endingsandmaterials

I was invited to a really interesting network meeting the other day - I gave a short presentation and took part in a Q&A session with the Cambridge University public engagement team, it was great to revisit my time at NanoDTC, to reflect on the work I did there and consider how it continues to fuel my thinking  within my practice. Meanwhile at Camberwell College of the Arts we are reinventing the final weeks of the Book Art course to really reflect on needs and wants of the students. Each week mini projects are being set by the students and shared through Zoom, it will make a great collective legacy. So far we have created posters - one based on Russian typography and another on Film titles. In the studio I have been photographing and filming some of the material experiments I have been working on.  

and onto films - Aniara - a twisted sc-fi dystopian tragic tale, Just Mercy - an oppressive tale of human ugliness, High Note - lovely but doesn't really go anywhere apart from a twist nobody will see coming, The Lovebirds - an interesting premise that should be funnier ditto Space force.  

floorceilingfloorcorner

I have been re-reading If on a Winter's Night a Traveller by Calvino and thinking about the physicality of books - books that are not about reading - or roles other than reading - this has crashing into my thinking about solutions to mini projects that we are working on at Camberwell on the final weeks of the Book Art Course. What is the role of the book if not to be read?......floor ceiling floor corner

I went to see Julia Backwell last year talk and bought Time Song - Looking for Doggerland, just managed to get round to it this week - her thoughtful writing liminally slips through time and place through objects and moments - a thoroughly beautiful read.

I have just come across Prof. Scott Galloway - his refreshing honest around education and its costs is shockingly brutal -you might start with The Algebra of Happiness which covers a lot of ground - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gfEjOgxBfI and is another strand of his straightforward thinking.

So onto some entertainment - two important films that you must see but are not an easy watch - Just Mercy was relentless and important Never Rarely Sometimes Always is a brutal suppression around women's bodies. An easier but another indictment on how we live our lives - this time capitalism re-watching doesn't make it easier to see the lessons within The Big Short. Two cartoon recommendations are the freaky darkness that is The Shivering Truth - season 2 is out https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6905458/  and the Quirkiness goodness of Central Park https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8129006/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0 Series include Snowpiercer (unsure if its necessary as the film exists) and Little Fires Everywhere (uneven and moments of overacting).

listeningtoacoathanger

layeredstructures

working on new films of the new structures - these stills of the tests - at the moment there is a sense of the magician in the clips - onto some entertainment - Normal People was lovely and had a well crafted script that outlined the characters beautifully.  Extraction - was quite tedious, how many times do you need to see heads exploding? The final episodes of Better Call Saul season 5 were tremendous and leave everything open for season 6. SS GB was what it was when alternative histories take over - big on period detail, especially the sets, although I did recognise the foyer of the old Central College of the Arts Building and USAF Bentwaters which kept taking me out of the scenes. Fantasy Island has to be the most confusing film ever - so much so that it becomes a great watch in the company of like minded people. There are moments of laugh out loud hilarity from Steve Coogan in Greed and the meta moments of actual celebrities playing themselves playing a version of them being paid to attend a party at a party is head swivelling - it's Carry On the Big Short.

distractionsareimportant

walking through the area around the house has provided moments of relief as the trees do their thing. Revisiting the books on the shelves has led to this collection of images - just waiting for memes to be created. Anyway check out quite possibly the most global experience you will have today - http://radio.garden/search - a site housing on-line radio stations - great interface and the most extraordinary sounds - the whole world comes to you. Jodie Mack has created a body of  interesting films using textiles and her latest, The Grant Bizarre  https://mubi.com/cast/jodie-mack is an extraordinary 60 minutes that will give you fresh insight into textile production. Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a stunningly beautiful film - so much of it is about what is unseen and unsaid https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8613070/ here we are notes for living on planet earth https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11692010/ a tear was shed in the house as we watched a child try and make sense of the big questions around and within us, and finally you need to invest some serious time and mental energy with Westworld - There is a moment in series 3 Episode 4 that totally blew my mind!!!

alternativedimensions

away from the alternative world where I am working out what to watch at Glasgow International, creating a full schedule that includes all the parties and what would of been an extraordinary 4 days.......I have been busy reading - the issue of the model, how we use it/them and how we communicate ideas through both the eye and the hand. A key text is Models the third dimension of science edited by Soraya de Chadarevian and Nick Hopwood and supported by Geometry and the Liberal Arts by Dan Pedoe which has some great illustrations. The work in the studio continues with the reading informing an exploration of geometry and its relationship to the model through string, knots and wire.

meanwhile some watching Collette is stunning with gloriously outrageous acting from Dominic West while Keira Knightley makes sense of her world. Ozark  continued to disturb with its demonstration of how one person can destroy lives in such a seemingly casual way, it's all about survival. The main lesson continues to be to not get involved with drugs!! Unorthodox https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9815454/ is truly harrowing yet there is a strength that keeps you watching. Deep into season 3 of Westworld - episode 3 is a true mind blower with its commentary on existence through its commentary on the constructed world - or is it.....

alternativescale

so in the alternative universe somewhere I am returning from Spain after a few days in Seville it's been the first trip I've had cancelled as part of the current situation - meanwhile the work continues - changing the scale changes alters how the work operates in the hand. The video is a starting point both in documenting the work and developing  new work in itself.

films include - Bloodshot if you like your films superheroish with a twist, Little Joe if you like your films complex and layered. and there is Instagram - where to start.......... why I might get a dog - https://www.instagram.com/p/B6TJ1Q_nbXv/ textiles are important - https://www.instagram.com/p/B-VRUt3joBG/ teamwork is vital - https://www.instagram.com/p/B804rMahiBl/ working out how to behave - https://www.instagram.com/p/B-UnL9hhAL2/

observing the various systems companies have put in place to support social distance whilst shopping is intriguing -  there is a project there (this one is the coop in Halesworth).