Artist: Quiet Down There

Location: Whitehouse and Fairfields

Artist: Quiet Down There

Location:

3.3.21

Quiet Down There

Quiet Down There have spent time in Fairfields and Whitehouse, inviting you to join the conversation and help inform the brief for an artwork that is both form and function. The big question is what could a sculptural furniture artwork look like and where should it go?

Small boxes with activities inside were shared with the young people at Fairfields Primary School as part of the artists visit to the school. Something to take home, share and to continue the conversation.

Starting a conversation

Residents were invited to take part in a one to one conversation over a cup of tea and cake, exploring ideas of what a furniture artwork might deliver for the community

Meeting the community

Talking to Fairfields Primary School Eco Council

Quiet Down There - Lucy and Emily

Quiet Down There are a community interest company that works creatively outside of arts venues such as galleries or theatres.  We host creative sessions, lunches, discussion groups and free events in markets, charity shops, laundrettes, libraries and in community parks and gardens.  We work with individuals and groups to create opportunities that are fun, sociable and relevant for the people who live nearby.  It has been a joy to get to know the residents of Fairfields and Whitehouse and to hear people’s ideas for using  their public space.

For more information about Quiet Down There, see their website.

First We Eat with Fairfields and Whitehouse.

‘First We Eat’ took place in 2022, it included a series of creative conversations over food, in and around Fairfields and Whitehouse. Quiet Down There created opportunities to meet. The topic of conversation was chosen by the participants from a menu of topics and related to furniture inside and out, what they like to do and where they go in their local area and what public art they like (or dislike).

‘First We Eat is taken from ‘First we eat…then everything else’ a phrase coined by cookbook writer Mary K Fisher, who believed that if we share food first then anything is possible.

From April- August 2022 Lucy Jefferies and the team at Quiet Down There offered a free lunch or tea and cake or a pot of jam to participants in exchange for a 30 minute, one to one conversation about the people, places and hopes of the area. 

The information they gathered will inform the first ‘furniture’ commission that is set out in the Public Art Plan, it will offer both a sculptural form and functional use.  

Fairfields Primary School

“I discussed the fact that there was going to be a new public art commission in Fairfields and we wanted to explore ideas of what they would like to see. I think initially, they were a little blown away by the fact that their thoughts and opinions could really shape the creation of a new public artwork. Once that sunk in, we were inundated with suggestions. As you can imagine they really let loose with their imagination.

The pupils experimented with origami box making, to help tease ideas of how this new public artwork could look like. Being able to use their hands to create structures helped to visualise and form ideas and in some ways made it less daunting to think.”

Artist Saj Fareed