TWO former pupils of Stokesley School who have forged successful careers in the arts in the UK are the instigators of a new exhibition at Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art.

Geofictions is based on workshops they conducted on South Gare, the area of reclaimed land and breakwater at the mouth of the Tees, near Redcar.

Found materials have been used to read the landscape and explore relationships between nature, industry and technology.

Helena Hunter and Mark Peter Wright, who collaborate under the name Matterlurgy, are artists, lecturers and researchers. Their exhibition, which runs until June 4, is part of the programme for mima’s tenth anniversary year.

“South Gare is a fascinating place,” said Mark. “I studied the landscape for my PHD. Nature and industry are so entangled. Next to the abandoned steelworks is a nature reserve. There are fishermen, bird watchers and walkers and wind turbines nearby. Nature is growing alongside industrial waste.

“Future fossils could be plastic fused with iron, styrofoam with concrete. Through our exhibition we are hoping to challenge perceptions about the place.”

In 2009 the British sound artist won the award British Composer of the Year in Sonic Art for A Quiet Reverie, an audio exploration of site, time and landscape based on abbeys in North Yorkshire.

He has worked in collaboration with the arts charity Another Space and with child survivors of the Holocaust who were relocated to the Lake District after Auschwitz.

He produces soundscapes for galleries and spaces, notably the British Library and Tate Britain in London.

Helena, who studied drama at Stokesley School, obtained her degree in acting at Bretton Hall, University of Leeds. After she and Mark moved to London she developed an interest in performance art and movement.

She has performed solo in theatres such as the Tramway in Glasgow, Chelsea Theatre and the Royal Opera House in London. Invited to perform in galleries all over Europe, she developed her practice to that of live artist.

After studying for her Masters degree in fine art at the Slade, she now engages with multi-media, film, installations performance and photography, collaborating with artists from Europe, America and Scandinavia.

In 2011 she was shortlisted for an Arts Foundation Fellowship.

“Mark and I have worked together and supported each other on most of our solo projects,“ she said, “but we are working on joint projects much more. We both grew up in the area, often visiting South Gare for family walks.”

Geofictions considers stories that may be encoded in the landscape of South Gare. The project comprised workshops, group reading sessions, discussions at mima and field trips to gather and read rocks and generate fictional texts.

The exhibition combines geology, art and writing in the form of films, photographic prints and documentary materials. Details can be found on www.visitmima.com, www.helenahunter.net and www.markpeterwright.net.

Jan Hunter