LOVE TOKENS AND BAD PENNIES EXHIBITION
About the exhibition:
Does love endure forever? Does a bad penny always turn up? During this Valentine month the artists and writers from CollectConnect explore this flip-sided theme with an exhibition of 32 miniature sculptures. These objects are placed in public places (#unsettledgallery), helping us to remember those who we hold dear - or cast off those who we would rather forget. Every day throughout February we will be featuring one of these tokens/pennies on this website. A writer will also use the art as inspiration to create something new and fresh.
My artwork:
For my contribution, I created two small pieces - a love token and a bad penny.
THE LOVE TOKEN: ‘FROM HOY MONUMENT TO THE PEPPER POT’
A 5cm lino-printed book of the walk between Hoy Monument and the Pepper Pot on the Isle of Wight. Bound with a monoprint of the ocean around the Needles, Isle of Wight.
This artwork was left to be found at the National Archives, Kew. The National Archives is the official archive and publisher for the UK government and for England and Wales. It is the guardian of some of our most iconic national documents, dating back over 1,000 years. The site was originally a World War I hospital, which was later used by several government departments. It is open to the public, you can browse the records and documents without charge.
THE WRITER’S RESPONSE: BY ALBAN LOW
In Whippingham I hold Pain
In Chale it’s Dyer
Ryde with divine St John
Sweet my desire
Northwood is full of Bull
The Barne, the Bunday and the Barker
Gone for a Burton
Betrothed to Butt and to the Baker
Our Haywards are not wayward
And Dimmers live bright in St John
Take this ring Cooley St Mary
Because the Flux wont move on
Harpwoods raise Hell in St Helens
The clever Tricketts and the Smart
Charmed by the Chessells
Love has found its heart
Henry Love married Ann CHESSELL on the 8th May 1855
THE BAD PENNY: ‘UNTITLED’
A tiny sculpture made from an old key fob, beads, embroidery threads and acrylic paint.
This artwork was left in a common smoking area near the Shard. It nestles in a flowerbed at the Dogend site in the #unsettledgallery which includes, railings and gates, as well as spaces between bricks, in gullies and beside drainpipes - basically anywhere an artwork can rest and be seen by the public. These spaces change and evolve on a daily basis although some artworks survive for a longer period of time.
THE WRITER’S RESPONSE: BY DEAN REDDICK
It is a heavy thing, this locket, this lock.
Guardian of a gate to the other end
but without a key.
Jewel crusty and gaudy gold on the up side
you can feel the heat seeping through.
I clench it in my fist like brass knuckles
ready to swing at the would be Angels
who declare what love is.
They blind themselves and forget.
Love is the fire which we all dance around.
