itsbehindyou

a busy week at Snape – I have given 7 talks this week and 3 the week before. As ever it’s interesting to talk about the work and reflect on it. It’s fascinating to hear myself reflecting on the past year, the work and the experience of being artist in residence. There are a couple of revelations having being there so often – that the ai constructed people are all the same age and that the shadow in the switch room is the shape of Sizewell B. Onto screens – War Machine……aliens! Almost finished How to get to heaven from Belfast…..great script.

ongoinglookingforward

Looking forward to next week, at Norwich, delivering a new project to year 2 and working with my friend Liz from the National. Another week taking people to the show at Snape and with each iteration of this activity I learn more about the work I have been making over the past year. Some people want me to explicit about the reasoning behind the work, explaining as if an activist, which I am not. Applied to be part of a conference (see below) we shall see what comes of it. Sizewell C is a building without geographic specify. Its structure is like that of others across the globe, its conception and construction at no point addresses the essential Suffolk space it will reside in. The shapes designed and the industrial nature of the materials used bare no connection to the landscape, a space which was seen by its designers as a blank canvas, it was envisaged as this and it has become a non-space, a concept conceived all be it within the concept of architecture by Marc Augé. Control and ownership of this land is now tightly controlled. Fenced and patrolled the public can no longer enter, humans that do are subjected to a vast barrage of rules and systems. My first work as artist in residence was to look at maps, created by SZC and to cut out these controlled spaces, leaving negative shapes. I have made scale models derived from official plans that in the hand become toys or gifts. This was initially a way of engaging with the vast complexity and sheer scale of the project that is SZC. But I have come to understand the power of the model as an idea itself and its function within the design world as a tool of visualisation but also its awe. popped in to see Conceptual Art and Christine Kozlov at Raven Row - truly challenging wonderful work. Onto screens – the last episode of Industry left everything on the table or maybe under it.

moremoremore

A busy week – working with year 1 bioengineers at Kings introducing lateral thinking and problem solving via creative workshops. The end of the week saw Pecha kucchas from all teams on the synthetic anatomy module. As ever some wonderful projects are on the table, lots of hybrid animals, legends, humans transformed by climate catastrophe and sci fi starting points. In the middle of the whole thing there is assessment time at Norwich – hours of pouring over work and writing comments and handing out numbers. It was also interesting to meet people to escort them around the show at Snape. It is as ever informative showing people work, the conversations always lead to me finding out about what I have made and help me to make sense of what I’ve made. Managed to see a few exhibitions – Klara Hosnedlova at White cube, Monster Chetwynd and Petrit Halilaj at the Tate. Onto screens – Small Prophets is truly wonderful, Waiting for the out – stunningly oppressive with the right ending!

snapeandkingscontinue

Work at Kings continues - the students value the inclusive way the module sets out to engage with teaching and learning. An understanding of the underlying processes around learning is invaluable to understand how we grow. The latest engagement in what was another thoughtful and foundational session was excellent. It helped connect the group and started to get us thinking about what everyone wants from their involvement on the module. We used six thinking hats as a way of exploring engagement, I was interested in the different languages students chose to present their ideas, visual, textual and diagrammatical - all the sessions deliver tools that can be used to move studies on, I always ask students to consider how they can use them, to think about their role, what they want to explore and what hat they found comfortable wearing. Recent observations include - If your group talks to each other, they get better results. Writing and sketching ideas means that you can revisit your thoughts when reflecting to move the project forward.

Meanwhile some notes for the people working with POWER, the show at Snape.

1, 2 - 3D printed rings that form part of proposed archaeology to be found in the year 3000. The rings were created in 3D software after PowerStation shaped pieces of metal were found in the dig in the year 3000.

The bronze PowerStation shaped pieces of metal are part of this idea – ritual objects

5 – photos of archaeologist’s bags – each bag of tools is unique to each individual archaeologist.

13 – this is a text that is said at the start of all public meetings by the chair.

14 – what happens when the public don’t wait at the traffic lights at Darsham roundabout. Taking short cuts through rural lanes.

All wire pieces in the brown room – ideas about communication referencing lines, conduits, pylons and construction

Leather pieces – the spaces of land controlled by SZC cut out of a cow hide.

17 – alludes to garment that could be worn

27 – both the negative and positive pieces

28 – a gift

Black 3D prints reference earth moving happening on site – systems and holes

Bookwork – allows multiple readings of the prints through juxtaposition

Folded prints – are about communication, connection and – systems. the starting point was the idea that there is so much data generated to enable the workforce to be constructed. The titles are from the abbreviations in 49.

41 – a piece of wood left after the trees were cut down along Willow Marsh Lane.

43 – conversations with art history and the cultural connections that are made whilst wearing PPE

49 abbreviations in SZC documents 

tellingstories

Final day of putting the work in the spaces at Snape, 2 rooms of work that cover vast areas of the year and 2 installations that focus on specific areas of the residency. Pleased with the hang. Onto screens – The Penguin Stories – a sweet story about dictatorship and kidnapping thwarted by a bird. Onto Industry – more hideous people behaving hideously.

ayearofvoices

after a year of work it’s time to make the work visible to a wider audience – my first year of the residency at Sizewell C has been amazing and I can’t wait to share the work with the community…..it will be interesting, hanging the work over 4 sites today was instructive, so many voices in my head instructing and guiding my decisions. onto screens Eternity – oh dear, in another writer/director’s hands the interesting premise might be more interesting and less hetro-normative and just dull. The Rip – tight acting served by a great script. The Life of Chuck will have you confusedly torn apart in a beautiful way.

itsaroundthecorner

only 48 days till the opening of the show at Snape!!! it seems closer, especially as Christmas is still to be navigated, I have a couple of pieces that I still want to make but I'm mainly at the titling and pricing stage - fun. meanwhile I'm continuing the work in schools generating images around energy and talking about the role of an artists - in some way providing an entry point, modelling the role – schools are challenging places, and I am unsure as to their connection to reality. I think teachers are absolute heroes, I have no idea how they navigate the experience yearly, monthly, hourly, minute by minute. onto screens – more wonderful obvious nonsense – My Secret Santa, Love and Wine meanwhile Madam Web – it feels like a set-up for the beginning of a franchise - disappointment all round. Jan Kelly – cinema magic, heart-warmingly brilliant.  The Beast in Me – disturbingly traumatising and wonderful. Knives Out – the least interesting so far

itsallgo

As part of my residency at Sizewell C I’ve started a mini project with Alde Valley school exploring what energy looks like – some really interesting sessions with great outcomes, I think the final fence covering will look great. Finished the catalogue for the exhibition and the document is off to the printers. The silent auction is on at the art station – I didn’t put a reserve on it so the market will determine all - I’m up to £20:00 so far!!!! It’s that time again – Netflix Christmas movies…..so far……. Renovation Romance, Champagne Problems….both bangers! – on another note. The Left Handed Girl – astonishingly challenging but/and beautiful. A couple of series……Wild Cherry – a collection of very unpleasant people being unpleasant. Malice – creepy, creepy, creepy but/and good.

herethereandeverywhere

A couple of days last week in Spain, finally got to see The Alhambra. It was stunning and everything I wanted it to be. Popped into Malaga to have lunch and see the excellent show at the Pompidou Centre Gallery – some great work from the collection including women and smoke by Judy Chicago and I like America and America likes me by Beuys – wonderful. Spent most of the time catching some sun and eating/drinking, The 3-hour lunches are glorious, surrounded by Spanish people who appear to know how to live. This part of Spain a drink comes with a free meal! I’ve spent the week in Lowestoft at the Battery of Ideas installing a hanging piece 5m x 2.5m x 2.5m – belief it or not. It looks good, although difficult to document. I have some work in a show in Japan - At the Promised Place: Expanding Imagination Through Book Art. A quick preview. Onto screens – Nine bodies in a Mexican morgue – a teenage novel made into series – an odd experience. Riot Women – sold as a quirky fun thing turned out to be a wonderfully written drama about male violence, traumatised by images that are in my head but were never seen – excellent.  

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).

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.

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.

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.