listemingfortomorrow

listening to darkstar whilst organising tomorrows hang at the Gallery in Norwich. The culmination of 2 years work. The show is on for one day - thursday - the private view is wednesday 5.30 - 7.00

brittensgotrecommendation

An excellent morning at what is a great venue - my local arts centre - The Cut in Halesworth - a read through of the latest play by Robin Brookes – Britten’s got Talent. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Brooks  It’s both a comedic romp and a clever exploration of Britten the man whilst gently referencing the research that must of gone into the work. A meditation on what drives creativity, looking at the role of beauty and challenging a few stereotypes along the way. Simon Butress read superbly the part of Britten, bringing life to the words on a page! I can’t wait to see the play when it’s on at The Wolsey in Ipswich late November. http://www.wolseytheatre.co.uk/4859/shows/brittens-got-talent.html

drawinglanscapes

A busy week so far – 2 days in N Norfolk staying in a holiday camp with year 1 textile students – a time to get together .......drawing outside and bonding. There are some really extraordinary landscapes to work out on the coast - its a great experience which stays with the students and they build with on throughout their practice within the years to come.

carpetlandscapes

a day out photographing and drawing - returned to the jumps at Sudbourne after a gap of 2 years - it still looks very odd with its interesting use of carpets in the landscape.

techofolkconnectingthepasttothefuturefromnow

one of the tightest, most professional faster than sound events so far – a game of two parts with the seemingly very 'famous' working together and the ‘young ones’ going all experimental and off-piste. The focus of the evening and their residency was rethinking/reimagining the Britten folk songs. http://www.fasterthansound.com/  I have always felt that he had hijacked and in some way ‘un-folked’ them. The discussion held before the event and chaired by Jonathan Reekie was an affirmation that the folk songs are not overtly loved by all. For me the evening re-established and re-contextualised them within a folk tradition, even or specifically that there was a large electronic presence - techno-folk.  Highlights were a drumming duel/duet with South London Ordinance, Alex Thomas and Sam Wilson – a reinterpretation of Widow.  Although less dangerously experimental and closer to the original, Alexis Taylor and Green Gartside gave a very intimate performance although quite mournful it was as if they were in your living room – quite beautiful, Lemady was truly sublime? Listening to Green Gartsides voice took me straight back to 1983 and got me thinking how Scritti-Politti was a folk band for the 80s.

Meanwhile – some film recommendations – for a brainlessly stupid film experience I recommend a double bill of Pacific Rim http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1663662/  (large robots crashing with larger monsters – the script not troubling a sheet of A4 paper and white house down http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2334879/ (just unnecessary but it will be all okay). 

reflectingandlookingforward

A day at Camberwell yesterday – as is becoming more usual the trains were a disaster – ‘only’ 2 hours and 3 minutes LATE getting into London! so a long frustrating day but it was the first crit and a chance to see what people are making – some thoughtful starting points and ways of approaching both the world/life in general and making in particular. This led to some exciting work and considered conversations – i look forward to the rest of the year.  Met Matthew Tyson for lunch at the South London Gallery – he has a show at Gogoyoga - London E2  7RG http://imprints-galerie.com/newslist (see work above) the new year at NUA has started in earnest  - day 1 – the first presentation for year 3 textile students started with the slide above – yes there are only 228 days left till they leave. Looking forward to the upcoming faster than sound at Snape Maltings at the weekend - http://www.fasterthansound.com/ it has to be a good one with Alexis Taylor from Hot Chip and Green Gartside of Scritti Politti in the mix. Meanwhile enjoying 

bloodandself

looking at my notes - memory is fiction - men are superfluous even in their own lives - cookie cutter characters - writing praxis - looming otherness - shape shifting, writing from the perspective of female gender - haptic quality - transformation gamma - bourgeois mediated discourse - collective deluzean state - creating sense where there is no sense - anthropology is cultural imperialism  - yes I went to listen to Will Self talking with Bernardo Carvalho as part of Flipside at Snape Maltings http://www.flipsidefestival.co.uk/welcome.aspx most excellent, entertaining and informing with just a hint of menace.
meanwhile - late to this I know but have returned to Akala via TED Aldeburgh where I last saw him and have become a fan, founder of The hip hop Shakespeare Company http://www.hiphopshakespeare.com/site/about/ which in itself is wonderful - check out the shakespear v hip hop lyric  at TED  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSbtkLA3GrY and to get a handle on his lyrics the series fire in the booth has to be visited.

showsandanattitude

my work is in a couple of group shows that are coming up - Resurrecting the Book - in the Library of Birmingham - The exhibition opens on the 6th of November and runs until the 23rd. See the blog - http://thelibraryoflostbooks.blogspot.co.uk/ and go to the conference. The Sheffield International Artists Book Prize opens on the 5^th October at Bank Street Arts in Sheffield http://artistsbookprize.co.uk/ there are many events and exhibitions linked to it that are worth checking out. http://bankstreetarts.com/uncategorized/sheffield-international-book-prize-2013-catalogue/ - looking forward to flipside at Snape in Suffolk at the weekend http://www.flipsidefestival.co.uk/welcome.aspx - I’m up for Will Self on Saturday.

meanwhile another ‘I really don’t care about other people’ parking and the question - does the large car or the attitude come first?