At Grizedale

K8 was part of We Are Seven (2005), a collaborative venture between Grizedale Arts and the Wordsworth Trust, a month-long residency was set up for seven American artists in two cottages owned by the trust in Grasmere. The project was intended as an experiment in the workability (or lack of it) of a temporary commune, in which the artists would discuss and exchange ideas in close working environment. Led (unofficially) by the artist Allison Smith, they staged weekly presentations of their work that provided the main opportunity for the public presentation of their activities. However, while the group was self-selected, they were generally dissatisfied with their experiences. The project’s intention had been for them to make their responses to the touchstone of Romantic culture accessible; instead they withdrew into themselves, becoming incommunicative, paranoid and obsessed with their status as artists.