Black Diamonds, ‘Green’ Gases and Wood that Burns Twice

Four artists, Henna Åho, Denise Lobont, Ram Krishna Ranjan and Becky Shaw worked alongside social scientists, architects and a historian, making new works that explore oral histories gathered in Finland, Romania, Sweden and the UK.

The 300+ oral stories that the artists drew from give snapshots into the very different geographical environments, technologies, fuels, languages, cultures and histories of the four nations. In the process of working with the oral histories the artists responded to what stood out in the stories, taking this into their own artistic process to discover unexpected aspects and find new forms, rather than to illustrate accurately. This reflects the nature of oral histories themselves which are deeply personal and not necessarily chronological.

Seen together, the artworks capture relationships between people and their fuels – whether it be the dirt of coal, the weight of wood, the residue of oil, the currents of gas central heating, or the consistent heat of electricity. Heating is more than an economic or technical decision, it is fused into our ways of life, interacting with how we structure time, space, the household and labour. Heating and its distribution is also a site of unfairness and inequality, lack and excess. Given this, heating is always about our relationship with larger powers- governments, commercial providers, landowners and (in the case of coal) employers. It’s not surprising, then, that heating can also be an arena of resistance, distrust, belonging or isolation.

Memories of warmth and cold are never only issues of temperature. The glow of remembered thermal delight has an odd habit of fusing with emotional and social experiences- such as feeling safe and cared for. Memories of heating, then, are problematic as they also generate nostalgia for ways of life that have passed or were never as glowing as how we remember them. This emotional connection can also make necessary heating change harder. The wider research of Justheat looks for some of the positive ways we manage and view our heating, so that our net zero heating choices might be more than technical or economic, but also joyful.

A conference about Justheat accompanies the exhibition on 15 May. Please click here for more details and booking.

Artist Talk: Friday 16^th May, 11am-12pm
Denise Lobont (Romania) and Becky Shaw (UK) will explore their experiences of working as artists in the Justheat research project. Looking back to move forward: a social and cultural history of heating (Justheat) explores communities’ experiences of home heating from 1945. All welcome – booking not required.

Lead image: Becky Shaw, film still from Fourteen Heating Transitions.