newbooks

the break from College has seen the development of a range of experimental books using images of the woods around me – looking at lines – intervention and devices threaded within them for reading/looking. the bookworks starting points are exaggerated digital landscape photographs that I took in the autumn threaded and pierced.

sitevisit2

i’ve been commissioned to create seating for Post Office Square in Leiston. the work must reflect the distinctive character of Leiston with specific reference to Leiston Long Shop Museum and possibly looking at the 3 Garrett Sisters. the space between and around three trees creates all sorts of restrictions and possibilities which need to be explored. it will be interesting to work with a space i know well.

sitevisit

one of five artists shortlisted to work at the Westfield Stratford City site on The Town Centre Link Timeline which will connect Stratford town centre to the new Stratford City development. yesterday was a site visit which took in the site in general and included the Olympic village area - quite an impressive sight - mud and security and truck activity

thattimeofyear

its that time of year at University - assessments - MATC1 on MATC and TP4 on BAT at NUCA and Unit 2 on MABA at University of the Arts London at Camberwell.

abusymonth

it has been a busy month - recent work on the MA Book Arts included running a seminar exploring the idea of catalogue. we are now well into the 'embedded book seminars' which are going well - highlights so far include exploring the idea of meta materials of the book .
yesterday saw me giving a paper at University Campus Suffolk which looked at a professional approach to making art in the public arena. A good session in a new building – unusual choice in windows.

boxofpsychocorn

in the daylight i finally managed to see the 'wrapped container' which was created as part of the corn exchange commission as a solution to the changed layout of the site. it’s interesting how dark and menacing it looks as a physical object off the screen and placed in the ‘real world’.

growing stone

on a cold and rainy day i travelled to Colchester to deliver the final print to the new residents of Distillery Pond and was pleased to see the stones are settling in well

finallyfolded

the work for Distillery Pond is over with the posting of a leaflet to the people who i have been working with and have been so generous with their memories. the form of the leaflet references the shape of the buildings that used to be on the site and the text is edited from that which is cut into the stone.

structuralbookmaking

a day on the MA Book Art at camberwell workshopping the new students - looking at structure as content and manipulation as narrative the day also explored visual sequence and text generation - whole book philosophy.

fullday

a day at Camberwell saw the what can a book be? seminar leading to a session in the wonderful Chelsea Book Art Collection. it is an exceptional collection of artists books. after a walk through soho and the tottenham court road area i got a train home to view the portacabin covering at the corn exchange - really pleased - it looked dark and menacing, especially at night. i will return to photograph it in the light

hi mum

so tell me about your work.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7613566.stm

bandspeechplayunveiling

a sunny afternoon saw the culmination of the commission at Distillery Pond celebrated with a drumming band, speeches and a play. the stones were unveiled by some of the children who live in the space while older past residents looked on - a good ending

cornbuildingsky

starting at 4 this morning the wrap is finally wrapping the corn exchange in Ipswich. it was a great team effort from the printers at nes in Colchester, the scaffolders, the riggers from Cambridge, all at Nobel and Taylor, and the team at Ipswich Borough Council especially Mark and Rebecca. the work looks good and will give the public a few moments to contemplate throughout the day. SGR and Look East turned up for an interview so the timer is set for my mum tonight!

before is now

the stones that make up the piece before is in the ground and the guys from Perfitts did a fantastic job setting the two stones with professional precision, the experience they bring is incalculable. The shape and colour of the stones sat well in the space making the work look as if it had always been there as. The open day where we consulted with residents past and present on the various elements of the proposed piece felt worthwhile. As the crane positioned the blocks, each weighing 3 tonnes, the sun shone it felt like the day was laid on for us.

texttape

the plastic coated text has been signed off and made ready to be sandblasted

foldingfoldingfolding

creating a production line for the beyond flyer - the beginning of the folding - 500 sheets each folded 4 times with one cut and a hole cut all by hand - the first 4 hours went like a breeze

bringing the words to life

saturday saw a workshop at Hythe Community Centre where the research I have been gathering from past employees, residents and people who played in the area was used by Trestle theatre to create a piece of live art. The piece looked at the idea of the past, present and future possibilities of the area and the young people. The work will celebrate the memories of the people I have worked with and be performed as part of the unveiling next saturday.

foundationsarein

the foundations are dug and ready to go

finalshow

a busy week has seen the culmination of two years work for the MA Textile Culture students I work with at Norwich. their final show looked good and was well received

The course is innovative in defining, mapping and furnishing a range of practices within textiles and textile culture. It challenges and encourages a broad perspective on the historical, global, local, contemporary and critical contexts for which textiles are a formative medium. It encourages the acquisition and development of a wide range of textile interests and skills whilst at the same time enabling students to focus coherently on specific practices and issues which are appropriate to their own development. Through a combination of taught and self-negotiated modules students have the opportunity to develop a balance between advancing their own practice and identifying contexts for textiles which challenge assumptions and enhance the knowledge base appropriate to their practice.

almostthere

a busy day working on the job for Colchester. the space in the park has been laid out and as ever the size changes depending on the context. the stone has arrived from India and looks wonderful and huge! the text has been decided - it fits and looks conversational.