Guest post from Julia O'Connell

Award-winning writer Chris O'Connell and visual artist Julia O'Connell, co-directors of Coventry's Theatre Absolute, are leading a creative research project Witness inspired by the Daimler building and the stories and lives of the labourers and tool makers who worked there during the building's manufacturing past.

We asked Julia to share some of her experiences ahead of their sharing event at the Festival of Imagineers:

WITNESS

Def: marks present on machinery or surfaces that are testimony to a repeated action which, over time, leaves a trace of the occurrence

Today is the first day that myself and writer Chris O'Connell have spent some time on site in the Daimler Powerhouse. The Powerhouse is the creative making space of Imagineer Productions but used to be part of the motor manufacturing industry in Coventry and where Daimler cars went into production.

I'm an artist whose practice is based in textiles, and early on in my research my heart skipped a beat as it was revealed that the site used to be part of the Widdrington Cotton Mills.

Much of the area was decimated during World War 2 but my walk around the existing spaces this morning is about linking various industrial occupancies via ghost signs and the building repairs and extensions.

In the residency I want to capture not only the essence of an important industrial heritage but also give weight to the building's future. All around me are artists, makers and crafters, busy with plans for the impending Festival of Imagineers. The space is bustling and bright with creativity, even though it's a dull wet Monday outside.

I stand for a while and watch and listen.

I hear the chatter bounce off the walls and disappear into the eaves of the wood panelled roof. I think about the activity on the factory floors over the years the work, the toil, the hours, the mechanical noises, the banter, the laughs, the worry of war, the loss of friends, the industry changing as new technologies emerge, the pride in a pay packet, and the nerves of a new apprentice

Julia O'Connell

Julia leads a FREE sharing event about Witness at 1pm Friday 30th September. The project receives its full premiere in 2017.

LINK:	http://www.imagineer-productions.co.uk/guest-post-from-julia-oconnell/...
	See more stories from imagineer

Most recent headlines