60 BlowsRaw wool, willow, film
At the start of every summer, Britain’s 20.9 million sheep must be sheared. Over the past 75 years, the price of wool has been dropping. Last year, farmers received on average 44p per fleece. It costs at least three times that to pay the shearer. And, for many smaller sheep farmers, having the wool collected by the Wool Board costs more than it’s worth, so it sits in on the farm, slowly rotting.
With thanks to the shearers:
Sidney Vincent and Fred Bonastroo
This project was coursework for Camille’s MFA at the Royal College of Art, and showed at the College’s degree show, RCA2025.
With thanks to the shearers:
Sidney Vincent and Fred Bonastroo
This project was coursework for Camille’s MFA at the Royal College of Art, and showed at the College’s degree show, RCA2025.
Using combined historical and ethnographic research, ‘60 Blows’ was motivated by a desire to find out how the gradual collapse of the wool industry is felt by small scale sheep farmers in Oxfordshire, Wiltshire, and the Cotswolds. The work investigates the relationships forged with animals raised as a resource, our responsibility to them, and the labour it takes to maintain it all.