Park Traces Residency: Hazel France

This is my first time in Stoke-on-Trent, and my Park Traces Residency is well under way.

To date, my practice has been predominantly concerned with cinema, the projected image and slideshows. I was recently invited to give a talk about my work and preparing for this was an opportunity to reflect and re-evaluate my practice. I'm interested in how we process information and the role that repetition plays in this.

As a method of exploring and becoming familiar with Hanley Park's landscape and functions I am running every day. I’m interested in repetition as an important element in learning and running through the park daily will be a repetitive exercise, and therefore my knowledge of the park will be increased. I also like that running is a really normal way of using a park.

Me after one such run. So vibrant. à

Hanley Park was designed to be the 'lungs' or 'breathing space' of the city, a welcome dose of greenery and fresh air in industrial Stoke-on-Trent with the noise and pollution of the potteries. Therefore, I have decided to focus on the plant-life in the park.

After my first few days in Hanley park, walking, running, sitting, drawing, taking photographs etc. I'm interested in the design of the park's planting. The park was designed by Thomas Mawson and opened in 1897. Having spent some time in the City Archives, I have been reading about how the trees were planted to hide the industrial surroundings from people in the park and there are so many trees as they had to be planted in clumps to protect each other from the heavily polluted air. In the past, planting had to consider the damage from pollution and today vandalism is a major consideration.

In other news, on Wednesday I saved this worm that had found itself in the middle of an astroturf pitch in the park and was making a confused yet valiant effort at burying its head in the ground. I put him on the real grass. Good deed done.