About
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is a founding fable of our modern age. We are the wedding guests, and the albatross around the Mariner's neck is an emblem of human despair and our abuse of the natural world. Yet in its beautiful terror there lies a wondrous solution – that we might wake up and find ourselves saved. Art knows no boundaries. The Ancient Mariner Big Read is an inclusive, immersive work of audio and visual art from the 21st century that reflects the sweeping majesty and abiding influence of Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s 18th century epic poem.
First published in 1798 - we use Coleridge's revised version of 1817 - but still vitally relevant today, it is no coincidence, perhaps, that this poem is the first great work of English literature to speak to isolation and loneliness - and the possibility of redemption if we mend our ways. Three years in the making, drawing on the talents of actors, artists, performers, poets, and writers, The Ancient Mariner Big Read is a brand-new digital work of art in its own right - a wild and tempestuous voyage into the unknown.
Acknowledgements
Curators
Angela Cockayne
Philip Hoare
Sarah Chapman
Production
Soundscape + sound production:
Jay Auborn
dBs Pro
Graphic design + art direction:
Nathan Gale
William Hibberd
Trystan Thompson
Intercity
Online editor + digital platform:
Christopher Hunt
Controlled Frenzy
Producer:
Dawn Melville
Associate producer:
Christina Moore
Scientific advisor:
Professor John Spicer
University of Plymouth
Marketing and Communications:
Jane Cullen
Abigail Aslett
University of Plymouth
Press:
Alan Williams
University of Plymouth
Truda Spruyt
Four communications
Special thanks those who recorded the Ancient Mariner Big Read
Jay Auborn
Ed Shakspeare
Joe Valek
Rafal Bijan
Callum Godfroy
Jared White
Jacopo Chiari
dBs Music Bristol + Plymouth
Adam Low
Martin Rosenbaum
Lone Star Productions
Joe Harfield
Unity Studios Auldearn
Pete Gleadall
Studio PSB
Elliott Webb
Folkestone Book Festival
Chris Youle-Grayling
Wall to Wall Productions
Chris Doggett
Penzance Literary Festival
Jamie Hare
Michael McDonald
University of Stirling
Peter Wilson
South Georgia, South Sandwich Islands and the Antarctic Peninsula, recordings of black-browed albatross, Weddell seal, leopard seal, Antarctic fur seal and Adelie penguins:
Jim Wilson
Mexico, Eastern Pacific and Azores, mid-Atlantic recordings of humpback whale song and sperm whale clicks:
Philip Hoare + Andrew Sutton
Locations
St Mary's Church
Ottery St Mary, Devon
Please support the Coleridge Memorial Trust fund to raise a statue to the young Samuel Taylor Coleridge at his baptismal home, St Mary's Church:
www.coleridgememorial.org.uk
Coleridge Cottage
National Trust
Nether Stowey, Somerset
The Charterhouse
Charterhouse Square, London
Emmanuel College Chapel
Cambridge
Bath Priory
Bath, Somerset
Special mention
Sailing Tectona,
for taking us out on Olga,
a pilot cutter
Friends and enablers of the project
Liam Browne,
Adam Low,
Martin Rosenbaum,
James Norton,
Gareth Evans,
Woodrow Kernohan,
Sarah Wood,
Liame Browne,
Allan Jenkins,
Emily Rousell;
Naomi Box, Bath Spa University;
the Revd Stephen Weston, Sue Jeacock, Greville Gilbert, and the parish of Ottery St Mary;
Lord Coleridge and the Hon. Samuel John Taylor Coleridge;
the Revd Jeremy Caddick, Dean of Emmanuel College, Cambridge;
Nicholas Pearson, Fourth Estate;
Simon Prosser, Hamish Hamilton;
Simon Thorogood, Canongate;
Tom Avery, William Heinemann;
François Ravard,
Alex Papachristou-Cox,
Henry McGroggan,
Spencer Weisberg;
Frank Frattaroli, Circle of Confusion;
Charlotte, bethgibbons.net;
Katherine de Paul, Artist Vision;
Andrew Comben, Brighton Festival;
Chris Pratt, Chris McBride, Effected Films;
Acute Art;
Albert Merola Gallery, Provincetown;
Martin Thomas,
Peter Dickinson,
Alistair Salisbury,
Raphaella Fearns,
Robert Fearns,
Murray Chalmers,
Ian Kelly,
Marc Rees,
Nigel Larcombe Williams;
Louise Coysh, University of Southampton;
Jamie Eastman, The Edge, University of Bath;
Literature Works,
Professor Dafydd Moore, University of Plymouth;
Professor Richard Thompson OBE, University of Plymouth;
National Marine Aquarium, Plymouth;
Ocean Conservation Trust,
Devonport Guildhall and especially the Column Bakehouse
Copyright:
The Arts Institute, University of Plymouth.
The Ancient Mariner Big Read is not for profit and cannot be sold, either as a whole or in part, without permission from The Arts Institute, University of Plymouth, UK.
Commissioned by:
The Arts Institute,
University of Plymouth
Supported by:
The Marine Institute, University of Plymouth;
The Box, Plymouth;
dBs Pro,
The Edge, Andrew Brownsword Gallery, University of Bath;
John Hansard Gallery, University of Southampton;
Arts Council England
Readers
Jeremy Irons
Actor
Recorded at Bath Priory, Somerset
Jeanette Winterson
Author
Recorded at The Charterhouse, London
Samuel West
Actor + director
Recorded in Islington, London
Peter Wilson
Polar guide
Filmed + recorded by Eric Wehrmeister,
Point Wild, Antarctica
Lat: 61°05 S
Lon: 54°52 W
Willem Dafoe
Actor
Hilary Mantel
Author
Recorded at St Mary's Church,
Ottery St Mary, Devon,
Coleridge's 'sweet birthplace'
Simon Armitage
Poet
Recorded in the West Yorkshire Pennines
Tilda Swinton
Actor
Recorded in the
Scottish Highlands
Iggy Pop
Singer + songwriter
Recorded in Miami
Beth Gibbons
Singer + songwriter
Robert Macfarlane
Author
Recorded at Emmanuel College Chapel,
Cambridge
Ali Smith
Author
Recorded at Emmanuel College Chapel,
Cambridge
Lemn Sissay
Poet + Author
Recorded at Folkestone Book Festival
Cyrus Larcombe-Moore
Poet
Recorded at St Mary's Church,
Ottery St Mary, Devon
Marianne Faithfull
Singer, songwriter, actor
Recorded in West London
Alan Cumming
Actor
Recorded in New York City
Olivia Laing
Author
Recorded at Emmanuel College Chapel,
Cambridge
Chris Packham
Naturalist
Recorded in the New Forest, Hampshire
Deborah Warner
Opera director
Recorded in Islington, London
Cerys Matthews
Singer + Author
Recorded at the Stags Head,
Fitzrovia, London
Neil Tennant
Singer + songwriter
Recorded at Studio PSB, London
Philip Hoare
Author
Recorded on Southampton Water
David Gray
Singer + songwriter
Recorded in Hampstead, London
Maggi Hambling
Artist
Recorded in South London
Chris Watson
Naturalist + sound artist
Recorded on Blyth beach,
Northumberland
Zeb Soanes + Cleo Silvestre
Radio announcer + Actress
Recorded in Canonbury, London
Rupert Everett
Actor + author
Recorded in Wiltshire
David Walliams
Author + actor
Recorded in London W1
Stephen Dillane
Actor
Recorded in Sussex
Jodie Whittaker
Actor
Recorded in Netley, Hampshire
Frances Barber
Actress
Recorded at Studio PSB, London
Helen Macdonald
Author
Recorded in Fitzrovia, London
Horatio Clare
Author + adventurer
Recorded at Penzance Literary Festival
Max Porter
Author + poet
Recorded at the Bath Priory, Somerset
John Spicer
Marine zoologist
Recorded at Coleridge Cottage,
Nether Stowey, Somerset,
where 'The Rime' was written.
Timothy Morton
Philosopher
Recorded at Rice University, Texas
Kathleen Jamie
Poet + author
Recorded at the University of Stirling
Samuel John Taylor Coleridge
Sixth-generation nephew of
the poet, recorded at St Mary's Church,
Ottery St Mary, Coleridge's birthplace.
Bell-ringer: Gordon Bird
Judy Collins
Singer + songwriter
Recorded in New York City
Alan Bennett
Author + playwright
Recorded in North London
Artists
Glenn Brown
The Shallow End,
Oil on panel (oval)
128 x 96 cm (50 3/8 x 37 3/4 in)
Courtesy the artist
Lisa Wright
Lucent Blue,
40 x 30 cm
Oil on canvas
Courtesy the artist
Ackroyd + Harvey
Storm Drawings (1 of 6)
Luminescent paint on card
Created onboard the Noorderlicht schooner off the East coast of Greenland by the rolling of a ball during a storm. Cape Farewell Expedition.
Peter Wilson
Polar guide
Filmed + recorded by Eric Wehrmeister,
Point Wild, Antarctica
Lat: 61°05 S
Lon: 54°52 W
Gordon Cheung
Albatross Glitch
Courtesy: Cristea Roberts Gallery and Edel Assanti
Linder
Post-Mortem: Yura
Photomontage
26 x 20 cm
Sarah Chapman
Immersion
Photograph, oil + ceramic on aluminium
62 x 47 cm
Duane Slick
Shadow
Acrylic on linen
50 x 43cm
Cornelia Parker
One Day This Glass Will Break
Photogravure
Nadav Kander
Water 111, England
Photograph
Stanley Donwood
Residential Nemesis
Acrylic on canvas
168 x 168 cm
Marina Abramović
Still from the behind the scenes of Rising
Courtesy of Acute Art
Naomi Frears
The Wretch
Collage with antique Japanese paper
16 x 12 cm
Lucy + Jorge Orta
Raft of the Medusa
Immersive audio-visual installation
Yinka Shonibare CBE
Medusa West
Digital chromogenic print and bespoke wooden frame
114 x 114 cm
Edition: Edition of 5 + 2APs
Courtesy the artist and James Cohan Gallery
Photographer: Adam Reich
Abigail Lane
Forever Always Somewhere
Projected video
6 mins 28 secs
Desmond Morris
The Voyager
Oil on canvas
Charles Avery
Untitled (Onomatopoeia Harbour Gate, West Tower, with Oarsman in foreground), 2018
Pencil, ink, acrylic and watercolour on paper
217 x 135 cm (paper)
232.5 x 151 x 7 cm (framed)
Image courtesy the Artist and Ingleby, Edinburgh
Ellen Gallagher + Edgar Cleijne
Highway Gothic, detail, (16 mm film still)
Film installation
Sax Impey
Night Sea NWF9
Mixed media on panel
122 x 366 cm
Andrew Kötting with Iain Sinclair
Pinhole image - Anonymous Bosch
Animation - Isabel Skinner
Music - Dirch Blewn & Andrew Kötting
Voice - MacGillivray
Edit - Andrew Kötting
Nicola Bealing
Swimming Lesson
Oil on canvas
152 x 182 cm
Gavin Turk
Painted bronze
Robert Fearns
Visitor
Ink on paper
30 x 35 cm
Chris Jordan
Albatross
https://vimeo.com/264508490
Serena Korda
Zuben Elgenubi - The Price to be Paid
Extract from film
19 mins 29 secs
Fiona Banner
aka The Vanity Press
Ariel (sinking), American Garamond, 2019
Found painting, oil on canvas
51.2 x 76.4 x 2 cm
George Shaw
Study for The Painter on the Road III, 2015
Humbrol enamel on board
147.5 x 198 x 5 cm
Courtesy: the artist and Anthony Wilkinson Gallery, London
Derek Jarman
Untitled
Courtesy of Martin Thomas
Enrique Martínez Celaya
The Prophet
Courtesy of the Artist and BlainSouthern
Photo Peter Mallet
Mary Evans
The Souls Did From Their Bodies Fly
Kraft paper, glue, vinyl printed paper
Mark Dion
Mark Dion
The Albatross
Justin Brice Guariglia
Reduce Speed Now!
Somerset House
Mariele Neudecker
I Don’t Know How I Resisted The Urge To Run
Mixed media; glass, water, salt, plastic
75 x 90 x 183 cm
© Mariele Neudecker
Courtesy Johannes and Bernarda Becker collection Cologne, Germany
Grace Schwindt
Hot And Copper Fire
Velvet Black
Bloody Sun
Ceramic, glazing and silver bronze
William Kentridge
Untitled
Drawing
Martin Smick
Dead Air No 35
Acrylic on canvas
John Akomfrah
Vertigo Sea, 2015
Three channel HD colour video installation, 7.1 sound
48 mins 30 secs
(AKOM150001)
© Smoking Dogs Films; Courtesy Smoking Dogs Films and Lisson Gallery.
Joe Lyward
Human Inside Albatross/Albatross Inside Human
Ink on tracing paper, animated GIF
Angela Cockayne
Man, and Bird and Beast
Camera: Raphaella Fearns
Albatross: Alistair Salisbury