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. 

hothothot

A trip to France – eating, drinking, reading looking at exhibitions in Marseille. As usual a visit to Mucem was a joy and had 3 interesting shows –, mother, and a set of collaborations set up by the fashion designer Mossi Traoré, fashion too. At the newly opened Museum of Contemporary Art [mac] Clément Cogitore, Ferdinandea, the ephemeral island and Bonnes meres was ok, but the collection has some fantastic examples of French artist’s work.The Marseille History Museum has some wonderful individual artifacts.Then up to Crest and Avignon to see Lee Ufan at the Palais des Papes. The building was awesome, the work not so. Spent a lot of time with Jackson. Just finished the latest David Sedaris collection The Land and its People. Its laugh out loud funny with a great turn if phrase and comic timing - I'm in the hard part of getting old - the part where everything irritates you. The easy part comes a little later, when my short-term memory disappears. Onto screens - The Man from U.N.C.L.E. - wonderfully styled japes. The Last House - horror meets home alone with monsters. Glenrothan – great performances leading to lovely resolutions all round. We Still Kill the Old Way - Disturbing old school revenge. 

longwalksdownunder

A short trip over Christmas to Australia and Tasmania. How to even start to talk about what I encountered - from MONA a 'gallery' tunnelled out of rock to house a collection of extravagant installations to watching an echidna feasting on a nest of bullet ants. Completely taken by the natural environment - the trees, birds and animals are other. You find yourself constantly stumbling upon creatures only previously seen on nature programmes. The first kangaroo is amazing, but I loved the mind-blowing birds. Their feathers and calls. Melbourne is a thoroughly modern city and so lush, every space between the built landscape seemed filled with excessive amounts of growth. There were great galleries, parks, food markets and stunning architecture. Tasmania was stunningly beautiful, miles of 'empty' space filled with light. A boat trip to an uninhabited island off an island off an island offered real tranquillity and calm only broken with a host of extraordinary bird noises including the amazing Kookaburra ……Then there is the glorious food including chicken parva, giant prawns, 'bugs', champion pies, curried oyster pies, and the endless snacks, sweets, biscuits and cakes I've never seen before, to many to mention.

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.

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.

backinthebackinthebackintheUSSR

So - a few days in Tallinn. A fascinating place with a both short and long history. The USSR looms everywhere, buildings and housing in general feels other. I had travelled far away enough from England for the shops to be full of food I had never seen before. Managed a glorious sauna and swam in a still, clear Baltic sea, ate tasty food - mainly smoked - ribs, salmon, elk, bear, deer, cods roe.... alongside some unusual cakes. Drank some of the most powerfully tasting beers infused with pine needles, juniper, and cloud berries. The extraordinary experience that is the old town is like stepping back in time, cycling through it is challenging with cobbles the size of a child's head but you gotta love buildings with hudge gothic text painted on them. A party at the art school, which actually feels like an art school, was unhinged, what a great place to study. Droped into some interesting, challeging  exhibitions.The colours of the Ukrainian flag are everywhere, which is understandable, there is a solidarity which is complicated by history. I have just begun to get my head around some of what Tallinn is about but feel I need to return.

ashortlonghotsummerjustpassedmebye

 

So - my dad died..........whilst was re-reading David Sedaris I came across this quote by Saul Bellow, “Losing a parent is something like driving through a plateglass window. You didn't know it was there until it shattered, and then for years to come you're picking up the pieces.” Life goes on – the Summer ‘break’ felt both huge and long and blisteringly short. Closing a life appears to be mostly about being totally sad whilst undertaking a mountain of bureaucracy. A list of activity apart from the death thing - Premadonna festival Some great panels – Bee Rowlatt so good I bought the book - really enjoyed reading One Woman Crime Wave.

Latitude - What to say that hasn't already been said - it's a washed up mainstream commercial venture, trading on past glories, peopled by angry old people decamped on large rungs sitting in folding chairs in front of the main stage, but its down the road and it would feel odd not to turn up. The sad - Duran Duran - The good - Lankum was dark and brooding - The excellent – The Darkness was like a metal tribute band (in a good way) - The most fantastic - Chic with Nile Rodgers was awesome.

6 days in Hamburg - what an easy city to live in - so green with water everywhere - we cycled all weeks on bikes hired from Happy Bikes, the bike lanes are fantastic, although waiting for lights to turn green when there is no traffic is challenging. Art - saw so much, highlights include the show Manual for Survival at Deichtor Hallen, an amazing exhibition that asks deeply searching questions about where we are today. Had to buy the catalogue. Museums - after the art, the lens you look at stuff is in relationship to issues around waste, the environmental impact of humans and displaced energy. I loved the whole of the Museum Der Arbeit, the museum of work, fantastic exhibits which are obviously still used, especially the print room. Hamburger Kunsthalle has a beautiful installation based on Casper David Friedrich, whose work is also on display. Also got to see Serra's measurement of time/seeing is believing. The Spiegel canteen in the MK is gloriously trippy. MARKK is a glorious space, and it has a 'take no prisoners' approach to the truth. A show about lithium mining, relating this to salt Peter mining, a show about Benin bronzes the museum is repatriating, erotization of The Tirol region, alongside displays which celebrate Korean culture, including a yurt, a Maori meeting building and some of the oddest masks ever. The Maritime Museum down by the truly extraordinary harbour buildings has a whole floor of mini models of boats which will blow your mind, remember for each model there is at least one full sized example out there. The odd - you must go to mini world, it will disturb and engage in equal measure, sometimes at the same time. The silencing - a visit to Neuengamme, a WW2 work camp, built to make bricks for the German war effort was so insightful. From the individual, personal stories to the disturbing diagrams. It led to an overpowering understanding of the extensive bureaucratic systems set up by the Germans to control and destroy a culture, something akin to our role in Colonialism. This was especially pertinent as race riots were going on in England at the same time, no learning seems to have taken place. The space enabled my ability to reflect on the concept of a 'war effort' for all sides.

The show at Solid Haus was interesting – each year the work chosen is thoughtful and the people nice. Highlight was rewatching The Girl Chewing Gum, 1976 by John Smith, wonderful and laugh out loud Tom, 2007 by Jack Strange. Summer meals outside with old friends has been a wonderfully supportive activity and we have had some lovely days and evening (we did have some good weather. 

Tattoos have been a physical marking of the metal turmoil. I have some new ones and existing lines have been joined up in a very symbolic recognition. Thanks again to @jim_skins for the skilful, understanding and care. 

A weak(ish) in Croatia for a wedding gave respite and acted as a bookend to the Summer. Whilst there we checked out a bay where all the huge hotels were destroyed and abandoned. It was odd to be in these spaces of pleasure, I felt that I understood the activities that took place here, unlike say a castle. I have walked in these types of spaces, and it was truly disturbing to see them in such a state. The wedding was a Bosnian/English affair with great/odd music and fantastic conversations – I loved the photographer’s choreography at the ceremony.  

It was nice to be invited by Rebecca Riess and Alexander Costello to be part of For Folk Sake https://thecut.org.uk/events/for-folks-sake-2/ and a spending afternoon was spent talking art whilst choices were made.

backintime

So 5 days in Naples - what a fantastic place - gloriously harsh, dirty and slightly dodgy, but at the same time fantastic. The best pizza, pasta and fried animals from the sea, served in a cone ever. Did I mention pastries, the Sfogliatella, only to be found in this part of the world is a dangerous delight - layers and layers of filo pastry with a heavy cream interior. Fueled by coffee and the aforementioned cakes the days have been full - wandering through narrow streets, learning to walk into the path of motor vehicles and entering museums of old stuff that is tremendously beautiful. I have a great deal to research to include in my practice, to think about the idea of fixing and conservation in relationship to the 3D printed work. Faces silently looking from the past, seemingly to quizzically question. The Archeological Museum in Naples is extraordinary. 'Abroad' always has important lessons to impart. Leaning in to difference leads to new insights. Returning to Pompeii 20 years later was interesting. The magic of time travel is palpable it's easy to imagine walking through busy streets, bathing and eating. Visiting the archeological museum beforehand to see the artifacts gives a sense of the people and their way of life. When last there we had our lunch sitting in the amphitheater - not this time!

modernistdream

Wow - Faro - a modernist dream. https://www.myboutiquehotel.com/en/boutique-hotels-faro/the-modernist-architecture-experience.html The apartment was stunningly minimal and beautiful. Simple living with formal systems, exquisite choice of materials with superb attention to detail. The building forms part of modernist walking tour of which there are so many amazing examples in the city. Spent the days wandering, eating, drinking, looking at architecture and enjoying the weather. Got to fulfil a psychogeography dream of walking to and from the airport. You walk out of town through unloved, non-defensible, seemingly unowned spaces, into a landscape of salt marsh, creaks, littered fences, under big skies. Watching planes taxi, land and take off through a perimeter fence. Faro is a great place to eat, as ever heading to dark back streets gets you the best food. As well as fresh food and general otherness the central market is awash with great cafe style eating. It’s difficult not to get excited about repeat pattern in a town covered in tiles. Churches in the area are full on - startling religious imagery, reliquaries, and garments. The museum reenacts various traditional activity through life-size dioramas and models.

walkingandwalkingandwalking

5 days walking part of the Cami de Ronda from Lloret de Mar to Llafranc, then into Palafrugell to get the bus to the airport. This part of the path mostly follows the coast. You find yourself walking through endless deserted small coves, into and out of working towns with one whole day in the mountains and woods. The beaches are tremendous - quiet, wild and empty - just left alone - if another person was there, it was a rare occurrence. Great food - we were in the patatas bravas, fried fish and arroz negro part of the world. It was difficult to eat badly. Warm air, clear blue sea and sky, beaming sun, stunning natural landscapes, interspersed with some amazing man-made sights, the modern cemetery at Lloret de Mar and the art nouveau hotel Diana in Tossa del Mar were particularly stunning. The latest show at The Print Room in Bruisyard has some excellent and beautiful work by Jonathan Keep. The 3D printed pots are exceptional, the mesmerizing forms enhanced by the stunning surfaces. 

walkingwalkingandwalkingandlooking

Back from 5 days walking the Cami de Ronda, a glorious 50 miles of beaches, forests and coves interspersed with small scale off the beaten track seaside towns. Fueled by truly amazing Catalan food - there was not a dish that was not bursting with taste. Made extra special by the warm welcoming and really helpful and thoughtful people. It was interesting revisiting the area from a previous long weekend a couple of years ago, walking into and out of spaces changes one’s previous understanding of the area. The whole trip was truly special. Ending via Palafrugell (didn't manage to get to the cork museum this time) and then Girona which has all the elements of an ancient Spanish city – stone, sound echoing/deadening streets, fortified buildings and huge churches. The gloriously timed rituals of eating and drinking are in place and exercised - I will never tire of the 10:30 small beer or starting an evening meal at 9:30 after a siesta.

lookingandlisteningandbeing

Recent trips to Seville and Turin – some great things were seen – some images. Onto screens – House of Gucci – not enough clothes for me. Marry Me – ‘person-out-of-place’ trope explored. The Souvenir – difficult to get past the dysfunctional unpleasant characters, but then maybe that’s the point.