Wednesday 26 February 2014

hanginglightingboarding

a day in London at Camberwell – well first off to Brixton East – looking at the work for the proposed show there of the Camberwell post-grad students – then lunch at Brixton Market- a place I last went to 25ish years ago – a lot has changed – although you can still buy 6 peppers for a pound! – then back to check on the set up for next week’s hand in and assessment with the full-time students.... managed to pop in to the curve gallery at the Barbican to see United Artists installation – I had seen them talk and attend a collaborative Faster than Sound event at Snape Maltings so I was anticipating great things –   – I recommend the lighting in the Finsbury Avenue Square, Broadgate – it’s a hidden gem of London that very few people appear to know about – but its free, outside and quite beautiful. and another symmetrical boarded up space.

Sunday 23 February 2014

wordsandspacedefined


Building work progresses – defining the walls and roof gives a real sense of the how the room will be - the idea of the new space having the impression of a piece of jewellery attached to the house (the architects voice) is becoming real http://www.kirkhamsheidow.co.uk/

Still going through the images and films generated last week – some found texts from New York 

Friday 21 February 2014

postgradshowatbrixtoneast

looking forward to the interim post grad show from Camberwell students - supporting the hang next tuesday.

Thursday 20 February 2014

nynynynynynynynycoldsoverycold

4 days in New York – temperatures at -10 with blocks of snow and ice on the street. I got up early and walked several blocks to get a feel of the area we were in but even though the sun was out I was often driven back inside because my fingers were numb from taking photographs in the biting cold. Days full of art looking included the Isa Genzken retrospective at MOMA 
http://www.moma.org/visit/calendar/exhibitions/1345 , a show of Chinese ink art at the MET (so good I had to have the catalogue) 
http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2013/ink-art , what is a photograph exhibition at The International Centre of Photography http://www.icp.org/museum/exhibitions , out of hand: materializing the PostDigital at the museum of art and design was a riot of 3D printing http://madmuseum.org/null/exh/out-hand and a whole day in the private galleries in Chelsea around the High Line we developed the idea of – audience as detective artist as criminal -  Highlights there have to be the infinity room installation by Doug Wheeler at David Zwirner http://www.davidzwirner.com/exhibition/doug-wheeler-2/ and the beyond huge Serra at the Gagosian – sooo heavy http://www.gagosian.com/exhibitions/richard-serra--october-26-2013 . Evenings were full, a superbly moving (yes tears were involved) dance at New York Live Arts Space - on trial together by Ana Vujanović and Saša Asentić http://www.newyorklivearts.org/event/on-trial-together  and 12 years a slave at the Lincoln Centre – appropriate.  Eating at Blooms in Chelsea and Peace Foods on the Upper West Side were the high spots of a riot of foods stuffs – Mexican, Chinese, Indian, Vegan, Diners and then snacks in Zabars https://www.zabars.com/  and giant cans of beer in Duane Reeds.
As ever I added to my taxonomy photographs - ‘stuff covered over in the street’, ‘buildings covered’ and ‘smoking architecture’.

Wednesday 12 February 2014

teachingwatchingandsadness

some interesting teaching over the past 6 days – a workshop session that focused on supporting the students develop of themselves as a brand with year 3 textile students at NUA – http://www.slideshare.net/l.bicknell/009-possible-branding-10-02-14
an exploration of our relationships to audiences through the objects we make with MA Book Art students. http://www.slideshare.net/l.bicknell/012-relationships-with-audience and working with Open College of the Arts students – the future!! On ideas around integrating research into practice http://www.slideshare.net/l.bicknell/research-process-and-practice-final-year-10-2-14-31131182
In terms of films there are a couple of recommendations – if you want a cosy evening try the latest Richard Curtis film – about time http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2194499/?ref_=nm_flmg_wr_3 an interesting premise but unsure if the ‘science’ stacks up!  and an oddball one with Terance Stamp and Kurt Russell – The Art of the Steal - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2172985/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_3  – it’s a fun ride.  
Meanwhile some un-owned, unloved and generally crap architecture from a visit to Coventry.

Wednesday 5 February 2014

artartartartclothes

An excellent day out in London with the students from Camberwell Books MA. First off was the Welcome Institute – http://www.wellcomecollection.org/whats-on/exhibitions/foreign-bodies-common-ground.aspx Foreign Bodies - a show of 6 artists who had been in residence in various parts of the world – using their skills and understanding to support and engage with a number of audiences and participants – really enjoyed the fossil necklace – next off to Sadie Cole HQ – http://www.sadiecoles.com/current-exhibitions/index.html - an eclectic (messy and full of ‘random stuff’) show by Helen Marten – the space really is quite extraordinary overlooking Regent Street. After lunch it was onto her other space which turned out to be flooded so we quickly reorganised and made our way to White Cube - http://whitecube.com/ where there was a show by Lui Wei which featured huge 3D geometric shapes made from piles of sanded magazines – seductive. Before we got there taken by the image in the window we popped into Gazelli art house http://gazelliarthouse.com/uk/exhibition-view/356-TIME-OF-THE-EMPRESS-%7C-AZIZ-+-CUCHER – the video work of Aziz and Cucher was mesmerizing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdyAevdTB4A  Finally before getting the train I - popped into Dover St Market - http://london.doverstreetmarket.com/dsmpaper/collections.html to look at the latest layout – taken by the use of material in the clothes in general but specifically Erdem who have some wonderful processes within their collection http://www.erdem.com/home.php 

Monday 3 February 2014

youngpeopleareunregulatedcapitalistspunksaskingforpermission

Two days at Snape – PLACE – a joy to be in the presence of thinking – and be reminded of the fact that Paul Morley and his voice needs to exist. Highlights – Jay Griffiths talking about the sea, Lavina Greenlaw’s moving reading and her explanation about the role of the poet and poetry and then of course Paul Morley talking about how to develop the idea of who you are or can be and thinking using the idea of the North and the detailing the spectre of capitalism......

my notes ........environmentally myopic – landscape of amnesia – a language without certain words – we construct amnesia by editing our past – over determining our future – containers as an extension of our domain -  swimming as a medative process – a notebook as home – collective sense of individuality – home is with other like minded people – unforbidden pleasures - is a man to follow rules or is a rule to follow a man – a shared project, working together – the forbidden is a structure to define and explore desire (control) – language writes the world – place name is a few stones piled up, they fall down only to be piled up by the next generation - story of the masses – the music of what happens – sounds of a place overplaying the image of a map of that place – analytic listening disentangles what is there – waiting lists for the experience of solitude – views from trains this must mean something – a name that feels like it belongs in history – who owns the landscape? – language as a temporal home – traditional practice as a time machine – occupation of language – occupying as a narrative device – neurologically re-wiring what 3 minutes of pop can be – index as position – race into the future the past holds you back – transport expands you – abstract revolution, remaking reality – old fashioned futurists – Tony Wilson as metaphysical mayor – the internet = moving whilst staying where you are – the North as an ideology – Manchester City as a modernist idea of a local football team – herded into pleased communities in our closed screened off lives – library as route out – poetry as a precise idea about imprecision – fixing a moment in time, monumentising it – magic as a form of explanation – i talk to a hall of darkness – i am making a list of my father – converted middle class barn (is there any other) – detective work around myself – self sufficiency as an ethical principle – reappropiation of the appropriated – bird watching as an art of peace – a vortex of paranoia and fear, a building that drains the voice – not where you live but where you stay – gentrification by pure capitalism –
the only gap in the weekend was that there needed to be some thinking around young people and the internet as place, a space they occupy – we appear to be a generation who moved and now we are telling others to be still, to stay, to dig where you stand – young people are doing their own thing and I do not want to hear old people talking about property prices! and then there was the choice of dull long films that could of being replaced by shorter more interesting pieces or let the speakers talk in chaired panel discussions – try Richard Dedomenici next time - http://dedomenici.com/

the weekend at Snape was top and tailed by two films - all is lost http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2017038/ a tremendous film that was framed and rethought within the concept of place and then a field in England http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2375574/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 which also had the lenses of occupation focused onto it.