23/6 - 24/7/2018
EXHIBITION FOREWORD :
Tessa Farmer (b. 1978) has created ’Out of Earth’, features among a number of sculptural dioramas ‘The Singing Barrow. This is an imagined glimpse inside a burial mound, one of the Bincombe Bumps, that are believed to be inhabited by fairies. Local folklore has it that you can hear them playing music if you put your ear to the ground at noon. The piece on display intertwines the archaeology and resident wildlife of the burial sites with the underground lair of the fairies. Upon closer inspection strange music can be heard...
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‘Out of the Earth’ takes it’s title from a short story by Arthur Machen, the influential nineteenth century author of horror and the supernatural and Tessa Farmer’s Great Grandfather. The story concerns hideous ‘little people of the earth’, ‘horrible little stunted creatures with old men's faces, with bloated faces, with little sunken eyes, with leering eyes. It was worse than uncovering a brood of snakes or a nest of worms.’ They rise from a ditch and wreak murderous havoc in sleepy rural Wales. Tessa Farmer’s fairies, though of slighter stature, are no less fierce. Their underground lair occasionally erupts to reveal glimpses of their nefarious activity. Emerging from their earthy hideout they feast on larvae, worms and other delicacies atop toadstools. They capture butterflies, wasps and hornets, raid nests, race snails and dance to the beat of buzzing bees and snail shell drums. They are plotting, building their army, developing weapons and awaiting curious humans to lure into their realm.
EXHIBITION IMAGE THUMBNAILS :
