iwokeupanoldmantofindanaxeinmyhand

continuing to work on the 3D printing, looking at joining components to make ‘sheet’ material as well as continuing to explore flexibility. a weekend away – the Edward Krasinski installation at Tate Modern is very special. A Year in Australia has Algernon Talmage’s The Founding of Australia, a truly disturbing painting celebrating the continents founding by the British – yes - all the history taught to me really was a lie! Lubaina Himid’s sculptural pieces in her show are very special. Akram Khan’s Outwitting the Devil, at Sadler’s Wells was awesome – darkness and foreboding in bold fluid movement – I woke up an old man to find an axe in my hand, powerful stuff that stays with you. The drawings of Hokusai for The Great Picture Book of Everything at the British Museum were sublime, unfortunately, they are displayed in very low light, too far away and behind thick glass, but the detail was exquisite and the designs far reaching – rethinking Lichtenstein after a visit to the Tate. Onto screens Spencer has some great acting but is overly long……..Reminiscence – is a great idea but….Boiling Point – is a traumatic ride, no buts …… https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11127680/

 

artartandmoreart

 

a good weekend in London getting to see art - an activity not undertaken for several months. Bruce Nauman at The Tate was exceptional - it is truly extraordinary to see him rip through endless ideas, almost manifesting them as quick sketches and then moving on to the next one. You can spot the individual pieces  that other artists have taken and then used to build their whole career on. The 'permanent' collections were absorbed as if I hadn't seen art before, highlights were immersing in Agnes Martin, Cildo Meireles's Babel and Dora Maurer's video work as well as the dialogue between works that were set up with the hang. Next up Goldsmiths apart from the building itself the best thing about the visit were the structures put up to deter pigeons from settling. Grace Woodcock at Castor was quite beautiful with some thoughtful ideas about the gut. Gossamer Fog had a thoughtful video and finally a shout out to the immersive disorienting, sick-inducing VR by Samuel Capps at Seager. Even managed to get to the garden center - pansy's really are quite pretty. 

exhibitionstochangethemind

A couple of days in London - some 'just not interesting shows' but interspersed by some truly marvellous ones. Monika Sosnowska at Hauser and Wirth is truly sublime. It really is a beautiful display of work in its steady use of materials. T, Rebar 12 and Pipe are stunning. https://www.hauserwirth.com/exhibitions/3030/monika-sosnowska-structural-exercises/view/

Zach Blas at Gasworks has some interesting video work which seeks to enable us to critique the internet which is never a bad thing. 

Just a thought - if you think Rachel Whiteread is interesting look at two pieces of work by other artists - both predating this exploration of this negative space malarky - Bruce Nauman - a cast of the space under my chair 1965-8 and Joseph Beuys piece Unschlitt - 1977, 20 tonnes of beef fat which casts the underneath of a pedestrian walkway. Both fundamentally more interesting than the room full of stuff at Tate Britain and both artists have many approaches to making within their practice. 

The work to see at the Tate is Marguerite Humeau where paint is infused with artificial breast milk and snake venom is pumped around the room.  http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/marguerite-humeau-echoes

The Jerwood Space has 3-phase an exhibition which has a new piece by Mark Essen supported by an excellent gallery text by Angels Miralda. The display includes a cabinet of alternative currencies and defaced coins which are fascinating. Ilya and Emilia Kabakov at the Tate was a tour de force. Highlights include the obvious (The Man Who Flew Into Space from His Apartment) and the not so - model for healing with paintings and my highlight of the show - model for where is the place. Both simultaneously dark and humorous while commenting on hierarchy, value and access. A wonderful piece.

At the ICA their new front of house set up means that there is more space for what is one of the most exciting and relevant to the current economic and social climate book shops in London but also they have kiosk. I last saw its iteration in New York at the Cooper Hewitt museum but couldn't bring anything back due to bag size but that's not a problem now so purchases from their curated shop included pegs from Japan and lottery tickets from America. https://kiosk.ica.art/

wonderfullybleak

got to see La ribot at The Place - wonderful - she is a force - all the frenzied, sexy, controlled, disturbing elements came together in a forceful show of negotiated shame - wow

a day in London - some of the shows -  At the Tate in the Art Now room Together (Forever) by Lucy Beech and Edward Thomasson is a great performance film - something extraordinary is created from something seemingly insignificant. Odd that this is the 3rd performance in in a row I've seen that used acting skills around fighting - is there something in the air)? at Sadie Coles Jordan Wolfson has work in both spaces - you have to see both - the film in HQ is disturbingly transgressive but the VR in Davies street is truly disturbing in a shocking way. And what excellent sculptures. Tenderpixels has a cracking show with a range of artists responding to a book about a chess playing girl. Annette Messager is at Marian Goodman - highlight - the womb wallpaper room is excellent. 

seeseeseeandthink

in London for the a.n Christmas party https://www.a-n.co.uk/news - great fun with lovely committed people from all over the country.  Who knew Elton John has such poor taste? I've been looking forward to see his collection of photos at Tate Modern as they are some of the images that have inspired and informed my thinking - but the choice of framing and the frames themselves somehow managed to diminish and overwhelm the images, this with the hang, where tiny images are above head height means that you actually cannot physically see some of the work - my advice get the catalogue and really see the work, it makes you realise the skill of galleries, what they do when showing work. meanwhile http://www.carrollfletcher.com/ has an excellent group show - Looking at one thing and thinking of something else. Rafael Lozano-Hemmer's Tape Recordings is great fun, I love the work of Manfred Mohr so it was good to see it again but Between Simonetta is an outstanding technical feat morphing two images into each other - sort of! http://www.frithstreetgallery.com/shows/current has a series of stunning photographs of bundles of documents within folded cloth by Dayanita Singh. http://www.mariangoodman.com/ has a very eclectic show called  Animality. it's a great show to get loads of inspiration around animals and their behaviour, for me stand out pieces are the octopus film and the joke/representation of the eye of the needle quote upstairs! A highlight of the day was The infinite mix http://www.theinfinitemix.com/ the whole experience is awesome - incredible work in a great space - it's difficult to pick out highlights because they all had excellent moments but the trees in Cyprien Gaillard's Nightlife have a bewildering sense of otherness, taking on animal forms. the whole experience is a joy go and see otherwise you will feel that you have missed out! Popped into The Museum of London to check out their 'modern' displays - they have some excellent objects and some stunning imagery of London making sense of itself and often in the process poor people appear to come off badly! At the wonderful Toynbee Studios http://www.artsadmin.co.uk/toynbee-studios saw The People Show perform http://www.peopleshow.co.uk/ a poignant comment on the 60s and their work over the past 50 years. As ever with their work it takes you on a journey to a place you didn't know existed but when you get there it makes a kind of sense. Truly marvellous. If you want a fabulous experience I recommend getting a tube to Greenwich and then biking along the Thames path from Greenwich to Tate Modern. You can pick up a bike at a Docking station just after you come out of the tunnel on the North Bank at Greenwich - an experience in itself. The whole of London is laid out in front of you and at the same time moving through it you get a real sense of change. I can remember working with Four Corners filming the building works pre Canary Wharf (yes it hasn't always existed) and being tufted off the road by heavy security guards whilst being informed that the road was owned by Docklands Development Corporation and we had no rights to be on what was the 'public highway'.

joiningandmakingsense

decided to join instagram - https://www.instagram.com/les1bicknell/ it will be a documentation on my everyday activity that supports practice. my instagram profile image is me dealing with and being dealt by the wonderful Alfedo Jaar http://www.alfredojaar.net/main.html piece at MOMA - Lament of the images http://www.moma.org/collection/works/138623?locale=en I first saw it at The Tate in another iteration and then went to see it on my last two trips to New York making the pilgrimage to be altered. His work for the Chile Pavillion at the Venice Biennale was extraordinary you had to really be there to get the full experience, comming across it - but check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFuAzBEOcMI

some films this week -  The 100 year old man who climbed out of the window and disappeared http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2113681/ a wonderful funny life affirming experience - in so many ways a better Forest Gump!  Parallels - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3479316/?ref_=nv_sr_1 nice idea but more of a tv series pilot as so many issues are either initiated in the last 5 minutes or left as cliff hangs  Dear white people - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2235108/?ref_=rvi_tt a quietly scathing look at racism and our role in it. the Aldeburgh festival threw up Tamsin Waley-Cohen on violin and James Baillieu on piano - a front row seat means that you really get the sense that playing an instrument is an endurance sport. the Debussy and Elgar were discordant and challenging - speaking of death, destruction and the context that they were created in - the new piece by Freya Waley-Cohen with its loops and forceful architecture was an interesting counter balance and gave space to consider our location. Looking forward to the pump house on Friday - The wild man of Orford a piece based on 'actual' legend http://myths.e2bn.org/mythsandlegends/origins63-the-wild-man-of-orford.html  and maybe stay to watch Dead Rat Orchestra playing salt, sawdust and 200 shards of micro-tuned steel. Turn the page book fair is this weekend in Norwich http://turnthepage.org.uk/ its great to see so many people who are connected to the MA Book Arts Course at Camberwell attending - we have a stand this year - and I see that Rosie Sherwood will launch her new poetry book and art installation 'The Ellentree' as well as Karen Apps having her own stand -  come along - it will be interesting as the selection panel - Sarah Bodman, Su Blackwell and Jules Allen bring a wealth of knowledge to their position as selectors.

engaginginnewstuffandgettingchangedbyit

an afternoon in london - so the wonderful Carol Fletcher gallery carrollfletcher.com has a stunning show by Franco and Eva Mattes 0100101110101101.org its all darkness and the world is going to hell in a handcart with them holding a mirror to our corporate greed filled faces but in a very calm way! - i love their work - you have to admire the full on madness of their engagement with our digital selves - manipulating our behaviour in the space - yes - best video - men using tape to attach a fish to their belly and then watering them - or maybe the one about the bucket salute! Onto the Tate and the private opening for Tate members - well - the building looks space age otherness from the outside but inside the rooms are oddly pokey above the 4th floor - stairs too fiddly - lifts too small - nowhere to charge a laptop or phone and - the most odd design 'decision' I have ever seen in my life - the majority of the windows are covered by the bricks you can see from the outside. but the art was good - and what a huge view from the new platform - intriguing to see Rebecca Horn's actual textile pieces rather than just the images - a huge show of work that explores the performative and another exploring ideas around space and architecture has some excellent curatorial choices. as ever it is a joy to see anything by Louise Bourgeois (except maybe the spiders) but there were some astonishing textile limbs on display. then onto see a selection of the year 1 Chelsea fine art students work in the safe house gallery in Peckham  - bob, darius, julia, kez, laila, louis, lucia, mel, richard and qianqian - new exciting work - if you want to see more check out bobbicknell-knight.com - young people are excellent.

fillinguptheheadwiththoughts

A full day at Camberwell on the MA Book Arts – discussing work within a day long crit is always exciting with many starting points and directions discussed was a way of moving the work along for the students flowing back into one’s head which is always very full at the end of the day. We covered lots of ideas – the sound of sadness, books of space to travel within space, the language of stitch, book as tool, hidden narratives within the everyday, emotional colours and Wabi Sabi to name a few. The year is slowly moving mercilessly towards the final show (time does that). After that I managed a visit to Tate Modern to catch up with Marlene Dumas http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/marlene-dumas-image-burden and Sonia Delaunay http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/ey-exhibition-sonia-delaunay The Dumas was all deeply sad tonal pools of misery – quite marvellous – her handling of the paint is tragically controlled within the illusion of freedom. I was moved by the quotes on the wall in the galleries - used as an introduction or contextualisation – especially the room with the paintings of her daughter and the room of ‘war’ images – “the first mark is the worst, the drawing of a line cuts the paper in two, the drawing of maps and borders turn neighbours into foreigners. This really defines the tone of the show. With the Delaunay the work seemed right for ‘applied arts’ I was taken in by the book cover designs and especially the textile work. The strikingly modern designs within the work books, samples of printed cloth and the oddly mannered posed film showing several garments were the highlights for me. 

juxtaposingfixings

Giulio Paolini’s show at The Whitechapel Gallery To Be or Not to Be is a body of quizzical, clever work that repeatedly refers to itself within each artwork as well as outside to the 'tradition' of looking and referencing. Clever in that the viewer is constantly deconstructing and decoding visual game play (artist as master thief or serial killer leaving clues to be unpicked and solved by downtrodden detectives) one feels as if a spectator in a temporal game whose rules are in flux.
I last saw the work of Kader Attia at Tate Modern - it was a powerful dual slide show juxtaposing images of WW1 soldiers facial reconstruction with images from an archive of everyday items that had also had their lives extended by ingenious fixing(s). The show at the Whitechapel continues this theme with disfigured marble busts of soldiers next to repaired Arabic leaning boards. Within the building there is a lot to see if you throw in a series of films shown in the Zilkha Auditorium, the socially engaging work by Stephen Willats, Francis Upritchard's Zabludowicz collection Project where he has worked with Brazilian rubber to create a series of intriguing animals and the selection of sculptural pieces by Mike Nelson from the V-A-C collection. But I'm waiting for the Richard Tuttle show which coincides with the Tate Turbine Hall Commission that I saw being built the other day - it is very large and I think could be a winner.

Its the Chinese moon festival – yes the moon has been quite incredible over the past week – so a trip to China Town to buy moon cake in celebration.

thinkingsmoothlyusingangularshapes

Well a full-on two days so far this week – finalising timetables at NUA for the textiles design course – building on our previous experience and introducing current themes as ever - its going to be a full year! Then delivering on-line a briefing session for a module that I’m running for the OCA. It has its focus in testing boundaries by considering audiences and the spaces where the work that we make is made public. Off to London and symposium 1 at Camberwell, the new cohort of Book Art students is eclectic and wonderful – my notes of the session include – looking at things I didn't understand – failure is wonderful – unconscious recollection – the invisible in books – the choice we made to know something – ritual as transformative – codes for communication – house as a container – book as opera – information is beautiful – visible and invisible graphics – what does reading look like? – thinking smoothly – recognising the whole life of an object – using photographs rather than taking them – there is something there but I'm not sure what it is.

Then off to Tate Modern – the Malevich show is quite breathtaking in a cerebral thinking way – the room of works on paper mapping his developments over a number of crucial years is incisive, outlining the importance of drawing as a tool for thinking – the recreation of the seminal supremacist exhibition is marvellous, to be in the presence of work after being enamoured by the images for so long was quite moving but the real gem was the ‘education’ room where Malevich’s theories on painting and the relationship between colour and music is laid out on huge charts. If you are interested in art and education you have to see this work. http://www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-modern

teachingandtalking

Another great teaching day at Camberwell – 2 sessions – the morning was all about context and the effect of the structures that mediate the art that we see and the afternoon was a workshop that focused on the idea of storytelling – next week is the symposium and so it seemed the right time to think and talk about  how we create and tell stories – for the students the future is all about how they communicate and I am reminded of all the workshops and sessions of storytelling I did with traditional storytellers in the 90s while living in Lincolnshire. I see Hugh Luptons name occasionally.

Managed to get to the Tate to see the gloriously mad work by Phyllida Barlow – the Duveen gallery is just very very full in a way I have never seen before - but there is also thinking – her proposal and ideas behind the work are really fascinating - http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/tate-britain-commission-2014-phyllida-barlow/exhibition-catalogue/proposal its a must see.

and then there is Kenneth Clark exhibition which lays out his life and its connection to the arts – a lot of interesting facts illustrated with a collection of artworks that display a focused good taste http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/kenneth-clark-looking-civilisation

Looking forward to working with the PAL’s (Peer Assisted Learners) tomorrow at Norwich – they are a wonderful group who volunteer to support the new year 1 students next year- it will be good.

teachingwithabangandlaughter

A most excellent two days teaching - Monday was all about presentation with year 1 textile students at NUA – some bold storytelling without notes but supported by dynamic PowerPoint’s.  Today was catalogue conversations with MA Book Art students at Camberwell. It is always a moment of reflection for me when all the previous year’s catalogues are presented and their stories told – the good the bad and the ugly! The group were very focused and had similar ideas around the role, purpose and audience for the proposed catalogue. The afternoon we looked at finish and the concept of finishedness (i love creating new words!) obviously with specific reference to the book. The session was alive with ideas and passion - fuelled and facilitated by translation – finding common ground across cultures and languages – a truly wonderful learning experience for all. Links to presentations - http://www.slideshare.net/l.bicknell/finishedness-2014

http://www.slideshare.net/l.bicknell/catalogue-what-2014

I managed to get to Tate Britian to see the Richard Deacon – although I’m a fan there was a little too much bent wood.....even for me - the drawings in the first room talk of ideas, trial and error, process and thinking and are possibly the best things in the show http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/richard-deacon Ruin Lust was full-on-broad-brush- eclectic-inclusion-mass-of-stuff...glorious – like a lesson but one where you could navigate your own way through – although there was some weak pieces , mainly the more contemporary work – do we really need to see Tacita Deans film so soon after it cluttered the turbine hall?  and what does Rachel Whitreads photos of the demolition of tower blocks tell us that Blaster Bates didn’t cover in the late 70s http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blaster_Bates – now that would be a show!! The highlights have to be Joseph Gandy’s view of John Soane’s newly completed Bank of England presented as a future ruin. How must this of being received at the time of its painting? and what does it have to tell us about today? John Lathams  redesignation the appropriation of slag heaps as art and Sutherlands painterly documentation of burnt Paper in a Warehouse http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/ruin-lust

abstarctspaceandwords

After a day of jointly managing the final show meeting at Camberwell, focusing on the use of space within the show and the relationships between the proposed pieces to develop a layered narrative experience for the audience (it really is going to be an excellent show) I managed to get to Tate Modern to see the Ellen Gallagher - http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/ellen-gallagher-axme– it was good to see the actual work as the reproductions don’t really convey the intense materiality of the pieces – both the initial found material, especially the ‘black’ magazines and the repetitive marks created by the artist. My favourite room has to be room 2 - the one full of the ‘yellow paintings’ that are an eccentric example of how to use plasticine although the film using the SF Horror as a starting point was wonderfully disturbing with its fiery hair and empty eyes.

There is also an intriguing and pertinent show in the project space that fronts the river on ground (1^st) level. http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/project-space-word-sound-power Often the most interesting work within the Tate can be found in this space so it’s always worth a visit. The exhibition is devoted to sound and word - there are a number of really interesting pieces and if you contribute to one of them you get a book!

Meanwhile whilst trawling Google Street View I came across these images and thought – odd but enjoyable watching trying to make sense of reality.

showdisplaythegoodandthebad

A couple of days in London to see in the beginning was the end, an immersive site specific theatre piece. Held in abandoned spaces under Somerset House the work was a labyrinthine broken narrative exploring exploration, science, invention and global trade in scientific ideas, very good with some moments of darkness interspersed with naked wit.

Some visual recommendations – Schwitters at the Tate was meaningful and often beautiful http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/schwitters-britain but not Lichtenstein which was just very bad. .... some of the worst sculptures I have ever seen. The real joy is the Merce Cunningham the dance projection in the oil tanks http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tanks-tate-modern/eventseries/tanks-art-action. Běla Kolářová  at Raven Row was superb – http://www.ravenrow.org/current/bela_kolarova/ intricate collections of small objects and wonderful photographs that show collections of objects - the whole display is delicate and thoughtful. Bernadette Corporation at the ICA presented an interesting way of doing things. An overview of how a group of people got together, using fashion as a model along with corporate language to disseminate ideas, strangely it felt like punk would of looked like if it had of started in the 90s. http://www.ica.org.uk/?lid=35536  An odd but vast number of eccentric puppets at the curve gallery by Geoffrey Farmer: The Surgeon and the Photographer http://www.barbican.org.uk/artgallery/event-detail.asp?ID=14389. Finally a 360 projection by Charles Atlas at the Bloomberg space that dances with a wonderful rhythm within the space whilst meditating on the power and abject beauty of global capitalism http://www.bloombergspace.com/artists/current/charles-atlas-2/

freethinkingmustbeenabled

Another full on day in London at Camberwell - the Project Proposal Crits for the MA have thrown up a number of beautiful and interesting phrases / starting points - looking at my notes and yet again Art College is a wonderful, glorious place where conversations like this take place...... Thinking about how 'page turning' can be used to explore ideas of time and revelation. create a vocabulary where you can use materials to talk for you. How do we forget ourselves? is an interesting question - continue to work with this. How do graphic scores represent sound and connect with ideas around calligraphy? What is the role of translation in your work? The idea that your work is haunted by the book is important - is reference enough or do you have to make books? How important is touch in your work? What came first time or narrative? Does light represent knowledge and learning within and from the book? Daily life celebrated...a moment of gloriousness. Science and Ureka! - how does that work? Rational scientific methodology and intuition? memories are what we have inside that we want to show to others. The idea of cycle relates in some way to the existence of numbers and patterns in nature. Are you setting out to be a deity, a God like creature, either for yourself or for an audience to develop for themselves? The idea of abstract comics needs to be explored.
After this it was off to the Tate to see A Bigger Splash - painting after performance - great to check out the intensity of Stuart Brisley and revisit the Pollack film which everybody loves. The William Klein and Daido Moriyama was a real full-on display, lashings of excessive massive printing and monstrous oppressive display structures! The photo books were stunning but the highlight was watching a selection of films by William Klein. Every piece was 'before its time' be it Who are you Polly Maggoo? A satire on the fashion industry that The Devil Wears Prada could of learnt from or Mr Freedom which appeared to pre-date everything!!!! Documentaries on Little Richard and Muhammad Ali were stunning, raw and exciting - all a must see.

art galleries are truly the most fantastic places and must be secured from the mob!
And then the train - and as ever a most useless service -  cancellation and then a-slow-stop-start-grinding-missed-connections-no-information-resigned-to-being-badly-treated-experience - for a change - started at London Liverpool St 6:30 - Darsham at 10:15

adayinlondon

The new work for the Tate turbine hall is interesting in that you truly have to experience it - I think that it's best if you have no knowledge of what you are about to encounter so try and get there before you are told anything or find out too many details.
And then there are the tanks - an enormous, odd space - in a good way - and the smell- the experience only spoiled by a Tate education person instilling in a group of children how to hate art and that galleries are not for them by constantly telling them how important the artists were in the show, to move slowly, be quiet and work on their own and showing signs of weariness when the children weren't creative in the right way. I thought we had moved on from this nonsense.
The Saatchi gallery http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/ has an interesting show of Korean artists which is fascinating as I have taught, am teaching and will teach Korean students at Camberwell on the Book Art course and the show has many examples of the issues that the students are engaged in and preoccupied with. And it was a joy to see the Richard Wilson piece 20 50 in a new space - and the smell!
A hidden but thorough exhibition deep in the bowels of the V&A that is worth seeking out is transformations an exhibition of work around the theatrical experience focusing on set design - excellent - with examples from early London stage props to the opening of the Olympics http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/t/transformation-and-revelation-gormley-to-gaga.-uk-design-for-performance-2007-2011/
The soundworks show at the ICA focuses on Bruce Nauman's Days but there is also a room where you can listen to your own selection from an eclectic list of a 100 artists -  a link to the site - www.ica.org.uk/soundworks
And the culmination of the day - the private view at The Imago Gallery of the wallpaper society competition was a very professional affair - so If you happen to be walking along Clifford St - between Savile Row and Bond St I have some work hanging in ALL the windows of the Imago Gallery till the 20th. While you are there check out the Louis Vuitton window.