In September 2017 I put on the participatory event: the Manual Mills at the ‘automatic mills’ in Pardubice, Czech Republic. This concluded a two week residency with Offcity – a grassroots arts organisation who are the custodians of a former automatic flour mill.
The Manual Mills playfully re-imagines the building as a functioning factory once again. At the door, visitors are invited to put on an apron and become a ‘worker’. The installation spans four floors, and each new floor reveals another stage in the re-imagined factory’s production line.
View through the floors
Upon arrival, participants put on aprons and become ‘workers’ in the Manual Mills
Floor 1: a leg powered train, with space for one passenger. The participant lies on their back, propelling the train by pushing their feet on the floor. As they do so, they have a view through the whole building above them, due to holes left by the previous presence of machinery. At the end of the train ride, they fill a paper bag with flour and put it in the pocket of their apron.
Children using an arm powered train
Floor 2: six brooms with handles of varying lengths, attached to pillars. The participants sweep the floor, but only clean a restricted circumference, creating a pattern of circles.
Floor 3: a series of black mats are arranged, seemingly at random.
There is a box of assorted objects found in the factory.
Participants arrange them on mats.
Floor 4: five giant sieves hang from the ceiling, mimicking a defunct machine also in the room.
The participants empty the flour they collected on the first floor onto the sieves, and shake them until no flour remains. The flour falls through holes in the ground to the floor below.
The participants empty the flour they collected on the first floor onto the sieves, and shake them until no flour remains. The flour falls through holes in the ground to the floor below.
Return to floor 3: the black mats are now covered in flour. The participants remove the objects to reveal negative shapes left in the flour.
Nancy Dewhurst 