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Jon
Griffiths’ remarkable artwork CABIN was a rustic hut in the ‘wilderness’,
a living space that had the artist present throughout its time in the park.
CABIN touched on the desire 'to get away from it all' with a dose of the
reality of living on the land. Jon’s work embodied his response to
the visionary utopians of past eras, especially to the nineteenth-century
American man of letters, Henry David Thoreau, who lived for two years in
a cabin by Walden Pond in rural Massachusetts to engage with the essential
facts of life. 'To affect the quality of the day,' Thoreau wrote, 'that
is the highest of arts.'
During ten days’ residence, Jon met park staff and numerous visitors
who talked to him about his work and the ideas behind it, its location and
the practicalities of his chosen (temporary) lifestyle. An Open Day brought
even more people to the park to meet Jon and also to visit the artists’
studios managed by ACAVA, the artists’ studios association which,
in spring 2004, opened seven studios in former potting sheds in the Park. |
