creativecaringreportmovingforward

A copy of the report – make my day: the impact of creative caring in older people’s care homes has arrived at my house. It covers the work I did with the carers in care homes for Artlink – you can get a copy here http://suffolkartlink.org.uk/creative-carers.htm - it looks good and as ever it’s heart-warming to see one’s own presence within the overall argument for more interesting care for the elderly – we will all be there at some point....

squeezefoldbendandexpand

success - I’ve got through the initial application, a day of meetings/presentation, ‘interview’, the short-listing and the joint application to have the opportunity to work with the Crafts Council on a project titled - PARALLEL PRACTICES - http://www.craftscouncil.org.uk/what-we-do/parallel-practices/

It’s a really interesting collaboration I am about to work with Thrishantha Nanayakkara http://www.kcl.ac.uk/nms/depts/informatics/people/atoz/nanayakkarat.aspx who works at The Centre for Robotics Research, School of Natural and Mathematical Sciences at Kings in London and Naomi Mcintosh who creates body related Jewellery and Jewellery related objects - http://www.naomimcintosh.com/. It’s going to be a great journey of discovery for us all. The project we have created is called Squeeze Fold Bend and Expand - Structural Memory in Deformable Objects. We want to extend current soft robotics through model making, challenging and expanding our practices by exploring ways of controlling movement and articulation of objects in order to build new structures whose functionality and manipulation will be framed and enriched by knowledge of soft robotics – phew!!!

shouldversuscould

10 days in the mountains around Crest has given me my annual bookfest – some recommendations from a long list....

Morrisey – an autobiography – a tour de force of layered gorgeous language for about 150 pages – until the bitterness over the trail takes over – I love his description of Sparks – “brother Russell sang in French italics with the mad urgency of someone tied to a tree”

The Cook – Wayne Macauley – detailed list of food preparation and cooking underpinned by a darkness which is allowed to seep out in the last pages.

How to get filthy rich in rising Asia - Mohsid Hamid – a deeply moving tale of change, loss and learning that touches the heart – if you liked his earlier book the reluctant fundamentalist you will really love this.

The secret History – Donna Tart – a real crossing-the-line-page-turner, deeply oppressive and claustrophobic.

The Circle – Dave Eggers – everybody is talking about this for a reason – his clarity of vision of where some of us we fear we are heading is initially charming or maybe fearful yet ultimately inevitable.

The testament of Mary – Colm Toibin – a beautiful and tender book that made me re-think my relationship to the role of the Jesus story – maybe it’s all about leaving home!

Meanwhile some images taken from my last stay at Piégros la Clastre.

foldspacelightstone

The exhibition in France looks really good – the private view dinner (very French) was beautiful – outdoors overlooking the mountains watching a ‘supermoon’ rise - lots of excellent food and wine. There are some sales already but the main thing was to show the experimental work on white walls rather than the studio. The body of work I chose to show is an interesting transitional collection from the unpicking and rebinding work around smocking and hopefully the work with the Crafts Council.

betweenanideaandanobject

thinking, reading and working on the idea of the model – the ‘middle point’ between  an idea and an object – not quite a thing yet it is more than a thought. The model can be altered, changed or somehow fulfilled by the idea of context – by the addition of another thought – an intention or an imposition.  The folding/lazer cutting has sculpture and architecture in mind linking simultaneously with the idea of tools for the hand.

Meanwhile lots of watching in the evenings – slightly obsesses by House of cards and Orange is the new black, although Netflix’s new Silverlight upgrade has temporarily disabled my use of their service – thank you Netflix. An offbeat film to recommend is Lars and the real girl – a wonderful life affirming tail of love, community and loss – beautiful http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0805564/ Ryan Gosling is quite magnificent in a sad broken but utterly believable kind of way..

whereisthework?

I've been working with illustrator creating new ideas around the modular and of course the fold and then outputting the structures using the laser cutter. As part of my ongoing investigation of form and structure I've been introducing tessellation to the arsenal of potential creative tools. The Penrose tessellation offers beautiful results which are both familiar and otherworldly and I've been astounded with how wonderful and seemingly effortless the laser cutter ‘knocks out’ interesting artefacts filled with many possibilities. Maybe the future is already here.

I was reminded of a conversation with Roger Ackling and his musing on where the work was. He asked that maybe he had missed the point all these years whilst making his art. Roger made otherworldly objects by harnessing the power of the sun through a lens. He asked that maybe the smoke was the work – beautifully poetic and at the same time laterally pragmatic. The work he made really was more than just burning lines! As I worked with the laser cutter I deliberated on what was happening and began to ask myself if maybe the space between where the work appeared to be..................was the work.

2014bookartsshow

Some images of the Book Art show at Camberwell – why not make a morning of it and pop into South London Gallery http://www.southlondongallery.org/page/whats-on – for me the shows highlight is a ‘digital flythrough’ of a space recreated within 3D software. Richard Healy, Pines, is like a Big Gay Fantasy Grand Design - it’s very specific look and particular feel for the spaces are explored and represented – it looks and sounds great.