researchlifeandwork

Life at the moment is cluttered with unpicking and rebinding - but found time last week to research the Venice Biennale – working out which of the many collateral events away from the main sights I’m going to get to and looking at how to get to the exhibition at Palazzo Grassi – a space that I’ve never managed to get into but if its anything like its sister space Punta della Dogana which always has excellent shows within an awesome space it should be good.

Meanwhile celebrating difference on youtube!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkNEmKTuLnA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9MTGNaEXGM&feature=share

dancedancestance

Recovering from Latitude – Saturday was a 6 hour dance fest starting with the wonderfully raw Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Karen O - what an outfit - followed by Hot Chip who have some tremendous sounds and then the mighty 3D Kraftwerk (a spaceship landed in my brain). The sound was so crisp and the 3D excellent – it would be more difficult for an experience to be so what one expected

Other highlights were Germaine Greer talking about the invisibility of women – and British Sea Power playing the soundtrack to the documentary From The Sea To The Land Beyond

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.

reccomendationsfromeachendofaspectum

went over to Bury St Edmunds to hang a show in the record office and popped into Smiths Row to see Caroline Wright's film On tides and Fathom. it was strangely familiar and at the same time other worldly. If you are in the area its worth going to see. http://www.smithsrow.org/index.php/exhibitions/details/the_brothers_elin_hyland_on_tides_and_fathoms_caroline_wright/ 
meanwhile BUG TV is on Youtube and is at least a days work to wade through http://www.youtube.com/user/AdamBuxton/videos?view=0&shelf_index=2&sort=dd&tag_id=

mixtapedelayandtutorials

It’s the beginning of the end at Camberwell!! - the next three weeks are dedicated to 'show planning' – the session yesterday focused on the work students have made, are making or/and are proposing to make for final show and what it might look like with – individual tutorials with everybody graduating on the Book Art MA led to an excellent day with a number of marvellous revelations - some very exciting solid professional work is going to be shown in a number of interesting way, as ever it’s fascinating to observe a number of trends and ways of thinking/making and to consider the work that has been created on the course over the many years. In another room students had brought in finished work and it was being photographed for the catalogue – all very professional.

Meanwhile a link to a great mixtape to download (Caroline’s B-Day Soul-Astrology) – I’ve been stuck on a train (again) and it has provided some kind of background to the real pain of travelling on Greater Anglia - how can they be so expensively crap? – its on a blog http://iamnotagun.blogspot.com/  towards the end it has excellent (funkyier dityer) track by Leon Haywood - I Want'a Do Something Freaky to You that blows the alleged sexy je t'aime moi non plus by Serge Gainsbourg  off the planet into a category of songs titled favoured and promoted by Mary Whitehouse!! – recommended. http://iamnotagun.blogspot.co.uk/2009/07/carolines-b-day-soul-astrology-mixtape.html

thinkingandcollecting

a quick break - 4 days in France - South of Marseilles - idyllic - amongst the books I read  I have to recommend Watermark by Joseph Brodsky - a beautifully crafted book, exquisite use of language, a meditation on light and life - centred on Venice - which I'm looking forward to visiting in a months time for the Biennial. As ever the holiday snaps represent current interests as well as long standing ones - death, fabric in/on sculpture, quirks in structural public amenity - a new one -  I became obsessed with the idea of barrier and am now collecting. 
I also managed to solve one or two issues around the unpicking and rebinding project which I have been working on this week. Having space to think was good.

thecompetitionisoutthere

A busy week at NUA putting together the finishing touches to our stand for New Designers which starts next week. There’s some exciting work being made by NUA students specifically for the show. NUA have their degree show at the same time as New Designers so new work has to be made – the students have made some of their best work, scaling up and pulling together ideas that they have been working/thinking about for a year. Chelsea and Central St Martin’s students don’t have this issue as their show closes before. I went to see their final years work on Saturday to see what the competition is doing. Chelsea Textiles was excellent as ever – inventive use of traditional techniques, especially knit and weave, some intense use of hand stitch, bold use of colour and strong design skills. Unsure about Fine Art – I am sure they have a policy about the quality of students work in relationship to where they are hung. There is a wide range of work in terms of quality and actual making and the general level of thought or care is mixed – maybe it’s great to be a student there, next to the Tate, but the final show always feels a little underwhelming, unlike Graphics which is scarily organised – tight and professional. Back at Kings Cross Menswear Fashion at Central was a highlight but I found the Women’s wear a little tacky and theatrical, although the Look Books were exciting and full of inventive ideas. Jewellery at Central was ingenious, new uses for traditional techniques, exciting use of established materials and some new materials. The same went for the Jewellery at the RCA but just that little bit more polished. The RCA show as a whole was just so dam good – a real pleasure to walk around – excellent, totally creative work alongside a professional attitude. The work in the Sculpture Space has to be the highlight of the work at Battersea although I did enjoy the Glass and Ceramics work in the Dyson Building.

I hope that year 2 students at NUA get to New Designers to see what’s out there - their competition is very good and they need to know. Or not!!