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.

learningthroughthinkingandtalking

I had a fabulous 2 days in Copenhagen at the medical museum speaking at a conference titled new methods for collorative engagement in museums with the team at Kings and the fabulous people from India, Copenhagen  and Scotland. That is apart from passport control (I so want people who voted Brexit to be identified as the stamps in my passport were counted up to determine that my days in Europe were below the allowance). More images to follow -Lots of learning through sharing good practice- can't wait to meet again soon - notes from the 2 days 

- Interested in whats next but we dont know.

- After fun is betrayal 

- If i work harder do i believe that people are going to give in?

- I'm going out on several limbs which I don't have.  

Science and its relationship to culture

Measure and control 

Object based learning and teaching 

How to engage with objects - 

Knowing nothing 

Knowledge making

Questions rather than answers

Questioning leaning to new directions

Enabling ways of engagement 

Àrt is an entry point to science (drawing)

Victims of what we know

The building design defined by what is being explored - 

Sizewell experience 

Honoring the object of enquiry 

Conflating lab and studio

Lab is less flexible - bunsen burner - gas

art space is flexible

Both spaces are other - places of alchemy 

Where does knowledge happen?

What are the similarities............

Valuing enquiry and enquiring minds

Framing the intention

Working with people/communities 

Storytelling is everything 

What is new that you will try..........

Interested in whats next but its best if we dont know.

Honoring the object of enquiry.

Stakeholders - what is at stake?

What next - inspirational disruption 

Saw some good art whilst there - liquid robots at Copenhagen Contemporary had some some interesting work, Hokasi at the design museum, Isa Genzken at Den Frie was strangely appropriatly odd and the collection at SMK – Statens Museum for Kunst is worth it 

Onto screens .... Harold and the purple crayon - so utterly charming. F1 netflix- insane as ever

itsbehindyou

a busy week at Snape – I have given 7 talks this week and 3 the week before. As ever it’s interesting to talk about the work and reflect on it. It’s fascinating to hear myself reflecting on the past year, the work and the experience of being artist in residence. There are a couple of revelations having being there so often – that the ai constructed people are all the same age and that the shadow in the switch room is the shape of Sizewell B. Onto screens – War Machine……aliens! Almost finished How to get to heaven from Belfast…..great script.

ongoinglookingforward

Looking forward to next week, at Norwich, delivering a new project to year 2 and working with my friend Liz from the National. Another week taking people to the show at Snape and with each iteration of this activity I learn more about the work I have been making over the past year. Some people want me to explicit about the reasoning behind the work, explaining as if an activist, which I am not. Applied to be part of a conference (see below) we shall see what comes of it. Sizewell C is a building without geographic specify. Its structure is like that of others across the globe, its conception and construction at no point addresses the essential Suffolk space it will reside in. The shapes designed and the industrial nature of the materials used bare no connection to the landscape, a space which was seen by its designers as a blank canvas, it was envisaged as this and it has become a non-space, a concept conceived all be it within the concept of architecture by Marc Augé. Control and ownership of this land is now tightly controlled. Fenced and patrolled the public can no longer enter, humans that do are subjected to a vast barrage of rules and systems. My first work as artist in residence was to look at maps, created by SZC and to cut out these controlled spaces, leaving negative shapes. I have made scale models derived from official plans that in the hand become toys or gifts. This was initially a way of engaging with the vast complexity and sheer scale of the project that is SZC. But I have come to understand the power of the model as an idea itself and its function within the design world as a tool of visualisation but also its awe. popped in to see Conceptual Art and Christine Kozlov at Raven Row - truly challenging wonderful work. Onto screens – the last episode of Industry left everything on the table or maybe under it.

moremoremore

A busy week – working with year 1 bioengineers at Kings introducing lateral thinking and problem solving via creative workshops. The end of the week saw Pecha kucchas from all teams on the synthetic anatomy module. As ever some wonderful projects are on the table, lots of hybrid animals, legends, humans transformed by climate catastrophe and sci fi starting points. In the middle of the whole thing there is assessment time at Norwich – hours of pouring over work and writing comments and handing out numbers. It was also interesting to meet people to escort them around the show at Snape. It is as ever informative showing people work, the conversations always lead to me finding out about what I have made and help me to make sense of what I’ve made. Managed to see a few exhibitions – Klara Hosnedlova at White cube, Monster Chetwynd and Petrit Halilaj at the Tate. Onto screens – Small Prophets is truly wonderful, Waiting for the out – stunningly oppressive with the right ending!

updatingthefence

Working on designs to cover fence at SZC, just need agreement for the go-ahead. Managed to get to my website this morning – looking good with the new additions – the work in Crest and Lowestoft, alongside the updated CV. Onto screens – Nurenberg – what is evil? Mr Burton a stunning performance from Harry Lawtey demonstrating that language is important. The latest season of Industry is a challenging watch, venal people talking in a language that is truly impenetrable. Incredible But True – Wacky/Sc-fi with an electronic penis thrown in! Lord of the Flies – brutal direction and stunning camerawork, glad I knew the ending/story or would have been traumatised.