Contains Art Evaluation Report 2020

Final evaluation, January 2020
Jon England
Hour hands
We returned to our traditional
format for Jon England's container
conversation, held in the
container gallery, with Simon
Morrissey of Foreground
providing the other conversational
partner. The subject
matter ranged from heritage
to public engagement and
from manual technique to
philosophical approaches. Audiences
expressed the value of
the opportunity to hear from
Jon early in his commission,
particularly in light of the fact
that the timing of his installations
across the year meant
we did not hold a more traditional
private view event.
"The In-Conversation event
with respected curator Simon
Morrissey of Foreground was
a fantastic opportunity to
further my thinking regarding
the production of works for
the public realm as well as an
enjoyable evening".
The event was concluded with
the recording of a podcast as
part of as series called 'Last
Writes' that we are producing
in collaboration with artist
Chris Jelley. This was the
second in the series, with four
more recorded over the year
at various events. The subject
- what would your funeral
be like - afford audiences a
chance to understand more
about the lives and interests
of artists but in an unconventional
format, and has proved
very popular.
Lynn Dennison
Sea Swimming
For the opening of Lynn
Dennison's installation at the
Watchet Boat Museum, we
combined our usual private
view with a container conversation,
pairing Lynn with
Beth French, a local women
who had recently attempted
to swim seven global channels,
and been the subject of
a powerful independent film
- Against the Tides - charting
her physical and personal
journey. The film itself was also
shown later in the year to a
packed audience, again in the
Boat Museum.
" Naomi and Jess at Contains
Art organised a (delicious,
home cooked) dinner for the
opening; it was a really special
occasion with the team, the
swimmers, friends and associates
all attending. An “In conversation”
was held between
Jess Prendergrast, myself and
Beth French, channel swimmer
and motivational speaker,
whose story was fascinating
and impressive. This provided
a great angle to talk about
sea swimming and the project,
and the informal and friendly
nature of the event put me
at ease and made for a really
enjoyable evening."
24