saltanderosion

At a talk at the weekend an artist used the phrase 'active actors' when describing people who the artist met along a walk - no wonder the public hate us. Anyway – A busy 2 days and a night - After drinks with friends at our house a quick dash to a really friendly private view in Framingham on Friday night. Saturday saw a sauna and swim on the beach at Dunwich which were invigorating and highly recommended, then onto Spill festival in Ipswich and I was reminded of the amazing live art I've seen in previous iterations. A visit to Orford Ness to listen to the high tide sound piece based on Robert McFarland's poem on Sunday. The sound of ghostly technology as one walks in such a post war environment was interesting, yet the space itself is worth the visit. Saw a pair of porpoises on the ferry back which was excellent, along with a fabulous conversation with a warden about all the inventions that came out of the classified work there. I need to think/ask about salt in the shingle in relation to the Sizewell C build. Onto screens - Catherine Bigalows Netflix film House of Dynamite was so distressingly brilliant. 

giveitallaway

Working on SZC is a joy – the bookwork/catalogue for the show is coming along, choosing images and designing the layout is informative, giving me a moment to reflect on the past year – planning the next stage of work in schools to generate imagery to cover fences, at the same time focusing on the achievements around power in this part of the world. Went to Parrs model shop in Lowestoft and found myself coming out with models of men in construction, a lick of burning ore (colour) and they are all PPE’d up. Editioned a give-away. Going to a club night at Snape was a thing, I started my clubbing experience on disco and grew up on funk and ska and reggae, interspersed with psychobilly! I missed house music as a formative experience so.....spending a whole night subjected to what began to realise is effectively nazi marching music for the clueless was depressing. Each to their own but to enjoy the 'dancing' means that you have to bring your own soul and creativity to the occasion.........dull dull dull. Hang on it sounded a bit like that..... for 3 hours and I sound like an old man! But watching the mirror ball and thinking about Sizewell domes………Going into London to celebrate Synthetic Anatomy’s win with lunch was lovely, it was great to see everybody after the wonderful summer and to plan the next iteration. I popped into see to Do Ho Suh show at the Tate - quite beautiful and ethereal, although it was very full. The Turbine Hall had Goavve-Geabbil" by Máret Ánne Sara. It is let down by the fixings into grey painted wood on the base. It would look great planted directly into dirt. Onto screens – The Hack is devastating for so many reasons, mainly watching lives being torn apart, catching those responsible to watch everybody concerned get away with it (with bonuses).

collectingcollectingcollecting

Collecting sweet chestnuts to make an amazing spread and acorns to make a piece of work. The spread tastes great and the work, a homage to disputed oak trees and a piece by John and Yoko is a little sad. A busy week - working on SZC stuff – creating a bookwork for the show at Snape, creating a series of works around concrete and the Dome, looking at the negative space and relating it to the archaeology, and some images rethinking saints. The commission for Battery of Ideas is sorted and just needs to be made on site; it will be tight timewise. Onto screens – managed to endure (in a good way) How are you, Alan Partridge. Freakier Friday – actually quite complicated with so many body swaps! Loved the twist in Woman in Cabin 10.  

enclosed two living sculptures. acorns taken from the ground under disputed trees, mirroring the two domes of Sizewell C. it is hoped that you will plant them.

the ring

 

resourcesdiverted?

It feels like we have been there at least a month but its Week 1 at Norwich University with new students. Nice to be back actually teaching rather than timetables and admin. Away from teaching it was a busy week which saw visits to Southwold Theatre to see Salacious Secrets in Southwold ~ A Shocking Sordid Seaside Thriller, the latest show written by Robin Brooks and Directed by Fiona McAlpine.  Akenfield at Framlingham Theatre had a fantastic background created by Laurence Edwards. A day at artstation talking with/to pupils from Thomas Mills – invited to ask questions they were all about my tattoos, but it gave me an excuse to talk about Jim. A visit to Duxford on the way back from Luton airport. If you could get past taking in all the materials and resources were used and how one could divert this all to making the world a more positive place it was a great place to observe colour palettes. Onto screens – finished The Summer I turned pretty – 1 season is enough. Hot Milk – couldn’t get into its speed or tone, Relay – excellent, Naked Gun – why.

lifechangingtrip

An extraordinary weekend in Liverpool, the Biennial was amazing - so much good work - highlights were the Elizabeth Price's film about Catholic churches, Gevdet Week's work especially the football stadiums and Nandan Ghiya's fractured photographs. It was great to be with likeminded people at the an conference which gave so much to think about especially the personal and thought-provoking keynote by Larry Achiampong and the life altering wisdom of Jack ky Tan. And then out to Crosby to see the Gormley - which in my mind was reframed by the words from the conference and looking at work from interesting artists making challenging work from around the world. And of course – a cliché but the people were SO friendly!
onto screens – The Ballad of Wallis Island - totally beautiful, wonderfully beautiful.

saintsrus

I’ve been working on an idea that came from a conversation with the Revd Clive Mobbs the wonderful cleric attached to Sizewell C. We spoke about Patron Saints; he mentioned Saint Barbra the patron saint of explosions, who knew. It connects with an idea linked to the needs of the people who build/dig tunnels, that their work would be blessed.  On reflection I’ve been thinking that it also links with the theme of construction workers as heroes. The idea was to create a team of saints, one for each worker/job, this has proved challenging as there does not seem to be a list – anyway…...a month later and I have created a whole periodic table of saints with what I think are SZC related jobs. 

cyclesreturn

A long week in France top and tailed in Nantes. This is an amazing city that has worked out that in a post-industrial world culture is the answer to having a thriving, successful city. There are wonderful, shared spaces full of art and possibilities. Most visible is Le Grand Éléphant https://www.lesmachines-nantes.fr/en/discover/the-grand-elephant/ it is actually worth actually having a ride on it. The museums and galleries are excellent - top recommendation is le unique - a best kept local secret is the plait du jour. Over the week I ate endless moules et frits, oysters, and pastries to die for. In between got a train to Pornic then cycled to Noirmoutier-en-L'lle across a tidal causeway - I do not recommend this if the red lights are flashing. Cycling through water up to the bikes crank in the dark as the tide is making the road invisible is not fun but after the 3-mile ride you do feel alive. The landscape is brutal, controlled and organised by man to industrially farm molluscs. When cycling make sure you look at the wind direction as it will determine your level of pain. Noirmoutier-en-L'lle itself is dinky, very few cars, the area appears designed for cycling around, the most challenging part of the day is working out what to eat and what wine to match it with. Managed to get some reading in - Orbital - what a gem of a book, it reminded me of Moby Dick in that it's not a book about space travel in that Moby Dick isn't all about whales. It was good to make time for reading two books that bounced off each other - both self-help books disguised as novels - The Course of Love by Alain du Bolton about relationships and Midnight Library by Matt Haig about the choices we make. They were both a little too close to feel totally comfortable but on reflection they have a lot to offer.

landedlandlanded

Some work created as a result of my engagement with SZC is to be exhibited within a group exhibition called LAND 2. This exhibition is organised by The Art Station in Saxmundham where LAND 1 is being shown, the work will be shown in the Theatre space in Framlingham. I also have some work in a group show at Barnby Chapel as part of a SZC outreach community engagement opportunity, But most of the work will be an exhibition at Snape Maltings early next year. The exhibition will be in several buildings and consist of all the work created during the year. I am looking forward to inviting SZC staff to the opening and a potential tour of the work. Thank you to all those who have reached out to talk about their jobs, without these conversations the work would be less informed. Onto screens – Mix Tape on the BBC is beautifully sad and authentic in a good way. My oxford year was what it was always going to be.

kolnismyname

7 days on Cologne - living 20 mins out in a neighbourhood and cycling in along the river gives a richer understanding of place rather than living tourist like in the centre. Travelling gives interesting new perspectives, the place acting as a mirror and enabling one to see the country you live in. Returning mainly gives the feeling of embarrassed shame. The entry point to the UK is via a dirty side entrance along a sad corridor grubby with dust build up and let's not talk about toilets. Cologne appears to have no litter, very limited graffiti, full and occupied shops and a busy, thriving feeling - we stayed close to a square with 4 bakeries and 6 coffee shops and several excellent restaurants. The boat/bar/restaurants are ace and easy. Transport is clockwork, efficient and clean - cycling is a joy. Spent the time going to world class galleries and museums and the cathedral is a must see. I saw some of the most astonishing medieval work in Museee Schnutgen and Museee Ludwig but the jewel was Kolumba, the space is awesome with the overall design followed into the attention to detail of everything - even down to the amazing door handles and leather curtain. The exhibition - artist at work was sublime in it's hang and curatorial choice. Other notable spaces include, NS Documentation Centre of the City of Cologne to see Nazi’s playbook at work before we truly give our world to them, Cologne City Museum tells a great rewritten story from the perspective of residents, Museum of Applied Arts Cologne for the Bauhaus, and he signs in the Skulpturen Park Köln sculpture park are a work in themselves. 

benchbenchbenchbenchbenchwiththelovelypeople

a research day at Kings working on bench with the bench team! – it was a joy. I approached the day with a very loose idea of intention, way of working or a perceived outcome. I enjoy the idea of turning up in a space and making work with limited materials. The challenge is like a tradesman, a jobbing artist if you will. I had simplified the materials and activity from previous ideas. The very broad intention was to create a system or structure that would enable individuals to create a narrative. They would do this by choosing a rubber-stamp, printing it onto a piece of paper, attaching it to a wire and then continuing on the same wire, repeating the actions until they felt they had finished, creating a linear narrative. I have several revisions after watching participants operating the structure and discussing how they worked with the materials.

The work could be structurally less complex –

Instructions – there is a need to add these – they could take the form of a lab protocol.

Example - Pick 3 stamps, consider how together they could create a narrative that is of interest to you. Print onto the paper and attach them to the wire.

For clarity there could be different coloured wires, making it easier to follow the lines.

A way of attaching the prints needs to be considered. This could take the form of small clips to enable ease and flexibility. The prints could be attached anywhere on the wire.

Rethinking the work -

there could be a 2D scroll-like version made simultaneously with the 3D piece, almost creating a record of activity. 

The piece could be a large sheet of paper, a rubber-stamp is printed, a line drawn and another stamp is added until you have a complex set of interconnected lines and visual nodal points. Each participant could work on their own diagram, but it would interlink with each other’s stamps.

It would be possible to work directly onto a bench, drawing and stamping directly onto the surface or wrapping the bench in paper. The shelves would bring height and a range of levels.

wasawinner

First light festival was a winner, the curated show in the gardens was eclectic and fun, managed to see a couple of bands, Caswell, LFay and Sebbuku, all good. Ken Worploe was good on landscape and building, and of course Luke Wright was Luke Wright – always a winner. Created our own Snape Festival with a couple of £10:00 tickets to see new experimental work alongside the art on display and an afternoon of new music by young people, which was excellent. Meanwhile onto screens, still chugging along with Alpha House which is very funny but Riefenstahl is another thing – did she know or was she innocent or an artist taking an opportunity? Watching her control the lighting when she was being interviewed at around 80 says a lot about her, and so many photographs documenting her existence – fascinating and all too easy to make connections with America at the moment, the rallies were terrifying.

LANDhaslanded

I have some work in LAND, an exhibition at The Arts Station in Saxmundham. The work explores our relationship to nature, using a tree I have been growing through a metal grid hung upside down with an image of a pylon as seen from above. The usual layout or position of all aspects of the piece are thrown into question, allowing the viewer to rethink what they think they know. onto screens - The Friend – had to leave 40 mins in - couldn’t stand the people in the film or their devotion to what was an overburdening arrogant character in Bill Murray – the dog was impressive though. Brick – like a gentle escape room. Too Much is, as ever with Lena Dunham just on the side of too much for me.

travelingtravellingtravelling

The show at Imprints looks good the - exhibition is called control documents and runs from 28 Juin - 27 Juillet 2025. It consists of a series of 2D and 3D prints that are my response to the data collection taking place during the preparation for the building of SZC. The imagery is created from abstract photographs created by photographing etched Perspex, layered with digital lines and imagery derived from Penrose tiling. The work is concerned with connections and systems. It was primarily conceived when I spent time listening to a Skills Development Manager working in the Employment Affairs Unit (EAU) analysing data and looking at a gannt chart that ran till 2095. The titles of the works are taken from abbreviations within SZC documents that are open to the public. There are so many and navigating them is a little like decoding contemporary art, you must spend time, but unlike abbreviations with art there are no right answers the viewer of art can bring their own meaning, maybe that's the stumbling block. There is a limited-edition artist book that accompanies the prints which is made from digital prints that are folded into a multi-functional structure. Created in an edition of 4, consisting of 16 panels, the folded structure enables several different panels to juxtapose with each other. Its construction means that the bookwork has a duality, it can stand on a surface, functioning as a sculptural form whilst operating as a hand-held book. After the private view I spent a couple of days hanging out, the Saturday market is always a fantastically French experience, and the market lunch is a wonder. Spent a couple of days around the coast in Bandol, a beautiful old-school-faded-glamourous-grandeur of a place – DH Lawrence stayed in the hotel. And then there was the travelling back. Popped into Marseille to see a couple of shows. As ever the Mucem was wonderful, the collections history, one of ethnographic was interesting to consider. There were some great shows about pattern including the meanings of tattooing and hairstyles. Frac Sud had 3 interesting shows, what the hand thinks focused on making and showed some great work from the collection. Travelling – don’t you love it…….Bandol to Marseille by train – Marseille to the airport by car – waited 5 hours to be told flight cancelled – airport to Marseille by car – stayed in hotel – Marseille to train station by car – Marseille to Paris by train – Paris to Kings cross by TGV – Kings Cross to Tottenham Hale by tube to get train – train to Bishop Stortford – train cancelled – bus replacement to Stansted – Stanstead to home by car. Next day into London to see my work in the SZC offices and a couple of shows. Taku Aramasa  at Annely Juda was fantastic, deconstructing the 3 floors of the building, exposing the history of the place.