Almost Nothing But Blue Ground Performance, Salt Space 21st November

Almost Nothing But Blue Ground Artist Performance

Almost Nothing But Blue Ground is a research project by artists Matthew Benington and Tom Pope. It started in 2017 with the intention to explore and celebrate the life and work of Anna Atkins, the first ever person to publish a book of photographic images. After 2 years of research, we began to focus attention on her second publication, Cyanotypes of British and Foreign Ferns, made in collaboration with Anne Dixon. Out of 100 images, 25% represented Jamaican ferns, this led us to question why so many originated in Jamaica. Our research into the UCL Legacies of British Slavery database we discovered that Atkins husband, John Pelly-Atkins, and father in-law, Alderman Atkins, owned 9 plantations in Jamaica, thousands of slaves, boats, and docks. This shifted the focus of the project from celebrating the achievement of Atkins (particularly being a woman at that time) to acknowledging the origins of the privilege that allowed her to achieve it. The research informed a performative weeklong walk (2021) towing a trolley which exposed prints from Atkins home in Tonbridge to Ferring, where Dixon, her collaborator lived. Our walk went via Sir John Herschel's House in Hawkhurst, Herschel invented the process and would have shared it with Atkins. This research is presented in our work in a considered manner.

Roger Griffith MBE (specialist in decolonisation), author and poet Dr Zakiya Mckenzie (Oral Testimony on the History of Jamaica, Rough Trade) and Dr Caroline Douglas (PHD, RCA in early Scottish photography) are important contributors to the project, with their work incorporated in the performative lecture.
Performance lecture and discussion: 1 hour 15 minutes
The completion of the walk created an archive of cyanotype prints, negatives, artefacts, research, and diary entries. In the performance assets are shared via a speaker, spoken word, visualiser, data projector and OHP.

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Host or Publisher Almost Nothing But Blue Ground and Salt Space