arrivingatanidea

ok everybody has to see Arrival - so many questions - where do memories come from? who makes them? what IS language? it's a truly beautifully heartbreaking mind twisting multiple discussion point film. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2543164/ go now - it will make you a better person. Star Wars - Rogue One http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3748528/?ref_=nv_sr_2  Alan Tudyk as K-2SO steals the show - all the best lines and witty commentary on the overall proceedings - once you've got past the extraordinary special effects, the detailed set dressing and death star imagery the film felt like a colouring in exercise - making the links between two known places in the story, although along the way there are some creative insights into the world that is to be defined by the force. Nocturnal Animals http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4550098/ is so stylish that what feels like the central anti-women feeling underpinning the film almost glosses over you. It did instigate a house conversation where I tried to think of a film where the woman, even if treated badly doesn't turn into the person doing the bad thing! The woman in a broken relationship even if the one done-bad-by  always appears not to get the sympathy of the audience as they either turn into a psychopath or the one somehow deserving it by not conforming to the roles society has defined for them, and women in general. You will get to Thelma and Louise but it doesn't end well for anyone). Kurt Russell is in full on acting mode but Terence Stamp's acerbic witty remarks steal the show in the caper that is The Art of the Steal http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2172985/business and then..... there is the great series from Netflix - travellers http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5651844/ - if you like your sci-fi part time-travel and smart this is for you.  Meanwhile I've been working on the bookwork for the show of average sunlight for millimetre02 space, Kingsgate Workshops.

newbeginningssomeonewillcometoshowtheway

I believe for every drop of rain that falls
A flower grows
I believe that somewhere in the darkest night
A candle glows
I believe for everyone who goes astray
Someone will come to show the way
I believe, I believe

Elvis is on the turntable and all is well with the world - I hope you have a good holiday and a peaceful 2017

Doyouhearvoices?HowdidIgethere?

Do you hear voices? - How did I get here? Since I bought my folding bike and feeling the liberation that it has given me I now have another great connection/experience - I came across David Bryne's fabulous book Bicycle Diaries. Created in part from the freedom of having his own folding bike it takes the reader into the inside story. It's like having David talking to you - I would love it as an audiobook - having him directly in your ear. Not that I've ever met him, although I've followed his work from the early days of Talking Heads when the art teacher put Talking Heads: 77 on the turntable in the art room - yes a record player -can you just imagine that.  The list of 'stuff that has made me think' includes so much of David Brynes output - The album Remain in Light https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remain_in_Light  with the truly extraordinary track Once in a Lifetime https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1wg1DNHbNU which in itself has the video where hand movements are used in a hyper unrelated way - but if we're talking about videos I have to mention Road to Nowhere https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWtCittJyr0  - The mind twisting film True Stories  True Stories http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092117/ - My life in the Bush of Ghosts with Eno with the haunting Jezebel Spirit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysGjmm648ds - Here Lies Love - the Disco Opera I saw  the National https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Here_Lies_Love  - The intriguing use of PowerPoint through Envisioning Emotional Epistemological Information http://davidbyrne.com/explore/e.e.e.i.-powerpoint  and the insightful How Music Works https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_Music_Works with ideas of space and time and their relationship to music.

tonight its Klanghaus https://klanghaus.co/ in Norwich.

everythingIwantIhavewheneverIholdyoutight

Sweeter than wine - Softer than the summer night - Everything I want, I have - Whenever I hold you tight - that change in tempo gets me every time...listening to the Drifters as an antidote to all the sleigh bells. 

meanwhile - some films - American Honey explains so much about America - it's a must see-American dream-dysfunctional-backward looking-romantic-entrenched-hopeful-searching-coming of age- road move- film which at its heart is about loss and longing.....for belonging and to be loved. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3721936/ With its endless choreographed chase scenes Fan feels like classic Bollywood. There is also a great slice of meta film-making - in one scene the actor Shah Rukh Khan plays a fan who is playing him playing himself! http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3495026/?ref_=nv_sr_1  Spectral http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2106651/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 a Netflix construct did what it set out to do - it's a sci-fi  shoot-em-up with the most excellent costumes and attention to detail - shame about plot, story and dialogue.

This week alongside working on the films for unfoldingthinking.blogspot.co.uk it's been all about trying to finish off a year's work around the teaching I do, including creating the timetables for the assessment presentations the students are to give and creating presentations that I am to give when I get back next year.  

benicetoeachother

this week teaching has been all good - working with eight year 3 students from the Textile Design Course at NUA who are creating work for a show at CraftCo in Southwold http://www.craftco.co.uk/ the exhibition is called made and the work in process can be followed on instagram https://www.instagram.com/nuatextiles2017/ #madeinprogress. If the work that's proposed by the students  is made it will be an exciting exhibition. Enjoying the latest output from artists and friends - a conversation set up to talk about contemporary art between sid and jim on soundcloud https://soundcloud.com/artistsandfriends/such-a-squeaky-chair  nice to reference a free art experience - a lift in the Southbank - the original (if there is such an idea with Martin Creeds work) is in the Ikon Gallery in Birmingham. Looking forward to Klanghaus in St George Works in Norwich next week https://klanghaus.co/ sounds and looks like it might be a return to 80s warehouse interventions which obviously in turn references 60s happenings which probably goes back to Neanderthals hanging out in a neighbours cave.

joininginandhavingfun

I have joined in with Mathew Aldred! http://www.mathewaldred.com/ - he is working on a project called grey matters http://www.greymatters.xyz/ it's a way of collecting images but really it's about creating connections and joining people, the whole project presents a model of decent behaviour and respect as a response to current global situations. The week has been mainly about creating work for unfolding thinking https://unfoldingthinking.blogspot.co.uk/ which is going well.

I have almost managed to get to the end of Narcos http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2707408/ - a brutal portrayal of honour, betrayal and love. Often misplacing emotional responses in a glorious way Wagner Moura is extraordinary as Pablo Escobar - it's really nice that he never shouts at his kids!

A party in Halesworth on Saturday meant that I got to see the development of Laurence Edwards studio http://www.laurenceedwardssculpture.com/ - it looks great - very grown up and professional. 

seeseeseeandthink

in London for the a.n Christmas party https://www.a-n.co.uk/news - great fun with lovely committed people from all over the country.  Who knew Elton John has such poor taste? I've been looking forward to see his collection of photos at Tate Modern as they are some of the images that have inspired and informed my thinking - but the choice of framing and the frames themselves somehow managed to diminish and overwhelm the images, this with the hang, where tiny images are above head height means that you actually cannot physically see some of the work - my advice get the catalogue and really see the work, it makes you realise the skill of galleries, what they do when showing work. meanwhile http://www.carrollfletcher.com/ has an excellent group show - Looking at one thing and thinking of something else. Rafael Lozano-Hemmer's Tape Recordings is great fun, I love the work of Manfred Mohr so it was good to see it again but Between Simonetta is an outstanding technical feat morphing two images into each other - sort of! http://www.frithstreetgallery.com/shows/current has a series of stunning photographs of bundles of documents within folded cloth by Dayanita Singh. http://www.mariangoodman.com/ has a very eclectic show called  Animality. it's a great show to get loads of inspiration around animals and their behaviour, for me stand out pieces are the octopus film and the joke/representation of the eye of the needle quote upstairs! A highlight of the day was The infinite mix http://www.theinfinitemix.com/ the whole experience is awesome - incredible work in a great space - it's difficult to pick out highlights because they all had excellent moments but the trees in Cyprien Gaillard's Nightlife have a bewildering sense of otherness, taking on animal forms. the whole experience is a joy go and see otherwise you will feel that you have missed out! Popped into The Museum of London to check out their 'modern' displays - they have some excellent objects and some stunning imagery of London making sense of itself and often in the process poor people appear to come off badly! At the wonderful Toynbee Studios http://www.artsadmin.co.uk/toynbee-studios saw The People Show perform http://www.peopleshow.co.uk/ a poignant comment on the 60s and their work over the past 50 years. As ever with their work it takes you on a journey to a place you didn't know existed but when you get there it makes a kind of sense. Truly marvellous. If you want a fabulous experience I recommend getting a tube to Greenwich and then biking along the Thames path from Greenwich to Tate Modern. You can pick up a bike at a Docking station just after you come out of the tunnel on the North Bank at Greenwich - an experience in itself. The whole of London is laid out in front of you and at the same time moving through it you get a real sense of change. I can remember working with Four Corners filming the building works pre Canary Wharf (yes it hasn't always existed) and being tufted off the road by heavy security guards whilst being informed that the road was owned by Docklands Development Corporation and we had no rights to be on what was the 'public highway'.

wheninodmyheadyouhitit!

A great session this week with Nicola Naismith and Dr Valerie Woods being interviewed for their collaborative Postures of Making project. https://www.a-n.co.uk/blogs/postures-of-making I have a long history of art related injuries from lower back from printing to misaligned finger joints from cutting but you get on with it. I find myself constantly telling students on looms and print tables to listen to their body and timetable breaks and include yoga and pilates into their schedules.  Being measured, filmed and photographed in my studio sitting and standing enacting the multiple repetitive actions I engage in gave me pause for thought about my own practice. The work I'm engaged in for the nanoDTC work https://unfoldingthinking.blogspot.co.uk/ has some really nice links and similarities, the day has made me think about tools and how they are held as well as general ideas around collaboration. My family history of factory working was also an interesting issue to consider - the creation of mini production lines and the ergonomics of how this is laid out. The Ipswich Wolsey Theatre's  Panto was most excellent - oh no it wasn't - I'm afraid my dear sir it was - press night is always tricky, you get the nervous rather than the bedded in casualness but there was still some adlibbing from the more experienced members of the cast. As ever a mixture of all sorts of storytelling is thrown into the mix along with great tunes and some of the most outrageous Dame costumes ever. Timbad the Tailor along with the evil Sinistro really stand out but the whole evening is a real blast - get down to Wolsey for a great night out https://www.wolseytheatre.co.uk/panto-2016/

walkingandlooking

the latest exhibition at the Wellcome Trust is full of excellent objects from Bedlam as well as a number of contemporary interpretations https://wellcomecollection.org/bedlam the Curve at the Barbican has an intriguing show with some great tableaus http://www.barbican.org.uk/artgallery/series.asp?id=1638 Bedwyr Williams has constructed a number of spaces within what is a challenging space. Finally over to Vent in Hoxton which is a small space but has some excellent work from Sid and Jim. Back to Suffolk and a long walk on a beach.

thesmellofthepast

popped over to Coventry to see parents after a day in the lab at Cambridge https://unfoldingthinking.blogspot.co.uk/ - the folding bike is so excellent and allows you get around under your own steam which is especially positive after being at the mercy of 'public transport'. Journeys are cut down, there is a sense of engagement with the city and landscape as you move through it, it's also faster than walking and sometimes faster than a car when getting to work! As a young person growing up in Coventry I watched all the houses I had lived in be demolished, the places I played in be knocked down and levelled for what appeared to be no specific purpose and all the schools I went to turned into either a car park or business park but I hadn't witnessed them be constructed. As I cycled back to the station this afternoon through the centre of town I realised that I can now add a number of buildings to the list of 'buildings-you-watched-be-built-have-a-life-and-are-subsequently-knocked-down-and-then-a-building-is built-on-top-of-it'.

But The Herbert Art Gallery is still there and has the most extraordinary reliefs on the side of the building by Walter Ritchie - Man's Struggle to control the world outside himself and Man's Struggle to control the world inside himself. I can remember when they were originally sited under a walkway inside a structure in the shopping precinct facing each other with a fountain in the middle and so slightly obscured but they are so wonderfully visible in the new location http://www.macearchive.org/Archive/Title/midland-montage-26081959-coventry-sculpture/MediaEntry/36523.html In a spare room in my parents' house I came across some structures from my childhood that take me directly to the present with my work in Cambridge. A series of wooden puzzles made by my Uncle Reg who was both married to my Auntie Floss and a Pattern Maker at the GEC. They are part of one of those memories from the past that somehow post rationally enable you to make sense of the present. In my mind he always appeared to be uniquely other, sitting in his chair at a dark round wooden table, smoking revealing mysterious handmade tactile objects which defied logic. I never could return them to their complete original state after taking them apart. The smell of them was also of another time,  a musky wax polished solid hard wooden time of lace curtains and front rooms that were only used for special occasions.

abookshapedhole

I'm in a book - http://www.ftc-online.org.uk/publications/conference/ the work I was involved in around archives and the fold has been published. It is in Futurescan 3: intersecting identities, the latest publication from the association of fashion and textiles.

an excellent session with the MA Fine Art cohort last night discussing and negotiating the creation of a collaborative, interactive (in a meaningful sense) web presence. when working online the idea of a physical room feels rather Victorian. I have seen the future of education and it is Open College of the Arts - OCA shaped. 

linkslinkslinks

nanoDTC has taken over my life! - here is a link to the mass of work and thinking - I am supposed to be there a day a week but most weeks it's 2-3. I am learning so much and really enjoying the experience - especially the professional care that I encounter https://unfoldingthinking.blogspot.co.uk/ but other work is still continuing and am managing to find time to see stuff. Went to London specifically to see the physical incarnation of http://www.isthisitisthisit.com/ which was excellent - some great work and the beer didn't run out at the private view. looking forward to working with the Open College of the Arts work - their short project has at its focus the development of a web presence. Still reflecting on Make:Shift and making sense of the experience and in practical terms getting back to the contacts made. here is a link to the presentation I gave http://www.slideshare.net/l.bicknell/makeshift . students at NUA have started on their next project - fashion - my presentation was around extending ideas of the body and our relationship to it http://www.slideshare.net/l.bicknell/briefing-ba3a-project-fashion-67938524 - I have been thinking about why and how we learn - I have been delivering this presentation - http://www.slideshare.net/l.bicknell/to-quit-or-not-to-quit it is an attempt to enable the students to recognise when to change their thinking/behaviour to get results - influenced by Freakonomics. http://freakonomics.com/archive/ Often students have been bludgeoned around the issue of tests and succeeding within this context but have lost sight of their own goals, their intuition and the idea of learning itself and what they actually want to learn.    

got to see the Green Room - a chillingly dark film that left me with a general feeling of oppression - this was a good thing - but brutal. mainly the weekends have been about regenerating the body through long walks by or next to the sea. 

make:shiftshowsusthefuture

back on another train after speaking at Make:Shift in Manchester - delegates were very positive about my talk that had at its core in some ways a traditional yet erratic 'old school' approach to making through gathering - its always interesting to see what will happen when standing in front of images of one's work. The process of talking is always interesting (organising, sifting, sorting images, reflecting and clarifying) and it's rare to get feedback as I'm usually standing at the front in a position of 'sort of power' so the conversations I had after the session were so instructive and helped to place or locate my practice in this new terrain. My panel was full of people talking about fabulous new materials and ways of working - collaboration and hybrid approaching to understanding are the key - obviously. The Manchester Met University were running a collaborative workshop - they were such lovely people and I have some ace paper samples which I intend to explore in the nano project as they have different surfaces on each side so will fully exploit the haptic experience. Meanwhile in the Museum of Science I got the chance to see the textile history of Manchester be performed - the looms are set up and powered - the whole process from raw cotton to calico is show and it was just awesome - if my textile students are reading this you must go - in fact everybody should see it and listen to the people explaining the process's and the wonderful way they weave the social history and trade union activity within the demonstration. I had my bike so managed to get out and about the city - often a mixture of Escher like moments where standing on a steep cobbled street looking up a bridge which carries trains, there is a canal to your side and below that a dual carriage way, all the while surrounded by brick buildings built with civic pride, iron in the road, walls and sky, stone and warehouse regeneration modern sheet glass - I think that I loved it. Manchester Art Gallery had a show looking at Fashion - some good starting points for a discussion around a number of issues as the work was very theatrical, almost beyond catwalk. The highlight of the day outside the conference was the wonderful Rachel Maclean at Home - disturbingly excellent art, awesome space and really friendly, interesting, helpful people. I can't wait to see her work in Venice next year. 

itsallaboutthefuture

at the moment my work/life is all about the residency within NanoDTC at The Maxwell Centre in Cambridge https://unfoldingthinking.blogspot.co.uk/ but I am speaking at Make:Shift in Manchester on Friday so initially I planned and indeed tried to cram 30 years of experience into 10 minutes. This was of course an insane idea so am now, after much reflection, going to talk about how ideas inform process which in turn becomes a methodology for research. I'm going to lean heavily on the past two projects - The Robotics at Kings and Nano in Cambridge as well as bookness!! meanwhile some images from unfolding thinking   

a great day out in London on Tuesday - the discussions with MA Book Art students from Camberwell around the work in the exhibition at the photographers gallery - radical feminism and then in the permanent treasures Gallery at the British Library were superb - as ever the students brought a range of new understandings to the work and some wonderful concepts/questions/thoughts- the role of fundamentalist typography, tyrannical layout, books that have one purpose - the performance of the book, how display informs understanding - subversive labels - labels as the work  - the list goes on. The exhibition of feminist work is worth a visit and contains a range of work that underpins a lot of the performances that I saw as part of Spill at the weekend - a post moment rethink and the upcoming exhibition around maps at the British Museum is sure to be wonderful and a recommendation. In the evening the talk I gave for the Norfolk Contemporary Craft Society went well, I would like to think, with lots of ideas thrown out and a number given back which will be followed up when I get a moment . As I cycled back to the station (to be subjected to another example of poor service from Abellio) the lights and reflection of the St George building at NUA lifted the spirits. a mention for adultswim - http://www.adultswim.com/music/singles-2016/ a beautiful web portal. Meanwhile another day at the Maxwell Centre brought fresh revelations - http://unfoldingthinking.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/chemicallogicofthemicrobialcommunity.html

spillisover

so a woman leaves the space via a giant vagina after performing labiaplasty on herself with bacon, a man uses rubber gloves to talk about care and loneliness, I stand in a room but through technology am in a wood the first time and then on the beach the second - surrounded by birds, watch the question chicken or egg performed by a woman 'black faced' with electrical tape, understand our culture through repetitive action, a flower emerges, a doll emerges both from within body orifices, people in costumes created from the DIY store explore alienation, mirrors are used to present ideas and a vagina, a whisper takes my breath away and so much more - yes I have emerged from Spill a little bit wiser and a little more open. I was struck by the respect spill audiences have for the space of performing especially as I walked late through Ipswich. check out tweets - @BicknellLes  some photographs of the aftermath from the performances.

stuffcoveredandspilled

just going through the photographs from Marseille - here are some that will be added to the folder 'covered stuff in the street'. Last night at Spill saw the museum opening till 11:00 with interesting interventions but for me the activity that was most engaging was using your phone as a torch and bringing the stuffed birds to life (Johnnie Morris voices optional - think 70s Animal Magic) - also saw 3 performances - all linked by the idea of exploring the fragility of existence. Jade Montserrat's piece Showing Josephine was relentless in its repetition - Breathe by Alicia Jane Turner had some beautiful films accompanied by violin and the UK premier of Of Leonardo Da Vinci had some extraordinary moments where moving image, sound and movement created new worlds in the mind.  I managed to just touch on the durational works and will see more later but as ever the Art School felt energised by the activity - can't wait to be immersed later! https://spillfestival.com/all-events/ if you feel like you want to be changed. 

frenchnessisallaround

just back from 4 days in Marseille and a quick hop to Crest via the TGV and local trains to see Heine Thiel's show at imprints which was great - all minimal curves and industrial surface magic. http://www.thiel-ma.de/ A note on wonderful French trains - clean, on time, good design, clear instructions and generally just so much better than ours, even the tables fold more interestingly/efficiently......I love Marseille- weirdly I've been there 3 times in a couple of months  it's a sort of messed up/combination of ancient yet modern, functional but haphazard with its so South of Frenchess port and multi-cultural art scene intermixed with contemporary art spaces which actually buzz. some highlights include spaces as much as the art - The Frac - https://www.fracpaca.org/ with its great bookshop and cold minimalism had an extensive show by the painter Francoise Petrovitch  who had also made 2 exquisite films alongside clay sculptural pieces all informed by a way of thinking. It was interesting to see this within all the different mediums. The Friche -  http://www.lafriche.org/fr/ has the if I was to build an art centre this would be the model vibe....excellent rooftop bar/club space overlooking the city, integrated skate park bars, multiple spaces showing new work. The main show explored the body and performance and had a piece of work by the collaborative duo Leisure the evidence of their performances are often intriguing. The Musee Cantini had an all inclusive exhibition about the idea of dream. I have never in one place seen so many dubious depictions of the male interpretation of dream using the image of women - this was a thoroughly bad exhibition only saved by some wonderful work by Magritte which explored the idea without resorting to demonising, destructing or violating the female form.... The Museum of African arts is housed in a huge structure that was at one point a charity/hospital for the poor and homeless - the space is awesome as you get to walk within a courtyard at the roof level of a church http://vieille-charite-marseille.com/. This sense otherworldliness prepares you for some of the most disturbing imagery/objects displayed beautifully. I thought that we had given back all our shrunken heads! Finally - it is closed until February but worth a visit to see the magnificent building that is le musee des beaux arts - giant oxen seem to overflow from huge fountains full of wheat and grapes which tumble out of a wall of stone cherubs - it's a must see. and while there a walk around the east side past city beaches following the road with the Mediterranean to your right to restaurants where soup d'poisson with all the ritual of the rouille, croutons and gruyere is leisurely consumed - what's not to like..... oh I forgot the extraordinary churches and cathedrals!

musicisimportant

checking out Woman's Hour playlist organised by Lauren Laverne - 70 songs 70 years playlist - it was great to hear tracks that are part of my Desert Island Disc top 100 songs!!! aren't we all just await for the call? - blue by Joni Mitchell,  Grace Jones pull up to the bumper, Venus as a boy by Bjork and Marlena Shaw's Woman of the Ghetto but new to me was Le Tigre I loved the raw power of their sound - channelling x-ray specs and the riot grrrl power of bikini kill - my new latest favourite band. http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/playlists/zzznnc  So far this week - three great teaching experiences - chairing a seminar of student presentation proposals, running intensely packed group crits, and delivering  an on-line seminar. There is some excellent work out there and it's a joy to be a small part of it.  Managed to see an interesting show by Roman Ondak at The South London Gallery - a large element of it is a form of building archaeology when the original parquet floor is revealed. It's interesting to think about how I have worked in several places for long enough to be one of the few people remaining who can remember that beautiful floors have been covered by false floors and corporate carpets - all awaiting discovery. Also I can think of examples where I have watched a building be constructed, knowing it through its life and then watching it be demolished, to be replaced by a new building. More work in Cambridge as part of unfolding thinking - quite possibly the most extraordinary job I have ever had! http://unfoldingthinking.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/pipetpipetpipetpipetpipetpipetpipetpipe.html

looking forward to Spill Festival in Ipswich next week  http://pacitticompany.com/work/spill-festival-of-performance/ there are so many highlights but Shabnam Shabazi's Terra Nullius https://spillfestival.com/show/terra-nullius/ has to be up there. 

itwouldbenicetobepaid

Monday was another successful teaching day at NUA where the presentation was sent out before - from idea to outcome explores amongst other things an audit around skills based on Richard Serra's verb list of 1967-8 create your own list of stuff you do in the process of your practice and when you are stuck pick one from the list and enact it until something good happens. If you are feeling adventurous make a list of activities you don't engage in and pick one of those. It's all about the word and idea of practice. 5 slides at 10 seconds each with one question a slide - 50 second Pecha Kucha's fast and furious but it's a focused way to see what people are up to and to share ideas with everybody.

I last saw Bjork at MOMA in NY and the 2 screen surround sound  there blew me away - well that's in the new Bjork digital show at Somerset House so it was good to see it again but the VR experiences are quite amazing. In one you find yourself surrounded by multiple Bjorks on a beach and then later you are inside her mouth. The final one allows you to be inside her as she dances within, around and next to you all in a spectacular array of light. so go see the future.

Attended the launch of paying artists at Jerwood Space - still quite shocking to hear that 71% of artists showing in publicly funded spaces were not being paid. I can remember a time when I would be attending meetings only to realise that I was the only one in the building not being paid - generally those days are gone for me but the issue is still around - check out http://www.payingartists.org.uk/ to arm yourself with knowledge and to change the world for younger artists.also more work at https://unfoldingthinking.blogspot.co.uk/ 

teachingfoldingtime

A busy week ending with a great day of science on Friday with the unfolding thinking project https://unfoldingthinking.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/afmtaptaptap.html Teaching has a new twist - in an effort to improve the experience for all I have decided to send students the presentation I intend to give in the timetabled session with them before the actual time we meet. It's my intention that enabling access to the presentation in this way will allow the student to work through the material in their own time and at their own pace - hopefully there will be less time talking at the front for me - less passive listening from the students - there will be more student interaction - which will all leave more time within the session to discuss work. Of course this works if the students read emails. I had some of my best recent teaching with year 3 at NUA on Monday. It was empowering watching students being empowered.  At Camberwell this was a real triumph where the actual ideas behind the work were deconstructed - fantastic. This is something I will continue. 

Its less than a week to ALL https://artlanguagelocation.org/all2016-showtime/ I cycled past my piece at Land Economy and it's still going strong - Looking forward to seeing all the work.  Yes I have succumbed to a folding bike which was a great choice as the clowns Abellio in their ceaseless quest for 'customer' satisfaction chose to have a train consisting of only 2 carriages - this out of Cambridge on a Friday night at 5.44 - the same day there was racing at Newmarket - thank you for your care and attention we loved standing for the entire journey pressed up against each other - oh yes it was also late so another case of missed connections again. Although transparent,  I watched the supposedly very dark the good neighbour from start to finish we all knew where it was going. Using all the standard tropes Triple 9 wasn't that bad but wasn't that much - lots of stars acting almost in their own films. 

busybusybusyallgood

after a week attending the NanoDTC Autumn school I'm back  - for more information on this follow https://unfoldingthinking.blogspot.co.uk/ which is the blog that will document the project with NanoDTC at the Maxwell Centre. meanwhile Its been a busy week of opportunities - The Crafts Council have invited me to present my work in Manchester as part of Crafts Council's Make:Shift conference - already looking forward to it as it's an opportunity to share the advances my practice has had as a result of working within a science context. Nicola Naismith has contacted me to be part of her interesting project Postures of Making - exploring what happens beneath the surface of the skin when engaged in art practice and how we work with the idea of repetitive acts. I have several art related body malfunctions!!! as a result of creative making over the years and have been interested in the ergonomics of art practice for some time, especially when considering the of concept of the space of reading and idea of page turning as a performance. Confirmation of the upcoming work for Open College of the Arts has come through - I'm running an interesting project which focuses on creating an online exhibition. meanwhile managed to read  I love Dick by Chis Kraus it's a wonderfully incisive book. I loved the descriptions and general critique of a number of art pieces, films and artists I am familiar with - it really is very funning, I now want to go back and check out the work I was unfamiliar with - this book should be read by all artists. I've been invited to Unfold a show at The Roundhouse on October 8. The Catalogue for ALL is out and the work looks good - can't wait to see a physical copy in my hands - the events on the 13th October if you are in Cambridge https://artlanguagelocation.org/ Dan Tsu of Lyrix Organix very kindly mentioned that this is the project I inspired them to develop last year! but I think that is really down to all the hard work they do. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SQ_K_WQl0A

inthewindowrunning

the work is hung for Art Language Location (ALL) in the window of the Land Economy building in Silver Street in Cambridge.

whatisinpetmince?

a great day of structural thinking on the MA Book Arts on tuesday - some excellent folding and conceptual bookness went on. http://www.slideshare.net/l.bicknell/001-a-what-is-book-bookness-2016 as part of Southbank Centre Young Adult Literature Weekender some students from Camberwell MA Book Arts - Muqiu, Lena and Charlotte are running a workshop at the South Bank Centre - it will be good - go get involved.

http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whatson/book-binding-workshop-1001990

I'm working for Open College of the Arts on a really interesting project - supporting final year MA Fine Art students in creating an online exhibition - thinking of using www.isthisitisthisit.com  as an example of good practice.

thursday saw the induction workshop and day at NUA - the whole week exists as an instagram feed #gotextiles check it out.

meanwhile the film The Brothers Grimsby manages to envisage and then enact scenarios that I could not even conceive of - this is not necessarily a good thing but it is a series of open mouth is-that-really-happening-moments

thisisathing

this is a thing!!! this is a thing to make a plaque for!!!

it's week one of textile design students at NUA - the whole week will be documented by the first years on instagram at #gotextiles

the poster for the NCCS upcoming talk looks good so if you are in the area....meanwhile  a journey of discovery and understanding Hunt for the Wilderpeople - just a lovely film.

managed to see 2 bad plays in a poor uncomfortable space as part of High Tide Festival on Sunday - just bad.

bookwordsfuture

A great day at Camberwell - the first symposium on the MA Book Arts course always presents the opportunity to project onto the students possible futures and to consider one's role in getting them to where they want/need to be. As ever the experience reminds me as to why I love teaching so much - my notes include the phrases - preserving something that is not - brand installation - putting content into paper - density of thought - invisible visible - manual collages - where does book take place? - memory of the evidence of a thing - Buddhist frustration - invisible violence - building lines for people to construct space in their minds - unfolding minds - real v perceived space - abstract landscape - doubling invisibility - the destruction of destruction - the public book - rock library - the space of the book - testing to negotiate your own space - books, I smelt all of them - process as metaphor. how wondrous is that. meanwhile a run of films - Mechanic: Resurrection - solid Stath action with shooting weaponry material but wooden beyond belief. Free State of Jones - solid life affirming Southern racist narrative with good work by good guy McConaughey. Blood Father - solid drug violent wayward daughter biker story with Mel sporting marvellous face hair. Spill festival program is out and am already looking forward to it - highlights have to be of leonardo da vinci quills a black giant deluge with Elaine Mitchener, David Toop, Barry Lewis and Dam Van Huynh, Mem Morrison in the Wills building, the wonderful Jade Montserrat  who I actually taught many moons ago, well she was in the room when I was talking!! and Entertainment Island who I saw at the Barbican in a previous Spill festival - it will be excellent. https://spillfestival.com/

decidingwhattowatch

The Art Language Location website is up and running - the whole project is extensive and bright with lots of individual work going on in lots of different places around Cambridge. https://artlanguagelocation.org/

my page

https://artlanguagelocation.org/les-bicknell/

at the end of the break last week I had a couple of days in Marseille - I love this slightly dysfunctional city, it feels so quintessentially French with a huge range of fantastic 'outside' influences - sited on the sea with great food it always appears to be sort of writhing. Went to see the collection at Musée d'Art Contemporain - some good but eclectic pieces hung without any practical care or seemingly curatorial skill or interest. They did have a disturbing yet excellent Annette Messager piece which was a dark joy squishing nature and its cartoon image together. The Cathedral had huge flags which looked like a form of medieval clip art and the redeveloped area around the port is extra-ordinary - especially the Museum of Old Marseille which is one of the oddest-brutally-beautiful clever spaces ever - a must see.  Got back to see Jason Bourne - a rollicking rush of a JB experience, set pieces were a blast. I Am Not a Serial Killer is a 'not-bad' twisted dark 'indi-thriller'.