Making - a-n The Artists Information Company

Monday 27 Head north today towards the Maritsa river and cross the enclosed river bridge. Tiny shops line the bridge so the river is invisible, the shops sell dresses, sportswear, mobile phones and tired women stand around talking. On the […]

June 2019 marked the 9th incarnation of Perfume as Practice, which was staged at Asylum Gallery, Wolverhampton. The exhibition comprised of 12 perfume portraits and 5 paintings, themed under the idea of protest. The exhibition also represented a milestone for […]

Every now and then the generous people at Martyr’s Gallery in Lewes offer an opportunity for an artist to take over their space for one of those very special, no-expectations, no-strings-attached developmental residencies. Their version of this amazing gift is […]

May has been a rather busy and productive month, as no doubt evidenced by my distinct lack of blogging. In between making perfumes for exhibitions, running workshops and playing with audio/visual equipment I’ve seldom had the time to sit, think […]

Recently I took part in Yorkshire Artspace’s Open Studio event, which as ever attracted hundreds of visitors to my very studio. During the event I exhibited my usual array of scented delights and workshop promotional material. I tend to use […]

there is something very satisfying about getting to mid afternoon on a friday and logging into my a-n account to prepare a blog post.  for one it means that i’ve got to the end of the week and managed to […]

This week sees the beginning of my residency at Access Space where I will create candles in situ in response to the news stories of the day. I will be present this Wednesday (4th July) although I expect much of […]

Exhibiting at Platforms Project involved invigilating in our exhibition space 8 hours a day for 4 days. As such, it afforded me a lot of time, and I sought to utilise that time effectively to contemplate and theorise on new […]

My ambition for Scents of our Time in 2018 was simply to get it exhibited somewhere. A reasonable enough goal for a project in its infancy, and I’m happy to announce that it will be showing in 2 places in […]

making words – making marks – making soup – making plans.  after my wobbly week i sort this week to get myself back into a better frame of mind.     its not until i drew out my connections to […]

Last week I made a bespoke perfume based on coffee. Yes. coffee. Now, I know what you’re thinking – ‘Michael! last month you were making perfumes about planets, and this week, out of nowhere, you’ve made a perfume about coffee?! […]

Perfume as Practice SS18 at Bureau, Blackburn feels rather more imminent now that I have designed a poster for it: The process of designing and distributing posters for exhibitions – particularly solo shows – does add a certain weight to […]

The possibility of a new studio is simultaneously good and shifting. The landlord and leasing agent (a local housing association) are keen for us to take over the lower ground floor rooms of an old school gymnastics hall – which […]

It is becoming clear that April is going to be a rather busy month. It will see me host 3 perfume making workshops, an artist’s talk and, predominantly, my first Perfume as Practice solo show of the year – Perfume […]

I visited Blackhorse Workshop, London, and Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop in December, and earlier this year I also visited the proposed site for Birmingham Production Space to speak to Ruth Claxton. In the end the visits were a bit more scatter gun […]

2017 has seen me conduct no less than 12 perfume making workshops around the UK. And, as the last one of the year concluded on Saturday I thought it an appropriate time to document and appraise what I’ve learnt about […]

In 2015 we heard of a theory surrounding the movement of artists from Manchester city centre to create a place for production in Salford, and to think of the city centre as a place for the presentation or work. Being […]

The end of the year is not only a time for reflection but also for proactivity as I intend to use this period to secure opportunities and exhibitions for 2018 and 2019. I feel more equipped than ever to make […]

Before September this year I didn’t know what my physical limits were when considering my career as an artist. Since the beginning I have adopted a somewhat cavalier ‘I’ll get things done at all costs’ attitude that, by and large, […]

I am still processing all of my olfactory activity from the end September until now. It’s been a period of extreme intensity, which has seen me deliver a residency, a solo show, two group shows and 5 workshops around the UK […]