wanderingaroundandlooking

A busy week of teaching - completing assessments, a bonding with fabrics, sublimation and rubber workshop and feedback tutorials at NUA. For OCA I ran a writing workshop where we began to talk about how to write about work, specifically looking at our relationship to making and the work. Friday was mostly spend in a 4 hour meeting at The Bookartbookshop in Hoxton, (a gem of a place) thrashing out a plan with Tanya, with much tea, for the next phase of the MA Book Art course at Camberwell - lots of guest speakers and more group crits and opportunities to discus our work. Despite its context - that of closing - the course is experiencing some good work as it drives off a cliff into being taught out to its demise. During a fantasy artwork seminar this week we rethought the Grand Tour for the Internet Generation - using Google Earth and instructions to send each other around the world from the comfort of our phone screens. #someofmybestteachingistakingplace. Other work includes being invited to run an Artists Book surgery at The Tetley in Leeds as part of PAGES and its New Voices project and running master class workshops with The Design Crafts course at Middlesex University. Both of which will be interesting opportunities and I'm really pleased to be part of their worlds.

At the weekend a quick jaunt around some east end galleries to check out this years edition of Condo http://www.condocomplex.org/london/ - where galleries give their spaces to galleries from around the world - some interesting work in mixed shows - Andrew Bick at Hales Gallery was a graphic geometric feast and I enjoyed the knitted maps and dictionaries at Flowers East. Whilst walking around the back streets I came across some magnificent examples of smoking architecture - buildings built as a result of the smoking ban for the express purposes of smoking.

thisiswhereIwork

this is where I work! After a week of assessing work at NUA Friday was all about where science meets art - creative thinking and lateral problem solving. Working with the Materials Matter people at the wonderful Iron makers Hall in the city and then at Kings with synthetic anatomy. Two great sessions with lots of fantastic conversations and a list of things to think about whilst working out what's in the bag and building bridges. It's really nice to be told what you do is good and how you think celebrated.

assessmentsarego

This week at NUA it's all about assessments - two days of presentations and then 3 days of looking through work - lots of work. So far there has been some really exciting potential on display in the presentations. Talking about your work and how it's made is a key skill and something that the course and year 3 specifically have lots of practice and support with, storytelling will get you through most things. OCA was all about exploring the structure that we work within - the screen - the internet. The three hours were all about working with rules and thinking about instructions, learning and teaching. meanwhile films - swimming with men - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6532374/ - quirky and sweet. night school - just so bad - I lasted 10 minutes and that was generous.

learningfoldingincolour

working on some shibori - some interesting learning around dye has taken place - the chemistry is fascinating and I feel will become part of some new research - looking forward to exploring cross dying with devore sometime next week. back in the teaching flow(ish) mass tutorials all round as the new terms start and one attempts to support students on the last term of this yea. It's an interesting time to be in education as I am told repeatedly that my role as a tutor teaching on a creative course is worthless in the eyes of a government who appears to be unable to organise itself.  When everything is measured in terms of money maybe we will all go wanting - I'm reminded of Oscar Wilde and the thought of a man knowing the price of everything but the value of nothing. so a collection of really interesting films - for many different reasons - The Wife https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3750872/?ref_=nv_sr_1 has a great twisted reveal and Glen Close's face is stunning as she acts all the emotions at once.  Beautiful Boy https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1226837/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_5 is a guttingly tragic tale - The drugs are almost a side issue as the film peels back what is it to be a father?  Sorry to Bother You https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5688932/?ref_=nv_sr_1 is totally bonkers - as if a sketchbook of ideas have all, yes all, been made into one film. the hate you give https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5580266/ is all about rethinking privilege.

spacetothink

 

The winter annual leave is a fabulous space to get lost in - not really knowing what time or day it is or even what your role is in this world can be liberating - this space is rare and it enables thoughts to flood in and interesting connections to be made in a practice usually taken up with lists of stuff to do. started to work on some ideas around shibori, connecting it with smocking and general stitch and bookmaking techniques processes including stab binding - we shall see when this work hits the dye baths next week. and then there are the films - old man with a gun - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2837574/ - beautiful and moving. searching - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7668870/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 - clever and sustainable. the favourite - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5083738/ - lavishly disturbing - what was that glorious soundtrack? yardi - looked and sounded good but the script...the spy who dumped me - just not funny enough. bird box - the premise was just annoying. meanwhile my latest obsession is Google Earth on my phone - in a whimsical moment I set out to look at the public art I have made to see if it exists - some of the work is too small to see or obscured by trees or I just haven't found it at the moment but here are some examples.