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Seven men stand in a field of green grass, under a blue and grey dusky sky. There is a large electricity pylon in the field which towers over the men.

Baa Baa Baric: Have You Any Pull?

6th Nov 2017
Project Details
Categories
  • Care,
  • Collectivity,
  • Place
Creative Team
  • Lead Artist: Mark Storor
  • Photography: Stephen King
  • Film: Chris Keenan
  • Sound: Brian Duffy
  • The Council of Wisdom: Ant, David, Gary, John, Mal, Mike, Stephen
  • The Pioneers of Change: Children from St Peter's C.E. Primary School, St Mary's Catholic Infant & Junior School, Rainford Technology High School, St Helens Youth Council
  • Collaborators from across the communities of St Helens: YMCA, Change Grow Live, St Helens Young Carers, Merseyside Police (St Helens team)

Is the most brutal act of barbarism civilisation?

Baa Baa Baric: Have you Any Pull? is a twelve year undertaking by artist Mark Storor in collaboration with the people of St Helens, and commissioned by Heart of Glass.

Since 2016, Mark has partnered with Merseyside Police, Change Grow Live, St Helens Young Carers, St Helens YMCA, Rainford High Technology College and Peter's C. of E. Primary School.

The project poses the question: Is the most brutal act of barbarism civilisation? Confronted by its own set of negative statistics, St Helens is a town symbolic of national inequality. In a radical act of rebellion Baa Baa Baric harnesses the powers of creativity, imagination and possibility, refuting labels and challenging the status quo.

An enactment, a visual manifesto and a fairy tale, Baa Baa Baric: Have You Any Pull? is an artwork that recognises the mighty strength of our youngest children to take on the challenges of the world, gives older men in St Helens a voice from beyond the grave and communities a platform to share wisdom and dance to a different tune.

The first part of this long-term project culminated in a series of thought provoking acts, which took place in St Helens town centre in September 2017.

Two hands hold on to either end of a piece of red string. One of the hands belongs to an adult and has arm hair, the other belongs to a child.
A topless man wrapped in a red blanket and barbed wire is kneeling in a concrete tunnel. He is surrounded by clothes and papers. Oil drips on his head and down his shoulder. A large owl is taking flight from his outstretched arm.
A man covered in soil and wearing a crown of strawberries is climbing out of the ground. He is surrounded by soil, potatoes and vegetables growing in the ground. He is holding beetroot in one hand, and has green tomatoes in his mouth.
A young person walks in front of a sandstone building wearing white overalls and an apron. They are carrying two big bunches of white flowers and they wear a hat covered in flowers and green ferns.
Baa Baa Baric: Have You Any Pull?, 2017. Image Credit: Stephen King
A very large group of people, around 60, are posed for a photograph on different levels of a walkway. Many of the people are young people, wearing white overalls, aprons and hates covered with flowers and greenery. 5 men wear suit jackets and trousers and hold large bunches of flowers. In the centre, on the ground level, are two police officers on horses wearing roses and flowers on their harnesses.
All Image Credits: Stephen King
Downloads

12 page St Helens Star supplement celebrating Baa Baa Baric

Download

You can read responses to Baa Baa Baric: Have You Any Pull? in Jack Welsh's review for The Double Negative here: “People congregate in shop fronts to catch a glimpse of the spectacle”: Mark Storor’s Baa Baa Baric and in Kim Charnley's article for FIELD Journal here: Brexit, Austerity and Social Practice

Mark Storor

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Baa Baa Baric has been produced in partnership with:
changegrowlive.org
sthelens.gov.uk/arts
ymcasthelens.org.uk
st-peters.st-helens.sch.uk
rainford.org.uk
Read about the events

Baa Baa Baric: Have You Any Pull? Events

A close up of the dark and reflective eye of a horse. The horse id brown and wears a black leather bridle with pink roses attached.

Baa Baa Baric: a series of thought-provoking acts

28th Sep 2017
A 'series of thought-provoking acts' took place throughout the town of St Helens on 28th September 2017 as part of long-term project Baa Baa Baric
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