Friday 29 September 2017

theatreisgoodforyou

two nights and two theatre experiences - the wonderful space that is the Seagull theatre in Lowestoft http://www.theseagull.co.uk/ had Finding joy https://www.vamostheatre.co.uk/shows/show/finding-joy which was deeply moving with a thoughtful script exploring the issue of dementia. There was a beautiful moment when the time-travelling aspect of dementia was presented through mine and masks. The Wolsey in Ipswich  https://www.wolseytheatre.co.uk/ had Bin laden one man show https://www.knaivetheatre.com/bin-laden-the-one-man-show - which was very clever as I watched a very calm man who had given me a cup of tea going onto become an angry man who we call a terrorist.  I recommend both.

Wednesday 27 September 2017

responsibilityandrespect


work on the structures for Goldlay Square progresses - the choices are now finding locations within the plan - I love the action of positioning - working within the digital space - moving something not yet made within a space that does not exist which will impact on people's lives - notions of responsibility and respect are running high today.

Tuesday 26 September 2017

interiorsarego

it's been a busy week teaching on the Textile Design Course at NUA - year 1 arrived and their 1 day project was full of colour and surface - what is textiles? - what isn't it? without it you would be alone naked in a field.... to illustrate the overwhelming importance of textiles in the first day we covered fine art, illustration, fashion, architecture, interior design and fashion communication! the new instagram # is #nuatextiles year 3 had a whole day of year and project briefings, NSS briefing and Learning outcomes briefing but I tried to deliver it through work-shopping - the first project is interiors https://www.slideshare.net/l.bicknell/003a-25-09-17-briefing-ba3a-project-2-interiors so am looking forward to some exciting work.

Wednesday 20 September 2017

steelbooksaregogogo

A wonderfully creative day in Chelmsford yesterday - starting out with a site visit to test out the full-size model of the proposed sculpture. Envisioning is an interesting activity and a designer has to have lots - the site has its buildings 'foot printed' with most of the 2nd floors built so you can get begin to get a real feel for the site -  the spaces within, between and around the buildings. I was pleased that the scale of the proposed pieces appear to 'work'. But by getting onto the site the idea of the pieces unfolding up and around the buildings became an obvious development.


Part two was a meeting to discuss the initial ideas and to iron out any issues that came to light within the build, design, installation and placing of the work. It's a kind of pre-mortem - I love the idea of working within 'negative space' of possibilities - not in the negative sense but in a positive anticipating problem way - working with the possible by carving away what is not 'right'. The meeting went well and it looks as if I will get to make 'giant' steel books structures and 'scatter' them over the site - sooooooo excited......

Sunday 17 September 2017

sizeisall

a morning of thinking about scale whilst admiring a sample for the Goldlay Square work. The overall scale of the pieces in relation to the pattern is interesting to consider and has been highlighted after getting a piece of steel plasma cut. Really pleased with the sample, it has a sense of flow and all the connections that I have been inspired by are embedded within the work.

Saturday 16 September 2017

readyandwaiting

just back from an excellent afternoon working at Kings in the capacity of a consultant on a new module for the anatomy school - synthetic anatomy. How the arts think, make, reflect, and evaluate was really valued and it was great to share stories and experiences between the arts practitioners on the team and also to consider how to support the medical tutors and then the anatomy students in the pursuit of new skills around lateral thinking and failing triumphantly. Meanwhile at NUA the rooms are ready and the timetable is set - all we need now are students - the year ahead is going to be most excellent.

Monday 11 September 2017

cuttingcardandstickingart

starting next to a pool and continuing in my studio the thinking around Goldlay Square is becoming focused - there is still a lot of flexibility in the choice and the proposed construction will enable the making to be creative up to the last moment

Sunday 10 September 2017

booksbooksbooksinthemandreadingthem

the new edition of the book arts newsletter is out http://www.bookarts.uwe.ac.uk/pdf/newspdfs/113.pdf

- check out a listing of my work on page 13, also the artist book yearbook http://www.bookarts.uwe.ac.uk/publications/artists-book-yearbook.html which is as ever packed with excellent texts and useful and informed information about current practice - there is  a 6 page article about the work I've been involved in with NanoDTChttps://unfoldingthinking.blogspot.co.uk/

meanwhile

8 days sitting next to a pool enabled time for some reading - Ali Smith - There but for the - a fractured layered thoughtful guide through time, Ian McEwan - Nutshell - laugh out loud solid crafted text, Naomi Alderman - Power - beware, a potential dystopia fable that puts up a mirror to the society we live in, Matt Haig - The Humans - a story to enable us to rethink the world around us, David Grossman - a horse walks into a bar - you are in the presence of a tragic story that needs to be told with some excellent jokes, finally two books a little close to home..... Philip Roth - The plot against America - a what if book ....what if Nazis took over America? Lionel Shriver - The Mandibles - a what if book......what if America had a financial crash and old money and old power floated to the top?