In the stories there is an abundance

In the stories there is an abundance was informed by a close reading of the book In the Steps of the Master by H. V. Morton, a travel book published in 1934 which follows Morton’s journey and observations through Palestine, Syria and Lebanon, following the movements of Jesus as described in the Bible. Written before the formation of Israel, and during the British Mandate for Palestine which ran from 1922-48, the book expresses a deeply English gaze of the Holy Lands, with evocative and fantastic descriptions of the landscape alongside objectifying ethnographic accounts of people. Throughout the book Morton expresses a reverence for the landscapes and holy places he visits, and creates a world totally other from the pastoral environs of the English reader. The study of the book provided a foundation for the consideration of “alien” landscapes, and the absence or presence of a figure or subjectivity within them. It agitated the positioning of viewpoints and began deeper phases of research into carcerality, ownership, and occupation.

The project culminated in an exhibition of visual fragments within the rooms of a psychotherapy centre in London. Five installations within five consulting rooms appeared for one day. The installations disrupted the existing furniture and decor, integrating or upending it. Each interrupted the usual safety and passiveness of the rooms with flashes of landscapes, and symbols and fragments of narratives which spoke of the desire for a promised or taken land. Mirage, suggestion, and wrong turns were abound.

In addition to the pop-up installations, a selection of drawings and paintings were installed within the public spaces of the centre. Through the eaves of the space was pulled a line of red paracord, evoking red lines of borders and control, while hovering taught above the heads of visitors. This red paracord appeared throughout each installation, a motif used to hang, suspend, and withhold. 

The installations were marked by an event Close Up is Far Away by the poet Professor Andrea Brady. Brady read from work related to her essay “Drone Poetics” (published in New Formations 2016, 89-90),  which considers “the challenge to the theory and practice of the lyric of the development of drone warfare.” This essay has continued to influence projects into the present day.

The hand-bound pamphlet of poems Offerings was produced on the occasion of the exhibition, in an edition of 30.