A Group Affair

On Monday Rhys, Shannon and I met up in the Environment Centre to discuss ideas. Rhys is utilising the main hall with the concept of Confessions to Mother Nature. Shannon is creating a home in the little meeting room leading from the spiral staircase.

Rhys is also making recycled paper for our posters and invites. The beautifully crafted paper holds natures treasures of leaves and flowers.

Another woolly attempt

On Monday I bought some wool to resemble telephone cable however it didn't work as the wool was not right the shape. Today I bought some traditional black wool. After my last lecture ,I took a walk to the Old Telephone Exchange. I enjoy the walk along Wind Street over the boulevard and passed The Morgan Hotel. The Environment Centre is snuggly located along Pier Street in-between The Morgan Hotel and the Evening Post. Pier Street is an intriging street and you feel drawn to investigate with ith the past and future architecture fused together.

The cafe is always warm and welcoming. I ordered a cup of tea and explored the foyer once again. I wanted to find out if the wool would work as telephone cable. I think it will do nicely. I need to measure the wool for the right length and attach it to the sculptures. I also need to measure the shelves to get white sheets to cover them.  I will do a mockup next week with the sound installation. The vintage telephone will be arriving the middle of next week.

So close but yet so far ..

Today I met Rhys at the centre at 10.30am with a projector. The cafe is a snug haven from the grey skies of Swansea. With a pot of tea I untangled the black wool I bought to find out if it could be used for telephone cable. The wool wasn't suitable and the double sided tape I bought from the market wasn't as sticky as I'd hoped. I need to take a different angle.

I also need a white sheet or two. I also tested the sound with Graham who looks after IT and who is kindly going to assist me in the sound.

Shannon, Ryan and I worked together on our installations. It's lovely to share ideas with everyone. The centre have been so supportive. We are on the centre's website and we will be in the Novembers Newsletter.

http://environmentcentre.org.uk

Coming together

Last Friday we met with Holly to discuss our individual ideas and get some feedback. Rhys, Oline Kirsty and I met at 10am to bounce ideas before the arrival of Holly at 1pm.

It was a lovely morning with all of us together sharing ideas with Phoebe the Coordinator for the centre. Graham also joined us (who volunteers regularly) to share his research for the 30th Anniversary.  The Environment Centre has such a homely feel, it's lovely just to be there. Every visit you gain a different perception. The quirky cafe with the wooden rafters, recycled glass tables and pieces of art decorating the shelves. The foyer with the grand staircase, high arches with intricrate  sculptures and wooden opaque flooring. As you enter the main hall on the second level you are impressed by the incredible space with high wooden ceilings and large windows.

So today Rhys and I borrowed a projector and headed off to the centre to have a play with our ideas.

Rhys is utilising the main hall and I am utilising the foyer.

On researching the Old Telephone Exchange I found little information in the Swansea Archive. For my installation I will be concentrating on the women of the Old Telephone Exchange from 1903 - 1907. The stone sculptures decorating the arches is the part of the space I am fascinated with. The sculptures represent the true essence of this historical building. With little information on the women if feels as if they were not important almost forgotten.

To demonstrate the connection of the exchange between the sculptures I will be placing string (to look like cable) from the man on the left side making the call to the women in the centre connecting the call to the man on the far right.

Today I took some string from home and blue tack to create the telephone cables. This seemed to work visually however the string needs to be black and the blue tack needs to be changed to something more sticky. This needs to be delicately done as not to damage the sculptures. It also needs to be secure for two days for health and safety reasons.

I found an image of a telephonists in the archive and I projected the image onto the stone pillar. I was pleased with the result however it needed a back drop, so a large piece of black or white fabric is required.

I have also bought a vintage phone which will arrive next week as this maybe another element to the installation.

Further Research

On Tuesday morning I visited the archive to find out more about the women that worked at the Old Telephone Exchange.

In 1971 the archive was created for the history of Swansea however before this time there was no archive and vital information was either thrown away or lost. This makes research on the historical buildings that remain in Swansea difficult. There is only two or three images of the Old Telephone Exchange. No records are available of how the building was used over the years.

On choosing the women who worked at the Telephone Exchange I found a few fantastic images. The archive holds a beautifully written book documenting the meetings held between 1903 to 1907. What I found interesting is how much they were paid and this seems to be the only record that proves the women ever existed.