Becoming
24/02/07 21:36
In an enormous 19th century house, at the heart of a
1200 acre estate
On the ground floor: on one side bedrooms, bathrooms, washrooms, a laundry room; on the other offices, boot rooms, smarter rooms and a kitchen; between the two a staircase and a grand piano and antique toys and furniture which has printed on it the family name
Why am I here? How is it farming? Maybe it's not. What is the difference between farming and land-use, food production and diversification, managing land and producing businesses from it? When are they the same, when are they not? When do they become each other, stop being something and become something else? How do they change, people? How are people made who they are, from what they do, in connection with the land?
This is why I'm here
Eigg and this estate-family are the same as reinventions of traditional ways of Scottish life: the one, crofting, an island community; the other, estate management, land ownership and a family. Good ideas.
This estate, then: farming, yes, although I'm here to work on the "diversification" side of things, a tourism / horticultural business based around the house and gardens: plant sales and entry to gardens, as well as a mail-order business and B&B. On top of this, presumably the agricultural use of land, and occupation of apartments, cottages, buildings. In and around the house, where I am, it's all mixed up: the family, the home, the house, the land, the branding, the business(es). Lines between things are slight. With us too, eating and living with Thomas and Claire. Working. Life. I like it, but it is also a little confusing.
A piece of news, too, me: I have been awarded a grant from the Arts Council England, to fund the major (England) part of this project, GB Farming. A hooray, official sanction on what I'm doing. A little odd, too. Something has changed, me or it, the project or both, being so interconnected.
On the ground floor: on one side bedrooms, bathrooms, washrooms, a laundry room; on the other offices, boot rooms, smarter rooms and a kitchen; between the two a staircase and a grand piano and antique toys and furniture which has printed on it the family name
Why am I here? How is it farming? Maybe it's not. What is the difference between farming and land-use, food production and diversification, managing land and producing businesses from it? When are they the same, when are they not? When do they become each other, stop being something and become something else? How do they change, people? How are people made who they are, from what they do, in connection with the land?
This is why I'm here
Eigg and this estate-family are the same as reinventions of traditional ways of Scottish life: the one, crofting, an island community; the other, estate management, land ownership and a family. Good ideas.
This estate, then: farming, yes, although I'm here to work on the "diversification" side of things, a tourism / horticultural business based around the house and gardens: plant sales and entry to gardens, as well as a mail-order business and B&B. On top of this, presumably the agricultural use of land, and occupation of apartments, cottages, buildings. In and around the house, where I am, it's all mixed up: the family, the home, the house, the land, the branding, the business(es). Lines between things are slight. With us too, eating and living with Thomas and Claire. Working. Life. I like it, but it is also a little confusing.
A piece of news, too, me: I have been awarded a grant from the Arts Council England, to fund the major (England) part of this project, GB Farming. A hooray, official sanction on what I'm doing. A little odd, too. Something has changed, me or it, the project or both, being so interconnected.