Features

Cranfield's Mill, Ipswich by Mark Dixon

Breaking up is hard to do

Mark Dixon is an innovative artist, who has worked internationally as well as extensively in the east region. He can see the Cranfield's site from his house and he's been inspired to record, not just the demolition of this landmark building on the dockside, but to research its history in relation to the people who have worked there.

The building

Artist's impression of the DanceEast dancehouse

Cranfield's Mill was built in the 1840s and it provided employment to generations of local families. Its £70m redevelopment as a 'mini-barbican' is part of the massive regeneration project currently underway on the Waterfront at Ipswich.

Mark is now the 'resident artist', working on site with Waldringfield-based, CDC Demolition Ltd. Work has started with a team of men salvaging as much material as possible before the demolition work begins in earnest. The project is expected to take about six months.

Demolition and regeneration

Mark will record the demolition work from both outside and inside the buildings. Video footage will be collected both wirelessly and via cable and sound recording equipment and cameras placed inside the buildings will continue relaying images and sound until they are themselves destroyed or their batteries fail.

'Birds' - detail from photograph by Mark Dixon

Mark says: "There will be no real drama from the outside. Pedestrians and passing vehicles will be shielded from the work going on inside. In the current regeneration boom, we are all very aware of the new appearing from behind plastic coated scaffolding without the real experience of the old being removed.

"The process of demolition is sanitised and hidden. If we are to feel a real connection with building regeneration, I think it would be great to experience the pain and death of the old to fully experience the sense of birth of the new."

Not everything is to be demolished, about 40% of the original 19th century structure will remain and will be restored to form the basis of the new complex. One of the last elements to be removed will be the tallest silo, which stands at 200ft above the dock level.

Violence and beauty

Mark adds: "The work will have many surprises for me as the weeks unfold. I imagine imagery of both violence and beauty. Shocking and disturbing, whilst contemplative and perhaps ominous. Think about how it must feel to be inside a building as it is coming down around you.

"Sound is a very real option here and I should like to explore this possibility of using surround sound. It would also function as a metaphor for the shifts in public violence to allow a communal viewing of this experience not as a gratuitous thrill but also as a powerful reminder of what it means to lose something time and work have built and loved."

Exhibitions

Mark hopes to project some of his footage onto the surfaces of the building in the evenings, effectively turning it inside out. His work will culminate in a major show later this year at the Peterborough Digital Art Gallery and he aims to bring the exhibition to Ipswich during 2006 to coincide with the construction of the new development.

Can you help?

The artist

Mark's previous work has been similarly experimental and sometimes collaborative. It has included:

Mark's work at Cranfield's Mill is being sponsored by the Arts Council.

THE GALLERY ON THIS PAGE WILL BE UPDATED REGULARLY AS THE PROJECT MOVES FORWARD. KEEP LOOKING AT THE GALLERY TO SEE MARK'S LATEST PICTURES.