Good Morning Mr Bewick

Good Morning Mr Bewick imagines a conversation between Mark Fairnington and Thomas Bewick a wood engraver, 1753 – 1828. This new digital work reflects upon some of the ways in which Fairnington’s and Bewick’s thoughts about the Northumberland countryside overlap and connect. Good Morning Mr Bewick was designed to enable the viewer to look beyond the images in the prints and the paintings to focus on magnified details, the individual marks which build to make the final work. This work was part of the project Thomas Bewick and contemporary art: Digitising access to temporary site-specific artworks at National Trust Cherryburn, AHRC follow on funding project, Newcastle University.

The focus of this project was to re-present a previously commissioned physical art installation created by artist Mark Fairnington in a digital format using readily accessible digital platforms and tools. The original installation – Walking, Looking and Telling Tales - was created for and presented in 2018 at National Trust Cherryburn (Mickley, Northumberland), the historic home of Thomas Bewick. The emphasis here is on working with the project team and the artist to re-present their work in a way that conveys some of the essence and aesthetic of the original installation for digital consumption and engagement.

This project set out to address two key issues:

- the long-term legacy of, and access to, temporary site-specific art commissions
- the potential of digital space for audience development within the heritage sector.

Working with the National Trust's historic property and collection at Cherryburn, the birthplace of Thomas Bewick, and The Bewick Society this project aimed to address the issues of legacy, access and audience development through two strands of work. Two artworks created by Marcus Coates and Mark Fairnington in 2018-19 were revisited to create digitally accessible versions. This looked to demonstrate the potential of digital forms of contemporary art and dissemination which, in turn, has the capacity to generate new audiences and make commissioned artworks more accessible. The new digital work aimed to demonstrate an alternative commissioning and dissemination approach, which might appeal to and help to develop different audiences. The experiences of this project were shared at a project symposium designed to stimulate discussion and debate within the wider contemporary art, digital, heritage and museum communities around the value and future development of digital platforms for the preservation, representation and creation of site-specific art practice. The symposium was delivered in partnership with the sector support organisation Arts & Heritage.

This project was needed because there has been a significant increase in the number of artworks being commissioned for heritage sites, and the sites commissioning work have become increasingly varied - from country houses to historic waterways. Major schemes have emerged, such as the National Trust's 'Trust New Art' programme which between 2009-2019 commissioned over 300 artists for 150 of its properties. Temporary site-specific art commissions tend to be poorly documented and have limited legacy. This is important for heritage organisations because commissioning contemporary art can be a resource intensive process, in terms of time and money, and yet its impact can be short-lived. It also has access implications in that only those who can physically visit the heritage site can engage with the artwork. These issues are particularly pertinent for heritage sites that might have limited opening hours or limited space.

The project aimed to impact commissioning practices to consider legacy, accessibility & digital, further expand artists' practice, develop new audiences, enhance access and create better return on investment for those commissioning contemporary art.

• https://www.ncl.ac.uk/press/articles/arc...
• https://research.ncl.ac.uk/on-site-off-s...