dualityofwork

The folding has taken a new twist – focusing on duality and creating several pieces that make interesting noises whilst being articulated. There has been a lot of ‘art looking’ this year - rethinking some of the work I saw at Venice Biennale and Documenta15 after reviewing photographs last night.  Onto music - I saw Loula Yorke playing some extraordinary electronics to a lovely crowd in what was a thoughtful evening at Spill Think Tank. Onto screens – Three Thousand years of Solitude was slow, which really didn’t change but when buying into it enabled the mind to flow with ideas and a rich conversation ensued. The Resort was a well written and clever series, although the last episode felt rushed and if you watch it, you will never go down a small hole underground, whatever the reason.

thenewbitterness

In 2007 I was sitting in a bar in Venice after a tough day spent looking at art in The Biennale! All-around us local drinkers had this intriguing orange drink I had seen 2 years previously, after asking I was introduced to Aperol and continued to drink it until I moved onto Campari and fell in love with its robust bitterness rather than a syrupy sweetness. I am now, thanks to Loick @pre_phylloxera on a journey with Cynar, apparently the next/new/latest thing, its herby bitterness is like Suze or Campari had a child but the herbyness is strong. The weekend saw a great walk from the Thames Barrier to Greenwich – which includes nice/odd pubs, post-industrial, hyper tourist, lost and found spaces. Seeing the dome and the millennium sculptural commissions close-up was interesting and a document of the so-called big ideas involving pomp and government. But they are obvious landmarks, along the walk intimate riverside beach spaces connecting to the river and carved out by individuals told more interesting human narratives. Managed to get into the west end to check out a few shows – Nancy Spiro’s delicate drawings at Frith Street, Marian Goodman projects had some bold, dark, narrative objects. Window shopping in soho got me obsessed with knitwear from wood wood and trainers by Salomon. Meanwhile onto screens - I am not the easiest man – nice idea but with a twist. Mr Harrigan’s phone book – nice idea but not fully exploited. Inside Man – nice idea made nicer with the addition of Stanley Tucci. Bad Sisters – what a tragic ending, but we all knew it was going there….

foldfoldedfold

Working on the latest iteration of folded structures that explore the processes around receptor pharmacology. Thinking about the physical possibilities of working with affordance forces, multiple connections, and cause and effect. How to make the structure out of a single sheet of material, eventually creating a template that could be emailed. Meanwhile screens – Five days at Memorial is a relentless story of misguided misery. Words on Bathroom walls is a relentless story of mental health. Funny Pages is a relentless tale of the oddness of the teenage search for independence. Stay the night is a relentless tale of opposites attract and has a beautifully scripted conversation in a bar about burgers that is not about burgers.

editionsprayer

I have been developing imagery from ideas first started when I encountered crystallography. The shapes are derived from exploring Penrose tessellation and manipulated in illustrator. Lazer cut forms are then used as a masking device which offers unlimited possibilities, the choice after making is where the work happens, as layers are added the work becomes more complex, especially after cutting into the prints and juxtaposing the many layers. The spray-painted imagery seems to blur and move in and out of focus. The images are a series of prints, and the film is made from pages of a bookwork. Onto screens - The infernal machine – full of slowly dawning ah-ha revelatory moments. Inheritance – twisted and dark. Athena – lots of shouting and running and explosions. Bullet Train – unsure if it was intentionally knowing or if it was delusional, the former would make it hilarious….4 episodes into the frantic and fast paced The Bear and yet to breath out.

4daysinthefuture

4 days in Kassel - Documenta15 was transforming – you get to have access to some intriguing spaces, WH2, the underground space that is a club was inspiring. The work will initially have you mainly angry with a general feeling of helplessness but after days of reading and looking and listening a way forward starts to evolve with what you will personally do to try and cope after endless examples of Capitalism’s war on the earth. Artists as documentors, activists, and advocates seek to support change but it feels like a pebble in a huge sea. I listened to so many thoughtful voices, but Berger had put into words my rambled thoughts, had me thinking about the concept of slow violence. We are in it or even already there. The work of Amol K Patil was haunting and moving, the recognition but otherness was fracturing to the mind. The book inspired by Jimmie Durrant -The Struggle Starts with the Struggle of the Tongue: An Affective Dictionary of Tatar by Joen Vedel and Yana Mikhalina was so good I had to buy it. The FAFSWAG collective had a moving set of videos with great sound in the Stadtmuseum. The collection of promotional documentaries curated by Subversive films were truly enlightening. The work that focused on clay and its possibilities had me thinking about workshop ideas. All this alongside some great strategies for working with people and attempting to change the world.  Meanwhile there was great beer, glorious cake, and spicy sausages! Onto screens - Outer range – wild sci fi western with warped visual narratives. I used to be famous – sweet working-out-who-you-are story. Do Revenge – high-school-teen-revenge with a twist, maybe. Meet Cute – tangled time travel trouble

booksandreading

Working on a new approach and using some new maths around the receptor pharmacology work. Recent reading on holiday included the gloriously disturbing Liarmouth: A feel-bad romance by John Waters, you will be repulsed in clever ways reading things you didn’t think possible. Exit Stage Left: The curious afterlife of pop stars by Nick Duerden details what happens next. PIHKAL: A Chemical Love Story by Alexander Shulgin, Ann Shulgin is a record of psychedelic exploration, travelling in uncharted territory. Kinky Boots at The New Wolsey was, if you like a gritty glamour sing along was the epitome of a good night out. Meanwhile onto screens - I’m deep into Wecrashed a crazy ride into the depths of the dubious start-up.

andflowers

swim, eat, drink and flowers - Meanwhile onto screens – the Samaritan – the usual, with a twist. I am still reeling with each episode of The Rehearsal – episodes had Nathan 4 or maybe 5 layers deep in of meta role playing, my mind was totally blown, and the final episode will leave you with so many questions. Thirteen lives – was long and asked the question - we do this as a leisure pursuit? Nitram – an extraordinary dark tale.