Legacy

Famed Northumbrian naturalist Thomas Bewick and revolutionary Tynesider Thomas Spence met in 18^th Century Newcastle.

The friends both held radical political views but now, Bewick is more widely remembered than Spence. This difference in their legacy is explored in a new art project Against the Grain by the artist Ruth Ewan.

Against the Grain considers both men as innovative artists but also examines how Bewick’s legacy was protected while Spence’s ideas were obliterated. Ruth’s project invites audiences to refresh their image of Bewick as a political animal and discover the obscured figure of Spence, an essential and provocative voice from our past.

Thomas Spence was born in poverty in Newcastle in 1750. A radical multi-media artist and thinker who was imprisoned on several occasions. His work promoted land rights, access to education, welfare rights and for the rights of children not to be abused. Thomas Bewick was a renowned naturalist and wood engraver whose birthplace Cherryburn is now managed by the National Trust. He too was interested in radical politics and was influenced by the poverty he saw in rural Northumberland.

A new lens

Artist Ruth Ewan said: “This has been a fascinating journey to go on. Both Spence and Bewick were so incredibly innovative and prolific. They also held firm to their political conviction throughout their lives. Their output is hugely relevant for today and for the future. I hope more people are introduced to their work through this project.”

The project is presented in four complementary parts: an audio essay which was written and narrated by Ruth Ewan; illustrated sleeve notes featuring a timeline of the two men’s lives; a new reimagining of a song written as a tribute to Thomas Spence; and a specially designed downloadable poster featuring a quote from one of Spence’s texts ‘Sing and meet and meet and sing and your chains will drop off like burnt thread’ written in his own phonetic language.

Against the Grain was commissioned by Newcastle University and the National Trust working in partnership with the Bewick Society as part of the On-Site/Off-Site project.

It is the fourth digital artwork from On-Site/Off-Site to go live.  Marcus Coates’ Video Conference for the Birds, which shows a group of birds discussing their life, their habitats, and their concerns for the future on a video conference call, was followed by Hanna Tuulikki’s Avi-Alarm, which turned five endangered birds into Instagram filters. The third was Good Morning Mr Bewickby Mark Fairnington, which imagined a conversation with Thomas Bewick.

On-Site/Off-Site explores the potential of digital technologies to support contemporary art commissioning for heritage sites. Each of the works produced will respond to the work of Thomas Bewick who himself embraced the technologies available in the eighteenth century to manifest his love of the countryside and nature through exquisitely detailed prints, drawings, and engravings to reach wide audiences.

Kay Owen, Operations and Experience manager at Cherryburn, Bewick’s birthplace cottage, which is managed by the National Trust, said: “Ruth’s work reminds us of Thomas Bewick as a radical thinker through his friendship with Thomas Spence, a man whose legacy has largely been forgotten. Against the Grain shines a light on the life and work of both artists, inviting us to see Bewick through a new lens and to meet, perhaps for the first time, his friend Thomas Spence whose innovative ideas remain relevant in the twenty-first century.”

Professor Vee Pollock, project lead at Newcastle University said: “Ruth’s Against the Grain is a captivating journey considering aspects of Bewick’s life even ardent fans might be unfamiliar with and introducing Spence to most for the first time.

“I would encourage listeners to enter the ‘unexpected territory’ and engage with all four elements of the Against the Grain, each of which are wonderful and thought-provoking and together create a powerful image of, particularly, Spence and the context in which Bewick was creating his prints. As the fourth work created for On-Site/Off-Site it joins what has been an innovative exploration of relationships between art, heritage and the digital.”

You can visit the project here: https://www.ruthewan.com/against-the-grain/