whatif

What if the joints were at an angle? This question has sent my research around the zebra plate work off in an interesting tangent. The angles make the form behave in a seemingly more random way, the tensions within the structures feel exaggerated.  The other day a friend was playing me an important but terrible punk track from their youth, and it reminded me of School Meals – a band my French teacher at the time (1979) was in. It was a double A side Headmaster and such a spiv My copy has been lost in the midst of time - just attempted to buy back my youth only to find it would cost me £43 plus shipping – seems a lot for something that must of cost me around a quid at the time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaLjIjNMtXA&ab_channel=MusicWithoutBorders https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlpw0l_wnHA&ab_channel=Feugwtwra onto screens – Vacation Friends – you will laugh, the ‘I’ve taken hallucinogenic mushrooms’ scene is glorious. West Side Story – why? Pirates – there is a good film in there with some tightening up.

writtenonthebody

The workshop for Garden of emotions was such a positively nice experience. Lovely thoughtful conversations and some wonderful stories came out of the session - you really can make a book in an hour! Busy building the workshop sessions that I'm developing with artstation. They are forming around the idea of exploring the nature of the book and its relationship to creative thinking. I'm sure that there will also be some origami and paper folding thrown in as warming up exercises. The Louise Bourgeois show at The Hayward is truly extraordinary. Where to start - the work is stunningly moving. Materials that have deep meaning already embedded within them are used to create exquisitely disturbing work that challenges what you thought you knew - excellent. The work has many layers to engage with. Juxtaposition is key, often the pieces have a conversation within them. Whilst trying to get home I dropped into White Cube to revisit the transcendent Isamu Noguchi so so stunning. Matthew Tyson had a beautiful show in an Acme studio in Deptford, the starting point was a piece of wood that lan Tyson, his dad was working with just before his death. The drawings and prints echo and re-imagine whilst also presenting new possibilities. The title, Following on is appropriate and just beautiful. A gift of a surprise to see a design of mine tattooed onto a body. I love how it has changed from the static image on paper to something much more interesting when on skin. Twisting and turning the neck animates the image. It has personality running through it now. Meanwhile screens - Big Bug https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11541872/  was a glorious madcap caper of a film, fantastical in its narrative and stunning in its look - highly recommended if you are into the beautifully bizarre. The Power of the Dog felt like a film made up of many elements, almost vignette’s that could be short films in their own right. The Worst Person in the world https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10370710/ was beautiful and yet so achingly sad that I almost can’t recommend it.

adayofdeepthinking

A day of deep thinking - spending time in the dissecting room today was fascinating - the body is full of stuff - who knew! Layers upon layers upon interconnected layers. Holding a person’s head in my hands was strangely comforting whilst taking out parts of the brain and examining them oddly not odd! Seeing bodies laid out brought a whole range of new ideas to the zebra plate project. After being in the DR the conversation was full on and focused on how to encompass the new ideas that were brought up around affordance and its relationship to self-selection and determination. The idea of spaces in between and what determines the functionality both inside the individual structures and around in the external spaces. The role of proteins in determining how the material in the body evolves from a similar place, the concept of fate (an actual science concept)! Analogies like the idea of a flat sheet of paper and that same paper folded into a 3D form were incredibly helpful in developing my understanding. How to create and move the ideas and a project forward, not replicating structures but providing a form of commentary that enables new and deeper understanding of the development of the cells in a body. The experimental models were sketchy and involved a range of new methods - filling latex gloves with water, sewing the modular forms together with elastic, containing the structures within 'frames', changing the material - remaking the forms in foam. What does 'stuck' or 'sticking' mean in the context of the microscopic? What do forces and stuck have in common? What is their relationship? Are magnets an answer?  

recognisinganddeveloping

Work on the zebra fish roof plate project continues. This time the focus was on restriction and rotation. Holding and manipulating the structures within a framing device changes how the forces connect and dissipate within it, allowing the ability to focus on specific aspects of the structure. The work for Double Elephant this week went well - the session was all about audience(s), recognising and developing your relationship to them. Working with the Miro board between the sessions provides a space to share the work created and then develop dialogues around the student’s practice. Not quite the same as sticking the work on a wall but a digital version of that with its own inherent strengths. Synthetic Anatomy at Kings was interesting as always. The team is so generous with their time and knowledge, the discussions over lunch after the workshops are always full of new ways of thinking. The session looked at and used textile narratives to explore comparative ideas around and within the body. Developing textile stories that illuminate our understanding of the anatomy we inhabit. This will inform their thinking when presenting their table displays that will contain the narrative of their projects and the 3D prints that are at the center of their investigation. Work on the zebra fish roof plate project continues. This time the focus was on restriction and rotation. Holding and manipulating the structures within a framing device changes how the forces connect and dissipate within it, allowing the ability to focus on specific aspects of the structure. Popped into White Cube, Masons Yard. The show by Isamu Noguchi is very beautiful. The ceiling piece in the main space has a stunning rhythmic line, using industrial materials and processes in clever ways. I last saw his work at the foundation in New York in his name, a contemplative, stunning space in the middle an area that was part industrial estate with Costco as neighbors. A small slice of calm occupying a corner of a busy city. https://www.noguchi.org/ Onto screens - working my way through Chloe, a dark, tragic tale that keeps you constantly on edge, you may never trust digital strangers again! The Photograph was a very still film, lots of breathless, endless looking at each other over a jazz soundtrack. Nightmare Alley was sublime, the lighting was superb, every time Kate Blanchett was on screen she was lit like a star of stage and screen from the 50's. The references were thick and fast, repeated viewing is essential. The story is truly harrowing yet there is a message of redemption in there. 

joyfuldayatkings

Another joyful day at Kings working with Celia and the synthetic anatomy crew. Seeing the work in the lab brings more connections in my mind to the creative activity and thought  processes in a studio. We talked about flow during which I had my own revelatory moment aligning the ideas between two distinct workshops and making connections between a book: its sequence of pages and the limitations and constraints of a bag. Both contain the idea of revelation when engaged with. It will be interesting to think on this when preparing new workshops. A morning of drawing exercises working with Celia Pym using anatomy models sought to introduce the synthetic anatomy students to thinking through looking. Slowing down, speeding up and rethinking what it is to communicate were some of the creative routes explored in the session. There were some excellent drawings created in the session, as well as the development of their teamwork, problem solving skills, and general openness to possibilities. Links between the historical models and 3D printing were created through the activity of making observational drawings. There were some awesome drawings created during the process. After a thought provoking discussion over lunch it was good to have a meeting to see the final layout of the Garden of Emotions in the gallery space - looking forward to running workshops there. It was the first session of working with Double Elephant this week – a nice open workshop, introducing many many ways of starting the creative process. It will be great to see the ways in which the brief has been interpreted. Meanwhile onto screens - the end of season 3 part 1 of Ozarks was brutal, Mass with its twists and turns, although theatrical was truly devastating. Lamb was beautiful in its stillness and Ongaku Our Sound an interesting comment on media and music My latest obsession is Salvatore Ganacci - start with Step Grandma and work your way through his work from there - truly some of the oddest film I have ever seen, alongside some sweet Swedish house music

buildingunderstanding

I'm currently in the process of building a collaboration within King's College London in the Anatomy, Developmental and human biology exploring the potential of creating a project around modelling the roof plate of Zebra fish. We are looking at how physical models and thinking through making can add to our understanding of the systems and structures that are within the roof plate. The structural sculptures I make are valued as models to aid understanding and enable discussion, which is often fascinating and leads my practice down roads I could not envisage. Starting with photographing and film making and scanning which leads to 3D printing and then physical models which are then documented through film and so the iterative process continues with reflection as a driver.