruments and legacies are described authoritatively and in depth by scientists from the fields of meteorology and physics. All essays are accompanied by striking images from archives, public and private collections and the artists own documentation.

London Fieldworks was initiated by artists Bruce Gilchrist and Jo Joelson as they set out to fuse experiences of the real and re-presented, combining presence, memory and artifice. Their Syzygy and Polaria projects are poetic investigations into human consciousness and physiology in relation to the external phenomena of weather and light. Syzygy took place on the remote and uninhabited Scottish island of Sanda in summer 1999. A team of artists, writers, musicians, kite flyers and a computer programmer spent a week on the island, taking with them a range of computer, communication, atmospheric diagnostic and biofeedback technologies in an attempt to corner their notoriously elusive quarries-consciousness and weather. For their latest project Polaria , Gilchrist and Joelson travelled to North East Greenland in August 2001 to conduct fieldwork on Arctic light and human physiology.

Endorsements:

"A staggeringly ambitious, multi-disciplinary art project - or rather dedicated campaign - yoking together atmospheric and weather patterns, brain waves, stunt kites, a remote Scottish island and a major London gallery; named after a remote astronomical phenomena when planets align in space."
The Guardian

"SYZYGY has not only offered up a unique model for creative research and collaboration, it has also set the pace and ambition for imaginatively sited new-technology arts projects."
The Glasgow Herald

"London Fieldworks put us in their debt by opening a fresh paradigm for avant garde art activity today."
Stewart Home

"With so much art today obsessed with the detritus of urban life - rubbing it in as it were - it is good to see artists going out and taking risks in exploring the further reaches of nature. Consciousness and our desire to understand has become a central proccupation of our time. Their determined long term engagement should surely be applauded."
Gustav Metzger