ARTISTS TALKING

# 1 [27 July 2009]

Writing a blog has become a part of my practice in a completely unexpected way: it has become a work in itself.

I made my first ever tentative attempts at writing a blog here, on Artists Talking. I have a problem, though. Generally speaking I tend to prefer not talk about my work whilst it is in progress, in fact it is not unusual for me to hide work in progress even from my family. As a consequence I didn't exactly embrace blogging.

I'm away from my studio at the moment. It is a regular thing, 3 or 4 months of the year, working in France. I find it a very productive time creatively, mainly because I don't have the usual distractions: I have the opportunity to concentrate on ideas for my notebook, usually in the evening, and develop them once I get back to the studio. This year I have another way to realise some ideas. 

Recently, having received a few invitations to join (but always putting it off) I finally joined Facebook. Once in (but still not entirely convinced) I became fascinated by the viral element of the network - it reminds me of the theory that everyone is connected to everyone else by friends, family, acquaintances. Next, for some time I have also been working with the idea of a work of art existing only on the internet. I had previously created several pieces of work using only the computer and small sections of internet images, and I was absorbed by the idea that these works had no physical existence until they were actually output. Lastly, I had been kicking around the vague notion of Colin d'Alaska for a year or more.

These ideas suddenly converged. Colin of Alaska was born, and he is writing a blog.

# 2 [27 July 2009]

I have conceived this character, Colin d'Alaska, as a new work. I saw that his blog could give me the opportunity to explore new ideas, new ways of looking at images, new ways of communicating some of the issues that preoccupy me in other areas of my work, new ways of expressing those ideas.

So, here I am, creating Colin's life. Consequently, I am spending time inside Colin's head. It is a strange place; OK to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there. 

Colin d'Alaska is part art experiment, part social experiment. He is obviously fictitious, but I wonder how 'real' he and his family and friends can become? How will his character develop as his story progresses? Colin is already someone who doesn't quite understand the world, who lives on the fringes of his own life. At this stage I have chosen to let him evolve naturally, rather than to predetermine a path, and an outcome.

Having said that, I have set a few broad parameters: I am using photographs, but none of these are staged or taken specifically for the blog. I have elected to use only existing family snapshots (or rather reject snapshots, occasionally cropped but otherwise unretouched), then create a brand new narrative to transform a mostly useless image into the basis for Colin's story. This reinterpretation - or reinvention - of an image is core.

Secondly, I wanted to introduce the ambiguities and the shades of light and dark that I aim for in other areas of my practice. As a blog there is an element of entertainment, but there is also a serious side to reflect my other work. I am excited by the potential of this contrast. Finally, there should be substance, if not also sustenance.

I am enjoying 'blog' as a medium, with it's own idiosyncracies: the reverse chronology, for example, may have limitations, but I am learning to exploit it to advantage.

There is another intriguing aspect - the idea of an artwork that people can return to, whenever they wish, to see a progression. 

I want to see how word will spread - it has already started to happen. Will Colin have a large audience? Will he have dedicated followers? I will be considering ways in which this could be taken beyond the internet. I wonder about taking the blog to another audience.

By the way, Colin d'Alaska is French for Alaskan Pollack, or Coley (fish). We have some in the freezer.

I hope to have cause to talk about further developments here on Artists Talking as they happen. The final twist as that now I am talking openly and comfortably about a work in progress....  

Colin's blog is at http://colinofalaska.blogspot.com

# 3 [1 August 2009]

I have started a Facebook group for Colin of Alaska. I sent out invitations to my FB friends to join the group (as a newcomer to the site I am still a bit of a billy-no-mates, so there aren't many). It occurs to me that Colin of Alaska is going to be a marmite project. The feedback has been great, but there will surely be those that hate it; there will be those that don't think it is art; and there will be those that just don't get it.

The Facebook group is called Colin of Alaska.

Colin's blog is at http://colinofalaska.blogspot.com

# 4 [2 August 2009]

I remember, as a kid, cycling with a friend to one of the Palmerston forts overlooking Portsmouth. As a skinny 12-year old, squeezing under the enormous gate was no problem. There was a rumour (which persists to this day) of a tunnel leading from each of the forts out to an island in Langstone Harbour. After scouting around the deserted grounds and buildings, we found a tunnel. It was extremely dark, so I was feeling my way along with my feet, following the wall with my right hand. After only a short distance the daylight had gone - I have never experienced such absolute blackness, before or since. Nevertheless, there was a palpable sense of thrill and excitement, because we could feel the floor starting to fall away, down, in the direction of the harbour. Then, suddenly, I could no longer feel the wall with my hand. Another tunnel, an alcove perhaps, who knows. I reached out, as far as I dare without moving my feet, but could feel nothing. There was now real uncertainty mixed with that feeling of great exhilaration.

That's my analogy for today.

# 5 [4 August 2009]

So far about half of the handful of people I invited to join the Colin of Alaska Facebook group have done so. Not bad, now I have to wait and see. I was particularly excited this weekend to see a new member, who, unless it is a great coincidence, must have found the group through this blog, and happier still that it is one of the people whose blog I regularly read. I won't embarrass you by naming names, but thank you! It shows that the viral thing is working, it tells any doubting Thomas that people do read these blogs, and I don't feel quite so deluded about the project any more.

Colin's blog is at http://colinofalaska.blogspot.com

# 6 [7 August 2009]

I haven't seen an English newspaper for two months, since the 7th of June in fact. I don't expect to see another until mid-September. I get the gist of what's going on in the world through the BBC news page on the web, which just about satisfies my urge to know.  I had bought the Sunday Times on the ferry to pass the time during the crossing, and kept the magazines to read later. Ordinarily I read only a small number of articles thoroughly, flicking through, or past, or 'speed-reading' the rest. Why I imagined anything should be different later I don't know. Perhaps subconsciously I thought that they might provide a link back to my other life.

I picked up 'Culture' last night - the section about the arts which is mostly the TV guide. Let me quickly run through some of the items which caught my eye: Britney (cover story); AA Gill on television; Richard Long's Tate retrospective; A review of a book on Grace Kelly; ENO's Così Fan Tutti; Tuesday's TV Pick Of The Day: Sarah Beeny's 'Property Snakes and Ladders'; and for Wednesday: 'Celebrity Masterchef'.

AA Gill reviews 'Katie Price: The Jordan Years', in which a surgeon reverentially produces Jordan's first breasts from a drawer (the implants, that is), and the camera asks "can I touch them?"

It strikes me that we have 'Culture', 'Popular Culture', and 'Culchah'. The last one is also the first one, and the one which the man or women on the street refers to as being for posh people. Yes, that is a sweeping generalisation, no, I'm not being patronising (you know exactly what I mean). What I am driving at is this: a straw poll in the High Street will undoubtedly show that everyone has heard of Jordan and no-one has heard of Richard Long. I will also wager this: a straw poll among the art community will show that everyone has heard of Jordan but not everyone knows who Richard Long is; and, a straw poll amongst certain sections of the art community will show that no-one will admit to knowing who Jordan is, but everyone knows who Richard Long is (however, strap these same people up to a lie detector and you may not get identical results).

Art is not democratic: there are sections of the art world that prefer it that way - exclusivity (as in relation to exclude) is good for prices. Even the more socially aware tend to refer to popular culture with a kind of knowing irony. We are obliged to use language to describe our work which is the syntactical equivalent of a secret handshake. The sad thing is, there are homes all over this country that do not have anything on the wall, just as there are households that do not possess a single book.

Colin of Alaska's blog is at http://colinofalaska.blogspot.com

# 7 [18 August 2009]

...continued

There is one other here on AN: Susan Francis touches on racism and sexism in her blog (#35 - you need to read it to get the context), then, in the next, how she had googled her name and noted the differences between her namesakes. I couldn't help but make a connection. One of the great joys of art is that a work stands on its own merits, irrespective of the sex, race, background, physical condition, age, or anything else of the artist. It is once the identity of the artist is revealed that that can be affected by others. 

I have no fixed ideas about characterisations in my blog project, but at one point it crossed my mind to make Colin non-white. I had nothing other than the potential of an idea, and I had no thoughts at that stage where I might take it. Sadly, I realised I had already blown the opportunity because I had previously shown white hands. However, what dawned on me whilst reading Susan's blog is this: without signifiers to the contrary, how many of us, whatever our gender, race or social background, will automatically assume that Colin is white? 

I am citing Colin as one example - it's not just him, of course, but every instance where it isn't obvious. Is it the case that our view of the world must be relative to ourselves? In other words, if we read Colin's blog from Beijing, say, we would most likely see Colin as Chinese. However, we live in a socially and ethnically diverse culture, and I think we are the richer for it. If social conditioning were the basis of our assumptions it should, by now, be more inclusive. I hope it is, but is it? I am not suggesting that we are inherently prejudiced; on the contrary, I believe that prejudice is something we are taught. 

Really, these things (gender, race, disability, etc.,) shouldn't matter, (that is to say, in a better world they wouldn't be an issue) but when we are talking about making false assumptions, these things certainly do matter.

Sort of in a similar vein, from about a year ago I remember noticing that a man had joined an online Women Artists Only group 'in protest'. He had two arguments: one, that there should not be such non-inclusive groups; two, that as a white, middle-class male he was precluded from so many opportunities that he felt disadvantaged....

# 8 [18 August 2009]

Quite a few of the other blogs have caught my eye, and it surprised me that at least three of us have marine forts in common! One of the blogs that I frequently read is Emily Speed's (if there is anything that was going to grab my attention it is the subject of Getting Paid!). I think I enjoy it because I find it pertinent, pragmatic and emotional - indicators of a good blog, perhaps? A good rant is healthy too (at least I hope so, especially since my entries are little more than rambling rants). 

I have pulled out a couple of things from other blogs that strike a personal chord, probably also for most of us at some time or another:

.... even if it is unsuccessful one has to keep doing it. (Ruth Scott)

.... the constant churning of ideas in my mind during periods when it's not possible to zoom in on any of them and start work. (Judith Alder)

(on blogging) ...I feel like I'm in a room with a bunch of people I haven't met before  .... There is the murmur of conversations around me. (Catherine Cartwright)

...ultimately my work is not to fulfil anyone else's expectation. (Christina Bryant)

Suzi Tibbetts' blog is very evocative, particularly when she writes about being alone in a place which is normally bustling. I also enjoyed the description of walking along a country lane in the black of night, having had that experience myself many times in the past, not to mention the occasional unexpected meeting with a ditch....

continued......

# 9 [20 August 2009]

I have a solo show coming up in November and I have been thinking about what I want to show. Sooner or later I think I will want to take Colin out of the ether and make the project manifest in some sort of physical form. Maybe not yet.

Colin of Alaska was born, indirectly, to satisfy the desperate need to create something whilst I am away from my studio. I'm certainly not bored and I have plenty to occupy me, but that need became all consuming. Weird. It did diminish the longing to an extent, but maybe like an addict I was already thinking where the next fix might come from. I am happy with the project as it stands, as an ongoing thing, as an experiment, and for the other things I set out. I am also thoroughly enjoying writing this blog: it really is working as a catalyst for me.

Some people would say that as an artist I could always pick up a pencil and paper and draw. That is true, except that I don't work like that. Drawing is fundamental to my practice, and figures heavily in my work, plus I always have my notebook at hand. I tried going out with a sketchbook to draw what I saw - a very, very long time ago - and it just seemed largely pointless.

So, another development for me is using some of the things I have found around me here, things which have inspired me. For example, over the course of several days I unearthed some sheep bones which had been buried under the stone kitchen floor. I will be using those.

Colin of Alaska's blog is at http://colinofalaska.blogspot.com

# 10 [7 September 2009]

I checked Colin's Facebook group the other day and membership seems to have levelled out. Although the numbers aren't spectacular they seem to be good compared to other new groups, so I'll see what happens. The temptation to promote the blog is almost overwhelming but I will have to resist. Interestingly one of the blog followers is a professor from Romania. How he found the blog at all is a complete mystery, but I'm pleased all the same.

Working with limited available materials and resources has proved to be a real source of inspiration for me. Since my last entry I have created a few new pieces (including one based on the bones I found) using only whatever materials I have to hand. Although I will be finalising some of the work when I get back to England for practical reasons, I have resolved to limit the finishing of the works, more or less, to assembly: in other words I won't be adding anything that I don't already have here. I'm excited about these pieces. I wonder if they will look the same when I get back to the studio?