Headland

Headland

‘A strip of land left unploughed at the end of a field.’

Headland is a workshop-based art project with an aim to interpret and embody everyday places and spaces in psycho-geographic terms. The inspiration comes from the everyday technique of carrying things on the head. This is a common practice in many parts of the world since ancient times, sometimes in religious ceremonies or as a skilled feat for dances with impressive balance and dexterity. It is a method of transport and delivery solicited by social system and cultural heritage.

A group of residents living and working around Milton Keynes were invited to a series of workshops to recollect and share their special memories of places which involved collaborative poetry writing, field drawing and performance practice.  As a result, participants sculpted objects that embody the emotional values of the memory. As a way of reconnecting the human body with the objects of memory and place, they performed ‘psycho-geographic living sculptures’ by balancing them atop their heads.

* Commissioned by Milton Keynes Arts Centre, funded by Arts Council England.