Day 2 has kicked off with three new members: Brad, Namuun and Racheal, completing the Turner Challenge Team. We had a short morning briefing and split into three groups, tasked with visiting and exploring the composite locations in Turner’s engraving.
Cathedral Team! We headed down to the Cathedral Green and visited the Devon and Exeter Institution (http://www.devonandexeterinstitution.org/): a new find for all of us! There we were able to look at newspapers dated 1811-1829 and from a large selection of specialist books on the history of Exeter. The newspapers were less helpful than we had hoped as many were printed in London, simply advertising sales and merchandise. It was a lovely old building with many interesting features – including a secret door! Then we went to the Cathedral and spoke with a specialist guide. He was very informative and we learnt a lot about the condition of the Cathedral at the time of Turner’s visit in 1810s. We briefly inquired about Turner in a local art gallery and were able to find information on other artists who had also painted the Cathedral. Colleton Crescent Group! We started the day off by visiting Colleton Crescent, where we began taking photos of the houses included in Turners painting. After taking the photos we needed including a 360 degree panorama of the houses and their view, we turned and simultaneously identified an elderly lady staring at us through the curtains of one of the houses, we then decided to ring the bell and see if someone would speak to us about the history of Turners painting. Fortunately the people inhabiting the house were more than willing to walk us through the peculiarities of the individual houses such as the different width of each house or the modern build of the walls and history of the owners. Also kindly allowed us to take several pictures.We are planning to digest the information given to us and produce relevant and verified content for the final product of the project. Most importantly we have new member of our team young talented Mathematician Namuun. The Quay Group! We went to the cellars at the Quayside which were previously used as woollen storages and now store small businesses such as antique shops and coffee shops. We talked to some of their owners and tried to find the link between Turner and the Quayside as well as the history and development of the Quay. We went to the Quay Hose Visitor Centre and we interviewed the owners who helped us understand how the Quay has transformed from an industrial centre to a place for leisure throughout time. We took pictures and we tried to capture the Quay, the Colleton Crescent and the Cathedral from Turner’s point of view. In that way we managed to see how the environment has evolved.
In the afternoon, the three groups gathered together. We met Professor Sam Smiles, an expert on Turner and his work, and we had the chance to ask him questions related to our project and his years of work and research. Later we shared the discoveries we made in the morning and we created a plan for the output.