Showing posts with label journey to the podium. Show all posts
Showing posts with label journey to the podium. Show all posts

Wednesday, 29 February 2012

journeytothend



the brochure for journey to the podium is out and looks good – my text contribution is below and this means that the project is almost over apart from the evaluation form which is one of today’s jobs. A link to the brochure. http://www.essexlegacy.org/about/essex-cultural-olympiad/journey-to-the-podium/
Boccia
Les Bicknell works with the book; a form that enables the dissemination of ideas to many yet simultaneously gives an individual a personal connection to those ideas through the ‘object’ held in the hand. He set out to connect the audience to the experience of Boccia and went onto make a piece with a functionality that mirrors the initial simplicity of the sport; but when handled reveals the complexity and gamesmanship which is embedded within the game play.

Wednesday, 1 February 2012

assessingstuffandmaking





assessments at camberwell yesterday – spent the day looking at some solid work which should lead to exciting outcomes for the final exhibition
some student blogs to check out
http://chrisgibsonart.blogspot.com/
http://margaret-cooter.blogspot.com/
http://karenapps.weebly.com/
then off to the jerwood space to see formed thoughts – which had some interesting work by glithero and then onto tacita deans piece for the turbine hall. the most exciting piece in the space downstairs was the stop frame motion film of the large holes they are digging for the new galleries. meanwhile at home working on the box for the firstsite large book which i think is going to be most fabulous and then tomorrow night its the private view of the journey to the podium – only have to get through watching the artist tonight and the MA briefings at nuca tomorrow.

Tuesday, 24 January 2012

bookartsnewsletter



started to document doorways lost - No. 71 February 2012 of the book arts newsletter ISSN 1754-9086 is out – published at the CFPR and edited by the wonderful Sarah Bodman – it can be accessed at http://www.bookarts.uwe.ac.uk/newspdfs/71.pdf my latest bookwork created for journey to the podium is listed on page 25.
a full day working on the large books for firstsite, thinking about the repeat symposium tomorrow at nuca, looking forward to seeing all the journey to the podium work at the Beecroft Art Gallery, Station Road, Westcliff on Sea, Essex – i’m taking the work down to be hung on thursday - the private view is on 2nd feb
meanwhile managed to see the new steve mcqueen film shame – a film so relentlessly boring that it moved into the realm of wonderful – the darkness, real time filming, and the claustrophobic way in which the lead characters life and flat is documented make it truly oppressive.



Monday, 12 December 2011

trainingandsmoking






spent Saturday in Warwick at the GB Olympic Boccia training – i was there to work with Dan and to show him the work i had done so far for journey to the podium – it was interesting to see people I have only seen on TV or through the web. Andrew Morgan, Zoe Robinson, David Smith and of course Nigel Murray – everybody was so friendly and helpful – I became really interested in Dan’s training and stretching regime – which may become another piece of work.

meanwhile I managed to add to my smoking architecture taxonomy – one that was burnt down!


Saturday, 22 October 2011

journeytotheprocess







a sharing session as part of the journey to the podium enabled the artists to present a range of interesting work but the individual process of making and thinking rather than the outcomes was more useful.
during the day i added some images to my collection of public non-designed designed spaces and a pond that I have been documenting over the year.

Wednesday, 5 October 2011

workworkworkandsomeendings







it was good to show a group of teachers the plan for the big book for firstsite at a learning to look presentation last night. the presentation included some sample pages from the contents of the 10 books which go to make up one large bookwork. the images range from a collection of mind bending optical illusions to a collection of images from my ongoing archive juxtaposed with each other - all an attempt to generate a range of possible narratives.
the feedback after the presentation that focused on the idea of a book as a tool was positive – i now have to finish the designs, get it printed and then bind it – so still a fair bit to go.
meanwhile I have finished the bookwork for journey to the podium. the folder has two sections sewn into it - one a colophon and the other a text piece written by Dan and typeset by myself that gives a real flavour of Boccia.
and finally I have in my hand a copy of the firstsite berryfield leaflet with the perforations – i am really pleased with the feel of the print and it really has gone down well.

Friday, 23 September 2011

repetitionrepetitionrepetitionrepetitionrepetition







after a long day of folding, cutting and gluing I have finished the 12 copies of boccia the bookwork i was commissioned to make as part of journey to the podium. there is a proposal to have a show which is centred around the theme of repetition for the staff who work on the BA Textile course at nuca and i am struck by the production lines i have created as part of this and seemingly every project i work on.

Wednesday, 21 September 2011

trajectoryspraydrawings



half-way through spray painting the pages of boccia - really pleased with the system I’ve created to make the work and the effect of the spray-paint on the paper makes sense in terms of the research i have done around projectiles, especially the cannon ball trajectory drawings of Leonardo da Vinci.

Friday, 9 September 2011

timetostartwork


a really good meeting with Dan at his house about journey to the podium – focusing on the bookwork and the proposed work in school - we talked a lot about rules and statistics and the oppressive nature of training most of which is embedded within the book . it was nice to meet Dan's dad after seeing him in the film made about Dan and on the tv after the Beijing olympics.
now I have Dan’s sanction on the work it’s time to start editioning the book and to start the design of the finished box/cover.

Tuesday, 14 June 2011

welcometothe21stcentury



managed to book time at college today to continue testing shapes for the journey to the podium book – building the pages in illustrator and then laser cutting the shapes for the pages has given a really precise edge and solved the folding issues that had been thrown up when i cut them by hand.

Thursday, 9 June 2011

talkingaboutthinkingaboutwritingaboutworkthathasyettohappen





at home thinking about Daniel and the journey to the podium – an image of him stretching and one about repetition – these ideas seem really important - could they become part of the bookwork.
a full day at nuca – arriving at 8.30 to go through all the year 3 portfolios, talking out work to put in an area of the retail space we are building in the gallery space as one part of the two spaces for the final show –we are having a floor to ceiling salon hang in one part of the space - there really is some wonderful work in the portfolios, this is often unrecognised by the students as they go onto develop a lot of the raw ideas into final pieces – then sitting in on the CAB where the final year awards are read out – I like the formality of the experience and something about the reading out of the name and their mark, even though they are not there, the announcement seems enough – the saying makes it real. the afternoon was spent with the MA textile design students talking about the idea of proposals and learning agreements – talking about thinking about writing about work that has yet to happen. http://www.slideshare.net/l.bicknell/learning-agreements-considering-and-formulating managed to leave at 6.00 after checking on the wood that had arrived to build the space for new designers – come and find us at stand T43 - again - the students have work hard and the work will be stunning.

Sunday, 5 June 2011

bocciamovements



as part of the journey to the podium commission i’ve been folding paper and card in an attempt to create book structures that in some way explore the movements associated with Boccia. focusing on the idea that in the game each ‘turn’ can completely change the change both what was there, what is there and could be there! so with each turn of a 'page' the contents has to move and the structure has to be constantly interchangeable with all possibilities available and yet have meaning. really enjoying this problem solving.

Tuesday, 31 May 2011

maessaytitles




spent the day looking at some of the footage from the day with Daniel - there are some interesting sequences i'm examining with a view to looking at movements associated with how Daniel plays Boccia


meanwhile - just finished reading this years ma book art dissertations - it was interesting to look at the subject matter of the essays over the years since the ma started.


1996
PERSONAL STATEMENT
Notes and Fragments: The documentation of the development of an idea
Books: Public or Private objects?
WRITTEN STATEMENT
written statement
INTERVIEWED IN THE BOOK ART STUDIO
WRITTEN STATEMENT
STATEMENT
Written Statement
A METAMORPHOSIS AN ADVENTURE INTO BOOKARTS
1997
FRAGMENTS – PROCESS – SENSORY IMPRESSIONS
- JOURNEY WITH UNPREDICTABLE END -
An Unprecedented Event
Language as Art, Typography as Language
On Medieval Manuscripts
ABOUT BOOK ARTS
SEQUENTIAL ART or (The invention that is Art)
MA BOOK ARTS
A Projection. A theory
Book arts, Architecture, Space, Place, Paper and me
Mid-century Disjunction: the Fate of Early Modern Typography and the Evolution of Artists’ Books As Traced In the Work of Johanna Drucker
books as visual form for communication
1998
Memories of my food in the 1970’s, 1980’s
ESSAY: ART AND ECOLOGY
Low Culture, High Art
DOCUMENTING THE CITY
Time
Not At Home: in search of green ornaments – a collected narrative
Halfway to Inevitability
The Booked Block
1999
Judging A Book by it’s Cover: Questions of Legitimisation, Aesthetics, and Audience. A Catalogue Essay.
MA Book Arts
ROCK & ROLL an archive
- Found Words – The use of found words and objects in Book Art
Trivial Tales About Nothing At All
STRUCTURE
GIVER OF LIFE about rituals and metaphors, about domestic and the feminine in life and art.
Aspects of Exhibitions and Collections
UNDERGROUND
Thinking about reading
The narrative of London
2000
Silent Books
Towards Process as the work and Reading as the practice
Natural Mystic & Book
Personal Experience and the Book Outcome
IF YOU WOULD LIVE HERE YOU WOULD BE HOME NOW
(Space is everywhere open…We are in this place)
NARRATIVE AND CONCRETE SYSTEMS IN BOOK ARTS; through the book structure and content
The book: a psychosocial metaphor
SQUASHED FROG
CULTURE JAMMING; Its relation To My Work As A Book Artist
War, Art, and the artist as the recorder of History.
Are the contemporary pop-up books really that much better than the Victorian ones?
MA Dissertation Book Arts 2000
THE TRIAL AND CHANGE AS AN ARTISTIC FORM OF BOOK
2001
Approaches To Depicting Space
Books as Objects
A comment on repeat through artists books and multiples, form and process.
Time and the Artist
INTRODUCTION TO DOMESTIC PHILOSOPHY ABOUT ART, AUDIENCE AND THERAPY
on coming to book arts
Knock! Knock! Bang! Bang!
Public Space: Room for Authority or Art?
The influence of psychological theories on changes in representations of childhood in art since the Romantic era
‘Focusing on Studio Practice’
Alice in Wonderland
Opening the Text: The Book as a Hypertextual Object
An investigation into the Context of My Studio Practice
Evaluating House and Home
The True Nature of Conservation: Are Conservation Ethics Commensurate with Contemporary Art Practice?
2002
An Investigation into the “Disappearance of the Book”
The gap
The efficacy of the diary format in artists’ book.
Between Author and Reader exploring the notion of the writerly and readerly within the work of Susan King and Lygia Clark
Savouring the recipe book
The library of unpublished books: From fiction to reality
Visceral Passage: Reading the Book as Body
In/Outside Space: The shifting boundary between private and public…how it structures our homes
Un Coup de Des: Musique Meditation on a Musigram
Book as Box : Box as Book
ELUSIVE/ALLUSIVE: Book Arts and the Undermining of ‘Truth’ and ‘Reality’
A comparison of, and investigation into, Michael Landy’s break Down (2001) and Susan Hiller’s After the Freud Museum (1995), with reference to the role of research within artistic practice as compared to academic models.
2003
The Precious and the Processed: What are the implications for the status of the art object and the integrity of the artistic vision within the medium of artist publishing?
Man, Earth and Presence: Self-awareness in Floor-like Piece of Work
The System of (Book) Art
Description of Life a Users Manual
The Visible Word Concrete Poetry and Book Arts
Art, Therapy and the Artist’s Book: Inspiration from Eva Hesse and Lygia Clark
2004
How could language shape the future?
The Narratives of the Cabinet of Curiosities in 16th & 17th century Europe and Contemporary Book Artist Practice
To receive or not to receive: choice, the gift, and art.
The Surveillance of Everyday Life: Appropriating City Space/Book Space
The book as a space within contemporary curating
CLOTHES ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND
Cultural shift in relationship to the significance of objects, as seen in British collections from the sixteenth century to the present day, with particular reference to the Enlightenment Exhibition at the British Museum, the Soane Museum and the Saatchi Collection.
The Visual Power of Language Language Play/Word Play
The Erotic and the Innocent: The role of the child/adolescent as seen through the role of Hans Bellmer and Dorothea Tanning
What is the role of a visual style and media in the development of the content of a visual book?
Magic Lantern
How the Viennese painter Gustav Klimt appropriated motifs from the Archaic Greek Art period in his paintings and in what way this engagement might have affected his formation as a mature artist in his career?
RELATING TO DISEASE: The Narrative Origins of Medical Artists’ Books
How do the books of Susan Hiller and Joseph Cornell differ in their presentation and revelation of an inner, emotional journey?
In relation to my own explorations of an empty three dimensional book space, how effectively have Rachel Whiteread and Johnathan Callan articulated negative space and to what extent in terms of the book?
This is me, this is you: Ubiquity of self
How do Joseph Cornell and the collaborative artists cris cheek and Kirsten Lavers (T.N.W.K.) use systems of objects to give a sense of implied narrative?
2005
An artists’ search for sense of self, time and place, reflected back through the Mother’s Gaze
Memory as a vehicle for self-exploration, or a gateway for others?
Revisiting the Sublime Through Mariele Neudecker and Alison Wilding
Exploration of inner and outer spaces in book: Through analyzing works of Richard Long and artist books of Telfer Stroke and Helen Douglas and Michael Snow’s, Cover to cover and Real Fiction, I will examine the ways of depicting spaces within book structure and spaces in nature.
When Craft Is Applied Into Book Art
Through the exhibition Body Worlds I will examine the relationship between art and science and the issue of consent in display of the human body within didactic institutions
Is the Use of Photography in Documentation of Ephemeral Art Inherently Contradictory?
What Role Does Freedom play in the work of Joseph Beuys?
Read me, Seymour! Considering Book Art worthy of analysis as ‘text’.
The influence of the “Duesseldorfer Schule” of Bernd and Hilla Becher ass seen in the works of their former students Thomas Struth, Thomas Ruff and Andreas Gursky.
Art imitating life, Life imitating art
The presence of mental anxiety in the artwork of the displaced
Portraying the Stories: Paula Rego and Illya Kabakov’s visual-storytelling practices in art context
THE ART OF NOTATION: THE MUSIC DRAWINGS OF TOM PHILLIPS
2006
Extended Artist’s Statement: Shaping the Gathered Parts
ON COLLAGE
THE WAY OF TELLING A FAMILY AS A ROUTE FOR SEEKING AN IDENTITY
Visual Approaches of Reading sound and Listening image
Visual Sequences : speeds of reading
The Embodied experience of space: Michael Snow’s Cover to cover
The Container of Fixed Truths
Words of Comfort The Book As A Fashion Item
Alter-ed books. Alter-ed narrative? Two Famous Artists compared and an Emerged One takes her position.
The Journey in Book Arts
This paper is an examination of my own practise, compared and contrasted to “The Sleepers” by Sophie Calle and Martin Newth’s “8 Hours” I intend to explore the ideas of voyeurism in my work and where my practice stands in relation to book arts.
2007
FUTURISTS The roots of the controversies
Where the Art Lies
Feeling the book: The book in the digital era
The promotion of the moral and social development of the child through fairy tales
A Study on presenting the words on paper structure
The assumption of casualness and the discovery of intensity
Absence/Presence
MUSICAL SYNAESTHESIA
How Have Ideas Of Fiction, Theatre and Literature Influenced Ilya Kabakov’s Installations; ’10 Characters’, and ‘The Artist’s Despair, of the Conspiracy Of The Untalented’? How Do These Ideas Relate To His Thoughts On ‘TotalInstallation’ and What Effect Do His Concepts and Techniques Have On My Own Artistic Practice?
Deconstruction/Construction
HOME
2008
Touching as reading – When does touch make a reader become the content of a book?-
The book as a Document – Personal Statement and the audience Exploring the notion of documenting in Artists’ books and locating their audience by portraying and critically analyzing ‘Autobiography’ and ‘Break Down Inventory’, works by Sol Lewitt and Michael Landy respectively.
History and foresight of public libraries in UK
Shaping issues of personal verus global feminist issues through evocative memories within the context of book arts and particularly in consideration of book structure.
Existence of Book and Book Art
Semiotic Guerrilla War
Hunting Rabbit
What is the difference between a book and an artist’s book? What I pay special regards in creating my project?
Migration
The Aspects of Narration-Narrative relationships with the object.
Through comparing and contrasting three artists’ books: String Book, Mirror Book and Killing Book; this essay examins the physical structure and materiality of books in order to articulate a non-verbal sensational language, which is highly concerned in my book art practice.
2009
Does Unconventionality aid or constrict book art, or any form of artwork?
SEEKING FOR FREEDOM – THE INSTALLATION ARTS OF ESCAPING FROM THE SURFACE
The transitions of daily life in living spaces andpublic spaces.
A comparative evaluation and analysis on the works of Sophie Calle, Paul Auster and Michel DeCerteau in the context of the pedestrian self belonging to the urban life journey.
How everyday objects infused with personal/sentimental value are translated into artworks of public significance.
Future tense: Steampunk in Contemporary Art and Artists’ Books.
GREEN WORDS
Using Heidegger’s ideas on the nature of time and relating them to Keith Smith’s book 91, this paper will investigate book as a form of living art/live experience.
What would be the aim as an art practitioner by giving value to the collection of the disposal, the clutter, or the remnants of the ordinary, within the context of the scarce and the abundant in both Ilya Kabakov’s work The Boat of My Life and Andy Warhol’s Time Capsules.
MULTISENSORY INTEGRATION IN INTERACTIVE MEDIA ART: PRACTICE AND EXPLORATIONS WITH INTERACTIVE MEDIA ARTWORK FOUR SELECTED ARTISTS
By using both visual and haptic methods I intend to investigate ‘Cover to Cover’ by Michael Snow and ‘In Between’ by Kate Farley. This paper will compare and look critically at the ways these artists create visual spatial experiences in their work.
HOUSE AS ART Monuments for memory – Vessels for living.
2010
Chance as an agent in art
To what extent does Marinetti resolve the apparent paradox in his work of achieving a spatial and temporal extension which allowed simultaneous communication and sensation?
Investigating connections between the objective and subjective systems of classifying found material, I will be comparing Mark Dion’s ‘Tate Thames Dig’ with Joseph Cornell’s ‘Planet Sex’ Tete Etoilee, Giuditta Pasta (dedicace), in order to establish how the ephemeral can become precious.
IN THE LIGHT, ONE IS AWAKE
Does a comparison of Walking and Sleeping by Richard Long and Seven Walks London 2004-5 by Francis Alys reveal the differences between urban and rural walking or merely the difference or similarities between two artists who walk?
Materials can speak for themselves without words in Book Arts
OUTLINE OF ROBOTIC AND MOSAIC ART IN EDUARDO PAOLOZZI ARTWORKS CHILDHOOD MEMORIES, TEXT, FORM AND IMAGE AND THEIR PHYSICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL RELATIONSHIPS
Is the future of comic Books related with that of the book?
“The availability of touch in art galleries and museums” A study of today’s defined values and a personal experience from two tactile exhibitions.
Typographic Expression in Visual and Concrete Poetry How can typography successfully convey ideas of the text and add expression to printed word in visual/concrete poetry.
Imposed Passive Participation. By contrasting specific artworks by Susan Hiller and Sophie Calle I will discuss how personal artefacts are made public in order to create and develop an intimate relationship between the artwork and the viewer elicit a personal response and place the viewer into an integral part of the work as a passive rather than a passive observer.
The Art of Book Structure – Deconstruction Book Body
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE ENERGY OF HANDWRITTEN TEXT IN COMMUNICATING EMOTIONS AND IDEAS IN VISUAL ARTS BY LOOKING AT VAN GOGH’S LETTERS, CY TWOMBLY’S DRAWINGS AND SOME CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS
2011
What else besides the body, could physical thinking look like? A discussion of the intersection between art and dance in response to Catherine Wood’s article The art of writing with people.
The book, socially collaborative art.
Reading in space – at what extent does language control the space that it is placed in or is that control dictated by the space in which the language sits?
Interpretation and Categorisation of Fired Books in Book Arts: Three Books by Yohei Nishimura.
Can and should all art be considered therapeutic to the artist and viewer, and in what ways can any therapeutic benefits be further exploited?
Destructive art and auto-destructive in contemporary art is based on the dismantling of forms to create new forms, Where, then does the value in such art lie?
Five senses of book
Journey to the centre. How do contemporary artists use the device of spots and circles as strategies to individualise elements of graphic culture within their practice?
In what ways has the use of language in art changed since the 20th century movements of Dada and Surrealism, and what is its role in contemporary art?
Silhouette Art: the aesthetics of concealedness
In what ways have time and space been expressed by artists in relation to artists books?
HOW DOES THE EVERYDAY MANIFEST IN CURRENT ART PRACTICES? TECHNOLOGY, RELATIONAL AESTHETICS AND THE URBAN LANDSCAPE
Does fashion blur the boundary of gender or not? – from French fashion to Leigh Bowery’s Art
In what ways does the writer Vladimir Nabakov and artist Joseph Cornell approach the challenge of rendering desire in their works?
Might consideration of the artists’ book prove fruitful when considering the evolution of other topics, for example happiness?
Is the repetition of daily life really boring and meaningless? Which artists convince us the repetition is both enjoyable and therapeutic?

Saturday, 28 May 2011

bocciabocciaboccialatinforball



a day spent with a world ranking Boccia player yesterday was most excellent. Dan is ranked 14th in the world and lives a life that is rigorously dedicated to bettering that http://www.bentleysboccia.com/bocciahomepage.html – i started to understand the role of strategy in relation to the absolute idea of rules. it really is quite a cruel game and i hope to have something of this in the bookwork i plan to make. thoughts on trajectory, movement of spheres, rules, repetition and motivation are in my head. i now have to look at the notes, drawings, diagrams, photographs and video made during the day to make sense of the movement within the game.

Tuesday, 19 April 2011

fairtomiddling



i am working on the text/textile/words lecture for nuca and getting very excited about the root of words or expressions we use everyday – fair to middling – a phrase my parents use often - fair and middling were terms in the cotton business for specific grades - the sequence ran from the best quality (fine), through good, fair, middling and ordinary to the least good (inferior), with a number of intermediates, one being middling fair – wondrous thing language. at the first meeting for journey to the podium yesterday it was interesting to meet all the artists and see the range of practices that the Essex CC team have chosen. it’s now time to get on with meeting the athletes and making work. meanwhile i have a book - chasing lines, in the Prospero's Library show at Studio 75 http://www.studio75.org.uk/ and my words are in a number of the publications in 'Please do not place drinks on vitrines or books' at focal point gallery in southend http://www.focalpoint.org.uk/exhibitions/current/32/. the book art blog coming out of Camberwell is showing some excellent work – i recommend looking and following some of the links http://camberwellbookarts.blogspot.com/.

Wednesday, 13 April 2011

journeytothepodium


i have been commissioned to create a piece of work for journey to the podium. http://www.essexlegacy.org/culture/cultural-projects/#Journey_to_the_Podium its a really exciting project that has teamed me up with Daniel Bentley http://www.bentleysboccia.com/- a world class medal holder. the idea is to make a piece of work about him, the sport of Boccia and the idea of being a sports person in general. i am looking forward to the first meeting with the other artists and athletes next week. as an artist much of the process of making work is invisible – Journey to the Podium is an opportunity to explore the process of thinking and making within a wider community whilst sharing ideas and skills. i see the commission as an opportunity to examine the parallels between art and sport but specifically to look at the reality of the hard work behind the image of sport alongside the idea and value of repetition. I am going to make a limited edition artist’s book that celebrates the individual as well as the idea of training and competing. the book communicates with people but through good design space can be left for the viewer, enabling them to stop and reflect. this is something that i have focused on with the books i have made in the past. the book enables ideas to be disseminated to many but at the same time as an individual you hold the book and feel a personal connection. there are many connections between the athlete and the artist. it would be interested to explore the parallels between the art exhibition and the individual public sporting performance, attempting to make the hidden process public. the idea of self motivation and dedication to getting better at something is something that i am drawn to with this commission. i am interested in both the image of their experience but also what motivates a sports person. i would want to discuss the qualities of concentration, control and commitment and how this leads to building their confidence which in turn leads to physical achievements. i work with people often exploring how and why they do what they do – discovering the systems people work within. the projects i have undertaken with teachers, dancers, musicians, engineers and planners have informed my practice and made me the artist that i am. There is a reflective experience when working within the world of others. i have never worked with athletes but they are goal orientated, dynamic and focused people - a lot like artists. i am interested to explore their discipline and desires around focused repetition, to be a part of their world.