NEST
Conceived and coordinated by Sarah Cole, NEST was the culmination of three years creative engagement with the staff, parents, children and governors at Briscoe Primary School and Nursery in Basildon.
On Sunday 24th February 2008, a promenade performance event revealed fourteen 'nest' performance installations, each guided by a child 'Twitcher' taking visitors on a journey through the school. One classroom looked like a bomb had literally hit it, with upturned tables and a dilapidated Anderson shelter containing recorded voices of children describing moments in which they realised their life would never be the same again.
The Head Teacher's office became the temporary home of Bo Peep and two of her sheep, and the new hall transformed into an Airing Cupboard for the delivery of pithy lines from the lives of local mothers. Nest allowed the community to re-imagine its school and articulate an alternative way to see and understand the world.
CREDITS:
Documentation Photographs: Andrew Whittuck, Kevin Dutton, Sarah Cole.
Lighting Design: Adam Povey and Jake Bennett.
Creative Partnerships Thames Gateway, Director: Sue Lawther.
Creative Partnerships Thames Gateway, Programmer: Serena Abbott.
Artists:
Rachel Anderson
Sarah Cole
Helen Lowe
Jules Maxwell
Mark Storor
Julian Walker
Performers: Thomas, Lucas, Phoebe, Josh, Bobbie, Kayleigh, Zack, Bradley, John, Brooke, Hayley, Jade, Emily, Sian, Lewis, Tommy, Sarah, Clare, Josh, Alex, Casey, Pat, Jan, Karen, Christian, Aaron, Hope, Sophie, Summer, Jason, Jordan, Rachel, Paige, Connor, Lizzy, Charlie, Vissey, KerryAnn, Dean, Courteney, Karan, Caitlin, Ethan, Taylor, Jake, Abbey-lee, Jac, Katrina, Jordan, Georgia, Ben, Jordan, Iain, Charlie, Jordan, Alicia, Kelly, Ian, Debbie, Charlotte, Tammy, Nina, Fern, Diane and Vicky.
Arts in Education: essay by Cleo Fagan, using NEST as a case- study; 'The Art of Not Knowing in Learning Environments: in praise of artist residencies in schools'
what was Nest..by Sally Mackey, Deputy Dean of Studies, Central School of Speech and Drama
I made the mistake of talking about Nest recently with some undergraduates I teach, without having planned how I was going to discuss it. "It was in a primary school, near Basildon. The school had been transformed into an installation – a number of 'nests'. Artists had worked with staff and children to create the nests. Erm … it was amazing." Not surprisingly, they didn’t ‘get it’. It is - quite possibly - hard to ‘get’ - unless you were there.
The reason I went to Nest is because it captures something of an area of performance work that preoccupies me: the performance of place...
april 5th 2008
what has Nest meant to us? by Diane Pilgrim, Head Teacher, Briscoe Primary School and Nursery
I'd been at Briscoe a matter of days when Creative Partnerships contacted me about placing a bid for a school project. At that time the pupils and staff were very vulnerable, behavior was a huge issue and my days were spent 'fire fighting'. I didn't have the time to place a bid but was interested so I agreed to meet with Serena Abbott the Creative Programmer and she accepted my bid on a post-it note! It read something along the lines of 'I want the children at Briscoe to be motivated to learn'- that basic! Three years on, our work with Creative Partnerships has achieved this and so much more....
may 16th 2008
something I'll treasure...by Kelly Herring, Learning Mentor, Briscoe Primary School and Nursery
Working with Creative Partnerships and the parents on Nest is an experience that I will remember for life, something that I will treasure.CP brought out a creative side in our parents that most didn't know they had! All parents involved were allowed to be themselves without being judged. We laughed and cried along our journey eventually finding pride in who we are. We discovered that as women we have so much more to offer than being just a wife or mother.
Being able to show people how they felt without having to say it, is something they all found important. Without CP this would never have happened. The parents now have the confidence to try something new and different -
we are grateful for that and hope to build on it.
may 23rd 2008