Landscape, 2024 in collaboration with Janette Nelson, Julie Haygarth, Mariola Orawiec, Phillipa Whitehead, Linda Buttle, Rinku Shaw, Agnieszka Stankiewicz, Elzbieta Orczykowska, Martin Bennett, Angela Joss, Amanda Dixon, Angela Chesters, Josie Platt, Jake Haygarth, Yvonne Rawcliffe and Christine Southern.
Specifications
Old bristles from used brooms by cleaners at Lancaster University,
Size: 80 x 60 cm (hand-made walnut framed)
Description
It began as a participatory performance in which gallery visitors received a bristle
as their entry ticket. Upon entering, they were invited to place their bristle alongside others, gradually
forming a large-scale drawing in collaboration with
the gallery’s cleaning team. The bristles, sourced
from the brooms and brushes used to maintain the
campus, transformed an object associated with dirt
and disposability into a medium for collective creation. Following the performance, Oliva continued
the process to produce the work on display.
The act of handling these bristle materials, typically overlooked or deemed untouchable—invited
reflection on the beauty that can emerge from the
mundane. The repetitive gesture of placing each
bristle evokes both the monotony of routine labour
and the possibility of individuality within it. This collective effort, built from countless small actions,
serves as a metaphor for how meaningful change
often arises through collaboration. After all, removing dust with a single bristle would be nearly impossible—but together, they form a broom.