crossfoldedfertilization

working on a number of projects at the moment and enjoying the cross fertilization between them - the folding structures for the show at nuca titled repeat which were Informed by the work for the exhibitions Modified Expression and Between You and Me are feeding the cover design for journey to the podium and that work has connections to the big book for firstsite.
meanwhile fresher’s week at nuca saw me running a session around group work and problem solving – as ever the images don’t really show where the work happened – the glorious conversations between the students - https://net.nuca.ac.uk/mod/resource/view.php?id=17467
Modified expression - the show organised by Kilkenny Arts Festival is being toured by The Crafts Council of Irelands National Craft Gallery The tour dates are Tallaght Library, Dublin: Oct 21 – Nov 26 2011 and Galway City Museum: Dec 2011 – May 2012. I have a body of work in the show which was in response to the new poems of Gerard Smyth.

repetitionrepetitionrepetitionrepetitionrepetition

after a long day of folding, cutting and gluing I have finished the 12 copies of boccia the bookwork i was commissioned to make as part of journey to the podium. there is a proposal to have a show which is centred around the theme of repetition for the staff who work on the BA Textile course at nuca and i am struck by the production lines i have created as part of this and seemingly every project i work on.

trajectoryspraydrawings

half-way through spray painting the pages of boccia - really pleased with the system I’ve created to make the work and the effect of the spray-paint on the paper makes sense in terms of the research i have done around projectiles, especially the cannon ball trajectory drawings of Leonardo da Vinci.

signingoff

working on the journey to the podium bookwork – developing the spray painted pages with an intricate masking technique – the printers in Colchester called and wanted me to pop over to sign off the layouts – after checking I dropped into firstsite to take photographs for the large bookwork I am designing for the learning department.

combiningthestructuralconcerns

after finishing work on the collaborative bookwork for the show in Korea i had some wonderful paper left over from the package that the Samwon Paper Company sent so i have created another piece which takes its starting point from the research i have been involved in over the summer – combining the structural concerns visible within the book and smocking through experimenting with the fold.

tweakingthedesign

a day in Colchester at firstsite tweaking the design for the Berryfield mosaic print – photo credits, proof reading etc and then onto the printer to check all is okay as the design is quite complex with several folds, cuts and over 70 lines of perforations. it’s all go in the new space setting up everything from the kitchen, the shop and the first show - it was a real joy to work there - it’s defiantly a place to organise meetings in and generally hang out
managed to get a chance to look at the leaflet of a show i saw at Tate modern last week - contested terrains – a show from Africa that creates a number of narratives – i was taken with a two screen slide show by Kader Attia - open your eyes - on one side images of broken objects including wooden and ceramic vessels that have been fixed with wire stitches and on the other images of early facial plastic surgery from the 1st world war – both before and after images. the juxtapositions created a wonderful overall narrative along with the specific pairings.

http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/contestedterrains/default.shtm

printcommissionedderivedfromfolding

looking forward to the opening of the new firstsite gallery in Colchester – I have spent the morning working on the design for the printed matter around the Berryfield mosaic and then most of the afternoon trying to send it - the inequality of broadband provision in rural areas really has to be addressed if we want a connected country - it’s exciting to have such an interesting piece of print commissioned that has been derived from the folding and book art that i have been working on.

timetostartwork

a really good meeting with Dan at his house about journey to the podium – focusing on the bookwork and the proposed work in school - we talked a lot about rules and statistics and the oppressive nature of training most of which is embedded within the book . it was nice to meet Dan's dad after seeing him in the film made about Dan and on the tv after the Beijing olympics.
now I have Dan’s sanction on the work it’s time to start editioning the book and to start the design of the finished box/cover.

studentsfinalwork

last week I had a very long day assessing MA students final work at Camberwell – it was a real joy to spend the day looking at their work, making connections, judgements and discussing work - last night was the private view – always very inspiring to stand in a busy room with an active audience looking at the work of students who have considered, discussed and worked hard to create exciting, innovative and inspiring work. all the nonsense around higher education – the squeezing of resources etc pails into insignificance as you feel your job here is done. Below is a link to images.
http://www.slideshare.net/l.bicknell/final-show-2011

mabookartshow2011

just back from a short break in Croatia - looking forward to the ma book art private view at Camberwell tuesday night – meanwhile here is a link to the web catalogue. http://www.wearebookarts.co.uk/

i’m also helping hang the exhibition - The Wallpaper History Society Celebrates 25 years of Wallpaper Design at The Imago Art Gallery on wednesday. some students from NUCA have their work on show.
http://wallpaperhistorysociety.org.uk/events/