oldskoolandnewstart

day 1 with the new students on the MA Book Art Course at Camberwell – looking at the show from the previous year which is in its last week and talking about the individual students specific journey from initial project proposal to final show. The afternoon was a presentation around the idea of reflective practice and how the journal can be used to support this thinking which in turn will both aid the creation of the students own project proposal and support and map their practice throughout the course.  A link - http://www.slideshare.net/l.bicknell/001-reflective-practice meanwhile ..........back in time

finalbookshow2013

Last night was the Private View of the MAs at Camberwell – the Book Art Show looked very good and the feedback was all positive. I had a really warm feeling whilst watching past present and future students discussing ideas and making connections. 

sunseawinefoodbooksandcardboard

a short break and back from France and straight back to work - so forget the Roman ruins in Vaison-la-Romaine, The Michelin star food at Le Moulin A Huile, wine and sun - the highlight from the break was the cardboard museum in Valeras. http://www.valreas.net/musees.htm I have an interesting double bill of book reconsiderations connected by an internal dialogue triggered by outside events - the reluctant fundamentalist by Moshsin Hamid and the good father by Noah Hawley

twoexhibitionstwospaces

2 days at Camberwell working on the MA Book Art - assessing the students final submission. 2 very long days but it was a real pleasure looking at the work, discussing learning outcomes with other members of staff alongside the nature of an Art College (University) education. But also it’s an important time where we really think about the book and the possibilities available within its form. 

The reflective journal is an interesting tool and something that within my practice this blog and my note books take the role of. The two stage – the first thoughts, unintelligible to others one and the edited version connecting and disseminating to others one are essential for the development of a professional arts practice and even more so within an educational context.

Meanwhile

The show at the Museum of East Anglian Life is up. 

lookingatthefutureofart

Two days in London at Camberwell hanging the 2013 post grad Book Art show – this year there is some really professional work on display alongside one or two highly experimental pieces and sometimes they are one and the same – a ven-diagram of wonderfulness. The private view is on the evening of the Wednesday 4 September, 18.00 – 21.00 and includes all the MA subjects – http://newsevents.arts.ac.uk/event/camberwell-postgraduate-show-2013/ it would be a useful/interesting visit to see what is happening now and to possibly find out about the future.

meanwhile thinking about Italy - 

readingrecommendationsfromthesun

Holiday is always a space to get some reading done – some recommendations from the sun in Italy - The Discomfort Zone by Jonathan Franzen – a personal, yet universal story of how Jonathan has coped with existing in the outside world by writing what happens within his internal world – wonderful, life affirming. Umbrella by Will Self – my most accessible yet challenging Self book so far – I loved the seemingly stream-of-consciousness multiple, time and narrative. It feels and reads like today – allowing information to seep into the consciousness of the page, connecting ideas that are both relevant and initially mad and ‘wrong’. Nemesis by Philiph Roth – such a force of writing – you just believe in the world he creates – it’s of a different time, focused on the brutal self analysis through fear, love and loss. Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan – a real page turning spy thriller that makes you want to know what happens next and just marvel at the craft of writing – how does he do that? The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ by Philiph Pullman – what if............ it makes a wonderful sense and makes one want to go back and reread the ‘original’.

Meanwhile an example of ‘covered stuff in the street’.

thinkimngandbreathingartinvenice

 abstract speaking - sharing uncertainty and collective

Israeli Pavilion 

 Odires Mlászho

 Thierry De Cordier and Richard Serra

 Danh Vo

Turkish Pavilion 

Four days at the Venice Biennale and as ever one could be there longer as there is so much to see. I managed to get to more collateral events this time as well as the two main sights. Where to start... I am still reeling as I then went onto Lake Garda for a break and read and read and read – but more of that later. The international aspect of the experience is so excellent, giving the opportunity to see work that is not usually accessible, especially from South America, Asia, Africa and Arabic countries.  Politics is always on the surface obviously, especially as many of the established pavilions have a national flag outside. The Israeli Pavilion was an extraordinary comment on land, ownership, sense of self and place. It was also quite exceptional in its storytelling, how the narrative of the idea was experienced.  There was a lot of‘re-organising’ or re-building pavilions alongside the presentation of process as outcome.  Some other highlights were – the book structures in the Brazilian Pavilion by Odires Mlászho, the whole feel of the Dutch Pavilion - Mark Manders, Room with Broken Sentence, the madness of the Spanish Pavillion by Lara Almarcegui and the wisdom of the Japanese Pavilion - abstract speaking - sharing uncertainty and collective acts which had wonderful answers for questions we are going to have to ask in the future. The Central Pavilion has so much to offer – one example is the beautiful relationship created between the paintings of Thierry De Cordier and the surface of the sculptures of Richard Serra

The work in the Arsenale was focused on the theme of the whole Biennale – The Encyclopedic Palace, and is a full on mental experience with excellent thoughtful work at every step and turn. Looking back at my photographs I realise that I have taken more images of National Pavilions at the end of huge building. The Lebanon Pavilion is an extraordinary narrative in print and film, the mesmerising films in the Turkish Pavilion and the Latvian Pavilion is such a magnificent revelation which you have to wait for.  

I am creating a lecture on the use and experience of textiles at the Biennale for NUA so there will be more images later but I have to show the work of Danh Vo.....