ARTISTS TALKING

# 93 [21 May 2012]

I've just read Susan Jones' Guardian article: Artists are struggling to make ends meet more than ever before. http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture-professionals-ne...

I know things are a bit tough for everyone at the moment, which would also impact on the art world, but I was shocked to see that ArtSway is closing.

It looks like funding has been taken away... I had some work at ArtSway once, such an inspirational gallery/art community that showcased the diversity and innovation current in the UK art scene. For me it was always intriguing that such a cutting edge gallery existed in sleepy Sway, coincidentally just a few miles from my birthplace. My wife also worked with Peter Bonnell on some catalogues when she worked for a printers - they've folded too now.

People often ask me how sales are going and I answer, not as they used to be. Susan Jones confirms my experience, opportunities, in particular for painting, are few and far between now - if these opportunities don't exist, my paintings won't be seen and potentially bought by collectors. Escaping to my studio and painting is only part of the story, it's also a business and I don't only want exciting shows and venues on my CV, I need to sell, not only to pay for materials to make new work, but to live.

There are more and more opportunities to show video work, all very good, but they do not create an income. Also, increasingly lots of festivals and galleries request a fee from the artist to submit work - of course they need to fund their activity. But what would Alan Sugar say? You've got to be in profit at the end of the day and if I apply for 5 or 6 shows a month, that could amount to almost £100, great if you're accepted by all of them, but that's not realistic.

When money is tight the first thing to go are the luxury items, in this case, culture and that's a pretty poor sign for the way things are going.

Today, once I've finished editing some videos for submission for a film festival (non-fee paying) I'm starting some plans for a large painting for a local wine festival, the organiser invited me to do something - each artist accepted will be paid with wine. Perhaps that's the way ahead.

http://www.jonathan-moss.com/

# 92 [19 March 2012]

I received the book 'Magic Power Presence' by Iris Books today in the post. It includes a video still taken from my video 'Path' and a short description.

In their foreword Iris (an artists' book collective based in Dumfries) writes:

Iris originally came together to celebrate the 'presence' of books. We don't see books as 'just' words... we are drawn to the tactile, visual qualities of books, before or after you allow the words to absorb you. We are also intrigued by the magic of them. You can pick up and hold a book in your hand, open it and there, wherever you are, it opens out a world to you.

With more and more talk about digitising books it's refreshing to be involved with a group of contemporary artists promoting the book as an object made from paper rather than a soulless e-reader.

 The combination of creative text and image in Magic Power Presence is a stimulating visual experience comprising photos, video stills, objets trouves, prints, assemblages and paintings.

A major exhibition in collaboration with the University of Edinburgh and the College of Art is in the pipeline. I don't yet know whether or not I'll be able to show the video 'Path', or just the still, either way it's far removed from me scanning that rocky track behind my house last year using a 150 metre extension cable and a lap-top that continuously over heated in the Mediterranean sun.

http://www.irisbookart.com/

http://www.jonathan-moss.com

# 91 [9 March 2012]

Been working on a few prototypes for larger pieces... work in progress. Based on images from my video RSA4.

Something I found useful was photographing them during the early stages then altering the luminosity, contrast and colour saturation in photoshop... a new way of experimenting, then I made changes to the paintings. I'm now living with them for a while before I make any more alterations.

The large canvases arrive next week, so I need to decide which compositions work best to enlarge. It will be an experience working on a large scale in my new tiny studio, I could always work outside on the street, at least I'll get to meet some more people in the village.

Last week when I painted outside on the street, dressed in my overalls, a little old lady asked me to mend her car!

# 90 [7 March 2012]

Collaborations can emerge from the strangest of places. A fellow guitarist who initially I knew only through guitar forums turns out to be a bonafide composer of contemporary 'sounds' - studied composition at Dartington where his tutorials were extraordinary: "the uncomfortable silence when I played my latest DADGAD musings on my guitar to my composition lecturer who specialised in concertos for wardrobes and carbon-fibre fishing rods... "lounge music" was all he said after about 5 minutes of waiting..."

Just by chance Michael mentioned that he has been working on a conceptual piece. For a guitarist quite well-known on the international 'folk' circuit (albeit, 'new folk', i.e. contemporary, cutting edge, but within the confines of the heritage of a six string instrument) I was quite surprised at this. At first I thought it was a joke... then as we exchanged emails it became clear that he has another existence as a creator of 'little sounds' as I call them.

He offered to make some music for my videos - I don't have anything on the go at the moment as I'm painting, but mentioned one video, in fact my first, that I recently resurrected and uploaded to Vimeo just last month. 

'Dot to Dash' is a simple video of the moon, shot in negative with a slow shutter speed; it takes on a life of its own - insect-like, crawling over the surface of the picture plane (video frame?). The addition of atmospheric audio creates a completely new dimension.

I'm really grateful to Michael and now we're eager to develop the idea... just got to wait for a full moon - well that's tomorrow, better charge the camera!

# 89 [24 February 2012]

I've been enjoying playing with cyanotypes over the last few days. The paper was in a Sigur Ros box-set to promote their new live album 'Inni' that I was given for Christmas. Once the photos have been made you can upload them to their website and then fans vote on the best ones.

Initially I wanted to place the light-sensitive paper on the computer screen showing my video stills... of course this didn't work, which was a shame. So I opted to follow the usual technique of placing objects over the paper in sunlight. I nicked some ideas from the artists who showed at the V&A "Shadow Catchers" exhibition which has just closed...

Firstly I placed some palm leaves on the paper, I liked the pattern of lines... then it occured to me that I could make a pattern on glass and place the glass on the paper. With very few materials in my small, makeshift studio I raided the kitchen: flour and olive oil. I literally used it as I do paint and created a drippy type surface - the results are spookily similar to my paintings.

I'm now thinking that I'm onto something exciting here... plus the kids would love to be involved too - just like magic.

If nobody votes for my images on the Sigur Ros site at least I've been inspired.

# 88 [10 January 2012]

Internet access has been difficult since I moved unfortunately, but it has allowed me to dedicate more time to renovating the house. (Internet now sorted thankfully.)

Today I finished painting my new studio - small, but just big enough to paint the new 180 x 200 cm canvases for a show in New York; it will be a tight squeeze and that floor may be a distraction, but it's better than the corner of a bedroom.

I mentioned to our new neighbour, a very sweet elderly lady, that I'm a painter by trade, not a professional DIYer and she very kindly said that she could arrange for my paintings to be shown in the local hairdresser's... I was touched by her kindness, I did explain that they are quite abstract, very large and not to everyone's taste. It's good to be known locally though, so I thought I'd introduce myself to the art school in Perpignan and see what emerges.

Just the facade of the house to paint now and the shutters, then on with the real paintings which I'm itching to start, it's been too long now.

# 87 [1 November 2011]

Hello everyone who clicked the link on Stramash Space. I'm pretty chuffed that Kim Walker chose to feature my new videos on their site this week.

I hope you find them interesting, hopefully something for everyone! It seems weird that the random footage I made of neon lights and New York streets has now evolved into a finished body of work.

One regret I have is not taking a tripod with me... how stupid; I took loads of wobbly stuff which I couldn't use, next time: fewer pairs of socks!

Some of the imagery is a departure for me, but I'm thinking it will lead to a new phase in my painting too.

It's been a while now since I finished them and I haven't yet viewed them as a series, so I'm looking forward to looking at them later when the kids are in bed.

I've been thinking about the pros and cons of an online show... on the negative side the viewer may just flick through with the sound down whilst watching TV; on the positive side they may allow themselves to be totally absorbed in the images and sounds, closing themselves off from the outside world (something that's difficult to do in a gallery environment). 

Potentially more people can view an online show and perhaps one of the greatest pros is that the viewer can interact with the artist (which I find a little ironic given the remote and virtual nature of the exhibition in comparison with a physical exhibition which is supposedly more 'personal').

I'd be pleased if anyone wants to leave feedback, thoughts, reactions...

http://www.stramashspace.org/exhibitions/current.html

# 86 [23 September 2011]

I've just been snatching the odd minute here and there during the past few weeks to finish off my videos and soundtracks started in NYC, other commitments getting in the way.

Considering the lack of quality time to dedicate to my work, the results have been surprising. The most exciting aspect has been creating sound that works with the images. I mostly adapted field recordings, adopting a similar approach to the one I use for video editing.

Never knowing the end result and letting the creative process guide the outcome has allowed each video to take on a life of its own... strangely similar to the way I paint.

I do bear in mind though that I may just be making the best of the material I have and if I had set out to make the videos (in their final form) they may be very different and perhaps more successful, but that seems to be the job of a film-maker, not an experimental video-artist.

# 85 [23 August 2011]

Editing the videos from NYC has allowed me to lose myself in great memories...

The visuals are ready, I just need to work on the audio. The video I uploaded to vimeo this evening sticks out a little from the others, it has audio that seems to work well, but images that may need to be tweaked.

It's a video-walk from 42nd Street (Times Square) to 19th Street (where I was staying) - I followed the line of the pavement relentlessly, so everyone had to move out of my way, I wasn't popular.

I was initially grabbed by the 'line' falling across the screen, but now I've finished the first cut it is actually the 'grid' that appears regularly that looks really interesting. So, I may do another cut tomorrow, featuring just the grid.

# 84 [14 August 2011]

Just finished this video, filmed in Toys'R'Us in Times Square, NYC - I was almost thrown out by a security guard! The lights on the wall next to the escalator reminded me of a Dan Flavin installation and was just waiting to be filmed...

New York was such an amazing experience - didn't visit one gallery (fed up I didn't have time to see the Alexander McQueen), but filmed constantly and took hundreds of Lomo photos. So, it looks like I'm going to be busy editing over the coming weeks - good timing as I've just sprained my ankle, so not that mobile.

Some shows in the pipeline, hopefully they'll come off, who knows?