I thought I’d do a blog just here from home. Just working away with what I do on a day to day basis. I know I will begin to shape it for audience, how that will be shaped I’m still unsure….we’ll see…
Its been a full week.
Culturefeast in Stockport has now finished. The project emcompassed three different strands in total – From working with Cheadle writers group, to creative workshops with the public and window art work, which drew (no pun intended) upon the imaginative and performative – two areas I'm very comfortable in.
The project has been immense for me, I have utilised previous learning from projects, learnt what to do, what not to, levelled the expectations and thrown every ounce of energy I had at the project. Its hard to define the success of a project, attendance to workshops could have been better, I would have liked to have shared knowledge and learning with more folk, nonetheless the people who did get involved with the workshops tended to stay for hours and the level of creativity and concentration was amazing. Public participation was a hugely enriching part of the project.
My heart lay with the window drawing…what started off as illustrations for the writers work morphed into other imaginative territory of teapots and fish, cakes and animals, a weird and wonderful world of some cafe and imaginary space.
The writers illustrations will be complied into books to rest and be with their words ….it seems a fitting space for memoir work ….to be completed this week…
The installed book pages will be shipped off to the Liverpool Artists book fair (20th and 21st June, A-Foundation, Liverpool)
I have been very fortunate to be involved in a project which has been able to incorporate socially engaged practice, learning, site specific work and also to be part of a wider festival seeking to revive and add colour to our regular leisure spaces.
Beginning of installation of adjusted books, and illustrated narrative from a collaboration with Cheadle Adult Writers group and myself at Rhode Island Cafe – as part of Culture Feast (a cultural festival in Stockport) throughout May, 2009.
For the project I began working with the book The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum – a nobel prize winning nove by Heinrich Blum…I've taken it apart and drawn on the pages….
The Adult writers group work is suspended in the cafe window for reading and awaiting the illustrations which I am working on now and will be installing on Satuday 16th and Satuday 23rd may….
Book pages hang around the interior cafe space, catching the light and the breeze….
The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum by Heinrich Boll
its all about books….
At the moment that is. I am developing a series of workshops which work with word and image, so I am currently customising, graffitting, enhancing, drawing on, butchering, adapting, decorating, old books. The Lost Honor of Katharine Blum has been sat on my bookshelf for the past couple of years. I read the first few chapters some time ago and then shelved it when I was seduced by a more enticing book….
I find there's a two fold aspect to reading …mostly its for pleasure, for knowledge … but sometimes we do it for the pure distraction, pure avoidance of doing something else….
I know that this is a really good, book, it won a Noble prize, and having been drawing away in it I am drawn again to reading it….but not right now, as that'd be only distraction…
Bec Garland is an artist working in drawing, photography, writing and performance. Â In 2007 she graduated from an MA in Visual Culture at Manchester Metropolitan University. Her background is in education and the arts and she has extensive workshop and teaching experience. Â In 2008 she attended an artists residency at VSC the largest artists and writers residency programme in the states. Â She is interested in finding the creative space where the artist is in the work and representing this.
