One Hut Full: Woolly yarns in a contemporary context

Abstract

OneHutFull highlights the heritage of the Dartmoor Whiteface Sheep breed through a unique immersive sound and visual
experience that examines the use of wool by artisan makers, the life and culture of this farming community and the
celebration of localism in a global industry.
This project seeks to subvert the traditional orthodoxies of the bucolic shepherd’s hut through creation of a highly
contemporary digital artistic space, which aims to educate and inform visitors about the story of wool production and use
in a specific Dartmoor community.
The artist, commissioned by OneHutFull, through Heritage Lottery Funding, has gathered the stories of Whiteface Sheep
breeders as well as artisan makers using the wool, and appropriated these unique experiences through the innovative use
of film and sound. Three eight-minute visual narratives are back-projected on to bespoke screens in the hut surrounded by
a multi-speaker aural soundscape.
A primary aim of OneHutFull is to fully engage and educate the visitor about every stage in the wool production process
from the birth of the Whiteface lamb in the spring, through sheep shearing in summer and to market in autumn. As
counterbalance to the lifecycle of the sheep the artist also collaborates with a series of artisan makers including a felter
creating shrouds and ornaments, furniture designers manufacturing sustainable chairs and a contemporary twine and
wool producer.
Further, this project uses the considerable expertise of a Dorset-based shepherd’s hut maker enabling this audio-visual
space to be created. The bespoke nature of the design by the commissioned artist has potential to be applied to other
areas of industry and production.
Following its launch at Exeter Cathedral in February, OneHutFull is now touring locally and nationally with the aim of raising
the profile of makers and sheep breeders in both rural and urban spaces. A series of educational workshops will complete
the research project.