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.

patternuniquepattern

Went to see the show at artstation, some interesting work and William Cobbing’s performance was very sweet, especially when working with the small children. A week of working on a new body of work – reflecting and building on earlier crystallography pieces the prints were generated using lazer cut paper and card. They started out as angular tessellations but were then manipulated to create a softer feel with curved edges. Although part of a series each piece is unique. The next stage will be to introduce some structure through folding, although some work as prints in themselves. I have a flag in the show at east coast pavilion at Lowestoft. Onto screens – want to feel like you have been blasted watch Nope, what did I just watch? - truly extraordinary. Top Gun Maverick does what it says on the tin if it had a tin.

structureplusmotif

working on some articulated structures – I’ve been focusing on structure, but visual motifs could also be a potential way to explore and construct connections. The circles are completed when the structures are in a particular place, the various articulated panels must be manipulated into specific positions. Onto screens – The Premise – https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10731840/ a truly mind-blowing series full of excellent ideas. The Butt Plug episode is a wild ride. Finally finished Better Call Saul, the sad and wistful ending was truly tragic as many individuals from the past returned to give or enable testimony, joining dots and crossing t's.

yourattentiondidn'tcollapse.itwasstolen

I’ve been working on some drawings of my hand with tattoos – not sure what they are leading to but if anything, it’s an excuse to get some drawing practice whilst sitting in the garden. onto screens – 2/1, an interesting premise, beautifully filmed, both strange, and awkward with a nice twist or extension in the last frames. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3842684/ Prey, a kind of origin story to Predator was beautifully shot with some good action scenes. Brian and Charles is bizarrely awesome, Wedding Season was full of stuff that we have already seen but not a crime scene. Along for the ride was longingly wistful. Not my thing but well-conceived with great special effects the pilot of Sandman was well conceived but won’t be followed up. Season 3 episode 4 of Atlanta, The Big Payback is fairly mind blowing. A huge recommendation. The Rehearsal by Nathan Fielder is truly mind bending, although the premise of rehearsing important things in our life is taken to an extreme you start to think about how you move through life. Two series that I am dipping into - Girlboss and Great News both fairly tight writing with some comic relief.

uploadingandupdating

Great to see the frames from the Jubilant! Project displayed at the Primadonna festival over the weekend. While there I was taken with Jordan Stephens’s left of field call for men to address their own pain as a way of supporting women. Looking forward to reading Unwell women by Elinor Cleghorn, especially the cultural politics around access and understanding. I have updated my website to include two projects – Jubilant! and the bookartbookshop show https://lesbicknell.wixsite.com/work/now  onto screens - Too Old for Fairy Tales – sweet coming of age story with a twist story. Purple Hearts – sweet love story with a twist. Honor Society – sweet high school story with a twist. Persuasion - sweet historical drama with a twist - the screen lights up when Richard E Grant is on it, if only he was there more