Received two particularly touching emails today. In one an artist that I used to know well told me that she’s being treated for breast cancer, and in the other one another artist told me that she’s three and a half months pregnant.
Make that three – I’ve just received an email telling me that the Brusand Project Space closed at the end of last year. (I wouldn’t mention this in the same breath if I didn’t know that the project wasn’t a dream of two young artists who put everything they had into it and managed to keep it going on less than a shoe-string for two years.)
I’m at home today – the replacement windows are being installed. I hadn’t realised how noisy the work would be and had imagined that I would get on with lots of things. The reality is that the loud and irregular bursts of drilling and the general chilliness of having ‘open’ windows are not making a good working environment.
Saturday will be the last day of PLAY. I’m looking forward to Bryan’s World Tea Party event. He’s mentioned that tea will be served “through” the work. The piece invites a certain kind of ‘performativity’ – one kind of performance becomes the context for another. The tea-party puts me in mind of Boy George’s comment that he preferred a cup of tea to sex. I think that each has its place, and that it’s wonderful to be able to enjoy both!
Last weekend my parents saw the show – they loved it. They were also charmed my Michael and his partner who we had lunch with beforehand. I’m surprised by how pleased I am that they liked it, I mean really liked it. My parents always say that they like my work but I can’t remember seeing them enjoying something I’ve made so much. It has been a very successful piece – more successful than I could have imagined. When my more academic friends and my parents express similar enthusiasm I know I’ve done something good!
I’m also looking forward to some nights out during the frenzy of Frieze week/end. I’m looking forward to Frieze too, I missed it last year but it’s quite nice to treat it as a biennale. Two years is a good timescale for me – much more manageable!
