Wordlife applied to the ‘Year of Making’ for one of their large-scale commissions to celebrate the history and culture of making in Sheffield through poetry.
We created four poet-in-residencies across the city, appointing Charlotte Ansell as poet-in-residence in Portland Works, Genevieve Carver as poet-in-residence in Hope Works, James Giddings as poet-in-residence in Archipelago Gallery and Gav Roberts as poet-in-residence in Abbeydale Brewery.
Each poet had to spend a minimum of ten hours in each residency and explore the concept of making through poetry. Through a series of interviews, research and time spent in each location the poets produced two pieces of work. One of these was filmed in 360 degree film by Epiphany VR and turned into a VR poem film. Another was advertised on an open call to be turned into a poem film designed for large-scale projection. The appointed filmmakers were Annie Watson, Kira Zhigalina, Marsha Balaeva and Matt Williamson.
All of the work was showcased at Wordlife’s 10th Birthday celebrations at a sold out event at Weston Park Museum.
Large Scale Projection Film Poems
Gav Roberts & Marsha Balaeva – 1996 – Abbeydale Brewery
Gevi Carver & Annie Watson – Four Equal Parts – Hope Works
Charlotte Ansell & Matt Williamson – Knives – Portland Works
James Giddings & Kira Zhigalina – Self Help – Archipelago Gallery
360 Degree Film Poems