somefilmsandsomeexhibitions

I’ve been spending time editing some films down or up to 1 minute. The plan is to have a suite of 1-minute films that explore some of the ideas I’ve been working on recently – lab gestures and digital structured spaces. Meanwhile onto screens – in the middle of Dreaming whilst black – funny and ….oh no don’t send the email! The Bricklayer just unnecessary. There are two shows in Norwich at the moment worth checking out - The Stuff of Life | The Life of Stuff at the Sainsbury Centre is interesting in terms of human ingenuity and Norwich Castle has Norwich Works: The Industrial Photography of Walter and Rita Nurnberg which were beautifully lit. There was also a great film from the 50s driving around the streets documenting the past.

sunandbrightness

A weekend in S France – Marseille is an astonishing place culturally and weather wise I have never been there when it’s not sunny, whatever the time of year. If you get the chance to go, after wandering around the fantastic Mucem building eat at Au Bout du Quai, everything there is most excellent – the soupe de poisson is a must. Got out to Crest despite the train strike – walking and the market and the design classics show at http://www.centredartdecrest.fr/home/ - one of those where you say – we had one of those and I remember that!!! gestetner printing machine anyone? Recently I’ve been to see some live theater – first the immersive – I was a Guidestar Volunteer at Saint Jude with Swap Motel theatre group where my job was to ‘speak’ to a coma patient (an AI) to wake them – not bad, although it did turn into an experience similar to an escape room. Meanwhile Gecko Theatre’s Kin was brutally beautiful (bruitifull). Gecko are an amazing company that always creates stunning work that makes you think both about the subject they are dealing with and the very concept of theatre itself. https://www.geckotheatre.com/  Onto screens – the latest series of F1 on Netflix was, as ever, madness on the highest level on every conceivable front….and……let’s not talk climate issues! 

breathingin

Time to breath in – in between meetings - some galleries in London. Anne Imhof has a gloriously cold installation throughout all 4 floors at Spruce Magers, specially loved the scratched glass panels. Veronica Ryan's thoughtful assemblies at Alison Jacques got me thinking about the cultural appropriation of materials. What is it to work with the idea of otherness in found materials? Pi works has by Fabio Lattanzi Antinori commenting on the unicorn business world of hyper capitalism using the media utilized by the very systems commented on. David Altmejd at white cube has created a gloriously nightmarish cast of characters who look as if created through physically photoshopping material. Cecilia Vicuna's installation at Tate Modern is a little like a tatty version of a school Halloween display who have been working on the theme of dream catchers. At least I got out of the rain and got to see Grass Breathing by Ana Mendirta. Whitechapel gallery has a mini archive show of live art in London Institutions - I loved a video by Louis Keidan of LADA talking - "we don't publish for money we publish for history".  "Thatcher's version of society didn't include anybody who was interesting. There is a great photo of La Ribot with a chair from a performance that has pride of place on a wall in our house! The work of Zadie Xa straddles the worlds of fashion and installation. Nevins Mahmoud's practice of recreating kids’ plastic toys in stone is an interesting one and as ever the work at Soft Opening looks hyper professional. There is great project at the museum of the home by Kadir Kara baba called One Song. Women born in another country but who live in London singing a song that reminds them of home. The videos have them waiting and then singing, sometimes simultaneously, sometimes on their own. The Korean Centre has a mixed show - the work by Ya Wen Fu that sets out to destroy itself sets up an interesting dialogue that is continued in the dance/performance piece. Onto screens - Armageddon Time was sweet but slightly underwhelming. Black Adam had lots of special effects, lots.

magicalspaces

So Venice Biennale was, as ever most excellent. I can never get over the fact that Venice is there just as I left it.... Where to start - it all begins when you get on the water taxi from the airport, arriving in this exciting way to the magical space of Venice is my favourite journey ever. Entering the canals from the choppy waters through the fortified external wall of the city and emerging in the Grand Canal is truly wondrous. Between then and getting back to the airport the time was spent with 3 days of art with time for eating and drinking after hard core experiencing. So much to say but highlights of the National pavilions for me were Marco Fusinato in the Australian just gloriously brutal. Yunchul Kim in the Korean space was awe inspiring art informed by science. The main exhibition had some beautiful paintings by Chiara Enzo and The Sex Robot video of Sidel Meineche Hansen had images of which will stay in my head for a long time. The monumental industrial narrative that was created for the Italian space was reminiscent of childhood wanderings through abandoned factories. Day two at the Arsenale is always a marathon, like joining 4 or 5 Tate's together. The historical work’s highlights were the medical models of Aletta Jacobs and Anna Coleman Ladd. The curated section had some gems that I am still thinking about – to name a few the graphic images of Beklis Ayon,  Egle Budvytyte’s video exploring our relationship to the environment, the startling paintings of Felipe Baeza and Pinaree Sanpitak, the smell of Delicy Morelos’s soil installation, Sheroanawe Hakihiiwe’s striking prints, the disturbing video by Zheng Bo with men and the forest, the giant symbols by Solange Pessoa, Joanna Piotrowska’s seemingly domestic yes other photographs, Carolyn Lazard’s reimagining of objects, Luyang’s animated future, dogs on the loose in the video of Janis Rafa, the haunting video by Diego Marcon, and there is always Barbara Kruger. There was so much textile activity on display, a way for the artists to talk of globalization, capitalism, workers’ rights, and sexual politics among other issues. The Philippines had some excellent ikat weaving alongside sound pieces, resembling the noise of the looms the work was made on. Day three is about collateral events, which gives you the opportunity to walk through the city between extraordinary venues which is always wonderful. I can’t wait till the next time.

potterswheelasturntable

Editioning the work - book as image as book.  A busy day in London – first up - in Whitechapel to check out material possibilities – lots of thinking….’African’ textile shops to think about pattern and meaning… and my next shirt material, 4D model shop unsure how they will fare with the onset of 3D printers. Theaster Gates at Whitechapel is sublime - great work that connects his past to his present through pottery. The film is just beautiful - potters wheel as turntable.....Unsure about the show at Sadie Cole HQ. Tate Britain was interesting - The Duveen galleries are full of noise, projections, lights, moving images and objects but it's a little uuuummmh. I spent time with the 'Seagram' Rothko's thinking about my younger self who had sat with them as an art student in the 80s. Whilst wandering the spaces I came across one of my all-time 'favourite' images - Donald Rodney - In the house of my father, a model made of skin grafts created whilst attempting to deal with sickle cell which went onto kill him. onto screens - Tick Tick Boom - fun and clever Get back - extraordinarily dull and yet  simultaneously mesmerizing. 

artartandmoreart

 

a good weekend in London getting to see art - an activity not undertaken for several months. Bruce Nauman at The Tate was exceptional - it is truly extraordinary to see him rip through endless ideas, almost manifesting them as quick sketches and then moving on to the next one. You can spot the individual pieces  that other artists have taken and then used to build their whole career on. The 'permanent' collections were absorbed as if I hadn't seen art before, highlights were immersing in Agnes Martin, Cildo Meireles's Babel and Dora Maurer's video work as well as the dialogue between works that were set up with the hang. Next up Goldsmiths apart from the building itself the best thing about the visit were the structures put up to deter pigeons from settling. Grace Woodcock at Castor was quite beautiful with some thoughtful ideas about the gut. Gossamer Fog had a thoughtful video and finally a shout out to the immersive disorienting, sick-inducing VR by Samuel Capps at Seager. Even managed to get to the garden center - pansy's really are quite pretty. 

laidbackliving

4 days in Copenhagen and what’s not to like - the city has clean streets with benches, green spaces and playgrounds. Travelling is a truly extraordinary integrated bike/train experience, excellent clean and punctual transportation, with beautiful highly formal/folk architecture, bold physical signage/typography, and great art galleries. The food and beer is fresh interesting and feels like it’s doing you good. Apart from hanging out we went to some stunning art spaces. Getting out to Arken was fantastic. The work of Patricia Piccinini is so other - disturbing in its ability to seem so familiar and yet not, transgressing all sorts of liminal spaces. The gallery has a great cafe overlooking the sand dunes and sea, sited art in the landscape and an aesthetically pleasingly designed power station bathed in sunshine. The exhibition at salon 57 by Bob Bicknell Knight was solid and challenged notions of privacy. https://www.facebook.com/events/1309241795892568/  We had seen the work of Jesper Just at Palais d Tokyo but it was great to see it in the formal white space of Kunsthal Charlottenborg. Good to see Der Lauf der Dinge by Fischli and Weiss. It is such a winner and always a pleasure to come across. An exhibition about Europe was painfully embarrassing as a UK citizen but it had good work by amongst others juergan Teller and the bookshop has a great selection. Getting into the flooded underground space at Cisternerne to see the work of Superflex was a real gem of a find, the space delivers an experience and is a real treat, not in this show but check out the film where they flood a Macdonald’s is alarming.  https://vimeo.com/2966602  Copenhagen Contemporary had three large shows that were obviously excessively budgeted for but at the same time they felt slightly unnecessary. It’s a huge warehouse space surrounded by more abandoned yet cleverly rethought casual spaces that appears to have no formal structure or purpose, sitting and eating out is a joy here like everywhere else, lines are blurred and everybody seems really nice and positive. Cycling everywhere is a pleasure. At night Christiania was an interesting space to hang out. Late night motorised scooter action hire around Cykelslangen was fun until a crash resulted in a sore head, ribs and heavy bleeding! We shall be back.....

breathingintobeabletobreathout

A quick jaunt around London's East End galleries took me first to The Whitechapel but £14.50 to see a deserted swimming pool seemed a little steep even of made by the wonderful by Elmgreen and Dragset. so onto Gao Gallery to see the beautiful tea soap installation by Godai Sahara. Carlos had some faintly creepy drawings (in a good way) by Stuart Middleton. Herald Street has the tiny scan-arte.com space which had the work of Fermin Jimenez Landa who creates seemingly slight interventions - my favourite is that he walked across Europe without touching a door. Ryder projects had a neon display. Maureen Paley has the glorious AA Bronson AIDS wallpaper installation.

the show at 180 The Strand is fabulous  http://180thestrand.com/ - it's a must see and you really do need around 2 - 3 hours to fully take it all in. Difficult to know what to specifically recommend as my second viewing brought new and different highlights. This time around it was Jewel by Hassan Khan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYA4MM4T-7Q  and Now eat my script by Mounira Al Solnh https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoh7ovWeKxk  real gems.

After all the digital work - I also took in the ICA  it was a desire to see something 'physical' that led me to the National Gallery to see one of my go-to pictures - the Pope by Bellini but it was taken away for the show downstairs at which I would have to pay to see a picture I have stood in front of for I don't know how many years. So after a few other pieces in the area I settled for The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian by Antonio and Piero del Pollaiuolo focusing on the detail of the cloth.

Academic activity has been full on this week, both on and offline. In terms of teaching there was group and individual tutorials, seminars, practical making workshops and presentations. The research for the upcoming presentations included a wide ranging list of subjects from positing women's underarm hair as a radical textile activity to looking at rap videos to explore the influence of ostentatious visibility and its relationship to branding, marketing and product placement. Bureaucracy Includes monitoring attendance, writing up tutorial reports, populating timetables (still), and planning and organising in general (fire fighting) and of course there is the pleasure of getting to know my new line manager on the BA Textile Design Course at Norwich - Kate Farley. All good. A busy week ahead - the two opposites of working as an artist are happening on Tuesday. My work at Goldlay Sq is being unveiled as part of the new building development in Chelmsford, https://www.instagram.com/knownknowledge/ meanwhile in Cambridge the exhibitions I created that were part of https://unfoldingthinking.blogspot.com/  are being taken down and packed away after I have given a workshop around problem solving to the new cohort of Nanotechnology PhD students.

checkcheckcheckchecking

the snow has given the opportunity to work on the digital files for the Goldlay Sq commission, checking how they interface with the plasma cutter. 

2 days in London after synthetic anatomy session I went to a few exhibitions - The Gursky at the Hayward was impressive, the images are quietly heroic but I spent a lot of time working out how much the organisation was making on ticket sales as it was very busy and at £15:00 a little steep. Which gets me to The Whitechapel - unsure why I actually went as 1, it was Mark Dion, an artist who is now making work about the work he was making - see the array of costumes, 2, it's just better to go and see actual work by ornithologists, archaeologists etc  3 I had seen all the work in other places and 4 it was also £15:00 which seemed very expensive. But at least we have the bookshop which is a London treat. I had seen some extraordinary work almost on my own for free in a number of galleries the day before which didn't help.  Lorna Simpson and Matthew Day Jackson at Hauser and Wirth were good shows - instructive and powerful. Marvin Gaye Chetwynd at Sadie Coles was messy and fun. John Riddy at Frith St Gallery has some darkly narrative photographs of brick walls that were really moving. The mixed show at Marian Goodman was so tasteful with well thought out and has some technically excellent pieces. Worth the journey to see a work by Giuseppe Penone Indistinti-confini - Talaventum a tree study which was just so moving.  meanwhile Detroit is a brutal film of brutality that brutally brutalises your mind while brutalising a cast of people from the beginning to the end 143 mins later  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5390504/?ref_=nv_sr_1 actually on real TV I've been working through Collateral, enjoying it until episode 3 where it appears to laid out all the connections and the plot in general, but we will see - maybe.

fullonvirtualheartsurgery

Work wise it's been a full on week, the process of planning permission is underway at Chelmsford so should hopefully, maybe start making work soonish.  Assessment time at NUA  is an immersive exercise and takes all sorts of energy but it's exciting to spend quality time with the work submitted. Tutorials with OCA students has been wonderfully creative. They are taking on the huge task of challenging their working patterns to create new work within a new context, testing boundaries. For my part I have been made aware of a huge range of new work and ideas alongside providing advice and support. Synthetic anatomy has seen me attempting to take on board learning 3D medical imaging software. It's a steep curve but awesome - working on the heart virtually is fairly mind blowing - can't wait to try and 3D print my efforts. The end of the f***ing world is a great road movie coming of age season - watched it all, 8 episodes in one go - yea that compelling http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6257970/ Gilbert and George at White Cube - what to say - I loved the sign warning of bad language outside, although fucking became so oblivious that it ceased to actually have the impact it can have in isolation. Its Condo in London time http://www.condocomplex.org/london/ so decided to check out a few spaces in the east end - loved the nipping from space to space festival vibe

printsaboutprintsandsomeexhibitions

3 hours in London so what to do? - popped into The British Museum - always a treat - after the obvious visit to the mummies - I checked out a truly stunning  exhibition of prints about printmaking. There are some truly stunning examples. On the way I found myself drawn to an extraordinary uniform made for the Qing army which 'performed' at the Forbidden City - rich in pattern and use of materials - one on its own is extraordinary and to think that these were worn by thousands moving in unison. There is also a great piece in a show that looks at war. Fariden Lashai has recreated Goya's disasters of war without the figures - the stark spaces are disturbing without a focus in themselves but the then the figures are projected back into the images. Blaine Southern has Sophie Jung downstairs which seems wildly out of place but good to see her work there.

Edel Assanti has an excellent show by Yoshinori Niwa which explores quietly yet forcefully the spaces between cultures. my first time in the space but I will be back. https://edelassanti.com/  Rosenfeld Porcini has a beautiful show full of beautiful objects titled combining materials. 

netflixiskingin3D

work for https://unfoldingthinking.blogspot.co.uk/ continues. Looking forward to a visit to D2W this week with students from Textile Design at NUA. I've been working with 3D printing myself so it will be great to show the students the potential of 3D printing. I intend to get to White Cube http://whitecube.com/exhibitions/fred_tomaselli_masons_yard_2017/ Marian Goodman WWW.MARIANGOODMAN.COM and Carroll / Fletcher http://www.carrollfletcher.com/exhibitions/62/overview/ recently I've been moving through Netflix sets.....the oa is truly traumatic and the last episode takes the viewer to a very dark place when the realisation of what you have been watching is made plain....or is it? https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/dec/17/the-oa-review-netflix

my crazy ex girlfriend https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crazy_Ex-Girlfriend_(TV_series)  is bonkers - I love it when the narrative is broken up by the singing and dancing which is itself subverting the very idea of the musical - the lyrics are sharp and acerbic there are so many good ones - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFUk79fBOiQ  or try https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ky-BYK-f154 onto films - Patriots Day, the second in the series by director Peter Berg of films driven by actual events - this one makes you proud to be a Bostonian, hang on I'm not!! http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4572514/?ref_=nv_sr_1 the edge of 17 is a screwball-sweet coming of age moment - very nice http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1878870/?ref_=nv_sr_1

artartartandfoodinNY

A throw of the dice will never abolish chance - 

Well - back from 10 days in New York - so much art - where to start - the big shows at the main spaces - Fischli and Weiss at The Guggenheim, Marcel Broodthaers at MOMA, Taryn Simon at the Gagosian, Laura Poitras at The Whitney, The Design Triennial on Beauty at Cooper Hewitt and In Time - rhythm of the workshop at MAD were good but real art highlights were found at more obscure gallery spaces down in the Bowery, often in between Chinese restaurants or above lumber yards, finding them and then entering is an experience in itself. An example was Marina Zurkow at bitforms gallery who showed MORE&MORE - exploring our deconstruction and disregard of the oceans with work using firewalls and code. Other excellent spaces off the beaten track were in industrial estates in Long Island include Fisher Landau Centre for Art, the museum of the moving image, The Centre for sculpture and the Noguchi museum which had a great show by Tom Sachs all spaces seemingly trying hard not to be found.

Total Top highlights were Berlinde De Bruyckere at Hauser & Wirth, I last saw her work in the Belgium Pavillion in Venice and was blown away there but the new pieces in No Life Lost were just stunning. Anri Sala at the New Museum had the mesmerising Ravel Ravel Unravel which again I had seen at a biennale but here it was shown alongside pieces with haunting self playing drums and the video piece Air cushion ride which is a moment  of serendipity captured in a truck stop. Agitprop! At the Brooklyn Museum had Desert Bloom which included a stunning set of documents by Fazal Sheikh, then theres some old favourites - it's always important to experience the power of Alfredo Jarr's Lament of the images and The Beginning of the Universe “Grosse Fatigue” by Camille Henrot is becoming a go-to piece at MOMA. The Masonic signs and symbols at The American Museum of Folk was disturbing in a ghoulish way. Walid Raad's musing on the new art museums being built in the Middle East at Paula Cooper was hauntingly beautiful. Jane Lombard was showing a fantastically intriguing body of work by James Clar, False Awakenings had some very clever work exploring the world from a place just off-kilter.

Often walking through Brooklyn's fantastically diverse communities on my way to Manhattan I used the East River ferries to get uptown - who knew travelling could be so cool - a real recommendation. Evenings were all about food - staying in Williamsbergh means everything is possible - but I also got to see De Materie, an evening of juxtaposed Dutch history at the Armory on Park Avenue an extraordinary opera by Louis Andriessen for which the term 'avant garde' was created - shipbuilding instructions, Madam Curie, Zeppelins, luminated tents, Mondrian, Boogie Woogie and a 100 sheep - whats not to like. Repercussion a world premier by Boomerang an abstractfreejazzdancedrumming evening at Dixon Place was mesmerising. Finally - I took a trip to the pencil shop featured on an episode of Freakonomics which was a real buzz and came away with some beautiful American vintage pencils! 

winnersallround

Two shows in London close together -  speaking parts at Raven Row http://www.ravenrow.org/ explores Bob Cobbing's legacy of exploring visual sound, Untitled (you fuck) the work of Michael Dean is a stunner and then there’s this is because the internet http://thisisbecausetheinternet.tumblr.com/  at the Rag Factory which has a piece by Jim and Sid which celebrates the presence of dysfunctional online tools using the tools themselves. http://jimandsid.tumblr.com/

Meanwhile ‘we’ have won an award – well our house has – well the architects Kirkham Sheidow have won the RIBA Suffolk Design Award. - https://vimeo.com/127948977 a film of the winning house – everyone should have a film made of their house!

americaisallaroundus

So New York - so much in such a short time - lots of walking between so many shows and then there are so many excellent pieces within the shows - but heres a few choice highlights of what i would recommend...

The triennial at New contemporary art museum - lisa tan - waves, oliver laric - transition, casey jane ellison - its so important to seem wonderful, antonie catala - distant feel, geumhyung jeong - fitness guide. The whole show is fairly challenging with artists tackling some big subjects of the day in very personal ways. 

The American museum of folk art has a show that celebrates the very individual world of very individual people - highlights - jean loubressanes - miniature carved stones, marie lieb's - floor textile pieces, gustav mesmer's flying machines, giuseppe versino's clothing monument. fernando oreste nannetti's statement - i am an astronautic mining engineer in the mental system says it all.

The new Whitney at the bottom of the high line is a bit of a dogs dinner of a design with lots of narrow passages that gum up with visitors and messy walkways all over its many roofs (which face the wrong way!) but the work inside is really good examples of American art - the show created from the collection had some excellent pieces candy jernigan's - found dope, hans haacke - shapolskyetal, luis camnitzer's - the value of art, carl andre's - essayonsculptureforcgossen, paul pfeifer - fragment of a crucifixion, glen ligon's - insular neon america but it was really good to be with matthew barneys cadillac piece without the crowds!!!!

Moma is always excellent - lots of old favourites and as ever its great to just be in the same room as rothko, pollock and beuys (i so love the vitrines) but i spent a lot of time with gordon matta clark's bingo - just fabulous - the two main shows  were okayish - Yoko Ono was a great overview, Bjork was a little like a great promo, although the new video/sound piece was very amazing with lots of references back to earlier work where she connects with landscape. The smaller exhibition Scenes for a New Heritage: Contemporary Art from the Collection was composed of people exploring the darker aspects of our world the contemplative and stark Alfredo Jaar’s landmark project Lament of the Images is so bleak - the contemplative yet oppressive space he created, contextualised by the initial text is a must for every thinking person - its a pity everybody is in the pop art area taking selfies and saying my 5 year old can do this!!!

The Museum of Art and Design has an excellent show focusing on the role of women in the arts and design world called pathmakers. The weaving was particularly beautiful and expertly presented, as ever with great lighting The work of Annie Albers was stunning and the work of the jewellery designer Janna Syvanoja was splendid. 

A day in the galleries around Chelsea is always special - the experience is a bit like the best degree show ever as you move from one space to another - if what your looking at doesn't grab you - you just move on. I went to around 20 shows in between breakfast and lunch at the stunningly beautiful empire diner on the corner of 22nd and10th http://empire-diner.comsome work that has stayed with me......

Ellsworth Kelly at Matthew Marks has a number of stunning large scale structured paintings that only just have the hand of the maker visible. Pretzel Gallery has deeply researched site connected with many hidden and meanings work by Keith Edimer - the recreation of hybrid flowers created for the first lady life cast in dental algenan bbbbbb on pink Tennessee marble arranged to mirror a painting by Martin Johnson Heade were extraordinary. Christopher Wool's large layered text pieces are complimented by tangled sculptural pieces at Luring Augustine. The narrative constructions of Nina Beier's crushed clothes are initially dull but the creases are all talk. More stories made by rivane nauenschwander in a show titled the fever, the sewing box and a ghost at the Tanya Bonakdar gallery had a hole in the wall from which the smell of sump oil extrudes. Mike Weiss Gallery has very clever wooden constructions by Michael Zelehoski that you have to remake in your brain as they are all flat but look 3D. Angela Bullock's light boxes at Mary Boone were really beautiful illuminating the huge space. Ming Wong's four malay stories in the show your bright future at Tina Kim gallery recreates and then deconstructs an imaginary film. Carlos Estrada-Vega's riot of coloured blocks at Margaret thatcher projects was fun. The text piece money is no object by Ricci Albenda at Andrew Kreps Gallery made me think and it's still doing that - the gramma is messing with me. I love Erin Sherreff's work especially the prints in box frames but here the huge cyanotypes along with the looped video were the highlights at Sikkema Jenkins & Co. Alberto De Michele's hazy blurred film of a group of thieves titled the wolves was very dark and intriguing at Andrew Kreps Gallery. Michael Heizer at the Gagosian has the huge metal 'text like' pieces but there were also two totally insane rock pieces that were built into the walls - so huge that I just stood and laughed at the bizarreness of them. David Zwirner's two spaces has the oddness and slightly oppressive work of Yayoi Kusama in one where you get to obliterate the inside of a small shed! But the other space has my true highlight of the whole trip Richard Serra. The work Equal was mesmerising - consisting of 8 huge/ginormous cubes that fill the space. four balanced on four, their oppressive 'bigness' fills the brain - you know this is the important element of the work whilst the patina of the core-ten tricks you into being interesting or important even it might be but you mustn't get involved in this frivolous activity - balance, weight, space, form and loss are the focus here. The process of their making is overwhelming, I left feeling elated and at one with both New York in general and the world I live in.

Meanwhile I have lots of follow up searching to undertake after my morning at SURTEXT - walking through three football pitched sized rooms of a trade fair that celebrates the dark arts of surface design, materials, textile design, contemporary furniture companies and stationary. The stands whose work caught my eye were Fredricks & Mae who make darts and arrows, the watermarked paper created by Norrbe, paper punk's folded animals, jhj design's of photographically woven socks, the lighting at tokiotokio and the acoustic wall covering by Anne Kyyro Quinn's.