walkingwalkingwalking

A week in France walking from Cassis to Toulon - stunning views and great weather. The terrain was fairly easy with beautiful calm, isolated beaches and gentle ridge walking. There were some tough climbs into and out of coves and up to ancient lookout points, initially semaphore and now hi-tech military spaces. These where bookended with the 'psychogeography' of walking into and out of towns through suburbs and areas where man has taken control and ownership of the land.

Extraordinary food and drink accompanied the views, with many plat du jours eaten. A part of France where il floatant is king but closely supported by the cafe gourmand. A particular shout out to the excellent food at Et Bon Vent in La Ciotat @etbonvent. Toulon had an exhibition of Claude Viallat's work which inspired some ideas around flags for the opera I have become involved in/with at Sizewell. The naval museum was devoid of pomp, focusing on the military opportunities connected to the sea. 

At the end a quick trip to Aubusson via train to Marseille then TGV to Crest and a 6-hour car journey to see an exhibition by Matthew Tyson. The town has an excellent tapestry museum with a conservation area where you can talk with the conservers and look closely at what they are up to.  It was fascinating to hear about the choices around materials and colour. I went out to see tapestries in situ in a small chateau out of town.

frenchwalkingandlookingroundthecorner

 

A few days in S France round the corner from Marseille. Sun swimming, some walking and great food. Caught up with The Mucem in Marseille on the way back to the airport they had Fashion-Folklore https://www.mucem.org/en/fashion-folklore a show that set out the many  connections between folk costume and couture. Some stunning pieces with great labels. The role of making and ownership, such as community and how they develop traditional costumes verses the individual involved in couture. Cultural appropriation was touched also on. Got off plane in Stansted - drove to Luton and got on a plane to Glasgow to see a Hanna Tuulikki performance in the cathedral - the bird that never flew - beautifully ethereal setting off the glorious space. Managed to check out Alter Altar by Jasleen Kazur at Tramway - a fantastic space but the text for the show did a lot of heavy lifting. After an amazing meal at Celentano’s got the plane back to Luton and finally home. What day is it again? 

sunandbrightness

A weekend in S France – Marseille is an astonishing place culturally and weather wise I have never been there when it’s not sunny, whatever the time of year. If you get the chance to go, after wandering around the fantastic Mucem building eat at Au Bout du Quai, everything there is most excellent – the soupe de poisson is a must. Got out to Crest despite the train strike – walking and the market and the design classics show at http://www.centredartdecrest.fr/home/ - one of those where you say – we had one of those and I remember that!!! gestetner printing machine anyone? Recently I’ve been to see some live theater – first the immersive – I was a Guidestar Volunteer at Saint Jude with Swap Motel theatre group where my job was to ‘speak’ to a coma patient (an AI) to wake them – not bad, although it did turn into an experience similar to an escape room. Meanwhile Gecko Theatre’s Kin was brutally beautiful (bruitifull). Gecko are an amazing company that always creates stunning work that makes you think both about the subject they are dealing with and the very concept of theatre itself. https://www.geckotheatre.com/  Onto screens – the latest series of F1 on Netflix was, as ever, madness on the highest level on every conceivable front….and……let’s not talk climate issues! 

frenchnesssquared

A break in S France - Marseille was as ever wonderful - checked out the 3 main art spaces on Friday with soup d Poisson at my favorite place down by the docks in between. The Musem is such a gloriously brutal yet liminal space with a rooftop bar to die for. I had never heard of Abd el-Kader but his role within the history of Algiers and Frances relationship with Arabic Nations was being rethought and represented in a more positive light, possibility part of France's attempt at the decolonization of collections.The Frac had an acutely observed show of work by Catherine Melin. I loved the video of children playing within their own worlds and the inflating and deflating of bags used for the transportation of textiles in markets talked of migration and homelessness in such a moving way. The Fric, possibly one of my favorite art spaces had a highly considered and solid show about mimicry - stand outs include the dark yet humerus Grey Area - videos of a person creatively hiding in office spaces by Sofia Hulten. It started out funny then all I could think about were mass shootings and terrorism.  Then there was the tremendous phasmides by Daniel Steegman - a video involving 'stick insects'. I remember as a child buying these in a pet shop and playing with them at home - in the shop it was always interesting to try and spot them in the tank stick-yes-no-yes-no-insect-no-yes-stick! Getting down to Valence on the TGV is a reminder of the joys of travel and the physical connectedness of Europe. The train was beautifully designed, clean, neat, on time and going onto to Luxembourg! The latest show at imprints of Tilman Hoepfl is at one in the space, the work, shadows and walls becoming one and evolving as the light animated the space throughout the day. There is a fabulous exhibition of photography at the art center in Crest with beautiful hand tinted prints from the 1890s that evoke a sense of timeless. This is compounded because of its context because I approached the show after spending the morning in the market, an experience that is SO French it's difficult to comprehend or explain. The wall of cheese smell is almost physical, fruit and veg so fresh and the community bonding through the love of quality good food is intoxicating. Sunday was a busy day - French flea market, clearing a friends house, cycling to a gig up a mountain to see cow bones (a band) - Billy Childish meets Art Brute infused with industrial noise wearing hand made/stitched masks - most excellent. In the mountains on the way down with the skies evolving around us from the usual deep blue in the valley was an astounding experience. All that was left of the day was to eat barbecue ribs and drink. Next day the  fresh sheets of mini ravioli and asparagus for lunch before unraveling the journey back - TGV, bus, plane and car was a reminder to return.

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alittletrip

The roughly polished poured concrete floor at imprints galerie https://imprints-galerie.com/ reminds me of the images created by Charles Wilson in a cloud chamber of charged and uncharged responding to a magnetic field. Similar images were created from the work around the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. https://imprints-galerie.com/ The current show has examples of the stunningly beautiful/clever work by Doris Erbacher her work really is intriguing, especially the drawings.  http://www.doris-erbacher.de/ There is always something about doors in Crest that fascinates. They belong in the category - 'otherness in the everyday'. A feeling or way of being that is something akin to the childlike fascination experienced when one encounters a phenomenon for the first time. Keeping that feeling going is the key to creative thinking and making. I call it ja de vue. In the town the plane trees shed their bark in such a way as to suggest new camo design possibilities. Something to work on later maybe. So much amazing food to think about - from the market stalls on a Saturday that make up a great ‘market lunch’ to the iles flottantes (quite possibly the top sweet ever)!! in my favourite restaurant in Montelimar, unfortunately it wasn't boudin noir 'season' but cayette is always a winner and there is always extraordinary cheese!  The centre des arts had a great show of objects presented by individuals in the community to celebrate the past - so many wonderful pieces but my favourite was a leaflet showing firework explosive patterns. As ever the otherness of a place gives the opportunity to add loads of new images to the ever-expanding file labelled 'odd/interesting pattern and signage'. The great sadness is that the miniature museum in Montelimar is no more – there was an exhibition of puppets from a world famous puppet troop – great if you like that sort of thing but mainly just creepy.

calmingfrenchnessandsomemore

My paper/presentation at turn the page symposium  https://www.turnthepage.org.uk/  seemed to go well - it was a little rambling as I attempted to cram 27 years of thinking about book art and bookness into 40 minutes. It was great to be surrounded by like minded people and listen to inspiring presentations - Maria White speaking about the idea of collecting was absorbing and Kate Farley's thoughts about reading patterns has got me thinking!

I recently went to the extraordinary Chateau la Coste https://chateau-la-coste.com/en/walk/ a space of splendid calm where art wine and architecture are surrounded by ancient Provence landscape. The work of Tadao Ando is particularly special. After staying at imprints http://imprints-galerie.com/ in Crest  where the market is so wonderfully French - if you boiled down all of Frenchness you would get this place A quick trip to Marseilles is always a bonus and in the railway sidings I noticed this building.

It's that time of year when several festivals are in full swing - at Aldeburgh Festival I saw Bastard Assignments https://bastardassignments.com/  who make experimental sound performative work - Neo Hulcker's piece crackles was excellent. At Norfolk and Norwich Festival Shon Dale-Jones of http://www.hoipolloi.org.uk/  has been performing a trilogy which demonstrates his wondrous storytelling skills. I'm looking forward to Pulse at the Wolsey in a couple of weeks https://www.wolseytheatre.co.uk/pulse-festival/  Meanwhile it's also that time when assessments are about to kick in - so far a day of reading reflective thinking and professional practice thoughts has been informative.

metafrenchnessandsomebooks

Kill All Normies - online culture wars from 4chan and tumblr to Trump and the Alt-right by Angela Nagle is a full on deconstruction of what has actually been going on with society online behind the instagram sheen of the selfie. It is importantly disturbing and a must read to understand how we got here. Sudden Death by Alvaro Enrigue is a hilarious time travelling fractured romp that uses real tennis as a spine to talk about so many glorious things including using Anne Boleyn's hair in the stuffing of tennis balls. Managed to read these books on a recent trip to Marseille. There is an interesting video exhibition at the Friche - which is an old tobacco factory http://www.marseille-tourisme.com/en/discover-marseille/the-essentials/la-friche-belle-de-mai/ with a great vibe. I always gravitate to the MuCEM a truly extraordinary building down by the docks. Meanwhile in a visit to French Markets in the countryside it felt like I had found myself in a kind of meta-Frenchness.

frenchnessisallaround

just back from 4 days in Marseille and a quick hop to Crest via the TGV and local trains to see Heine Thiel's show at imprints which was great - all minimal curves and industrial surface magic. http://www.thiel-ma.de/ A note on wonderful French trains - clean, on time, good design, clear instructions and generally just so much better than ours, even the tables fold more interestingly/efficiently......I love Marseille- weirdly I've been there 3 times in a couple of months  it's a sort of messed up/combination of ancient yet modern, functional but haphazard with its so South of Frenchess port and multi-cultural art scene intermixed with contemporary art spaces which actually buzz. some highlights include spaces as much as the art - The Frac - https://www.fracpaca.org/ with its great bookshop and cold minimalism had an extensive show by the painter Francoise Petrovitch  who had also made 2 exquisite films alongside clay sculptural pieces all informed by a way of thinking. It was interesting to see this within all the different mediums. The Friche -  http://www.lafriche.org/fr/ has the if I was to build an art centre this would be the model vibe....excellent rooftop bar/club space overlooking the city, integrated skate park bars, multiple spaces showing new work. The main show explored the body and performance and had a piece of work by the collaborative duo Leisure the evidence of their performances are often intriguing. The Musee Cantini had an all inclusive exhibition about the idea of dream. I have never in one place seen so many dubious depictions of the male interpretation of dream using the image of women - this was a thoroughly bad exhibition only saved by some wonderful work by Magritte which explored the idea without resorting to demonising, destructing or violating the female form.... The Museum of African arts is housed in a huge structure that was at one point a charity/hospital for the poor and homeless - the space is awesome as you get to walk within a courtyard at the roof level of a church http://vieille-charite-marseille.com/. This sense otherworldliness prepares you for some of the most disturbing imagery/objects displayed beautifully. I thought that we had given back all our shrunken heads! Finally - it is closed until February but worth a visit to see the magnificent building that is le musee des beaux arts - giant oxen seem to overflow from huge fountains full of wheat and grapes which tumble out of a wall of stone cherubs - it's a must see. and while there a walk around the east side past city beaches following the road with the Mediterranean to your right to restaurants where soup d'poisson with all the ritual of the rouille, croutons and gruyere is leisurely consumed - what's not to like..... oh I forgot the extraordinary churches and cathedrals!

decidingwhattowatch

The Art Language Location website is up and running - the whole project is extensive and bright with lots of individual work going on in lots of different places around Cambridge. https://artlanguagelocation.org/

my page

https://artlanguagelocation.org/les-bicknell/

at the end of the break last week I had a couple of days in Marseille - I love this slightly dysfunctional city, it feels so quintessentially French with a huge range of fantastic 'outside' influences - sited on the sea with great food it always appears to be sort of writhing. Went to see the collection at Musée d'Art Contemporain - some good but eclectic pieces hung without any practical care or seemingly curatorial skill or interest. They did have a disturbing yet excellent Annette Messager piece which was a dark joy squishing nature and its cartoon image together. The Cathedral had huge flags which looked like a form of medieval clip art and the redeveloped area around the port is extra-ordinary - especially the Museum of Old Marseille which is one of the oddest-brutally-beautiful clever spaces ever - a must see.  Got back to see Jason Bourne - a rollicking rush of a JB experience, set pieces were a blast. I Am Not a Serial Killer is a 'not-bad' twisted dark 'indi-thriller'. 

booksbooksbooksandsun

so a week away on a mountain outside Groux-les-Bains in S France has been about books books books, water colour landscape painting (yes!) good food and calmness - so Satin Island - Tom McCarthy I loved this conspiracy of ideas oozing from the pages. Great James Street - Don Delillo a glorious excessive verbal tide of drug fuelled rambling. Red Shirts - John Scalzi clever premise where nonfiction meets the future in fiction - maybe. Clothes Music Boys - Viv Albertine a window into a brutally honest version of events. Norwegian Wood - Haruki Murakami a tale of beautiful loss told beautifully - if you can't be bothered to read the book the film is a winner. The Illusion of Stillness - Simon Van Booy sweet, stilted but fractured attempt to be overtly clever. Purity - Jonathan Franzen an intelligent wide sweeping intergenerational novel which sucks you in with some extraordinary dialogue.

bloodbloodandblood

a full weekend in the South of France - clear, bright and
blue skies - a stop off in Marseille to see the latest museum - a fantastic
space created by having a wondrous surface of latticed poured concrete and
metal. Then after wandering through areas supposedly off limits to tourists around
a great market with giant octopi and numerous varieties or squid onto a
stunning show of photographs at La Friche - http://www.lafriche.org/fr/ detailing
the everyday in Israel - what is everyday? - it's in a great space housed in an
old tobacco factory with a cafe, studios and surrounded by a skate park full of
people who are drifting into the indoor spaces. Then onto imprints in Crest - while
there thought about the idea of a creating a 'French(ness) mood board' so took
a mass of photos whilst wandering around on the way to a boudin noir stall in a
local car park. The stall was basically selling a mixture of blood, cream, eggs
and herbs all siphoned into a tube - boudin noir - quite possibly my favourite sausage!
I got to film the guys blend it - a faintly medieval experience with the
inclusion of injection moulded plastic - vats of blood - the colour was
fantastic and fresh from the boiling cauldron the texture was like velvet.

foldspacelightstone

The exhibition in France looks really good – the private view dinner (very French) was beautiful – outdoors overlooking the mountains watching a ‘supermoon’ rise - lots of excellent food and wine. There are some sales already but the main thing was to show the experimental work on white walls rather than the studio. The body of work I chose to show is an interesting transitional collection from the unpicking and rebinding work around smocking and hopefully the work with the Crafts Council.