During my second and final year at the RCA I was invited to co-lead the Merz Society with my good friend and classmate, Millie Laing-Tate. The purpose of the group is to honour the practice and legacy of the artist Kurt Schwitters, who ended his days in the Lake District in the 1940s. There is a tenuous and mythical connection between Schwitters the man, and the RCA; the story goes like this: during the WWII, students from the RCA (mostly women) were evacuated to the Lake District to continue their studies. Around the same time, Schwitters had settled in Ambleside after having fled Nazi Germany via Norway, London, Scotland and the Isle of Man. It is said that RCA students would see Schwitters in the pub or around town. I don’t know if any of that is true, but I like to imagine it.
The Elterwater Merz Barn was Schwitters’ last work, left unfinished at his death in 1948. The artwork was taken to the Hatton Gallery where it still resides, in Newcastle, but the Merz Barn itself still stands in the grounds of the Cylinders Estate. Read lots about the history of the Merz Barn here
There are a great many organisations and people working in the influence of Schwitters and MERZ, some of whom we had the great honour to work with. I will populate this page with documentation of our activities over the academic year 2020-21, but for now, look our instagram here