returntojazzzzzz

A return to Nantes exactly a year from my last visit - such a fantasticly french town - they have a jazz festival where main streets are closed off to traffic and every year commission masses of new public art and a curated exhibition across the city - most excellent - cycling is great as there are numerous bike lanes - Jazz is everywhere and its all free saw Big Chief Juan Pardo & Nala 7 Brass Band - hiphop jazz and Dolphin hyperspace - which was mad Space jazz. Great street food and a beautiful vibe! Fantastic exhibitions in interesting buildings - highlights were Anne-Charlotte Finel's mesmerising videos in the cathedral crypt, Justine Emard's truly haunting show at le lieu Unique - if you go check out their plat du jour - always amazing. HAB has a slightly heavy handed curated exhibition about the moon. The best work were the early documents and photographs. The chateau /castle had an brillant exhibition contextualising France's and Nantes role in its colonial past by Omar Victor Diop, excellent photographs. To be fair the whole space tells France's and Nantes role in slavery through objects and testimony. After 3 days went out to Les Sables-d'Olonne, by train to pick up bikes to cycle 20 miles to Longeville-sur-Mer where cycling and swimming and eating and reading were the only activities. Stayed in an amazing Airbnb 500 yrds from the sea. In terms of reading I've got to recommend Human kind by Bregman - it will change how you cope with the world. Recursion by Blake Crouch will twist time in your mind - I would love a diagram. The things we never say by Elizabeth Strout has given a road map going forwards by enabling me to reflect on the past. Stayed here! my review!! OMG I LOVE your house - its full of the most beautiful objects so thoughtfully displayed - discovering them brings joy - the narrative between the postcard and the bookends almost too much! - ceramics to DIE for - pictures to contemplate (the seascape in the bedroom is especially special) and then the design of house itself is SCANDALOUS - wonderfully ostentatious and yet petite - like a stubborn small child proudly squatting holdingtheir ground - inside EVERYTHING is considered and followed through to create a whole, designed for a purpose. 

learningthroughthinkingandtalking

I had a fabulous 2 days in Copenhagen at the medical museum speaking at a conference titled new methods for collorative engagement in museums with the team at Kings and the fabulous people from India, Copenhagen  and Scotland. That is apart from passport control (I so want people who voted Brexit to be identified as the stamps in my passport were counted up to determine that my days in Europe were below the allowance). More images to follow -Lots of learning through sharing good practice- can't wait to meet again soon - notes from the 2 days 

- Interested in whats next but we dont know.

- After fun is betrayal 

- If i work harder do i believe that people are going to give in?

- I'm going out on several limbs which I don't have.  

Science and its relationship to culture

Measure and control 

Object based learning and teaching 

How to engage with objects - 

Knowing nothing 

Knowledge making

Questions rather than answers

Questioning leaning to new directions

Enabling ways of engagement 

Àrt is an entry point to science (drawing)

Victims of what we know

The building design defined by what is being explored - 

Sizewell experience 

Honoring the object of enquiry 

Conflating lab and studio

Lab is less flexible - bunsen burner - gas

art space is flexible

Both spaces are other - places of alchemy 

Where does knowledge happen?

What are the similarities............

Valuing enquiry and enquiring minds

Framing the intention

Working with people/communities 

Storytelling is everything 

What is new that you will try..........

Interested in whats next but its best if we dont know.

Honoring the object of enquiry.

Stakeholders - what is at stake?

What next - inspirational disruption 

Saw some good art whilst there - liquid robots at Copenhagen Contemporary had some some interesting work, Hokasi at the design museum, Isa Genzken at Den Frie was strangely appropriatly odd and the collection at SMK – Statens Museum for Kunst is worth it 

Onto screens .... Harold and the purple crayon - so utterly charming. F1 netflix- insane as ever

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.

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. 

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.

sunseesky21degrees

Two days in Malaga to catch some sun and blue sky - wonderful - managed to see some interesting work in galleries and museums in between soaking up the sun in outdoor restaurants and bars. The Centre Pompidou Málaga was excellent - 2 large exhibitions - Place-ness - artists examining the role of place in their practice. Organised in thoughtful chapters with much to read and think about in terms of concepts around public space and who owns it. Standout pieces include work by Studio 5.5, Ian Hamilton Finlay and Micea Cantor. The other show, an overview of Carlos Raul Villanueva's plans for working with artists were explored and presented superbly - the work of Jesus-Raphael Soto was awesome, with many of my current concerns engaged with and I spent a good 10 minutes with one piece - Black and white egg by Andre Bloc trying to work out how and what in terms of it's making, a masterful piece of modernism. Museo Carmen Thyssen is a glorious space, a restored moorish palace, and tremendous bookshop. Naked, the main show of nudes was good, full of excellent craftsmanship but the collection itself is fairly mad, with some great Old Master Romantic Portraits and landscapes in the 'Spanish' style. Málaga museum has loads to offer, giving a full history lesson of the place, also well displayed odd stuff. But mainly sitting, eating and drinking outside in the sun and warmth, often till 12 at night was most excellent.

ohnoyoudidn'tohyesyoudid

Went to see Sleeping Beauty, the pantomime at the New Wolsey – oh no I didn’t – amazing set but maybe not double entendre enough! Brian Eno presented a rich and thoughtful collection of positions and ideas at a talk the other night at Norwich University of the Arts. It was interesting to hear some diametrically opposing thoughts voiced to the audience of educators in the audience who sat listening to him. Ideas around working with chaos, the driving forces of creativity, how to make art, the role of attention, gardening v architecture, and then for me - the lack of process within ai, gotta reflect on that one. Truly wonderful stuff. Friday night was off to Lowestoft to check out Battery of Ideas in the old Tesco on the highstreet. What a fabulous space. Really nice evening full of great conversations with good work - Digital Film Installations: Water Portals by Henry Driver & Arboreal by Emily Richardson going on around you. https://firstlightfestivalcic.com/batteryofideas Snape had a sharing of Bystander - the work of a week’s dance residency with Richard Pye. https://www.instagram.com/richardpye/?hl=en-gb It was one of the most moving pieces I have seen for a long time. It brought me to tears with delicate, studied movements – stunningly powerful. https://www.brittenpearsarts.org/events/richard-pye Onto screens – really enjoying everything about Wolf Hall – The Light – astonishingly taught acting, tight script and fabulous costumes. Juror #2 – will you do the ‘right’ thing? Conclave – you will do the right thing?

eatlookeatlookeateat

So - a few days in Lyon for the Biennale to look at art and to eat ‘site-specific food’. I've always found Lyon to be an interesting but harsh city, the traffic layout is fairly hard-core, and the rivers can make it a little chilly. There was some interesting work, in great spaces. As ever, a lot of textile activity, maybe somebody should create a textile art course! As well as the physical work exhibited there was some challenging, thoughtful video pieces including Pilar Abarracin https://www.pilaralbarracin.com/obras.html and Jesper Just https://www.perrotin.com/artists/Jesper_Just/41#news It's always fantastic to see art in unusual buildings - this was no exception - the Grande Loco space was superb in a post-industrial-abandoned-building kind of way, with excellent flooring that revealed a narrative of loss and change. Rethinking what used to be there after the grinders and bolt cutters did their work became part of the visit. Work was also sighted in an archaeological museum, a car park and Cité internationale de la Gastronomie de Lyon - Grand Hôtel-Dieu. The garden of the Museum of Fine Arts is in the former cloister of the Abbey of the Ladies of Saint-Pierre which used to be a hospital for the poor was truly fascinating. In terms of food....OMG beef cheek, leg of lamb, chicken tagine, pork and pistachio sausage, bone marrow with salt and pickles, Iles flottantes (possibility my fave pudding ever, if on a menu I have to have it, I have no choice) this one was pink due to the addition of praline and I even managed to get some boudin noir for breakfast. If in Lyon you must go to Brasserie Georges it's an institution, especially the birthday tradition - if you boiled down all of France it would look and feel like this place. https://www.brasseriegeorges.com/en/

itistrueifyouseeit

Continuing to explore ai - creating images for a presentation about materiasl text promps around cavemen operating textile equipment look disturbingly like jehovah's witness literature. Meanwhile a day in London to obsentricaly have a sauna but dropped into the Barbican to see an extraordinary amount of plywood in Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum's exhibition and the Whitechapel to see one of my all time important artists Lygia Clark. Her approach to art making has informed my own approach to running workshops. I connected my way of thinking about bookmaking to her relationship to audience. You get to hold and operate replicas of her Bichos series, just don't sit on the plyth while you do it or you will be told off - great way to encourage audience's especially when you have paid £15:00 to get in. The extraordinary Archive of Dissent by Peter Kennard is free and alone worth the visit. Onto screens - finally got to see the beautiful Perfect Day - so thoughtful.

thesmeltofpost-industrialdampness

An evening at Dance East for conversation and film to celebrate Rosemary Lee’s dance for film https://www.artsadmin.co.uk/profiles/rosemary-lee/ I loved the film of Circadian and it was fun to see myself in the audience – proof I was there!! https://www.artsadmin.co.uk/project/circadian/ but I also loved her early films, Greenman in particular, especially its visual links to say somebody like Svankmajer and absurdist Northern European cinema. A weekend in Birmingham for the Fierce Festival. A feast of live art in the second city. What a blast – highlights include Ramona Nagabczyńska’s  Silenzio, Steven Cohen’s moving and semi traumatic (watching a cow get slaughtered type of trauma) put your heart under your feet... and walk! And Untitled (Nostalgia, Act 3) by Tiran Willemse. A dance piece that slowly drags you from the challenges of gender, into race and intergenerational trauma. It was great to be amongst ‘my people’ experiencing challenging, marginalised art in spaces that smelt of post-industrial dampness! Popped into the Ikon to see an interesting show about love and war, but the most interesting show was the offsite by Exodus Crooks in the exchange, just like a heist movie. Meanwhile I’ve become a fan of sauna – I love the community aspect of Hackney Community Sauna, as well as intense body experience that is the sauna/plunge pools.

scienceisamazing

Wow - 3 days working at Kings on the Development Neuro Academy Summer school. I ran a couple of workshops on day 1, exploring how to navigate the tricky issue of team building through DNA, and developing ways of communicating abstract concepts through anatomical models. It's a true pleasure working with such fantastic, thoughtful people. Day 2 was awesome, I was part of two workshops - one looking at data analysis of brain cells and thinking about how we read information and the other, exploring how cells in the brain come to exist and change by hypothetically building one in a dish! Really enjoyed the mental gymnastics. It allowed me to reflect on and rethink some current work and led to revelations on how to develop my own practice. I was able to bring to the table ideas of ethics and practical concerns about bias and prejudice. Superb discussions ensued. It was wonderful to be valued as an educator and to learn from students, experiences that are rare. I wasn't able to attend the whole week due to having to attend graduation and working on timetables for next year at Norwich. But I was straight back for the celebration and sharing on Friday after a day of admin on Thursday. The whole day was an extraordinary experience. The focused energy of the enquiring students was so infectious and a real pleasure and privilege to be part of. The film is made up of one of the outcomes from day one. The brightly coloured models come from my DNA workshop, building self-similar sets. Saturday was all about exhibitions - dropped into South London gallery to see Firelei Báez’s Sueño de la Madrugada (A Midnight’s Dream) - there is some interesting works on 'found' papers and a large installation. Sid and Jim had a couple of great works in Hot in Here at The Bomb Factory. I particularly loved we're still everything we always were. The work was both funny and poignant - a sculpture of a melted ice sculpture, in theory created by their childhood selves imagining what they would look like as adults - a great idea. 

rememberremember

Completed work on remember, a piece for firstlight in Lowestoft this coming weekend. 2 weeks of assessments at Norwich are over, the final show, rebranded GradFest opened last night, now it’s onto the next stage – New Designers. Meanwhile a busy weekend. At Snape, the Aldeburgh Festival - a couple of visits. Violinist Daniel Pioro joined with pianist collaborator Simon Smith to perform Brahms’s Violin Sonatas, solid, physical and professional. Then Me without You, Emily Levy and Mella Faye led a troubling experience - kids from Fame ‘do’ death. Holy Other was a new live multidisciplinary work which was full of deep noise and inspirational visuals. Brighten the Corners in Ipswich was most excellent the highlight was the glorious Lambrini Girls - a force of nature. Also saw Man Woman Chainsaw, NEONE the Wonderer - great laid-back vibe. da Googie (Deb Googe) – mad moving noise. Sluice Expo in Colchester was a mixed bag but worth the visit. There was some interesting work in the Minories and some engaging films in an upstairs space above a good Korean restaurant. Firstsite had an intriguing show by S, a whole host of inspiring micro worlds. Onto screens – The Tattooist of Auschwitz – grey dark oppressive and grey with very small moments of light but could it be anything else. 2 tickets to Greece - was sweet.