ARTISTS TALKING

# 15 [9 April 2013]

Great news, I have been awarded a Review bursary! 

Each month between July 2013 and January 2014, I will travel to meet one of  the 7 creative professionals for a half day critiique/advice about my work as an artist, in particular how to increase my visibility nationally. My travels will take me to Glasgow, Newcastle, Lincolnshire, Birmingham, London and Bristol. It's another step in my investigation of the margins and taking risks. Thank you a-n.

Watch this space...

# 14 [18 February 2013]

4 months at a distant egde and now I am back. Family illness and trauma has taken its toll but I'm here again...they were murky margins to be in.

Pondering on the next step; not backwards. My expectations are different now. Sophie and I have at last found a starting point for our collaborative piece. It has changed its name yet again but that's the thing with works in progresss...marginally different.

Trying to cut out excess...margins for error?

Having the confidence to be open rather than drive all the time. Pausing has given me the chance to spot new openings...road margins team with life that is invisible at 70mph.

New conversations with unexpected outcomes...the marginalised are speaking.

# 13 [15 October 2012]

I've just spent 10 minutes composing a blog and it vanished into thin air. Gone to the margins I guess.

Here goes again. Wonder if I'll say the same things. I was talking about physical margins. I stacked 4 cubic meteres of wood to keep me warm in the winter and my son ran 8 miles to trian for a 16k race. Why do we do it? Maybe it's mental margins too? Some scientists think we make our decisions subconsciously before we are aware of them. 

And I have been getting intriguing calls about edgy stuff- studio gatherings and engaged crits. Maybe the margins aren't so empty after all.

# 12 [28 September 2012]

new face to conjure

No sign of anyone recognising the shoe lady. Instead, here is another face. I was part of a festival community event and am shocked at how unreal I look. I was intrigued to hear the theory that we only exist as holograms and the real data is on the edge of black holes. Now there is an amazing margin. Not much chance of surviving that one though.

# 11 [17 September 2012]

Shoe lady continued

I was gathering Acts of Kindness on Saturday in Melbourne, when I met a dark haired woman from Sheffield. 'Aha' I said, 'Were you sitting on the station wall with your shoes abandoned beside you last week?' Sadly she wasn't my shoe lady but I told her the story anyway and she may take it back to circulate Sheffield. 

And now I look at the photo again, she has short hair and the Melbourne lady had long hair. Oh well, it was a good story.

# 10 [14 September 2012]

disembodied, re-embodied

So here is the rest, or at least some of the owner of the shoes. I disconnected her from them digitally. Staying connected at the margins is quite difficult. Choosing which connectons to maintain, which to ditch requires ongoing soul searching to make sure I don't burn my boats by letting go. Hanging on is much easier initially, until I begin to think 'this is draining me'. Not all connections are effective or meaningful connections.

# 9 [13 September 2012]

the reality of MY margins

I've become aware this week that although my practice is socially engaged and negotiatiation is at the core, sometimes when something matters to me then there is no negotiation. At that point, I want to get out what exists in my head and in a way that satisfies my standard of quality. It's all part of my 'considered not contrived' mantra. That's when someone elses' quality might bother me.

Yet when I am in negotiation mode, the quality is in the conversation, the interactions, the shared experience. Perhaps that's it; if I am making something concrete to be a catalyst, then that's when I want it to be the best I can make it. Once that is achieved, the structure I have created is strong enough to underpin the event where the boundaries are quite fluid.  Phew, glad I got my head round that one...

# 8 [8 September 2012]

More on empty spaces

Saw this pair of shoes devoid of feet at Sheffield train station yesterday, owner nearby, though I have cropped her out to protect her anonymity. Don't expect she is an a-n reader but you never know.

If a margin is a blank space, these could be construed as margins. Makes me think I don't have to go to the ends of the world to experience the margins. They could just as well be on the end of my legs. And that's where I started this blog, dipping my toe into mainstream. 

# 7 [7 September 2012]

I've spent several days calculating circumferences and diameters for my work at Melbourne Festival next week. No room for any margins of error as the base board has been made smaller than I anticipated. In this case, the margins divide areas; they aren't peripheral.

So in the grand scheme of things, what is the other side of the margins that I'm moving towards? Is there anything beyond? The Free Dictionary suggests it's a blank space. Not looking for blank spaces at the moment; all my spaces are full up to the brim. Is a brim a margin too?

# 6 [5 September 2012]

Other margins

Watching the paralympics, I have been struck by other margins. The emphasis in the Olympics seemed to be on the fastest, the most powerful and the men's races. Why is a short race deemed to be the best? The paralympics seems to be about something different. It's still competitive but there is something else going on too. There's a wide range of abilities and ages and huge appreciation. I'd like to think then, that disabiltity issues are no longer on the margins but I know that's not always the case. And then there are gender issues......