MORNING consisted of a form of active research which included regular meetings with a local archive group called Laindon District and Community Archive (LDCA). These meetings consisted of viewing old maps, images and discussing the history of the town, not just from a historical perspective but listening to personal anecdotes and stories of the older generation who resided in the town as plotlanders prior to the New Towns Act.
MORNING worked with Stephanie Sutton (MA History of Design, RCA) whose thesis was titled The Child and the City: Play and the Image of Childhood in the Urban Landscape, 1953 -1978.
Laindon Aerial Photographs and layering 1940s to 80s
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Wicksteed 1973
Day-glow: A series of A0 day-glow posters were designed in September 2014, which offered the title MORNING with a climbing frame as an emblem and speculative details of a possible launch. Though these details are now out of date the posters acted as a public proposal, prompting a subliminal awareness that this project was in development. The posters were fly postered in Laindon and then digitally disseminated, as images and then a GIF online.
Fun Walk: In correlation with MORNING, research has been undertaken that looks at the movements of inhabitants from London to Laindon pre- and post- the New Towns Act of 1946. With a further interest in how Laindon has been portrayed since 1920, looking at advertising and marketing tactics, which encouraged Londoners to migrate away from the capital.
The Baron Fun Walk took place on 12th July 2015 and was a vital component of the wider project. As a participant not only were you supporting the project but also reactivating part of the methodology that was embedded within this New Town’s creation and the plotlands that preceded it; one of migration from London, which carried with it new and exciting possibilities. Landowners enticed Londoners to visit the Basildon area by providing them with certain luxuries such as free train tickets and a glass of champagne on arrival. For the MORNING fun walk all participants and sponsors received a limited A0 day glow poster and a custom screen printed t-shirt which bears a climbing frame logo in a day glow colour, which references the climbing frames’ potential to glow in the dark once painted. Participants wore the custom t-shirts while walking, which also highlighted a certain congregation, following and support of the project.
