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.

booksforjubilant!

The books for the jubilant! project arrived - l have to say that they look great, the pages flow and the students work is something special, so proud of them. The book has captured the project wonderfully – the students loved them too. After a busy morning, first at the food museum  to look at the garden exhibition there, then onto Red Stables where the frames are now in the space waiting for the celebration and sharing at the weekend. Onto screens - STILL – A Gecko Film is truly beautiful – my eyes filled as the woman dances with her hands after playing with a blanket and the balloon sequence is gloriously mad – most excellent https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJTL5Lcag1U&t=763s&ab_channel=Gecko

 

jabjabjabbutstillitcomes

After 2 years of careful rule following, of mask wearing, of hand washing, of social distancing, of jab, jabbing, and jabbed I have had over a week, so far of covid. Whilst wiping out the whole week of work this has meant quite an impressive 4-day headache, a colossal sore throat and among other things has lead to a loss of taste, general woozyness and weakness. How did my eyes get to ache? But in the positive column a by-product of sleeping outside in the day has been the beginning of a summer tan and in the last couple of evenings an easing of symptoms but an inability to sleep has meant I have read and read. The Go-Between: A Portrait of Growing Up Between Different Worlds by Osman Yousefzada an interesting and slightly reminisce led book of a childhood that wasn't mine but returned me to another time. The parallel experience of the Asian children of my youth is exposed in a thoughtful and open way. https://www.anothermag.com/design-living/13904/the-go-between-osman-yousefzada-book-review-author-interview-202 The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World, the story of Rudolf Vrba's life by Jonathan Freeland was told with exquisite precision. What an extraordinary life. https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/books/2022/jun/08/the-escape-artist-by-jonathan-freedland-review-the-first-jews-to-escape-auschwitz Reading it has meant that I went on to watch episode 20 of World at War, reliving the fear I felt as a child, the burning faces within the opening titles. Whilst it was fascinating to see a man whose life I had just read about living and talking the death camp footage was as shocking as the day I first saw it and images of men marching through streets with burning torches, and the talk of purity and nationalism had a disturbing resonance. So, then there is the obvious move onto rereading Primo Levi's If This is a Man, more detail of pain and human degradation but also strength. Onto screens - Coda, a beautiful feel-good story, smart, clever, and funny. Bull, a brutal revenge tale with a twisting reveal, wince inducing and a little traumatizing. Meddler, a tale of loss and connection, sad and yet warming. Hustle, Adam Sandler is on a roll, fast paced and believable, especially enjoyed the travel montage. Chivalry – the tone of the series sometimes feels random, each episode feels almost separate from the next - there is a handbrake turn of a direction in episode 3 - the whole thing pervades a sense of unease and discomfort - which I think is the point. Fresh – it has comedy thriller on the box but I struggled to find laughs with the level of oppressive activity, the central premise is a believable, interesting internet niche market idea but ultimately sad and dark.

showingstuffoff

The display in the window of the bookartbookshop looks fab. It's up for a couple of weeks if you are in Hoxton. I love that the photos are a mixture of the angular structures and the buildings opposite. The pieces are from a range of contexts including NanoDTC in Cambridge, Parallel practices with the crafts council, synthetic anatomy at Kings and general studio work. New 3D printed works are shown alongside pieces created from more more traditional sculptural materials including plaster, wax, paper and cardboard. 

thethingsthatdreamsaremadeof

We'll outlaw your voices, do anything we want
We've nothing to fear from the nation
We'll kick you out your houses if you get too much
If we have to, we'll destroy your generation
We've built up a frontage and we've gained respect
Paul Weller
Standards
1977

You don't know what it is but, there's got to be more
You'd better find a way out, hey kick down that door
It's a rat trap and you've been caught.
Bob Geldof
Rat trap
1978

These works explore control, order, and manipulation.
The social structures and educational systems that supported my journey are gone. The path I took can no longer be taken by people like me.
The clash that takes place on the turntables seeks to provide a space to consider potential and possible connections.

These are the things
These are the things
The things that dreams are made of.

Dimension’s variable

Cardboard, grey board, paper; arches, tissue, Tyvek, cartridge, IKEA carpet underlay, PVA glue, paint; emulsion, spray, gold leaf, fishing line, linen thread, PLA, graphite, felt, steel rod, nylon wing nuts, titanium foil, 11 turntables, 11 record covers, 4 extension leads, 1 monitor, the NHS, welfare state, comprehensive education, the BBC, the library service, full university grant, maintenance support, housing benefit, subsidised travel, the GLC, 

Les Bicknell
2021

My installation in the exhibition - Here - @the_artstation. opening 26th June till 25th the show is going to be a real joy, there is some excellent work in the exhibition

foundandaltered

I’ve been busy in the studio the past couple of weeks playing with a found birdbox and working on a new set of images looking at the large articulated structures in rape fields. It is the beginning of assessment time in Academia – looking forward to seeing the students work all brought together for their final submission. Onto screens - The Fuck it list – fun and unnecessary but definitely fun. Now deep into Mare of Easttown, series 3 of Master of None and The Underground Railway. All good dramas but I would recommend reading the excellent book by Colson Whitehead first. My new favorite radio station - https://www.nts.live/ has an extraordinary range of eclectic music.

linkingthebooksthroughbookness

I was invited to be part of a book art project where a chain of curators chooses artists books. Each person selects a book in response to the previous person's choice - here is a link. https://www.instagram.com/respondproject/ I followed Imi Maufe, http://www.imimaufe.com/ It was my turn today – I chose The Performing Book by Janine Harrington, first seen in 2010. my text for the project is -  When looking at Imi Maufe’s response I was struck by the concept of rules and the act of subverting a system - so I thought I would continue that theme. It seems pertinent in these times to present a bookwork that you cannot touch, made up of people you can only stand near to. You do not touch this bookwork but activate it by engaging your body, recognising, and considering your own physicality. Proximity and interaction control the order and duration of the pages/dancers, spaces in time. You initially encounter a static line of people, as you move past the dancers/pages each performs a set movement – your role as audience/reader/participant is not passive, initially as a reader/viewer you become a participant/performer, interacting with the book, and developing relationships with the dance. The interrelationships and roles explored in the work are rich and multi-faceted. Janine explains the ideas behind the piece in a video created on the London Millennium Footbridge (bit.ly/the-bridge-janine) but I first saw the work at an MA Book Art Degree Show at Camberwell in 2010 (bit.ly/camberwell-janine) where I was struck by Janine’s inventiveness when it came to exploring the potential of the book. Stretching the idea of bookness. It is important to acknowledge the dancers as each performance is re-devised - Vanessa Abreu, Alexandra Baybutt, Paola di Bella, Katja Nyqvist, Lizzie Sells, Rosalie Walhfrid, Luke Birch, Anaïs Bouts, Mark Carberry, Iris Chan, Katharin Cooper, Hayley Durward, Andrew Graham, Janine Harrington, Alexandrina Hemsley, Katie Keeble, Lena Kimming, Laura Lee, Katja Nyqvist, Alice Mackenzie, Stephanie McMann, Heloise O’Donohue Lucie Sheppard, Alice Sunderland, Susan Sentler, Eleanor Sikorski, Lena Kimming, Alice Mackenzie, Christopher Matthews, Stella Papi & Elisa Vassena. You can find more about Janine’s practice https://www.janineharrington.com/ Screensaver Series and 10 Minutes are also worth checking out. Meanwhile screens – Undine https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11617052/ fantasy, myth, and reality clash. The Life Ahead https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10627584/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0 personal stories telling universal tales. Antoinette dans les Cévennes https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11013434/ Intense, bizarre and oddballish. @respondproject/  #BABE2021 #bookart #books #curate #artistsbooks #bookness #BABEartistsbooksRESPOND

newworks

http://les-recent-work.blogspot.com/2021/04/laboratory-choreography.html I have been updating my ‘recent work’ site - the books are called - nano, glove box, golden hands, magic. All the books are in an edition of 5. There are 8 photographic images within a concertina structure. 23cm x 11cm closed, 160cm open. The folded articulated structures are derived from 'laboratory choreography'. While artist in residence at Nano DTC in Cambridge I observed scientists attempting to communicate complex scientific concepts through hand gestures within the laboratory. The structures document the movements and enable the holder to recreate them. They are £12:00 each.

foldedspacesandatune

my new latest sound - check out the funk you will be unable to not move with this. an interesting session with the Columbian Embassy today - exploring and sharing creative possibilities around their orange economy. They were particularly interested in the work myself and Melissa https://melissapmurray.com/ have been engaged with at NanoDTC. I've been working on some new crushed folded structures - this has led to a number of mini gifs. meanwhile some films - The Sunlit Night - understanding the world and finding yourself through paintings How to build a girl - well written and acted with some nice animated touches but the characters are a little straightforward.

projecting2Donto3andfindinga4th

just undertaken the first of two days - working in public -  at the castle museum - within their build your own exhibition. I'm looking at bringing together various strands of my recent practice - the smocking / book structures / robotics /nano technology around folding within the idea of creating spaces that move. The work begins to explore the virtual and physical interfacing through film and structure. It's an opportunity to play whilst talking to members of the public - so far really interesting conversations with a vet, an architect, a builder of yurts and a planner. Oh yes and a man who explained that a 4 year old could of done that (the rest of the exhibition) - he was disturbingly complimentary about my work!

fractalfoldstruthandlies

a cracking evening at the New Wolsey on thursday night - I must recommend Antarctica by Chris Dobrowolski http://www.cdobo.com/  the live art piece deconstructs the idea of an art school lecture which focuses on a trip to Antarctic - and explores areas of truth and the real  - thoughts after the show swirl around whether the whole piece was an elaborate hoax. If you get a chance I would recommend delving into the meta world of the ladybird book - its a wonderful sequence in the piece.

just finished collaborating/directing the latest film around the folding pieces I'm developing - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XCkhpjg8Ms the work uses more sophisticated software to explore layers and time within the pieces. The sound comes from some work I did with for an interactive commission published as a CD-ROM it is part of INSITE, it was a collection of digital artworks commissioned by Suffolk County Council. A link to a film still from the project http://artistbooks.ning.com/profiles/blogs/second-edition-virtual-books.

shouldversuscould

10 days in the mountains around Crest has given me my annual bookfest – some recommendations from a long list....

Morrisey – an autobiography – a tour de force of layered gorgeous language for about 150 pages – until the bitterness over the trail takes over – I love his description of Sparks – “brother Russell sang in French italics with the mad urgency of someone tied to a tree”

The Cook – Wayne Macauley – detailed list of food preparation and cooking underpinned by a darkness which is allowed to seep out in the last pages.

How to get filthy rich in rising Asia - Mohsid Hamid – a deeply moving tale of change, loss and learning that touches the heart – if you liked his earlier book the reluctant fundamentalist you will really love this.

The secret History – Donna Tart – a real crossing-the-line-page-turner, deeply oppressive and claustrophobic.

The Circle – Dave Eggers – everybody is talking about this for a reason – his clarity of vision of where some of us we fear we are heading is initially charming or maybe fearful yet ultimately inevitable.

The testament of Mary – Colm Toibin – a beautiful and tender book that made me re-think my relationship to the role of the Jesus story – maybe it’s all about leaving home!

Meanwhile some images taken from my last stay at Piégros la Clastre.

talkandthebooksculpture

A really positive day working at the Colchester Institute http://www.colchester.ac.uk/courses/ma-sculptural-practicewith the MA Sculpture students – morning was a presentation around public art http://www.slideshare.net/l.bicknell/working-with-in-public-art and the afternoon was individual tutorials – it all felt good talking sculpture – discussions ranged from the abject and Kiki Smith to the sublime and Mariele Neudecker via amongst others Bachelard, Jospeh Beuys, Pitt Rivers, ritual, symbolism, skill and witchcraft! Meanwhile the book structure workshop/session at Camberwell for the MA Book Arts students followed by a bookness – what is a book presentation http://www.slideshare.net/l.bicknell/what-is-book-bookness-2013 was really interesting with cultural hiccups left right and centre which is always an interesting thing to reflect on.....language...the digital invite to the show at NUA is out.

somebooksreadingreadingreading

Back from a good break camping in the south of france with lots of reading, a couple of exhibitions and some time drawing.

Reading recommendations include the wonderful descriptive language of Hilary Mantel – Bring up the Bodies, thinking about memory with Julian Barnes – The sense of an ending, the textual assault of Will Self – My idea of fun, the violent truth by Robert Harris - Fear index and a brute of a book Stephen King – 11/22/63

Went to see the very moving permanent installation of Pierre Soulages black canvases at The Musée Fabre in Montpellier. The yearly pilgrimage to Chateau des Adhemar - Centre d'Art Contemporain in Montellimar which is a stunning space and yet the work always disappoints and the Musee de Miniature which never fails to give – how can you not like to see 12 camels in the eye of the needle! This year’s temporary show was of miniature origami.

coraclebooksatnuca

okay a show you really must see if you are interested in poetry, art, design, printing, book binding, publishing or artists books or just good ideas well executed..
Printed in Norfolk - Coracle Publications 1989 to 2012 its on till Saturday 21 April, Tuesday to Saturday, 12pm to 5pm
it really is an excellent show with a range of Coracle publications and focuses on the period during which directors, Simon Cutts (poet, artist and editor) and Erica Van Horn (artist and writer) were making books with Norfolk printers Crome and Akers in Kings Lynn, and binder, Stuart Settle in Fakenham.
The Gallery at NUCA is a a bookspace where you can touch books in your own time.
I’m looking forward to Simon's talk - The Metaphor Books on Thursday 22 March, 6pm to 7pm in Lecture Theatre, Duke Street Building, NUCA, Norwich.
www.printedinnorfolk.org.uk

smockingisevil

spent yesterday working on the ‘smocking is evil’ project and making design decisions on the ‘big book’ for firstsite, eventually the day culminated in a meeting there – i don’t think i will get over the interesting space – I have also managed to see some shows - Gareth Bayliss at Ipswich art school gallery - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-15239144 some well conceived straight-up designs for t shirts and Joni Smith at Stew in Norwich http://stewprintrooms.blogspot.com/2011/10/new-show-at-stew.html a wonderful show of insightful crafted pieces which on investigation have a richer meaning.

foldinginthegarden

with all this good weather I’ve been working in the garden on some new ways of folding that explores the very idea of the fold – informed by reading about the fold – obviously starting with Deleuze and moving onto various people who have commented on his writing. this work will form the basis of the contracted research hours part of my teaching at NUCA. I have some work in a show titled PROSPERO'S LIBRARY an exhibition of book art - it runs from April 29 - May 01 2011 set up by Gillian McIver as part of an artist’s run space called studio 75 http://www.studio75.org.uk/PROSPEROLIB.html it’s an interesting idea to be connected with.
I’ve also been asked by Angela O'Kelly a jeweller and curator of contemporary applied art to do some work for the Kilkenny Arts Festival - a festival in Southern Ireland – the idea is to ask makers who manipulate books and explore ideas of books and text in different forms and materials to read some of the books in the literature strand and to respond to them. The exhibition 'Modified Expression' will be an exhibition of transformed books or ideas from the books. I’m looking forward to getting my hands on Patrick McCabe; The Stray Sod Country and Greard Smyth; The Fullness of Time; New and Selected Poems.

crossingbordersandbooks

building some new presentations for NUCA - at the moment they are titled - weird uses for textiles stuff, text and textiles, understanding practice through classification and textiles as a mediator.

my application to an exhibition at the point in Eastleigh titled without borders has been accepted – the proposal was to show artists books - the statement - I make books and believe them to be a tool to enable the smooth crossing of borders. The book, a symbol of power and knowledge can be a vehicle to communicate directly; it is a form that is understood in these terms. But repositioning its context and redirecting its purpose challenges these very notions. The work becomes a question rather than an answer, a collaboration in the mind and hand between maker and reader/viewer. The practical aspects of the book form, of disseminating information; of making things clearer are questioned. Within the work ideas around a sense of place come from stillness and silence, a reflective experience of taking time to connection, look, listen, and consider the spaces i find myself in.

the FRAC Haute-Normandie in Rouen have contacted me for permission to digitize and display on their web site the work of mine they have in their collection which is a good thing - making the work and the idea of the book as an art form more accessible. I am looking forward to a workshop on podcasting at NUCA on Thursday – should be interesting to see how it’s done and to consider how the podcast could be utilized both in my teaching and my practice.

foldingandsewinginisolation

after a day of interviews at NUCA yesterday – effectively deciding on the fate of individuals and in turn the future of the textiles course it was interesting today to spend the day in isolation folding and sewing