Within the Altered Project we have always worked closely with communities by providing workshops with the Altered artists for local schools and groups. For the Altered Festival one of these workshops will take place at Grasby All Saints CoE Primary School focusing on poetry and ran by performance poet Ash Dickinson. His website can be found here: http://www.ashdickinson.com/. Ash’s workshop is linked to the installation ‘When will our fields be seen, our church bells heard?’ by Lynn Dennison and Gen Doy. The aim of this workshop is to allow pupils to access their creativity to produce interesting and fun poetry and to encourage its use. Ash will take inspiration from Charles Tennyson’s poetry that is featured in their work and combine it with his own unique style.

‘When will our fields be seen, our church bells heard?’ will be shown at All Saints Church, Grasby as part of the Altered Project from Saturday 23rd May till Monday 25th May. For details follow this link: http://alteredartsproject.weebly.com/events.html

Ash has performed around the world for theatre stage, festivals, competitions, radio and many others. The uniqueness to his work is that it twists the traditional medium of poetry into something clever, fresh and funny and adds youth and a modern edge. Featured in a wide array of magazines, newspapers and poetry presses, Ash comes with a track record of experience and high recommendations from many:

"A very cool combination of rap, rhyme, repetition and wry wit...Dickinson proves not only to be an incredibly gifted poet, but also a great comedian with a sharp eye for social commentary" - Winnipeg Free Press

Performing for various sizes of crowd and venue Ash’s versatile experience means that his workshops are exciting and engaging from start to finish.

'When will our fields be seen, our church bells heard?' Will be exhibited at All Saint's Church, Vicarage Lane, Grasby, DN38 6AU.
Dates: Saturday 23rd May - 10.00 - 19.00
                Sunday 24th May - 11.00 - 19.00
                Monday 25th May - 11.00 - 19.00

'Machines in the Trees' comprises of three metal, mechanical trees, made for the biannual arts festival Zygote held to celebrate the Lincolnshire town of Sleaford and its renowned seed industry. The mechanical trees move in a gentle, paced fashion, creating the illusion of real trees and their movements in nature. Each tree has its own narrative and together they form a physical discussion on the history and myth of trees and nature.

As part of the Altered Festival Martin will also be holding a kinetic workshop for the students of Gedney Church End Primary School and Lutton St. Nicholas Primary School. In this workshop Martin will be helping the students to make their own Peg Birds that will move when the peg is pressed. Each pupil will use wire to model, form and articulate an clothes peg into an automata. The aim of this workshop is to aid the pupils in learning about simple construction and cause and effect. The Peg Birds are linked to Martins 'Machines In The Trees' that will be exhibited at St. Mary Magdalene Church, Gedney.

'Martin Smith's research and work are concerned with people's perception and interpretation of space. He undertakes quite large architectural commissions that interact with their given space and the viewer through mechanical movement. Alongside this work his practice is also concerned with making kinetic devices that investigate themes of repetition, precision and rules. These utopian objects and spaces are what currently drive his work forward. Martin is also the Co-Founder and Art Director of the design label, Laikingland. The work he creates through this company plays with the themes of humour, nonsense and futility.'

Machines in the Trees will be exhibited at St. Mary Magdalene, Church End, Gedney, PE12 0BJ
Dates: Saturday 2nd May  10.00 - 19.00
               Sunday 3rd May  11.00 - 19.00
               Monday 4th May  11.00 - 19.00

To view our online programme please click here: http://www.artsnk.org/wp-content/uploads/Altered-Flyer.pdf

For more information and to view Martin Smiths gallery please visit: http://www.smithautomata.co.uk/index.html

Information adapted from Martin Smiths website.

The holographic piece, Ophelia's Ghost, was commission by Altered and first exhibited in September 2014 at St. John the Baptist Church , Colsterworth, England. At the time the projection was one of three installations all featuring tragic female characters, alongside The Haunted Dress and The Alien Angel. Together they form The Ephemera Trilogy.  

The piece depicts Ophelia, a character of Shakespeares who ended her life by drowning. The hauntingly beautiful image was originally projected into a basin in the church for people to gather around and witness its unfolding. In this years Altered the projection will be shown in St. James's church in Aslackby from Saturday 2nd to Monday 4th of May.

The McGuires are an award winning husband-and-wife team who have created astounding visual and theatrical pieces and installations, exhibited in cultural institutions and international galleries. They have also produced commercial pieces for places such as Harrods and Madison Avenue. Their collaborative work explores majestic stories and fantasy atmospheres, bringing seemingly static material to life through digital projections and silent storytelling. Winners of The Oxford Samuel Beckett Theatre Trust Award 2013, Davy & Kristin McGuire‘s work has included theatre productions such as The Icebook and the atmospheric stage adaptation of popular fantasy novel, Howl’s Moving Castle. Their latest award winning theatre show The Paper Architect premiered in July 2013 at the Barbican London.

Ophelia's Ghost will be exhibited at St.James's, Aveland Way, Aslackby, Lincolnshire, NG34 0HZ.
Dates: Saturday 2nd May 10am - 7pm
                Sunday 3rd May 11am - 7pm
                Monday 4th May 11am - 7pm.

To view our online programme please go here: http://www.artsnk.org/wp-content/uploads/Altered-Flyer.pdf

For more information and to view the McGuires gallery please visit their website: http://www.davyandkristinmcguire.com/index.html


Text taken and adapted from Davy and Kristin McGuires personal website.