Kurt Schwitters' last Merzbau: The Elterwater Merz Barn

A Miracle at Cylinders!

– announcing a miracle at Cylinders!

Over the week-end of February 4th and 5th a miracle occurred at Cylinders, performed by a group of hardy Polish mountaineers who arrived from all over England.

As most of you will know, Cylinders was badly struck by Storm Arwen on November 26-27 2021.  A massive loss was the historic Leylandia cypress tree planted by Harry Pierce in 1967 outside the shippon.  Along with that giant went many other vintage trees, mostly birches and larch, 3 or 4 of which fell across the boundary wall and into the road.  These latter were almost instantly removed by our Council, for which we were and are grateful.

/The devastation, although it caused little damage to buildings, had a greater impact on the site than even the gales of winter 2015-16, and added to a 52 hour power cut caused by three larches falling onto the power supply lines, led to a bleak two months when we had to  close the site once again to visitors.  The visual devastation was added to by the fact that the larch copse by the Merz Barn, although perfectly healthy to the naked eye, had been condemned earlier in the year by the Forestry Authority, and an order served demanding its felling by the end of January 2022.  This was duly accomplished by contractor Mike Edmondson, but he is under extreme pressure up and down the valley since all others with larches on their land are working to the same time-line.  The condemned larches therefore are still lying where they fell, and after the storm Cylinders was left looking like a vast lumber-yard.

The whole thing was simply depressing, and apart from a small tidy-up to repair the waste pipe snapped by the fall of the cypress, and free the pathway to the Merz Barn, we resigned ourselves to a long wait before further remedial action could be taken.

But then, a mere ten days ago, an Angel appeared on site in the guise of Joanna Jozefowicz, an MA student at Salford College of Art.  Joanna knew the Merz Barn, having taken part in one of artist Jill Randall’s annual residency visits with her students (the next is scheduled for this March).  Joanna spent the day discussing her MA project with Ian, each of them growing more excited by the minute as they viewed the possibilities afforded by the site and its links with the gallant Polish Brigade during and after WWII.

Over the week-end of February 4th and 5th a miracle occurred at Cylinders, performed by a group of hardy Polish mountaineers who arrived from all over England.

As most of you will know, Cylinders was badly struck by Storm Arwen on November 26-27 2021.  A massive loss was the historic Leylandia cypress tree planted by Harry Pierce in 1967 outside the shippon.  Along with that giant went many other vintage trees, mostly birches and larch, 3 or 4 of which fell across the boundary wall and into the road.  These latter were almost instantly removed by our Council, for which we were and are grateful.

The devastation, although it caused little damage to buildings, had a greater impact on the site than even the gales of winter 2015-16, and added to a 52 hour power cut caused by three larches falling onto the power supply lines, led to a bleak two months when we had to  close the site once again to visitors.  The visual devastation was added to by the fact that the larch copse by the Merz Barn, although perfectly healthy to the naked eye, had been condemned earlier in the year by the Forestry Authority, and an order served demanding its felling by the end of January 2022.  This was duly accomplished by contractor Mike Edmondson, but he is under extreme pressure up and down the valley since all others with larches on their land are working to the same time-line.  The condemned larches therefore are still lying where they fell, and after the storm Cylinders was left looking like a vast lumber-yard.

The whole thing was simply depressing, and apart from a small tidy-up to repair the waste pipe snapped by the fall of the cypress, and free the pathway to the Merz Barn, we resigned ourselves to a long wait before further remedial action could be taken.

But then, a mere ten days ago, an Angel appeared on site in the guise of Joanna Jozefowicz, an MA student at Salford College of Art.  Joanna knew the Merz Barn, having taken part in one of artist Jill Randall’s annual residency visits with her students (the next is scheduled for this March).  Joanna spent the day discussing her MA project with Ian, each of them growing more excited by the minute as they viewed the possibilities afforded by the site and its links with the gallant Polish Brigade during and after WWII.

As she was leaving Joanna remarked, seemingly idly, ‘I see you could do with some help here.  I am secretary to the Polish Mountaineers’ Society.  They will like the area and are very hardy, used to camping in all weathers.  Several of them have chain saws and other tools.  I will put out a call for any helpers, and see if we get a response’.

To be honest we were in too low a state to be expecting much, but Joana was better even than her word.  Within three days she announced she had fifteen takers, and that they were coming in five days’ time, February 4th to 6th, with the intention of working at Cylinders on the Saturday, and enjoying the mountains on the Sunday.  They would bring all their own supplies.

Littoral realised it had to get its act together.  The idea of so many people attempting to camp on site in February was unthinkable.  Luckily the TOC H bunk barn at Chapel Stile proved to be available – warm, well equipped, beautifully  sited by the river, and capable of accommodating 24 people.  Hiring the resource made us feel happier but – the weather forecast for the week-end was dire!

And correct.  The Polish guests installed themselves in the bunk barn on the Friday so quietly that we were not even sure they had arrived until Ian visited them and found a cheerful party of over 20 people in progress.   He told them to breakfast at their leisure the next day, and forget any idea of making an early start.  When Saturday dawned however the rain was coming down in vertical streaks and strong winds were attempting to tumble our remaining trees, so he went back and told them to take the day off – Mike Edmondson, the farmer up the valley who had agreed to work with them had already announced that he was not coming out in such a tempest, and we fully agreed with him.

But there was no stopping the Poles!  Suddenly the gates were thrust open and they appeared – men, women, children, broad grins on their faces, tools at the ready!  There were at least twenty-five of them.  The women advanced on the shippon, where Ian had lit a blazing fire in the stove, and proceeded  to prepare lunch, a special hot and spicy goulash called a ‘bigot’, as far as we could tell.  The men fired up their chain saws (seven of them, I think) and got to work, aided and directed by Dave Middleton with his pride and joy, his new quad and trailer.  Ian made cafetière after cafetière of strong coffee, accompanied by jokes; a pleasant old dog lazed in front of the fire; the peacocks peered suspiciously out of the henhouse.  The hens laid no eggs that day.

Celia, venturing into the shippon, peered out of the window as a Polish warrior sliced apparently effortlessly through the two-metre thick trunk of the cypress, jumping aside with a dance-like kick as each swiss-roll section fell.  All around, as the  rain sheeted down, there was similar activity.  Mud sprayed in all directions so that by the end it was possibly only the dog – his name was Caro – that remained dry.

Towards the end of the afternoon Ian suggested that a bonfire be built to get rid of the tower of brash that had built  up in the car park.  Although it seemed scarcely credible as  the rain continued to fall (over an inch to judge by the amount collected in the poultry drinking bowl) the leylandia fronds ignited like an oil well, throwing out clouds of heat, steam and red fire to the delight of all who danced around it.

By the end of the day, to Celia’s astonishment, the site was completely tidy again, only the imprint of many boots showing where the activity had been, reminiscent perhaps of the ground on the day after Waterloo.  There is still work to be done, especially along the roadway, but at the party in the bunk barn that evening a decision was taken to return in the near future to finish the job – indeed the Littoral team had to plead for a week or so of respite before the return, since some keen lumberjacks were proposing to come the following week-end.

And all this because Ian had told Joanna how Kurt Schwitters had met with a posse of the Polish Brigade when they were stationed at Grizedale, and had exchanged reminiscences with them on their life in exile in England.

Definitely, a miracle took place at Cylinders last  week-end!

MA students from the Royal College of Art arriving to install their ‘Merzbau Pavilions’ exhibition at Cylinders, July 2021

The new Drawing Office at Cylinders was completed in 2018. Acknowledgements to the Cumbria Fells & Dales LEADER+ programme, and their helpful management team.

Newly rendered and painted

The opening of the new little museum and reading-room is scheduled for June 20th at 2 pm – All Welcome!.

Cylinders, site of the Merz Barn, the morning after Storm Arwen (November 27th). Our great cypress has gone – but see how it missed doing much greater damage! (Took the sewage pipe out however). Total damage has yet to be assessed but the Merz Barn itself is untouched.

Total damage to the trees on the site is extensive, but the Merz Barn itself is untouched. There is damage to the roof of the Drawing Office which, like the other after-effects of the storm, will take time to be assessed.

The whole of the Langdale Valley was without electricity for 54 hours, and the devastation was major. Cylinders is closed until further notice while we make it safe for visitors.

We are filled with thankfulness that nobody was hurt: even the little red squirrels are still bouncing about, and the hens and peacocks (which seem to have advanced warning of bad weather to come, and abandon their treetop roost well in advance of stormy weather) kept themselves safe.

November 2020

It has been a long time since we have issued an update on the Merz Barn.  Like the rest of the country we have been hoping for a let-up in the Covid-19 pandemic, or the arrival of a viable vaccine, in order to issue an up-beat report.  Since this is not yet in sight we have decided simply to send out a personal message to our Friends and Supporters.

Ian and Celia spent January visiting relatives in Australia and New Zealand, and arrived back at Cylinders in February tanned and relaxed and unaware of the impending health crisis.  When we discovered what was happening we remembered the Cultural Documents of FMD project we ran during the Foot-and-Mouth epidemic of 2001-2, and the Pandemics and Society exhibition and conference in Manchester in 2006.  These two programmes had put the Littoral trust in contact with experts from Britain and the US in the fields of epidemiology and related medical studies.  Some of the papers read during the conference had contained dire forecasts of the possibilities of new pandemics caused by the interaction between animal and human viruses.

animal and human viruses.

Two things were exceptionally clear as the virus spread across Europe and to Britain:  that old people and those with existing medical conditions were particularly at risk of requiring hospitalisation if they contracted the new Covid-19 virus, and that the consequent strain on NHS facilities could swiftly bring hospitals to a standstill.  By March 2020 it was evident that this was already happening.  Our Government was slow to take action at a national level.  Ian and Celia took what they at that point hoped was a sensible temporary measure, a decision to go into immediate self-shielding at Cylinders, and close the Merz Barn site to the public from March 13th, ten crucial days before the whole country was forced into lock-down.

Since then there has been no moment at which it has seemed safe to relax vigilance.  What has the reality been so far?

As most of you know, aside from being a site dedicated to Kurt Schwitters’ memory, to refugees in general, and to the artists and emergent artists of our own day, Cylinders is seen by us as a stronghold for native Cumbrian wildlife.  Before the trust acquired the site at the end of 2006 it had been left untouched for almost thirty years, and during that time had become a refuge for birds, mammals, amphibians, invertebrates, and our local wild plants and fungi.  In a normal year the winter months are not especially welcoming to casual visitors so that in spite of occasional irruptions by groups of artists or students there are enough quiet times for our natural residents to maintain their trust in the site.  2020 has given them a summer respite welcomed by all species, although the necessity to improve our boundary walls and fences to combat the increasingly athleticism of the hordes of Herdwick sheep on the fells may have cut down the numbers of the roe and red deer normally resident or visiting here.

So much for the site.  How about Ian and Celia?  Have they simply been taking life easy?

Celia is now 83, and it has to be said that she has welcomed the change of pace that leaves her time, after attending to the book-keeping and report-writing, for her own pursuits.  

Ian on the other hand has been very busy indeed.  With the impossibility of travel to meetings and conferences he has had time to work intensively on future programmes for Cylinders and the Merz Barn, including celebrations for the 25th anniversary in 2022 of Schwitters’ Merz Barn art installation.  At the same time he has returned to the Littoral Arts parallel programme The Arts and Agricultural Change, and the linked Creative Rural Economy strand.

As a counter-balance to this desk work Ian has spent the last seven months looking after the Cylinders site and buildings, upgrading the cottage, mending the dry-stone walls, dealing with flood and storm damage, and much more.  Some of these jobs have necessitated outside help – mainly the felling of trees that have half-fallen and become dangerous – but it is also amazing how much Ian has managed to achieve completely without help.

It is now November.  Following promising updates on the imminent availability of an anti-Covid vaccine we are waiting to find out if and when we may expect to receive it, but we are alive to the fact that there are many people who will require to be treated first, and it seems likely that we will have to wait until next spring to be able to re-open Cylinders for visits and residencies.

We are also waiting awhile to publish our plans for future projects, and in particular for the summer of 2022 when we hope to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Kurt Schwitters’ Merz Barn installation.  There are exciting projects, proposals, and partnerships in the pipe-line which will be unveiled in due course.

In the immediate future we hope to be able to re-launch artist Lizzie Fisher’s project and exhibition ‘Metzger at the Merz Barn’, supported by Cumbria Community Council, in 2021, and we are also working on an HLF assisted project with Ali McCaw, Prism Arts Carlisle, and children from Dissington Primary School, for the summer of 2021.

There is a Future and Littoral Arts and the Merz Barn will be there for it!

IPPON GALLERY EXHIBITION: Gustav Metzger & Kurt Schwitters at the Merz Barn
from October 9th 2021. Photo Debbie Akam.

Installation by Cian Quayle and Ian Hunter. Sound installations by Christopher Fox and Marc McKiernan.

Vintage Flit gun as used by Metzger in his 1961 work, Auto-destructive Acid Action painting.

The tea-table is one of the very few objects at Cylinders that were there during Schwitters’ time, and can be seen outside the Shippon in contemporary photographs.

Dancing Tubes by Gustav Metzger 2014. Reconstruction in the Merz Barn by Elizabeth Fisher 2021. Photo Elizabeth Fisher.

Exhibition   9 October – 15 November 2021. Open daily 10am – 5pm

Two works by Gustav Metzger (1926-2017) – Rubbish Bag (1960/2021) and Dancing Tubes (2014) – will be installed at the Merz Barn, Elterwater, the site of Kurt Schwitters’ last great (unfinished) work.

Although a generation apart, both artists came to the UK as refugees from Nazi Germany. Schwitters had just turned 53 when he arrived in 1940; Metzger came on the Kindertransport in 1939, aged 13.  Both their lives and work were profoundly impacted by the experience of exile, crisis and loss, and both were hugely influential in shaping the course of post-war British art.

Schwitters spent his last years in the Lake District, where he began to create what he regarded as his most important work – the Merzbarn. Although he struggled with poverty and illness during this time, it was an intensely productive period; over the course of under 3 years he created over 540 works, consolidating and refining innovative modes of working and key themes which included a deep-rooted engagement with nature as part of a holistic ‘Merz’ Weltanschauung – world view.

Gustav Metzger’s life and art reflected an equally rigorous set of artistic and ethical principles which stemmed from concerns over the (ultimately self-)destructive aspects of humanity’s relationship to the natural world.  Like Schwitters, whom he admired greatly, Metzger worked across disciplines, developed hybrid artforms and deployed chance or natural processes alongside the latest technology as part of an expansive, experimental envisioning of the role of art and artists in society.

This exhibition establishes a conversation between these two artists and their pioneering artistic practices. The presentation of these two particular works, which bookend the development of Metzger’s radical aesthetic theories, highlights specific confluences between the material and aesthetic sensibilities of Gustav Metzger and Kurt Schwitters by way of opening up the rich and largely unexplored common ground between the two.

The exhibition is curated by Dr Lizzie Fisher, Leverhulme Research Fellow at Northumbria University, and supported by the Gustav Metzger Foundation, the Littoral Trust, and Westmorland Arts Trust.   Presented in association with the Kurt Schwitters Autumn School 2021 and the Entartete Kunst Memorial event which takes place after the lecture at 8.45pm on Saturday 9th October 2021.

Programme

Saturday 9 October 2021

1pm            The Merz Barn:  Two works by Gustav Metzger (1926-2017) – Rubbish Bag (1960/2021) and Dancing Tubes (2014).  Curated by Dr. Lizzie Fisher.

                      Shippon Gallery: large-scale wall drawing & installation by Ian Hunter and Cian Quayle, ‘Gustav Metzger – Portraits of the Artist’

6pm                Official opening of Gustav Metzger at the Merz Barn, with a short introduction by Cumbrian curator and founding director of the Lake District Holocaust Project, Trevor Avery MBE.

Welcome and opening remarks from Gustav Metzger Foundation co-directors Ula Dajerling and Leanne Dymterko.

Light refreshments    (Soup and bread; Wine)

7pm.                  Annual Kurt Schwitters lecture:  Dr Lizzie Fisher ‘Gustav Metzger and Kurt Schwitters: an aesthetics of exile?’

Followed by panel/open forum discussion with Trevor Avery, Cian Quayle, Ula Dajerling and Leanne Dymterko.

8.30pm.            Kurt Schwitters Ursonate – reading of an excerpt from the Ursonate by Christopher Fox, Professor of Music, Brunel University. Followed by the ‘Reading of the Names’ Entartete Kunst annual ceremony and memorial event at the Merz Barn. Honouring the memory of the artists, musicians, composers and designers who were persecuted and exiled by the Nazis.

From 6 pm, July 7th 2021

Shippon Gallery, The Merz Barn, Cylinders, Langdale, Ambleside LA22 9JB

Invitation to Film Screening & a Talk celebrating Prism Arts 2 year outreach arts programme exploring the life and times of Kurt Schwitters

The Fragments Lost & Found film documents elements of 10 years of Schwitters’ life in exile, interspaced with a fictional narrative of two Jewish children on the run from Nazi Germany.

Fragments Lost & Found film screening:

6.30 pm July 7th 2021

followed by a Talk by Vicki Maxfield and Ali McCaw (LAL)