It's All About The Road (2014-15)

By

Dan Thompson

Photograph of pages from It’s All About The Road publication — Photograph of pages from *It’s All About The Road* publication

The stories collected from one road become the history of a city, and that becomes the history of England.

From June 2014-June 2015 I was artist in residence on London Road in Stoke, where 150,000 pieces of pottery are made by Portmeirion, and 15,000 buns are baked in a steam-powered bakehouse every week. I discovered lost canals, lost railways, and a million lost golfballs, and found connections to Margate, Charles Darwin, the man who designed the most reproduced work of art ever, and Jonah. I wrote a book, It’s All About The Road, starting in the Ice Age and ending twenty years in the future. I also worked with local artists, makers and designers to celebrate London Road’s stories. I held Art Lunches, seedfunded #chumbrella, led walks and commissioned Bottom Knocker, a piece of music made from sounds recorded in the Portmeirion Factory. A year as artist-in-residence for the whole road, collecting stories, working alongside local people, and making connections. This year-long artwork was commissioned by Appetite, one of Arts Council England’s Creative People & Places programmes, with local community groups SWOCA and Second Look Stoke.

More information: https://mrdanthompson.wordpress.com/artist/its-all-about-the-road/

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Dan Thompson

My work is about ordinary people, everyday life, and overlooked places. I like finding exceptional stories in unremarkable locations. I like to change the accepted narrative, and help people to see the place they live through a new lens. I often start work by asking people to help me explore a place, and use archives, literature, and local collections to get a deeper understanding.

https://mrdanthompson.wordpress.com