Pine Feroda is a woodblock print collaboration from North Devon and the collective name used by the five artists working together there in South West England to make large scale, dramatic woodblock prints. The collective was formed in November 2013 as a four day experimental workshop in the making of collaborative prints. The stimulus and energy of this collaboration has resulted in the creation of a new identity – Pine Feroda.
“Our ‘first phase’ is to make a body of work with stylistic and technical coherence”, states their introductory material. “To this end we are making four or five powerful large prints inspired by the extraordinary coast of North Devon. The innovative nature of our work makes it imperative that we have consistency in scale, in subject matter and in palette.”
The co-operative was brought to Pressenza attention on seeing the name of old pal Merlyn Chesterman who was a neighbour of this editor many years ago on Cheung Chau Island, off Hong Kong, as a Facebook entry.
Continuing: “All creative decisions are taken collectively, and this requires a great deal of coordination, discussion time and tact. The benefit of this way of working is that, with five artists collaboratively engaged, a tremendous creative energy is unleashed and things get done fast.”
This reminded some of us at Pressenza of our own collective work where working together brought out something quite beyond the norm, beyond what the individual could manage, and not just a tithe over the top but something quite remarkable.
Of course it all depends on the intentions, the moment and the context.
Pine Feroda works in North Devon, although not all of the members are based in that part of the world. “We have, at this stage, settled into a routine of working four times a year for eight days at a session – subdivided into a four day intensive to create and proof the work, followed by a further four days of editioning,” the entry ends.
It’s not that co-operatives are anything new but what is new is the moment, the epoch, when the standard and regular are falling apart, when society is imploding with the tensions of clashing cultures which disturbing forces need to be re-organised and channeled, integrating the diversity into a productive flux of many minds and many different things.
On its small scale, Pine Feroda is becoming part of what’s to come.
