ARTISTS TALKING

# 116 [20 May 2013]

I am busy writing an G4A application for a personal project. Fingers crossed and more here if I am successful.

I am leading on a mapping project for Dover inspired by Mapping Manhattan, which I stumbled across the other day http://mapyourmemories.tumblr.com/tagged/Manhattan

The Dover project will be about mapping one's dreams for Dover as part of the Dover Big Local initiative. Will be interesting to see what people come up with. The hard bit will be persuading people it is worth it - so many initiatives have been and gone in the town leaving very little trace of their existence that many people are cynical and fed up; they just don't believe their voice will be heard. The arts are good at engaging people, but engagement has to lead somewhere or make some kind of a difference, or else it will just feel like a pointless exercise.

Oh, and I made it to the studio this afternoon. When it was time to leave, I found a police car blocking the gates. Fortunately I surmised that the silhouette in a window of one of the nearby houses was the driver .... apparently attending an emergency!

# 115 [15 May 2013]

"Back in the land of the living", so said Joanna on hearing that I'd just finished a marathon translation. My head is only just starting to clear. Being stuck behind the computer means that my displacement activity consists in researching other artists and also going through my photos. 

The one here, which is not a great photo, actually reminds me of my own work. I took it in 2010 in Beijing. I had dismissed it as a rubbish photo but am now resurrecting it as research. I like the dark colours and the repeated structural forms as well as the huge empty space through the centre.

# 114 [9 May 2013]

Woohoo - in the Top Ten blogs for the first time since I started blogging. And in such good company too.

I've just bought a new lens for my camera so have been refreshing my very rusty knowledge of speed and aperture settings. Sometimes I just get fed up and put them back to auto. 

I am stuck behind the computer again for the next few days doing a big and rather difficult translation job. A colleague of mine who I'd only ever met virtually and don't even know what he looked like has just passed away. Pneumonia complicated by Parkinsons. I didn't really know him but he was a good friend to me at one point in my life and also passed on a lot of work, which though I often didn't really want to do it, has been good for the mortgage repayments. His last gesture, which was to pass on a client was very generous of him. He could have just told the client to put the work out to tender.

I just realise I had to change some of the tenses in the above paragraph to reflect the fact that he has gone.

# 113 [27 April 2013]

The exhibition at Crate was well attended - both the preview yesterday and the show today - and was the occasion for many interesting conversations - e.g. about chance and accident and my approach to materials. Also an interesting talk with fellow a-n blogger Ruth Geldard about the difference in one's state of mind when "making" compared to "painting." The drawings saw quite a lot of "action", floating away from the wall as people passed by, so have a few small tears that need patching.

This morning Bob and Roberta Smith's mirrors came to Dover and I accompanied the film crew who were after people's reflections (literally) on East Kent - except that the spoken reflections were scripted one-liners. Unfortunately the crew were on such a tight schedule they didn't have time to go into Dover and get an impression of the footfall in the busier part of town. Still they got all the "iconic" shots - the castle, the esplanade and the Shakespeare cliffs. I was really pleased that they took shots of Alma Tischler Woods Start/Finish line for the North Downs Way trail.

http://www.dadonline.eu/node/478

The shoot is for a film to be used in the East Kent City of Culture campaign: 

http://www.eastkent2017.co.uk

I've also been busy making another video. It is much longer than the other two and so needs some patience to watch.

# 112 [25 April 2013]

I have been enjoying the sun! Trip to Margate to take my work to Crate for Come As You Go - preview tomorrow from 6-8pm. And while I was there got my feet wet taking the dog to the beach, while I still can (before the 1 May cut-off date).

"Come As You Go is an exhibition about the use of space and materials inspired by geographical and temporal displacement. it is not about start or end points; it is simply about knowing, about being aware and continuously observing. Each artist shares their own insight about the experience of being in flux with maerials and surroundings.  ..." (Aine Belton)

# 111 [17 April 2013]

Am quite focused on my work at the moment and also on learning to make videos. Here is another attempt: it is quite different from the first one, which maybe I prefer though they are both about something different. 

# 110 [13 April 2013]

Went to Strange Cargo in Folkestone yesterday evening to see "This Me of Mine" curated by Jane Boyer. The artists' talk with the curator at the beginning was a good way of getting into the work - felt a bit like a crit! Fellow a-n bloggers were there and exhibiting. Was good to meet some in person.

I've made a short video of my "collapsing sculpture."

# 109 [11 April 2013]

Very pleased, my collapsing grids are going to be included in "Come As You Go" at Crate in Margate curated by Áine Belton. Preview is 26th April, from 6-8pm and the show is open on 27 April from 12-5pm.

I had a little play in the studio yesterday with folding the paper and making a temporary 30-second sculpture.

# 108 [5 April 2013]

It's been another week of meetings and project scoping with my DAD hat on. Potentially some enjoyable projects coming up in the future. 

Made it to the studio today although I was tempted to stay at home and keep warm. it was really cold in there even with heater so I kept my fingerless gloves on. 

I've been going back through some notes I made from reading Tim Ingold's Brief History of Lines and have picked out a few citations:

"After all, what is a thing, or indeed a person, if not a tying together of the lines - the paths of growth and movement - of all the many continents gathered there."

"...bodily performance and intellectual comprehension are as viscerally linked as eating and digestion."

"Can we imagine life as a manifold, woven from countless threads?"

# 107 [29 March 2013]

I've had some great feedback on my interview with Gary Shipley.

Take a look here: http://www.studio308ltd.co.uk/news/interview-with-...

Wishing everyone a happy creative Easter!