Dreamspace: Pending approval

Dreamspace: Pending Approval is a site-responsive collaborative project led by artists Emma Edmondson and Shaun C. Badham.

The artists have organised a programme of live events including talks, workshops and a performance on the rural site of Hadleigh Farm Estate. These sessions bring participants together to dream up a sculpture as a structure for public use and, later in the process, to build a versatile outdoor shelter for learning and making. In the future, the shelter will remain and be available for visitors of the area to stop by, or to be used by those who live or work nearby.

This collaborative project takes its starting point that, as humans, we are only ever temporary stewards of the land, and the structures we insert into the landscape should be thought of as the same. As a participant in the workshops, you will collectively generate ideas and designs for the sculpture, and become a co-author of the project at Estuary 2025. You will take part in conversations around the work in a transparent and holistic manner, being one of a multitude of voices that inspire, shape and inform the final sculptural shelter. In the future, the structure will become a multi-use third space that will offer visitors and passers-by the opportunity to stop and take in the estuary through rest or activation.

The artists will be present in the space, gradually building the structure by gathering locally sourced and recycled materials that reflect the estuary and its surroundings: from organic to man-made, hand-made and ring bricks, wood preparation, and structure building.

By taking part in the workshops' conversations, you will have the opportunity to discuss and engage with the wider subjects of land ownership, land rights, access and authorship. You will play a key role in collectively instilling community ownership in the public space, as you will help to build a versatile outdoor shelter as sculpture for those here now, and that is also adaptable into the future.

Workshops

• Sunday 22 June, Woodworking Workshop, 10.00-13.00 - Led by Shaun: includes bench making and exploring the appropriate join for building structures.
  
• Wednesday 25 June, Brickmaking Workshop , 10.00 -13.00, led by Emma: you will be working with clay processed upon the land where the session takes place in.

TRAVEL INFORMATION

Please take time to consider your way to get to us, enjoy the ride and explore the surroundings.

Train Access

Hadleigh Farm is located between Benfleet and Leigh-on-Sea and is easily walkable from both c2c stations. The walks can take up to 50 minutes, but are extremely scenic and pleasant to walk (weather permitting!) It’s also possible to get the bus from either station. https://www.c2c-online.co.uk/create-your-day-out/hadleigh-farm/

Bicycle Access

Find this site on The National Cycle Network

Bus Access

Arriva service 1 & 5; Regal Busways 3, 3A, 3B; First 21, 21A, 21B, 25B, 26, 27, 27A, 27X & 28; all within 1⁄2 mile

Car Access

Parking available at on site pay and stay car park.

Project Image: Emma Edmondston and Shaun C. Badham. Photo by Michaela Freeman.