'Neepsend sequence' and 'Vague terrain'

In return presents the latest work of Returns, a group of artist researchers from Sheffield Hallam University and Nottingham Trent University who have been exploring the legacy of post industrial landscapes and production. The group is Joanne Lee and Chloe Brown from SHU; Andrew Brown, Danica Maier, Debra Swann, Christine Stevens from NTU. Returns developed from Topographies of the Obsolete, an international cross-disciplinary project initiated by Bergen Academy of Art and Design, Norway which used the former Spode ceramics factory in Stoke-on-Trent as a place from which to consider urban ruins, and the artefacts to be found there. Since then, the researchers have focused their attention on other locations including brownfield sites in Sheffield, the brick works of Staffordshire, and the streets of Detroit, and they have repurposed objects and patterns derived from historical ceramics and the domestic contexts in which they would normally be used. The work here includes large scale wall drawings, sculpture, video, sound, photography and practices of walking; whilst the artists work independently to pursue their own inquiry, they return to bring their diverse findings into proximity, creating a critical conversation about making and re-making in the post industrial age. My contribution featured a projected photographic sequence developed from an investigation of an urban lane in Sheffield, and a presentation of Vague terrain, issue #4 of my Pam Flett Press independent serial publication. Keywords: post industrial; derelict; urban lane; photography; artistic research; independent publication