busybusyglasgow

Busy working on the Hospital project – 2 days in Aldeburgh Primary school were wonderful – the children were so small, but the work was excellent. The idea is to share the creative experience, but I think I might include some of the marks into the final piece. A long weekend in Glasgow for G.I. I love Glasgow and it didn’t fail to show its amazingness. Apart from the great food and drink I engaged with there were one or two stand out art moments – Tanoa Sasraku stunningly dark in the old fish market, James Gladwell’s eccentric stitch work, David Wojnarowicz mournful 70s work, Rae-Yen Song’s all consuming installation and performance, Michelle Williams Gamaker’s body horror inflected film, curated by Lydia Honeybone, Bettina’s gorgeous objects, and Sweatmother’s Dyke Just Do It upfront performance. Meanwhile onto screens – Office Romance – cheeky. Ladies First – feel like we’ve been here before.

IntegrationoftheArtsandBiomedicalEngineeringinInnovativeInterdisciplinaryAnatomyEducationTheSyntheticAnatomyModule

I’m co-authored in a published paper with the wonderful team at Kings. Titled Integration of the Arts and Biomedical Engineering in Innovative Interdisciplinary Anatomy Education: The Synthetic Anatomy Module it celebrates the great work undertaken on the module.  Shout out to Mandeep for driving this. Asked to contribute to the latest First light 24-hour free festival – moon to moon I went straight to the image of the Sizewell dome and its workers plus the idea of the man in the moon. Work on developing the childrens pieces for the STEAM Day has been challenging – mainly gaining permission to hang the work in SZC space. Arthur the opera continues with dye testing. Onto screens – The Lost Bus – another real life procedural/docu/drama hybrid thing from Paul Greengrass that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Rooster – a series that will have you cringing in maybe a good way. Selfie – a slightly unhinged comedy series. The Visitor – just oppressive and a little sad. The Age of Adaline – sweet and charming. Hijack – some interesting twists and it’s difficult to take your eyes off Idris. Just finished Your Friends and Neighbours – darkly entertaining. Sundays at Tiffany's - sweet, sweet sweet.

sayingyesalot

Having said yes, a lot a couple of weeks ago I now have a long list of stuff to do with several large scale, interrelated and complex projects. 1 The work with Aldeburgh Hospital and the school is moving on with organisational meetings and some positive conversations. 2 The final stage of Energy? Hanging the work at SZC visitor centre for a STEAM event is the last and seemingly most challenging stage after generating an instructional pack, sending it out to schools to create over 1000 images, creating films and 50 panels with 25 images! 3 The flag project for the opera is completed, and the next stage is dyeing 200 yards of material with natural dye for the backdrop. Assessment is about to start at Norwich; it will be great to see the students work on the project I set around textile narratives. The show at Unit 4 has some really interesting work that is hung well, the space is a great addition and now the nearest gallery to my house, it would be great if the SZC roadworks didn’t detour my route. The latest sharing at Snape as part of the open sessions was fascinating – the system of graphic scores and unusual instruments made for an eccentric evening. Rob Bentall on nyckelharpa and Zebedee Budworth on hammered dulcimer were fantastic together. Onto screens – Sirat – one thing leads to another, oh dear. How to Make a Killing – witty and procedural. Hail Mary – great fun, and if you take a 10-year-old along with your belief will be suspended.

neoclassancients

A weekend in the bubble that is Stroud. Attended NeoAncients – lots of music and motivating talks that connected politically and galvanised my soul. In terms of sound shout out to Haress, Smote, Dawn Terry, The Last Sacrifice. The great talks - Staying Analogue in the Age of Distraction - Andrew Smith. Megalithic Portal x Megalithic Imperative - Andy Burnham + Neil Mortimer + Patricia Brien, check out the website – megalithic.co.uk Visions of the Occult - Victoria Jenkins. Common People - Stephen Ellcock + Leah Gordon with Maxine Peake. Don’t forget The Museum of Roadside Magic and The People’s Pyramid Mummification Van. Generally a time of making connections between the ideas in the books Common People, England on Fire and Trespass, the over 5000 government acts that make up the Enclosures Act, its relationship to the slave trade, working people, the landed gentry and Sizewell operations. Fave notes – meme magic, merky territory, ghosts in the liminal spaces. Onto screens – Hypnotic – great idea shame about the music, script, acting, camera work and editing.

apackedcoupleofweeks

Started work on digitizing the images created by students who were asked what does energy look like? - the images will be printed up and shown at the new Sizewell C visitor centre as part of a festival celebrating STEAM in East Suffolkschools. I created a pack for schools which included instructions for a workshop to be undertaken by teachers. I'll also be running a series of workshops over the 3 days exploring potential connections between art and science. Packing away the work and materials from this years interation of synthetic anatomy, including archiving the materials. I seem to say this every year but this year was spectacular, a development from the previous year. Either we are getting very good at what we do, word of mouth has got around or/and students are becoming more hybid in their thinking! 2 busy weekends - last week - Caroline - a musical about radio Caroline at the Wolsey in Ipswich then a sharing of the weeks residency at Snape - Tyrone Isaac Stuart with more noise was eclectic - music dance poetry text projection and basketball - this weekend had another sharing with the glorious Alex Groves and The Carice Singers 
what an amazing sound alongside the great retuning of voice with tuning forks - the work exhibited at the cut by Sarah Horton is medative - private view full of conversation brighten the corners, a day festival of free music was energizing - highlights were the full-on Sebukku and the gloriously raucous Rad Pitt hip rock with funk - brilliant.

walkingwalkingwalking

A week in France walking from Cassis to Toulon - stunning views and great weather. The terrain was fairly easy with beautiful calm, isolated beaches and gentle ridge walking. There were some tough climbs into and out of coves and up to ancient lookout points, initially semaphore and now hi-tech military spaces. These where bookended with the 'psychogeography' of walking into and out of towns through suburbs and areas where man has taken control and ownership of the land.

Extraordinary food and drink accompanied the views, with many plat du jours eaten. A part of France where il floatant is king but closely supported by the cafe gourmand. A particular shout out to the excellent food at Et Bon Vent in La Ciotat @etbonvent. Toulon had an exhibition of Claude Viallat's work which inspired some ideas around flags for the opera I have become involved in/with at Sizewell. The naval museum was devoid of pomp, focusing on the military opportunities connected to the sea. 

At the end a quick trip to Aubusson via train to Marseille then TGV to Crest and a 6-hour car journey to see an exhibition by Matthew Tyson. The town has an excellent tapestry museum with a conservation area where you can talk with the conservers and look closely at what they are up to.  It was fascinating to hear about the choices around materials and colour. I went out to see tapestries in situ in a small chateau out of town.

mindblowinganatomy

wow - another table day at Kings as part of synthetic anatomy – I can’t express how wonderful the day is – seeing the students excited about the work they have created and the work itself surpasses the previous years every time. The team I work with and the systems they use are super-efficient, marking the work and deciding prizes within the morning. The crit is always fun, this year a 2 hander both on the mic!! I think for the first time science informed art, the mind-blowing idea behind creating anatomically correct bodies from the artworld. Onto screens – Sirat – one thing leads to another, oh dear. How to Make a Killing – witty and yet procedural. Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die – so many pop culture references.