Molly Major: Music + Mark Making — Manchester Collective

Molly Major facilitated a workshop inviting families to respond to Michael Gordon’s ‘Weather’ through movement and drawing. Participants were given a space to scrawl in an instinctive and playful response to the music, like weather making its mark on a landscape. The free workshop took place at Stretford Public Hall on Sunday 19 February.

Supported by The Granada Foundation
Event photography by Magpie Photography

Portrait of Molly Major. Photography: Brandina Chisambo

MEET THE ARTIST

What did listening to Michael Gordon’s ‘Weather’ feel like for you?

I wanted to move. I’m not musical, I have no rhythm and I can’t play anything, but ‘Weather’ makes you want to move within yourself. I have felt very disconnected in my body – I discovered I was neurodivergent a couple of years ago, so this might be part of that – and I think being in your body and allowing yourself to kind of go with these urges is also part of understanding yourself. So, I wanted to find a way to encourage other people engage in that physical way, to not just stand and listen.

Tell us about the participatory event you have created in response to this.

My idea was to make a space that people could come to, listen to the music and respond with mark-making. It’s a community event at Stretford Public Hall – there’s going to be paper all around the walls and different recycled objects and materials to play with and respond to the music with like charcoals, pastels and pens. I want to encourage people to make drawing tools; I want to ask people how creating their own objects changes how they mark-make and how they move their body, so there’s this connection between re-used materials, ‘Weather’ and climate themes.

Lots of your projects involve these interactive elements. How important is movement and play in your work?

Those things are definitely there in this project, the exploring and experimenting. I’m very process based and I’m really trying to explore that more. When I heard ‘Weather’, it reminded me of Fluxus pieces and composers because you’ve got all these sounds coming in that seem random and playful. Fluxus is an art movement that is about chants and exploring. Those artists were interested in putting objects together at random and just seeing what they could come up with – that’s quite an interesting and playful way of making art that I quite like, and I like the idea that art is for everyone, because even when I was studying art, I didn’t always feel that way. The piece ‘Weather’ isn’t quite a Fluxus piece, but it’s got that same energy and joy that creates the urge to move.

Do you feel that this kind of art can help to create social change?

I think the thing with art and community projects is that it creates a togetherness that’s great for general wellness and for a sense of self; it helps people to feel like they are valued and are a part of something. Art is this really great tool for accessing that connection and showing each other what you can achieve when you get together. It’s such an intrinsic part of us that we are encouraged to neglect as we grow up, and so you lose that inner child and that playfulness. Connecting to your inner child again is so important for your sense of self, and when you feel good in yourself, you are then empowered to do so much more.

What drew you to start working as a community artist, and how do you feel the Northern Voices commission has aligned with your vision?

I’ve always felt quite isolated, so I’ve never really felt like part of a community; I felt quite alone growing up, and I think I’ve always been seeking community but not really understanding how to find it. I want to find ways that I can connect with people but also offer other people ways to connect.

The way we live, we have so many wonderful things but we’re increasingly isolated and disconnected from what we need as people. When it comes to the planet, I’m aware that we’re all very removed from the world we live in somehow, so my aims of connection and togetherness are tied into those themes of our relationship to climate and the natural world.

What projects are you working on now?

I’m facilitating an art group at Stretford Public Hall which is just about people being together to make art and use materials. When I’ve seen how the local community responds to the ‘Weather’ event this month, I’ll be able to think about how I might use music and this mark-making format in future projects.

Interview by Zoë Turner

NORTHERN VOICES — MARY GRIFFITHS — CHRIS ALTON — SOPHIE BROADGATE — COURTSWRITES — CURRENTMOODGIRL