Climate change, environmental disruption and the ecological impact of human activity are some of the most urgent questions of our age. But to imagine a more sustainable future, we must first collectively understand how we got here and how we move forward together. Much is the unintended consequence of the industrial revolution, a movement that began in places like Quarry Bank and changed our world and how we live forever. While this era is seen as a driver of progress and positive global change, it also saw a dramatic change in how people used the natural world. As the world’s most complete industrial community, Quarry Bank is the ideal place to explore the story of the past, present, and future of these unintended consequences of industrialisation and its global and environmental impacts.

Unintended Consequences is a programme of activity exploring the impact of the industrial revolution through stories of environmental change present within the Quarry Bank landscape. Through a series of participatory events, the project is inviting us to consider what we can do to create a more sustainable future. Gathering Downstream by artist Jen Southern, is the first exhibition of this programme and is a conversation between artworks, histories of industrial impact and public engagement with environmental futures.

In addition, the RoundView open framework and a series of games, developed by Dr. Joanne Tippett and Fraser How, are included in the gallery to engage visitors in ideas around sustainability.

For this exhibition we have reused existing display cases and walls, projectors, and cameras, and repurposed fabric made in machine demonstrations in the Mill. Signage is produced using biodegradable printing inks and paper. 

What can humans and machines learn about the impacts of climate crisis and ecological emergency from the trees, meadows, rocks, river, mosses and lichens at Quarry Bank?

Artist Jen Southern’s specially commissioned installation Gathering Downstream is linked by a central theme of the movement of water on different spatial and historical scales, and attempts to understand the impact of the industrial revolution on climate change and ecological emergency. It has been inspired by the River Bollin that lies at the heart of the estate and which brought Samuel Greg (1759-1834) and his cotton mill to Quarry Bank in 1784. The artwork unfolds through films created with machine learning technology trained with thousands of images from the Quarry Bank estate and archives. Visitors can contribute photographs to collectively change future versions of the films.

The artwork explores the legacy of the Industrial Revolution and its, often exploitative, impact on the landscape and people. The installation gathers together the movement of plants, rocks, people and machines, through their relationship to water. From the river and damp air that brought both mossy abundance and the cotton mill to Quarry Bank, to the drought and flooding that are two of the biggest global impacts of the climate crisis.

In the films, the human-made, machine-made and natural are interwoven, intimately entangled, and inseparable. As they struggle to co-exist, they are teeming with human and non-human life, and each could easily overwhelm the other. With their lives so closely connected, the work suggests an urgency to act now to care for our collective futures.

Visitors to Quarry Bank can explore Gathering Downstream from 7th May 7th – 25th November 2022 and partake in activities that will contribute to the emerging videos.

With its 18th century cotton mill, workers’ homes, and a grand house built for the wealthy Greg family, Quarry Bank is the most complete industrial revolution-era community in the world. It represents the beginning of the industrial revolution that changed our world forever. Although the industrial revolution that Quarry Bank exemplifies is seen by many as a driver of progress and positive global change, it also saw a dramatic change in how people used the natural world. This makes Quarry Bank the ideal place to explore the story of the past, present, and future of these unintended consequences of industrialisation and its global and environmental impacts.