walkingandlookingandoing

a great day on Saturday working on the art path with the Norfolk and Norwich Festival – as part of my workshop participants were asked what they would create a monument to. The results were generous and thoughtful.  I created several temporary interventions which were sited alongside the ones I ‘found’. The map is of the walk and the images some of my favourite answers to questions.  onto screens – The Mother – we may have been here before. Guy Richie’s The Covenant – a video game. Best Man – oh dear. To Catch a Killer – disturbing comment on why it’s like it is. One Ranger – great to spot local sights, the docks in Ipswich, Suffolk CC offices and a space at Bentwaters, Martlesham. Return to Seoul – a tragic stillness, beautifully shot and so sad. Inside – a biblical parable makes for a strange, distant film, the most fun is identifying the art.  

ourparentsfacesinours

A trip back to Coventry to attend my aunt’s funeral was just sad. Visits to various cemeteries was grounding as ever – the past rushing up to the present day. I loved that my dad’s neighbour, whom I have never met said he saw the face of Pauline and Tony, my parents, in mine  Player Piano the latest exhibition at The Artstation in Saxmundham was thoughtfully awesome https://theartstation.uk/exhibition/player-piano/   The range of work and the depth of research and thinking embedded within them was impressive. I particularly liked the oddly disturbing sculpture by Kumbirai Makumbe, the video piece by Catinca Malaimare and the small delicate tiles by Kara Chin. It was great to see such innovative work down the road. the onto screens –  How to blow up a pipeline explained how to blow up a pipeline. Escape room: Tournament of Champions was basically about a tournament based in an escape room for champions. Deep into Succession which is about so many things but mainly the venal nature of power. Ghosted the usual but done well. The Guard was witty and irreverent. AKA was standard gansta double double cross material. Death Roulette had a lot going on but in so many directions. 23 walks attempted to tackle some stuff we don’t talk about, not bad. photo of two sisters my mum, Pauline and her sister Diane, Di.

 

randomasawayofbeing

Where to start – Berlin – one of my favorite European cities – the most unhinged, random truly-out there place. I was there for Berlin Art Weekend with my son Bob Bicknell Knight who had a show at Number 1 Main Road Gallery. Cycling through the city examples of casual, spontaneous acts opened up in front of me – my favorites were the insane huge mass barbecue in Lichtenberg Park on a sunny day, the seemingly 24 hour club on wasteland in the Elsenbrucke Bridge and the I-think-I-will-live-here-settlement along the Flutgraben, a tributary of the Spree in the Lohmuhleninsel district - glorious. I saw so many extraordinary works of art in fantastic places steeped in layers of history – just space for the highlights as I went to around 20 spaces - where to start….. Gropius Bau had an inciteful group show Re-navigating the Afrasian sea and Notions of Diaspora. A stunning VR experience by Sim Chi Yin allowed me to light up the digital space whilst watching the world collapse. Daniel Boyd created an unbelievable experience by covering walls and windows with mirrors and holes that both revealed and concealed as you walked through the rooms.  Salome Chatriot’s paintings at Office Impart disturb in all the right ways, the video We Empty Ourselves and Accelerate the Hatching’ is mesmerizing. Photography during the Holocaust at the Museum of photography was, as expected fairly harrowing. The line that stayed with me was on a Nazi poster – Entry for Jews is Forbidden….Isn’t it wonderful to be just by ourselves!’ – all a little Brexit familiar. La Horde at the Julia Stoschek Foundation was an opportunity to re-think dance, the videos were full of energy. Cao Fei at Spruth Magers was truly mind blowing – the whole experience got me rethinking what I know. MatryoshkaVerse the video exploring the Russian/Chinese theme park on the Inner Mongolia border was extraordinary. The VR experience RMB City has amazing detail and the ability to pick up objects and examine them closely. Human Is, the group show at the Schinkel Pavillon, a stunning space, had Ian Cheng’s Emissary Sunsets The Self – just fantastic. Win McCarthy, Karen Lamassonne and Martin Wong at KW Institute had some highlights. Karen’s very odd novella type film was eccentrically bizarre. Martin’s history and excessive body of work was so insightful and disturbingly necessary today. Win had a great concept set out in such a stylish way. 

breathingandwakingandbreathing

Spent a morning walking the route of the Norwich Art Path with the great support team and artists Nicola Turner, Dougie Evans, Daisy Henwood, Liz McGowan and Maddie Exton. The walk will take people on a journey from @norwich castle to @sainsbury Centre. It was inspiring to hear everyone’s ideas and discuss possibilities. Ending up at the Sainsbury Centre meant that I got to see the excellent Empowering Art: Indigenous Creativity and Activism from North America’s Northwest Coast and a very moving project by Julian Stair: Art, Death, and the Afterlife. Both shows give you lots to think about. An afternoon in London of breathing in - a range of shows - some on the plan and others ‘collateral damage’ due to proximity!  Bomb factory - Mat Collishaw - glorious animatronic dystopia. Gagosian - Richard Wright - pattern and books. Sadie Cole - Richard Prince - repetitively darkly witty. Frith st gallery - Polly apfelbaum - playful symmetry. ICA -  R.I.P Germain - like a sinister Mike Nelson. White Cube - Marguerite Humeau - stunning smelling sculptures. More Yayo windows at Louis Vuitton and still enjoying the monolithic, temporary facade at Burberry. Onto screens Rye Lane is a gentle love story around familiar streets - lovely. In the middle of the twisted tale that is Rabbit Hole - dark wft moments. And Station Eleven's bleakness is slightly wearing - confusion reigns. 

walkingandwalkingandwalking

5 days walking part of the Cami de Ronda from Lloret de Mar to Llafranc, then into Palafrugell to get the bus to the airport. This part of the path mostly follows the coast. You find yourself walking through endless deserted small coves, into and out of working towns with one whole day in the mountains and woods. The beaches are tremendous - quiet, wild and empty - just left alone - if another person was there, it was a rare occurrence. Great food - we were in the patatas bravas, fried fish and arroz negro part of the world. It was difficult to eat badly. Warm air, clear blue sea and sky, beaming sun, stunning natural landscapes, interspersed with some amazing man-made sights, the modern cemetery at Lloret de Mar and the art nouveau hotel Diana in Tossa del Mar were particularly stunning. The latest show at The Print Room in Bruisyard has some excellent and beautiful work by Jonathan Keep. The 3D printed pots are exceptional, the mesmerizing forms enhanced by the stunning surfaces. 

walkingthewalk

The books created for St Michael's C of E School in Louth have arrived – they look good, I am sure the pupils will love them, especially seeing their own names in print. ‘found’ a fantastic site to animate images – a link to one from the work created in Louth – https://sketch.metademolab.com/share/7cc2680d5bd042f7b6695b693472c9c9/wave_hello_3  but you can put any image in the portal – strange movements occur. Started the research for a commission from Norfolk and Norwich Festival - a map of a walk – questions answered - In these unsettled times we would all like some answers. On the walk, using a treasure map you will find some answers to some questions. X marks the spot. Walking the walk I have found so many starting points and general oddness, along with a rich history explained by numerous plaques – looking forward to collating and editing. Onto screens – two series – just finished season 2 of The Only Murders in the Building – the sharp and witty script has great characters written with some excellent lines. Just started Rabbit Hope – this must win awards for handbrake turn twists – my mind was blown….

imaginingthefabricofthepast.

Extraordinary day spent in Rotherhithe at the Thames Discovery Centre at a Women at Work event. Really great speakers using finds to reveal the lives of working women through mud larking. So many amazing stories - of the development of ale houses by explaining the relationship between women brewing beer in the home and witch burning - through the use of cauldrons, pointed hats and broom sticks. Then there was the history of women and their role in the manufacturing of pins. The language of pins, their names are absolutely fascinating. Then there was the churches relationship to sex. By decree of Henry II the church was given control of brothels - called stews - there were eighteen licensed brothels in Bankside employing about a thousand prostitutes at any one time. As a result of the church taking control, most of London’s churches built during this period were largely financed by prostitution. https://dirtysexyhistory.com/2017/01/26/a-cesspool-in-the-palace-prostitution-and-the-church-in-medieval-southwark/ After the event I went onto the Thames beach and found a piece of a torpedo bottle – researching what it actually was and finding out about its history was fascinating - this could be a new thing! Akram Khan’s latest piece, Creature was a brutalising visceral experience. The whole evening was totally extraordinary, from the pounding music, sparse set, and mesmerising dancers. onto screens - A Man Called Otto – a study of understated care – quite beautiful. Operation Fortune – gotta love Hugh Grant – he is having a ball.