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Choice blog - Elena Thomas selects Sophie Cullinan
Sophie Cullinan’s blog Plan for world domination contains pretty much all the ingredients I require from a blog: humour and a sense of the ridiculous, colour, fun, honesty, wrangling with the everyday whilst trying to be an Artist, hopefully with a capital A. To be serious about your work, without taking yourself too seriously is a skill. The ability to capture people’s attention with the fun, and then keep them talking is enviable.
I love the way Sophie writes about her practice, she has a healthy measure of self-deprecation. Her gung-ho attitude comes to the fore, often to the frustration of her capable technical assistant - her father. (I actually see him in my head as an off-screen Richard Briers character, whistling merrily from the cellar, amid crashes and bangs.) While reading her blog, and commenting, continuing the conversation, I have discovered we have much in common. The projects lurking about her house for one…also living with things that can’t be moved; walking around a heap of fabric waiting for something to be done with it; the excitement caused by a bag of old socks and a torn buttonhole; the facts of life - my lists of things to do also contain things like “put the bins out” because to be honest, if it isn’t on a list it’ll get forgotten. She sometimes restricts herself to the two-minute posting. Interesting concept, as it adds to that sense that she’s doing too many things, and any minute now the plates will crash to the floor. It’s these things that reassure me that I’m not mad, or if I am, at least I’m not alone.
Sophie is a real artist living in the real world:“What do you do if you want to make work about your life or aspects of it but don't want to have that 'airing your dirty laundry' feeling.”
This is the sort of topic we all struggle with from time to time, and it’s nice to be able to air it, and engage in the debate.
And if Sophie can do that and keep avoiding the Proper Job, then she will surely achieve the World Domination she craves!
Other blogs by Sophie Cullinan:
The enlightened forest
SEX DEATH MONEY CHOCOLATE (not included)
Beyond the Fringe
Elena Thomas is an artist who uses '...clothes, stitches, sounds, text and songs bundled together to express ideas of parenting and safety and risk in childhood.' Read her blogs here:
First published: a-n.co.uk July 2012
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