workinginstudio

Spending time in the studio – working on the surfaces of some structural sculptural pieces. Their starting point was an agreement to be part of Firstlight Bird Box project but/and/so this input has taken the practice into interesting places.

linkingthebooksthroughbookness

I was invited to be part of a book art project where a chain of curators chooses artists books. Each person selects a book in response to the previous person's choice - here is a link. https://www.instagram.com/respondproject/ I followed Imi Maufe, http://www.imimaufe.com/ It was my turn today – I chose The Performing Book by Janine Harrington, first seen in 2010. my text for the project is -  When looking at Imi Maufe’s response I was struck by the concept of rules and the act of subverting a system - so I thought I would continue that theme. It seems pertinent in these times to present a bookwork that you cannot touch, made up of people you can only stand near to. You do not touch this bookwork but activate it by engaging your body, recognising, and considering your own physicality. Proximity and interaction control the order and duration of the pages/dancers, spaces in time. You initially encounter a static line of people, as you move past the dancers/pages each performs a set movement – your role as audience/reader/participant is not passive, initially as a reader/viewer you become a participant/performer, interacting with the book, and developing relationships with the dance. The interrelationships and roles explored in the work are rich and multi-faceted. Janine explains the ideas behind the piece in a video created on the London Millennium Footbridge (bit.ly/the-bridge-janine) but I first saw the work at an MA Book Art Degree Show at Camberwell in 2010 (bit.ly/camberwell-janine) where I was struck by Janine’s inventiveness when it came to exploring the potential of the book. Stretching the idea of bookness. It is important to acknowledge the dancers as each performance is re-devised - Vanessa Abreu, Alexandra Baybutt, Paola di Bella, Katja Nyqvist, Lizzie Sells, Rosalie Walhfrid, Luke Birch, Anaïs Bouts, Mark Carberry, Iris Chan, Katharin Cooper, Hayley Durward, Andrew Graham, Janine Harrington, Alexandrina Hemsley, Katie Keeble, Lena Kimming, Laura Lee, Katja Nyqvist, Alice Mackenzie, Stephanie McMann, Heloise O’Donohue Lucie Sheppard, Alice Sunderland, Susan Sentler, Eleanor Sikorski, Lena Kimming, Alice Mackenzie, Christopher Matthews, Stella Papi & Elisa Vassena. You can find more about Janine’s practice https://www.janineharrington.com/ Screensaver Series and 10 Minutes are also worth checking out. Meanwhile screens – Undine https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11617052/ fantasy, myth, and reality clash. The Life Ahead https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10627584/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0 personal stories telling universal tales. Antoinette dans les Cévennes https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11013434/ Intense, bizarre and oddballish. @respondproject/  #BABE2021 #bookart #books #curate #artistsbooks #bookness #BABEartistsbooksRESPOND

newworks

http://les-recent-work.blogspot.com/2021/04/laboratory-choreography.html I have been updating my ‘recent work’ site - the books are called - nano, glove box, golden hands, magic. All the books are in an edition of 5. There are 8 photographic images within a concertina structure. 23cm x 11cm closed, 160cm open. The folded articulated structures are derived from 'laboratory choreography'. While artist in residence at Nano DTC in Cambridge I observed scientists attempting to communicate complex scientific concepts through hand gestures within the laboratory. The structures document the movements and enable the holder to recreate them. They are £12:00 each.

busybusybusy

Wood-Sun-Stone - Friends of Roger Ackling, a Group exhibition and presentation of the book ROGER ACKLING - OÙ POINT L'INVISIBLE by Lydie Rekow-Fon. I had a couple of pieces in this – I can remember a conversation with Roger about locating where the work was and maybe the smoke was the work, rather than the glorious wooden pieces. This has stayed with me and informs my own practice every time I think I’m making work. The studio is full of large scale folded structures waiting for a day of sun and no wind to be able to make some videos of the articulated pieces. Meanwhile another strand of work is looking at reflections - the work is both there and not there! Looking forward to being part of RESPOND - what will I receive? – how will I respond? @essencepress #BABEartistsbooksRESPOND. Just came across me sounding vaguely coherent and supportive of the use of architects in the architectural process - https://www.ribasuffolk.com/why-to-employ-an-architect check out those sideburns. Onto screens - Mollys Game – there is an interesting film in there but a little disjointed, Babylon Berlin – looks great but I think we know where this ends up. Lockdown – some great performances but….  Mitchelle and Webb, Back – not quite Peep Show!

afoldedpresent

todays sounds running through my head include - Joe Goddard feat. Valentina – Gabriel. arrived home after a walk to find a wonderful present from Steel Sculptures in the driveway! @steelsculptures The cube is made of extra pieces from the work created for Goldlay Gardens in Chelmsford. It was manufactured by the lovely Paul and Cath over at http://www.steelsculptures.co.uk/index in Middleton. To entertainment - the online Snape showcase Festival of New Makers was superb - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heT4Esayg6U&t=1160s the series of films of work in progress highlighted some fantastic work both as pieces in themselves and something to look forward to. The process of demonstrating creativity was stunning with collaboration at the core of their thinking. Join the Din, Maz O’Connor, Shruthi Rajasekar & Reylon Yount, Nadine Benjamin, Charlie Grey & Joseph Peach, Emily Levy were all interesting and Max Baillie & Vahakn Matossian, were so sincere, but Dom Bouffard and his crew of glorious noise makers working in the abandoned space at Snape https://www.dombouffard.com/ was a fave. Meanwhile to screens – ma rainey's black bottom was a little like watching American’s do costume drama. Capital in the Twenty-First Century lays out, again, the injustices embedded within capitalism and talks about how the concept of capital has evolved to continue to serve those in power, power from the point of ownership. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5723056/ and we are now embarking on the latest season of Snowpiercer.

foldingskies

Found the full size prototype for the work in Chelmsford – decided to play…meanwhile screens - oh dear screens – Yes Day, Coming 2 America, Bad Cupid - no no no. 

themagicbehindtheday

The magic behind the day - a busy week at NUA saw the first Alumni Day – I managed to organise a great day - we had some interesting talks about journeys since leaving the Textile Design Course Chloe Scott - freelance woven designer – graduated 2017.  chloescottwovendesign.com  Jessica Grady - textile artist, lecturer – graduated 2014. jessicagrady.co.uk Georgia Rose Stone - creative assistant at Joules - graduated 2019.  @georgiarosedesign_Mia Sylvia – stylist, machinist – graduated 2018.miasylvia.co.uk/ Meanwhile screens include Moxie which would be ok if you are 12 and the beautiful animation Millennium Actress https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0291350/?ref_=hm_rvi_tt_i_5 which has a great timeslip script. While we are here I recommend watching Richard Dedomenici https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T17YnTQ1Wno