A map of sandpaper. A bucket of paint. A changing view. A path mistaken. A torn man. A faceless crowd. A trip to nowhere. A trip to somewhere. A lighted cigarette. A stick of light. A dark day. A day that’s night.
‘Black on Black’, Lizzie Nichols - Local Senses, 2019
Local Senses is a collective of 10 individuals who have varying levels of sight: Benjamin Jenner, Colin Palgrave, Geoff Clark, Leonie Abrahamson, Lesley Palgrave, Lizzie Nichols, Nathan Bather, Natanya Mark, Richard Simpson, Rikki Jodelko.
The group was first formed in 2017, via regular workshops held the Royal National Institute for Blind People, instigated by Natanya Mark. These workshops housed a unique community of collective discovery and shared experience, through explorations into texture and text.
In 2019 we gained new members, and founded Local Senses. We began investigations into navigating outdoor space and somatic relationships to site, following a collective desire to take our practice to the streets.
Local Senses: Mapping in Lewisham
2021-22
Our current project is ‘Local Senses: Mapping in Lewisham’, a commission for Liberty Festival 2022 and Lewisham Borough of Culture. Striking out into new and familiar territory, we will explore how Lewisham asks to be navigated - using alternative sensory modes. Through this process, we will reflect on the ways in which space becomes place, the unknown becomes a route, and a sense of belonging is established. Our journey will start in Deptford.
Local Senses: Mapping in Bloomsbury
2019-20
In 2019 we began a year-long collaboration, developing strategies for exploring and navigating outdoor space. Our starting point was the Royal National Institute for Blind People in Bloomsbury. In the process, we reflected on the local environment, and how our sense of presence within that environment changed over time - and across the pandemic.
'Local Senses: Mapping in Bloomsbury' was supported by the Mayor of London's Culture Seeds fund.
Film
Local Senses: Mapping in Bloomsbury
Directed by Natanya Mark and Nathan Bather, filmed and edited by Nathan Bather, 2020
Publication
Download the publication PDF here.
Graphic designer, Oscar Warr, 2020
Listen to the audiobook of 'Local Senses: Mapping in Bloomsbury', here. Kindly recorded by the RNIB Talking Books service.
To purchase a print copy of 'Local Senses: Mapping in Bloomsbury' email: natanya@fatstudio.co.uk
Audioguide
Sound artist, Benjamin Jenner, 2020
Download the accompanying Bloomsbury route map here.
A map of sandpaper. A bucket of paint. A changing view. A path mistaken. A torn man. A faceless crowd. A trip to nowhere. A trip to somewhere. A lighted cigarette. A stick of light. A dark day. A day that’s night.
‘Black on Black’, Lizzie Nichols - Local Senses, 2019
The group was first formed in 2017, via regular workshops held the Royal National Institute for Blind People, instigated by Natanya Mark. These workshops housed a unique community of collective discovery and shared experience, through explorations into texture and text.
In 2019 we gained new members, and founded Local Senses. We began investigations into navigating outdoor space and somatic relationships to site, following a collective desire to take our practice to the streets.
Local Senses: Mapping in Lewisham
Local Senses: Mapping in Bloomsbury
'Local Senses: Mapping in Bloomsbury' was supported by the Mayor of London's Culture Seeds fund.
Film
Local Senses: Mapping in Bloomsbury
Directed by Natanya Mark and Nathan Bather, filmed and edited by Nathan Bather, 2020
Download the publication PDF here.
Graphic designer, Oscar Warr, 2020
Listen to the audiobook of 'Local Senses: Mapping in Bloomsbury', here. Kindly recorded by the RNIB Talking Books service.
To purchase a print copy of 'Local Senses: Mapping in Bloomsbury' email: natanya@fatstudio.co.uk
Sound artist, Benjamin Jenner, 2020