cyclesreturn

A long week in France top and tailed in Nantes. This is an amazing city that has worked out that in a post-industrial world culture is the answer to having a thriving, successful city. There are wonderful, shared spaces full of art and possibilities. Most visible is Le Grand Éléphant https://www.lesmachines-nantes.fr/en/discover/the-grand-elephant/ it is actually worth actually having a ride on it. The museums and galleries are excellent - top recommendation is le unique - a best kept local secret is the plait du jour. Over the week I ate endless moules et frits, oysters, and pastries to die for. In between got a train to Pornic then cycled to Noirmoutier-en-L'lle across a tidal causeway - I do not recommend this if the red lights are flashing. Cycling through water up to the bikes crank in the dark as the tide is making the road invisible is not fun but after the 3-mile ride you do feel alive. The landscape is brutal, controlled and organised by man to industrially farm molluscs. When cycling make sure you look at the wind direction as it will determine your level of pain. Noirmoutier-en-L'lle itself is dinky, very few cars, the area appears designed for cycling around, the most challenging part of the day is working out what to eat and what wine to match it with. Managed to get some reading in - Orbital - what a gem of a book, it reminded me of Moby Dick in that it's not a book about space travel in that Moby Dick isn't all about whales. It was good to make time for reading two books that bounced off each other - both self-help books disguised as novels - The Course of Love by Alain du Bolton about relationships and Midnight Library by Matt Haig about the choices we make. They were both a little too close to feel totally comfortable but on reflection they have a lot to offer.

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Some work created as a result of my engagement with SZC is to be exhibited within a group exhibition called LAND 2. This exhibition is organised by The Art Station in Saxmundham where LAND 1 is being shown, the work will be shown in the Theatre space in Framlingham. I also have some work in a group show at Barnby Chapel as part of a SZC outreach community engagement opportunity, But most of the work will be an exhibition at Snape Maltings early next year. The exhibition will be in several buildings and consist of all the work created during the year. I am looking forward to inviting SZC staff to the opening and a potential tour of the work. Thank you to all those who have reached out to talk about their jobs, without these conversations the work would be less informed. Onto screens – Mix Tape on the BBC is beautifully sad and authentic in a good way. My oxford year was what it was always going to be.

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7 days on Cologne - living 20 mins out in a neighbourhood and cycling in along the river gives a richer understanding of place rather than living tourist like in the centre. Travelling gives interesting new perspectives, the place acting as a mirror and enabling one to see the country you live in. Returning mainly gives the feeling of embarrassed shame. The entry point to the UK is via a dirty side entrance along a sad corridor grubby with dust build up and let's not talk about toilets. Cologne appears to have no litter, very limited graffiti, full and occupied shops and a busy, thriving feeling - we stayed close to a square with 4 bakeries and 6 coffee shops and several excellent restaurants. The boat/bar/restaurants are ace and easy. Transport is clockwork, efficient and clean - cycling is a joy. Spent the time going to world class galleries and museums and the cathedral is a must see. I saw some of the most astonishing medieval work in Museee Schnutgen and Museee Ludwig but the jewel was Kolumba, the space is awesome with the overall design followed into the attention to detail of everything - even down to the amazing door handles and leather curtain. The exhibition - artist at work was sublime in it's hang and curatorial choice. Other notable spaces include, NS Documentation Centre of the City of Cologne to see Nazi’s playbook at work before we truly give our world to them, Cologne City Museum tells a great rewritten story from the perspective of residents, Museum of Applied Arts Cologne for the Bauhaus, and he signs in the Skulpturen Park Köln sculpture park are a work in themselves. 

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The show at Imprints looks good the - exhibition is called control documents and runs from 28 Juin - 27 Juillet 2025. It consists of a series of 2D and 3D prints that are my response to the data collection taking place during the preparation for the building of SZC. The imagery is created from abstract photographs created by photographing etched Perspex, layered with digital lines and imagery derived from Penrose tiling. The work is concerned with connections and systems. It was primarily conceived when I spent time listening to a Skills Development Manager working in the Employment Affairs Unit (EAU) analysing data and looking at a gannt chart that ran till 2095. The titles of the works are taken from abbreviations within SZC documents that are open to the public. There are so many and navigating them is a little like decoding contemporary art, you must spend time, but unlike abbreviations with art there are no right answers the viewer of art can bring their own meaning, maybe that's the stumbling block. There is a limited-edition artist book that accompanies the prints which is made from digital prints that are folded into a multi-functional structure. Created in an edition of 4, consisting of 16 panels, the folded structure enables several different panels to juxtapose with each other. Its construction means that the bookwork has a duality, it can stand on a surface, functioning as a sculptural form whilst operating as a hand-held book. After the private view I spent a couple of days hanging out, the Saturday market is always a fantastically French experience, and the market lunch is a wonder. Spent a couple of days around the coast in Bandol, a beautiful old-school-faded-glamourous-grandeur of a place – DH Lawrence stayed in the hotel. And then there was the travelling back. Popped into Marseille to see a couple of shows. As ever the Mucem was wonderful, the collections history, one of ethnographic was interesting to consider. There were some great shows about pattern including the meanings of tattooing and hairstyles. Frac Sud had 3 interesting shows, what the hand thinks focused on making and showed some great work from the collection. Travelling – don’t you love it…….Bandol to Marseille by train – Marseille to the airport by car – waited 5 hours to be told flight cancelled – airport to Marseille by car – stayed in hotel – Marseille to train station by car – Marseille to Paris by train – Paris to Kings cross by TGV – Kings Cross to Tottenham Hale by tube to get train – train to Bishop Stortford – train cancelled – bus replacement to Stansted – Stanstead to home by car. Next day into London to see my work in the SZC offices and a couple of shows. Taku Aramasa  at Annely Juda was fantastic, deconstructing the 3 floors of the building, exposing the history of the place.

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Two days in Malaga to catch some sun and blue sky - wonderful - managed to see some interesting work in galleries and museums in between soaking up the sun in outdoor restaurants and bars. The Centre Pompidou Málaga was excellent - 2 large exhibitions - Place-ness - artists examining the role of place in their practice. Organised in thoughtful chapters with much to read and think about in terms of concepts around public space and who owns it. Standout pieces include work by Studio 5.5, Ian Hamilton Finlay and Micea Cantor. The other show, an overview of Carlos Raul Villanueva's plans for working with artists were explored and presented superbly - the work of Jesus-Raphael Soto was awesome, with many of my current concerns engaged with and I spent a good 10 minutes with one piece - Black and white egg by Andre Bloc trying to work out how and what in terms of it's making, a masterful piece of modernism. Museo Carmen Thyssen is a glorious space, a restored moorish palace, and tremendous bookshop. Naked, the main show of nudes was good, full of excellent craftsmanship but the collection itself is fairly mad, with some great Old Master Romantic Portraits and landscapes in the 'Spanish' style. Málaga museum has loads to offer, giving a full history lesson of the place, also well displayed odd stuff. But mainly sitting, eating and drinking outside in the sun and warmth, often till 12 at night was most excellent.

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An evening at Dance East for conversation and film to celebrate Rosemary Lee’s dance for film https://www.artsadmin.co.uk/profiles/rosemary-lee/ I loved the film of Circadian and it was fun to see myself in the audience – proof I was there!! https://www.artsadmin.co.uk/project/circadian/ but I also loved her early films, Greenman in particular, especially its visual links to say somebody like Svankmajer and absurdist Northern European cinema. A weekend in Birmingham for the Fierce Festival. A feast of live art in the second city. What a blast – highlights include Ramona Nagabczyńska’s  Silenzio, Steven Cohen’s moving and semi traumatic (watching a cow get slaughtered type of trauma) put your heart under your feet... and walk! And Untitled (Nostalgia, Act 3) by Tiran Willemse. A dance piece that slowly drags you from the challenges of gender, into race and intergenerational trauma. It was great to be amongst ‘my people’ experiencing challenging, marginalised art in spaces that smelt of post-industrial dampness! Popped into the Ikon to see an interesting show about love and war, but the most interesting show was the offsite by Exodus Crooks in the exchange, just like a heist movie. Meanwhile I’ve become a fan of sauna – I love the community aspect of Hackney Community Sauna, as well as intense body experience that is the sauna/plunge pools.

weekendleaningtothemonday

A full Saturday – first off For Folks Sake private view at The Cut. A great crowd in a place transformed by wonderfully bloody-minded lighting - glorious. Its always a pleasure to turn out to see Eastern Angles, usually at a village hall somewhere in Suffolk. The Town Council building at Orford was the venue for their latest show - The Deep https://easternangles.co.uk/event/the-deep Monday at Norwich University of the Arts I dopped into a fashion lecture by Jeremy Hutchinson - having access to thinking reminded me why I work in an academic context. A really thoughtful take on the object and its role in the capitalist project we are caught in. Making an object - making meaning - object making - object meaning - the language of the image - the ritual of exorcism - creating something that hovers between object and subject - a person and a thing - shamanifacture - black Friday as a carnival of death - most excellent. Onto screens - The Instigators - slow start but a funning second half. 

ashortlonghotsummerjustpassedmebye

 

So - my dad died..........whilst was re-reading David Sedaris I came across this quote by Saul Bellow, “Losing a parent is something like driving through a plateglass window. You didn't know it was there until it shattered, and then for years to come you're picking up the pieces.” Life goes on – the Summer ‘break’ felt both huge and long and blisteringly short. Closing a life appears to be mostly about being totally sad whilst undertaking a mountain of bureaucracy. A list of activity apart from the death thing - Premadonna festival Some great panels – Bee Rowlatt so good I bought the book - really enjoyed reading One Woman Crime Wave.

Latitude - What to say that hasn't already been said - it's a washed up mainstream commercial venture, trading on past glories, peopled by angry old people decamped on large rungs sitting in folding chairs in front of the main stage, but its down the road and it would feel odd not to turn up. The sad - Duran Duran - The good - Lankum was dark and brooding - The excellent – The Darkness was like a metal tribute band (in a good way) - The most fantastic - Chic with Nile Rodgers was awesome.

6 days in Hamburg - what an easy city to live in - so green with water everywhere - we cycled all weeks on bikes hired from Happy Bikes, the bike lanes are fantastic, although waiting for lights to turn green when there is no traffic is challenging. Art - saw so much, highlights include the show Manual for Survival at Deichtor Hallen, an amazing exhibition that asks deeply searching questions about where we are today. Had to buy the catalogue. Museums - after the art, the lens you look at stuff is in relationship to issues around waste, the environmental impact of humans and displaced energy. I loved the whole of the Museum Der Arbeit, the museum of work, fantastic exhibits which are obviously still used, especially the print room. Hamburger Kunsthalle has a beautiful installation based on Casper David Friedrich, whose work is also on display. Also got to see Serra's measurement of time/seeing is believing. The Spiegel canteen in the MK is gloriously trippy. MARKK is a glorious space, and it has a 'take no prisoners' approach to the truth. A show about lithium mining, relating this to salt Peter mining, a show about Benin bronzes the museum is repatriating, erotization of The Tirol region, alongside displays which celebrate Korean culture, including a yurt, a Maori meeting building and some of the oddest masks ever. The Maritime Museum down by the truly extraordinary harbour buildings has a whole floor of mini models of boats which will blow your mind, remember for each model there is at least one full sized example out there. The odd - you must go to mini world, it will disturb and engage in equal measure, sometimes at the same time. The silencing - a visit to Neuengamme, a WW2 work camp, built to make bricks for the German war effort was so insightful. From the individual, personal stories to the disturbing diagrams. It led to an overpowering understanding of the extensive bureaucratic systems set up by the Germans to control and destroy a culture, something akin to our role in Colonialism. This was especially pertinent as race riots were going on in England at the same time, no learning seems to have taken place. The space enabled my ability to reflect on the concept of a 'war effort' for all sides.

The show at Solid Haus was interesting – each year the work chosen is thoughtful and the people nice. Highlight was rewatching The Girl Chewing Gum, 1976 by John Smith, wonderful and laugh out loud Tom, 2007 by Jack Strange. Summer meals outside with old friends has been a wonderfully supportive activity and we have had some lovely days and evening (we did have some good weather. 

Tattoos have been a physical marking of the metal turmoil. I have some new ones and existing lines have been joined up in a very symbolic recognition. Thanks again to @jim_skins for the skilful, understanding and care. 

A weak(ish) in Croatia for a wedding gave respite and acted as a bookend to the Summer. Whilst there we checked out a bay where all the huge hotels were destroyed and abandoned. It was odd to be in these spaces of pleasure, I felt that I understood the activities that took place here, unlike say a castle. I have walked in these types of spaces, and it was truly disturbing to see them in such a state. The wedding was a Bosnian/English affair with great/odd music and fantastic conversations – I loved the photographer’s choreography at the ceremony.  

It was nice to be invited by Rebecca Riess and Alexander Costello to be part of For Folk Sake https://thecut.org.uk/events/for-folks-sake-2/ and a spending afternoon was spent talking art whilst choices were made.

veniceisstillthereasever

So Venice was where and how I left it. I'm always surprised and stunned by it. A truly amazing vibrant place, when you are there you continue to ask how can it exist? When you are gone you ask will it be there next time? And then there was the art. After 4 days at the Biennale looking, listening, and smelling art one is left with a lot to think about. One thing is that it becomes increasingly clear why authoritarian regimes and police states try to silence art and culture - (this includes the present UK government). The arts repeatedly speak truth to power, pointing out the governments distain for any opposition to their self-interested greed. Colonialism, representation, hierarchical thinking, craft skills. Every two years my art education is expanded, along with inspiration for the teaching I do. There is so much to mention but some stand out moments include Julien Creuzet’s extraordinary films and textile pieces in the French Pavilion. The oddly compelling opera by Wael Shawky in the Egyptian pavilion. The image of a young dead man created by using their own blood by Theresa Margolles. The haunting organ pipes held in a forest of scaffolding in the Italian Pavilion, the delicate blown glass of Michael Joo in the Korean Pavilion that celebrated their involvement in the Biennale. The beautifully slight interplay of fruit and water power generated sound, in the Japanese Pavilion. The glorious, excess of the German Pavilion. The stoic, thoughtful professionalism displayed in John Akomfrah’s work in the British Pavilion. Giant puppets displayed unconventionally with a drumming soundtrack in the Belgium Pavilion. A truly sensual dance for two people and a conjoined shirt by Kang Seung Lee. Other dance pieces one by Isaac Chong Wai about falling and a work exploring queer histories by Ahmed Umar were mesmerizing. The beautiful dialogue between Tintoretto and dyed cloth in Uruguay Pavilion by Eduardo Cardozo. The use of repetitive mark making, weaving and knit to celebrate cultures otherwise underrepresented was everywhere. Away from the Biennale the extraordinary show by Pierre Huyghe at the Punta della Dogana is full of wait-what-how moments. He has to be one of the most interesting artists making highly relevant work at the moment. The video Untitled (Human Mask) of the monkey/human abandoned in a deserted town has to be seen to be believed and let's not forget a crab 'wearing' Brancusi's head in a fish tank with floating rocks. Then there was the joining in of the mass celebration with football fans on Sunday night after their win - flares, fireworks, drums, giant flags, chanting, megaphones, utter madness. Getting boats in the dark out to Saint Helena just because you can, and of course the boat taxi from the airport channelling James Bond, quite possibly the coolest journey I ever make. The food..........can't wait to return. 

lyingillnessandsomestuff

Starting to work on a couple of jobs – mainly Firstlight in Lowestoft Noon to Moon ‘Weather Vanes & Cardinal Points’. Research Tory Lies is quite exhausting - https://boris-johnson-lies.com/ Having spent 4 days quite ill in bed, when not actually sleeping with a cold wet towel over my head I’ve drifted in and out through a whole bunch of stuff so - Onto screens – some programs – A Man in Full – tight script with a great soundtrack – it brought Explosion – Eli Paperboy Reed into my life https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onRnUAJOF9Q Ghosts – what larks. SWAT – surprisingly its quite possibly the most inclusive and thoughtful program I’ve watched for a long time. The highly supportive characters are constantly asking each other about their feelings, checking in, when not chasing down hardened gun toting criminals! A rewatching of Sicario, the character played by  Benicio del Toro, when asked about what’s going on replies – “You’re asking me how a watch works – for now just keep an eye on the time” - chilling…. Got out to see the latest show from Eastern Angles – an amazing 2 person show but with a cast of over 20-25 characters – isn’t acting extraordinary. Also, at the Cut art centre in Halesworth an exhibition of stunning work by Richard Pinkney. The quality of printmaking is matched by the lively creativity displayed in the work.

homagetodonald

Another great day with synthetic anatomy at Kings - this week was all about recognizing and harnessing graphic communication tools - how do we communicate without words? In 11/2 hours we went from literally nothing to full table displays of environments containing characters with extensive narratives via genetics, translation and family trees. Glorious. Part of the workshop was to pay homage to a work by Donald Rodney - the film is one outcome. Popped into the curve gallery Barbican to revisit Julianknxx exhibition - choras in memory of flight. It is very moving, especially the first film, the character seemingly taken over, their body convulsing. Onto screens - I rewatched Ad Astra - so moving - the attempt at connecting with a father over a huge distance only to let it all go left me a little bereft. Zone of Interest - I was so worn by it - the endless everyday banality of living next to a concentration camp! And the sound track which feels like both background and a leading character - truly disturbing. American Fiction – a slow dark uncomfortable burn, glorious.

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Working on a new strand of work – in a very meta way I’m projecting films of my hands manipulating the articulated structures onto 3D structures that have been developed from the initial investigation. Some breathing in – London - October Gallery - El Anatsui. Brunei Gallery at SOAS - extraordinary endeavours. British Library - treasures. Barbican Curve - Julianknxx. White Cube - Gormley. Raven Row - Lutz Bacher. Spruth Mangers - Fischli & Weiss. Sadie Coles - Diago Marcon. Vitrine - Luis Enrique Zela-Koort. Hauser and Wirth - Avery Singer. Then we have Bond Street Windows - Channel and Dior. The Gormley show is exceptional, I especially loved the realignment and size of the doorways! Onto screens – The Wolfs Call – the soundtrack is stunning, the foley artists having a ball. Freelance – were all having a ball making this film.

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Spending 7 days in what was East Germany was an eye opener in so many ways. There is something about the history of East Germany that results in two modes of what feels opposing behaviour – walking the streets holding bottles of beer feels de-rigour. As does waiting endlessly at pedestrian crossings for the walking man to turn green even if there is no traffic. Something about control and release! A full 7 days of art, museums, cycling and walking - first up was Dresden – there was a Biennale that centred on the Robotron Kantine a space occupied by artists promoting it as an art space with other work in the OSTRALE – Center for Contemporary Art, which itself is a statement of intention, a place just outside the city where artists have created a collective vibe. Every piece in the show was underpinned by political positioning. Old Dresden is spectacularly excessive, the architecture category is fairy tale on acid, great use of gold leaf and Baroque doesn’t cover it. The Zwinger a totally over the top excessive experience of a building in the center of old Dresden has a beautiful display of old technical instruments including globes, maps, telescopes and tools for measuring space, stars and even melting metal. Another highlight was The German Hygiene Museum, especially the excellent cafe. There were some extraordinary objects, including a see-through woman, sculptures of defecated baby’s nappies and lots of unusual cross sections of bodies. The revelation that hygiene in this context has its roots in cultural cleansing rather than cleaning was a little shocking. The formal parks are stunning and endless, cycling through them joyous. On the way to the station, I popped into see the Folk Art collection at the Museum for Saxon Puppet Theatre Collection. It houses some of the most bizarre objects which have echoes in my childhood tv watching. The train to Leipzig was with all European trains exemplary. Leipzig has Forum Leipzig Contemporary History, a museum that starts with a newspaper detailing the death of Hitler. What we know of this part of the world is shockingly slim. The shifting politics and contextual existence are mind blowing. The contents of the museum should have been shown to every potential voter thinking about Brexit. There is a huge out of town space called Spinnerei. It was once a cotton spinning mill but is now home to Contemporary art spaces and galleries. Again, the politics of the artists were to the fore, and again another great space to eat. The Monument to the Battle of the Nations is so big. It’s difficult to document the immensity of the thing itself. A monument to the defeat of Napoleon against Germany who were supported by Russia, Prussia, Austria, and Sweden built 100 years after the event and 2 years before Germany went to war against the world. To say there is a real complexity to the history of this area of Europe is an understatement. A Museum of printing is housed in an old printing works and has so many machines. Its collection has some very old examples but focuses mainly on ones that I have worked on as a student at LCP! Ones own lived experience becomes history. There is so much to see – other highlights include Panometer GmbH is a huge gasometer that has a 360 experience, this one focused on 911 but was really an antiwar protest piece, widening its focus to all acts of terrorism. GRASSI Museum for Applied Arts is huge, and I only managed to spend time in the musical instrument rooms, truly excellent. G 2 K U N S T H A L L E: has a fantastic contemporary collection alongside temporary shows. Finally, I highly recommend cycling everywhere, German cities enable and seem to celebrate easy movement on two wheels, again lessons to learn.

tellmeaboutgreatness

Back from a short and yet somehow extended trip out of this sad Brexit filed country over to France and then Finland. Spending time with 'foreigners' is challenging. They ask questions like What is going wrong in Britain? Don't you like us anymore? With a bemused air of confusion. I find it best to start any conversation with an apology for being English. Johnson is seen as a fool child and we implicated along with him for encouraging and supporting him, there is little understanding of why we, the public put up with the constant obvious lying. Best to keep a distance from all of the nonsense but it's difficult when our very existence somehow represents all this. Meanwhile, as ever Marseille was glorious, bright blue skies and wondrous food. Dropped into the Frac which had some interesting work by Hamish Fulton but I felt was poorly hung. An old friend 60th birthday party was the focus of the break - great wine and food and dancing to music - live and recorded late into the morning. It all made for a fantastic experience - it's a reason for living. The setting up and taking down felt communal with a chance to catch up with friends from the past. Helsinki was all about the Biennale - we had tickets 2 years ago, but Government rules around Covid put a stop to that. Helsinki itself was extraordinary - clean, spacious, and full of great design, large and expansive second-hand shops, clean, wide streets, cheap efficient public transport with swimming and saunas all around. They have a truly amazing library, that felt like a utopian ideal with recording studios to hire, booths with gaming devices, a huge area that was a maker space, superb seating and full of light. Well designed, expansive tube stations transported you at speed, cleanly and on time to yet another museum or art gallery where the focus was always on celebrating Finland's rich heritage. The Biennale took place on an island, with every artist addressing the environmental impact of humans on this planet in a way that was rich and open. Why wouldn't you when you have such stunning landscape all around. Ham has a giant seagull on its entrance, a warning sign of the vicious birds beadily eyeing your food around the docks and port. Inside I saw thoughtful commissioning work, again around environmental issues. Out on a 20-minute tube ride to Esposito was the glorious EMMA which has a collection of glassware, crafts, and textiles, displayed so cleverly. The temporary show by Pierre Huyghe was equal parts distressing and all consuming. In the accompanying video interview, he talks about queerness in a way that, is at the true root of its meaning. He is making important, unsettling work that truly makes you think. A visit to Helsinki's modern fully equipped art school, which has dedicated studios for the lectures - now there's an idea, was again eye opening, again it felt like somehow England has been left behind. It was located just down the road from a partially repurposed meat market where the easy-going bars nestle with the existing meat wholesalers. Reindeer sausages and tinned bear meat anybody? I would recommend Helsinki to anyone, although there was a lot of impressive stairs so I'm unsure about access. 

And finally, did I mention that it didn't get dark! Strangely disorienting at first but you get used to it walking around at 1 in the morning with a very slight orange dusk in the air. I'm sure I will be back as I only touched the surface on what is on offer.