Collaboration Project Blog

This blog is created to support my Collaboration project with the Liverpool World Museum.

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The final piece (in theory)

The museum and I decided in the end that a final piece for an exhibition in the future would be something to showcase the beautiful specimens collected from the Liverpool Botanic garden that was lost in the war.

It would be something that would hopefully convince more people to visit the archives and learn about a garden that was at the heart of the city once but not many people know about now.

We decided on a range of embroideries that would sit alongside the specimens and show a different way of showcasing the dried plants. It would show the plants that once were part of many scientific discoveries that happened in our city.

We also hope that it would attract a different clientele of people to the museum by using the specimens to produce art and encourage more artists to make work based on the archives.

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On Reflection... 03/05/2018.

The experience of collaboration with the world museum has been one of the most enlightening and helpful experiences I could have had. And I am hoping that it will continue long after this module has finished.

The reason that it has been so helpful is because it has helped me to understand the way in which I need to make adjustments to the time frame of the collaboration to coincide with the timetables of the people I am working with. I can't just think about myself in this instance. For example, at the beginning of the project I would think that the people at the museum were being rude when they didn't answer my emails but in actual fact they do have other jobs outside of this and I can't expect them to always answer straight away. But they also need to work to my schedule.

It has also taught me to compromise my work, the things I do they will not always want or like for their project. It is not just my project but theirs too and I have to learn to compromise on ideas. Sometimes it is hard when you take so much pride in your work but I need to consider that it is their work on the line too.

After showing them the orchid piece they weren't sure about it and wanted it to be less explicit about the garden. So I began to compromise with them and make something more abstract.

This is a piece based on one of the dried poppy leaves I was shown. It isn't so obvious that this is what this is and is more of a pattern. Yet still shows the beauty of the specimen from the Liverpool Botanic garden. They were more inclined to show this work as it still shows the beauty of the specimen and all of the colours but it makes the viewer think more about what it is.

After completing a final visit to the museum before the project finished within uni time, (although the museum and I have decided to continue working together) we said collectively this is the way we wanted to go creating the work for a possible exhibition on the future. I have enjoyed every minute of the project and it has made me grow as an illustrator.

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The story of the Liverpool Botanic Garden.

The botanical archives of the Liverpool World Museum provide an inspiring catalogue of botanical specimens, which came from Liverpool Botanic Garden created by William Roscoe in 1802. The building itself was lost in WW2 and the specimens now exist as hidden memories, stored in museum drawers and only accessible by appointment. I wanted to bring attention to this forgotten place and show some of the treasures it once housed.

Photo credit: http://www.merseysidermagazine.com/site/local-history/liverpool-botanic-gardens/

The original purpose of the garden was to facilitate the study of nature by using living specimens. It was felt that such a garden should be created outside of London.

The key focus was the production of economic goods such as food, fibres and medicinal plants and very quickly, Liverpool became a globally renowned botanical garden. Plants specimens were brought to Liverpool through extensive trade connections.

In 1827, it was reported: “Public Garden in the UK is in a higher state of cultivation, and in no similar institution are stove and greenhouse plants in a more healthy and vigorous state.”

In the 1830s, the garden, which had originally been on the outskirts of the city, was relocated to become Wavertree Botanic Gardens to allow for the building expansion in the centre. Following bomb damage in WWII, specimens were lost and the few that remained were transferred to the botanical archives to be dried. Where they remain today.

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On Reflection...26/03/2018.

On Friday the 16th of March I begun my part time job working in a shop, I needed to do this to support myself whilst in university and doing my masters degree as my loan just wasn’t enough. The week after this, I was meant to go to the world museum to do some sketching but couldn’t because I was now having to fit in shifts around my degree.

Now it has made me realise that when the museum cannot see me, it is the same as now I can’t see them. They often work their part time and have other jobs to support their income, or they are even volunteers who just help out when they have a spare day or afternoon. Therefore I cannot get annoyed or upset or agitated that they cannot fit me in, because now I am the one that cannot fit museum visits in.

I has definitely made me more aware of other peoples circumstances but also has made me use the spare time I have a lot more wisely. For example, I have today, Thursday and Friday off, but the museum cannot see me then. Therefore I am using the photographs and sketches from 2 weeks ago to carry on with my project and then I will still have work to show them when I am able to go back in.

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16/03/2018.

Today I went to the museum for a second time and this time I was greeted by Wendy, rather than Donna. She took me into the office and I put my bags down. Then I was taken into the Herbarium and I picked out some of the specimens that I wanted to draw. These were all specimens from the Liverpool Botanical Garden.

I chose these because I wanted to make a collection of pieces for the museum in order to tell the story of this garden, that not many people know about because it was bombed in the war. Therefore by making an exhibition for the museum, more people will see the beauty of these specimens.

Below are the images that I took of the specimens (Credit to National Museums Liverpool, Liverpool World Museum). The images are my own photographs.

Then Wendy let me sit down and study these specimens and draw them, as long as I didn’t lean on them or spill anything on them. Basically handling them with the care they deserve.

I adored every minute of this time in the museum as they really looked after me and treated me as one of their own. I was even invited to the museum coffee break!

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Attached are some images of the studies I did at the museum.

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On reflection... 15/03/2018.

After working solidly for a couple of weeks on this collaborative project, I have had time to look back and think about the things that have happened. 

Whilst Donna hadn't been replying to my emails, I was concerned as to why I wasn’t getting any communication. The more I was told about the situation, the more I realise that there were reasons as to why this may have happened. I now know that they staff at the World Museum have other jobs in other Museums as well as there jobs here. Therefore they only work certain days in the World Museum. I then thought to look at myself and see that there could have been other things that I have been doing to prepare for this project whilst I waited for the reply. Therefore it has made me think about the way I react to things when they aren’t going as quick as I’d like and understand that there other things that these people in the Museum have to do. And therefore will change me for the better for the future of this project.

Now also as I have been hired to do a part time job, I have realised that it will also clash with the time I can go to the museum. For example, on Friday (16/03/2018) I am meant to be going to the museum but I am starting the first day on my new job, so I am having to split my time between both. Therefore I am more able to understand and empathise with the staff at the World Museum.

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07/03/2018- The Archive Visit.

The photos at the top of the post are the photos that I took when I went to the archive. The archive was the most beautiful and extensive thing that I have ever seen. 

There were specimens that I never would have thought I would have found beautiful until I saw them in the flesh. For example these were the seaweed samples. They were absolutely gorgeous and the folds and colours were exquisite. 

Donna Young, the botany curator, told us many stories including the first Botanical garden in England was in Liverpool and was created by James Roscoe. Roscoe was also a botanist and had an extensive collection of dried plants and specimens. Thos garden was destroyed in the war, but a few living specimens were saved and are preserved as dried plants in the World Museum. This is a story that I found fascinating and I thought that it could be something really exciting and interesting to cover as part of my project. 

As there are over 400,000 specimens in the archive, it is hard to home in on a specific collection that you like. But having seen pieces that Donna had picked out for me, that she thought I might like, I cannot wait to go over in the next few weeks again to discuss further my project and sketch some specimens.

(credit: National Museums Liverpool, World Museum Liverpool)

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11/02/2018.

I emailed a response to Donna and didn’t receive an email back until the 16/02/2018. Donna stated in this email that she was extremely busy and wouldn’t be able to see me until 7/03/2018.

I realised that within this project, there would be difficulties with communication due to the fact that Donna only worked 2 days a week in the World Museum and worked in other museums in Liverpool the rest of the week. This therefore made communication less frequent and would stretch the project further.

I realised this and begun to look into the images on the World Museum website and started to make an embroidery that I could take to Donna to show her the sort of ideas that I was working on and things that I could possibly do for her.

This is the finished embroidery of an image I found on the World Museum Liverpool website and made into my own illustrative piece.

(credit: National Museums Liverpool, World Museum Liverpool.)

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The beginning of the Collaboration Project - 23/01/2018.

The project that I am currently working on for my postgraduate degree is a Collaborative Module. This module began with presentations from people outside of the University setting that could possibly be partners for our collaboration.

Out of all of the presentations that I heard, the project that I felt most attracted to was the work with the World Museum Liverpool. Donna Young, the curator of the herbarium archive came in to talk to us and I was instantly attracted to the botany archive, this being a passion of mine anyway. Donna talked about the fact that there was not enough interest in the archives from a larger range of people, rather than just children and families. There wasn’t enough artists and young people who came to look around and see what the archive has to offer.

The archive has 1.7 million specimens and 1 millions of these focus on the natural sciences. The collections are often used in modern research and things are constantly being added.

I emailed Donna the same day and waited for what she wanted from me and my practice.