affordancetheory

Working on various iterations of 3D printed flexible structures that can be manipulated in the hand. Starting with quick sketches to make sense of how they might work but the affordance of the structures can only really be understood when the structures are actually printed and in the hand. https://www.learning-theories.com/affordance-theory-gibson.html Onto screens – Tokoyo – Leos Carax, Michel Gondry and Bong Joon Ho have created an extraordinary triptych of a movie - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0976060/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1  Titane – too slasher too brutal for me.

surroundedbythepast

Set out to see the Turner Prize at the Herbert Art Gallery – interesting challenge to hang process, collaborative community engaged work in a gallery and even though I wanted Black Obsidian Sound System to win Array Collective created an interesting space and set out an eerie feel. I spend several hours surrounded by the past looking at old photos, me and my best friend Gary Lewis, two weddings - my Aunt Floss and Aunt Beat, a car that my grandparents were driving when hit by a coal lorry, a now and then photo via street view and a gif of the space my house used to occupy. Meanwhile assessments are over, and Christmas is almost here.

potterswheelasturntable

Editioning the work - book as image as book.  A busy day in London – first up - in Whitechapel to check out material possibilities – lots of thinking….’African’ textile shops to think about pattern and meaning… and my next shirt material, 4D model shop unsure how they will fare with the onset of 3D printers. Theaster Gates at Whitechapel is sublime - great work that connects his past to his present through pottery. The film is just beautiful - potters wheel as turntable.....Unsure about the show at Sadie Cole HQ. Tate Britain was interesting - The Duveen galleries are full of noise, projections, lights, moving images and objects but it's a little uuuummmh. I spent time with the 'Seagram' Rothko's thinking about my younger self who had sat with them as an art student in the 80s. Whilst wandering the spaces I came across one of my all-time 'favourite' images - Donald Rodney - In the house of my father, a model made of skin grafts created whilst attempting to deal with sickle cell which went onto kill him. onto screens - Tick Tick Boom - fun and clever Get back - extraordinarily dull and yet  simultaneously mesmerizing. 

iwokeupanoldmantofindanaxeinmyhand

continuing to work on the 3D printing, looking at joining components to make ‘sheet’ material as well as continuing to explore flexibility. a weekend away – the Edward Krasinski installation at Tate Modern is very special. A Year in Australia has Algernon Talmage’s The Founding of Australia, a truly disturbing painting celebrating the continents founding by the British – yes - all the history taught to me really was a lie! Lubaina Himid’s sculptural pieces in her show are very special. Akram Khan’s Outwitting the Devil, at Sadler’s Wells was awesome – darkness and foreboding in bold fluid movement – I woke up an old man to find an axe in my hand, powerful stuff that stays with you. The drawings of Hokusai for The Great Picture Book of Everything at the British Museum were sublime, unfortunately, they are displayed in very low light, too far away and behind thick glass, but the detail was exquisite and the designs far reaching – rethinking Lichtenstein after a visit to the Tate. Onto screens Spencer has some great acting but is overly long……..Reminiscence – is a great idea but….Boiling Point – is a traumatic ride, no buts …… https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11127680/

 

onethingleadstoanother

A day of 3D printing and filming – the structures explore the interconnected, how pressure exerted in one area affects another. Onto screens - Deerskin – madness of the odd variety, the ending of The Morning Show has left everything open for season 3.

spheresallaround

Working with spheres in the 3D printing world, adding them to some familiar structures and exploring their basket-like structures. onto screens Red Notice was super knowing. Annette https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6217926/ was wonderfully bizarre. Army of Thieves was jolly nonsense. The Harder they Fall was flash but surface. Meanwhile tickets to Akram Khan purchased and anticipated.

messmakeswork

A good week – working on a range of activities – some new films and some objects. The unexpected outcomes, mistakes from the 3D printer are sometimes interesting in themselves.  Onto screens - started the third series of Insecure - as ever witty and bold, meanwhile catching up with Succession and The Morning Show as they both become darker and darker. Outlaws has got more interesting as it becomes more complex. Re-watching Free Guy – so many cool Easter Eggs, finally Hard Love – sweet and light

adayoutinlondon

a great day in London – after a f2f meeting exploring the possibilities around synthetic anatomy 5 I got to explore a few exhibitions. Whitecube had a whole load of fantastic sewing machines going off occasionally alongside images of bats! – Anicka Yi at Tate Modern was nice – Rothko at Pace was glorious, it was truly sublime, but highlights of the day were the steel girders holding up a building’s facade, the window display at Louis Vuitton and the view of Richard Rodgers Lloyds building at Liverpool Street which you can now see as the buildings in front of it have been pulled down

spillmemories

so Spill – https://www.spillfestival.com/whatson a long weekend of thoughtful work. It was great to feel held by the curatorial hand of the director Robert Pacitti – links and connections were all around, strands flowing and fleeting creating - on memory was an opportunity to reflect on the past 10 years and at the same time make new memories. Highlights include the glorious Naked Life by Olja Grubic’s which has given me PTSD flashbacks when I grate carrots, 60 acts by Wendy Huston was on the right side of hopeless cynicism, Charlie Barlow’s Alone Together was a moment of contemplation, Robin Deacon’s thoughtfully rigorous Screen Memories was a joy, and John Bowers Memorygrinderresonancemachine in an abandoned silo was a great rounding up, the ideas behind the work resonating with thoughts of my own psychographic relationship to Coventry. But there was also Albesila Luminarium with its light and Instagramable possibilities, The gentle throbbing of Chorus, a big earth of Gaia in a dark room, growing vegetables in Eden, the thoughtful films Daughters and I want to be traditional, TheThe’s Comback Special and in conversation was a little mainstream angst with prog jazz thrown in, the hypnotic immersive Gone, Gone Beyond, Jenny created a cyborg space while exploring the gender reveal wars, Atari Punk Girls was serious techno fun, and Shabnam Shabazi’s silent stillness was all encompassing.

burningburningbooks

 rotating, folding, and flipping a sculptural bookwork – modern ritual meets old models on fire

thoughtfulthoughts

Mapping practice at NUA with year 3 TD students. And a couple of exoskeletons from Croatia. I’ve been on a Bong Joon Ho tip this weekend - The Host – a bizarre monster revenge story and then Mother – a twisted tale of madness and murder. Two extraordinary films that stay with you. Giri/Haji on Netflix is a complex, clever piece that keeps you guessing – especially the role of rain - the black and white rooftop sequence in the final episode will have you in tears. then there is the intelligent, thoughtful conversation between Obama and Springsteen in the podcast Renegades - Born in the USA.

moremoremore

More 3D printing!! Exploring the thinness of the outer layers and balancing it with the idea of limited infill. Meanwhile I’ve bought my Spill festival tickets and can’t wait to focus on memory. Screens - watching Border is an oddly earthy story with superb camerawork, Eva Melander’s portrayal of Tina whose connection with and through nature is beautiful. You will never think about nature in the same way. Watching Assassins is a little mind blowing, the audacity of the N Korean regime is truly astonishing, so much of the women’s lives was documented and the story itself makes the film strangely like a film!  Suffolk Shorts online was great – there are some glorious films – so far, the Drama category includes the calamitous A Hole directed by James Solomon, the powerful Portrait directed by Keir Siewert, the Arts and Performance category includes the bizarrely funny TREMBLE directed by Jessica Wright, Morgann Runacre-Temple, and the stunning The Circle directed by Lanre Malaolu.

finallyitsbeenalongtimefinally

The term at NUA has started, and I’m finally teaching – it’s great to be in the presence of students involved in learning – image from a pleating workshop. Onto screens - The Green Knight was stunning – some extraordinary filming, The Morning Show continues to disturb and entertain. It’s been a busy week on the going out front – New Wolsey to see Never Lost at Home, the second in the Ipswich Town story – Peter Peverley as Bobby Robinson was storming again. Aldeburgh Cinema to see Time to Die – not a great Bond yet there was great sadness in Daniel Craig’s performance. Dance East to see Alexander Whitley’s Anti-Body which I’m sure will be stunning.  

transparencyisall

More 3D prints, working with the transparency of the material the inside and outside of the structures and be really seen and start to blur. A busy week with meetings both f2f and on TEAMS and Zoom. onto screens – the much-anticipated Free Guy was everything it needed to be, great man out of place premise, some glorious set pieces, and the flow between video and gaming was excellent….so many Easter Eggs it will need to be watched again. Gunpowder Milkshake was a truly violent romp, unsure if it went anywhere other than having roles swapped with women doing violence rather than the men. I have been a little obsessed with Simon Armitage’s latest podcast the poet laureate has gone to his shed. Intelligent banter of the highest order.

breathinginout

Wow - changing the material in the 3D printer is a revelation - the transparency reveals the structure. Yesterday was a really creative day in London – several moments of breathing in - How We Live Now: Reimagining Spaces with Matrix Feminist Design Co-operative. The show at the Barbican is very revealing - flagging up the concept of privilege. Architecture critiqued from a female perspective, looking at the underpasses in Birmingham is raw and obvious, who were these men and what were they thinking? The film Paradise circus by Heather Powell is particularly revealing of alternative thinking in 1988. I was struck by the statement they have used by David Graeber within the exhibition. “The ultimate hidden truth of the world is that it is something that we make and could just as easily make differently”. The bookartbookshop in Shoreditch is always a real treat, Tanya and Chiara are lovely people and the space itself is full of wonderment. A real must-visit if you are in London. Cycling on the bridges, crossing the water on a bike is something to behold, another recommendation especially on such a beautiful day. And then breathing out - the focus for the day was a f2f planning session at Kings. This year's synthetic anatomy module will be a triumph. Building on the last 4 years’ experience we are honing a truly beautiful thing, which is cherished and celebrated by the people I work with there - such a joy.  Lateral thinking, problem solving, material understanding, communication, recording and presentation, all transferable skills that are valued, old school art school ways of being finding a place within the world of science education. Screens – the focus has been The White Lotus, beautifully crafted characters that get lost in the madness of luxury.

burningandtwiddling

Working on new films to project into spaces and onto things. Stills of burning books from the latest film. 2 truly great sessions at Snape as part of the Festival of the New. Highlights included Sonnen https://www.instagram.com/sonnenmusic/?hl=en with their great knob twiddling sounds and Thabo https://open.spotify.com/artist/0Xby6OpjBTxkbiGyhJU8RA a whole experience in a tent. They both created great vibes and were really nice people into the bargain. Onto screens - it took until the 5^th episode to work out the tone of The Chair – it’s a cartoon and when that’s established in the mind it moves from a what? to an ok? Our Ladies – I think I may have missed the point of this and found it not so good. Deep into Mr Corman and enjoying the male position on dealing with life and stuff!  

thereandback

Light and water - reading and thinking. sitting and talking. cooking and eating. After contributing to the vast newly manifested private wealth machine, and hacking through the forest of opaque ever changing rules we were thoroughly tested and armed with a handful of paperwork to finally find ourselves in beautiful Croatia. This holiday it appeared that reading took a back seat to sitting, swimming and boating but I did manage a few - There's no such thing as an easy job - kikuka Tsumura. truly odd is the best description, but in a good way. A short account of the destruction of the Indies - Bartolomeo de las Casas. just endlessly oppressive as the list of atrocities build up as the bodies pile up. You do have to question humanity. Broken Greek a story of chip songs and pop songs - Pete Paphides. a glorious time travel of a book, I laughed out loud continuously as I was reminded of the past in such an incisive way.  This is a must read for 45-60 year olds or for those of us transform by the music of the 70s and were there when the earth was moved by a man wearing dungarees!