The Greeting

Abstract:

Lizzie Sykes was awarded an 'A Place For Art' Residency at Mottisfont in 2014. 'The Greeting' is one outcome of this Arts Council/National Trust funded project and has been shown at Sadlers Wells Elixir Festival, exhibited twice at Mottisfont and at a number of other other venues and events.

For this co-creational part of the residency Sykes worked with a group of older performers called Mind The Gap, who are based in Salisbury Playhouse.

This piece came to be about the physicality of how bodies appropriate and move within the very particular spaces in this location. It was a sensual, tactile and meditational movement piece – a direct response to their connection with an environment.

The subjects the group discussed were wide ranging and included themes such as how we view the past and how that past is presented. We also discussed our own visibility, camouflage, and the ethereal nature of the location. The group were captivated by the magic of Mottisfont - the group were particularly drawn to the trees. Mottisfont was, and still is, a meeting place (the name refers to the ‘moots’ or meetings at the ‘font’, the ancient spring in the grounds). It is a place where artists met and discussed their practice. Mind the Gap and Lizzie Sykes continued this tradition, meeting, moving and creating this piece collaboratively. It is an intuitive, movement-based response to this location.

Source: Manual