This thought-provoking episode sees host Cathy Booth catch up with Emily Roderick, who after volunteering to support the podcast now finds herself featuring in it!
One of the age-old questions that ringers rarely agree on is ‘what exactly is ringing?’ – is it a sport, is it music, or is it art? Ringer and artist Emily is currently exploring ringing from the perspective of performance art, with an Arts Council England grant to boot. What follows is a fascinating discussion into the creative process and where imagination can lead to.
So, if you are a ringer interested in performance, or an artist interested in ringing, now’s your chance to get involved. Get in touch with Emily, and who knows what might happen next …
About Emily Roderick
Emily Roderick is an artist, arts producer and the research and social media assistant for the Fun with Bells podcast.
Having grown up in a ringing family, Emily was taught to ring by her father at St Michael’s in Warwickshire alongside her middle sister whilst in secondary school. Staying part of the local band until it was her turn to go to university, ringing took a back seat until after graduating. Coming back to ringing slowly in London via a selection of churches in North and East London, Emily has been combining her studies from art school with her love of ringing.
Receiving an Arts Council England ‘Developing Your Creative Practice’ grant in late 2022, Emily has been working on a new body of work focussing on bell ringing as performance.
Alongside her artistic practice and work on the podcast, Emily works as an Assistant Producer at Shape Arts, a disability-led arts organisation.
Top 5 Takeaways
- If you’re learning to ring, try to ring as many different bells as possible as it will help improve your bell handling
- When ringing, pull all the way down, keeping your rope as straight as possible
- Immerse yourself in the different aspects of ringing, it might give you a new perspective
- Bell ringers are a fascinating bunch of people – find out what creative or artist skills your band has, and have a think about what you could make the most of their strengths and outside interests
- Follow Emily on Instagram @emilyhrodders https://instagram.com/emilyhrodders?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=