saltanderosion

At a talk at the weekend an artist used the phrase 'active actors' when describing people who the artist met along a walk - no wonder the public hate us. Anyway – A busy 2 days and a night - After drinks with friends at our house a quick dash to a really friendly private view in Framingham on Friday night. Saturday saw a sauna and swim on the beach at Dunwich which were invigorating and highly recommended, then onto Spill festival in Ipswich and I was reminded of the amazing live art I've seen in previous iterations. A visit to Orford Ness to listen to the high tide sound piece based on Robert McFarland's poem on Sunday. The sound of ghostly technology as one walks in such a post war environment was interesting, yet the space itself is worth the visit. Saw a pair of porpoises on the ferry back which was excellent, along with a fabulous conversation with a warden about all the inventions that came out of the classified work there. I need to think/ask about salt in the shingle in relation to the Sizewell C build. Onto screens - Catherine Bigalows Netflix film House of Dynamite was so distressingly brilliant. 

creativescience

after a busy week I had a wonderful day at Kings, it was team building day on synthetic anatomy utilizing Edward de Bono’s 6 thinking hats. The session was a great success with the spirit of the teams well and truly built. Weird, I ran a similar session at Norwich which went down particularly badly – maybe the conclusion could be that science students are more able to think laterally than fashion students! A private view at the bookartbookshop was excellent, as ever Tanya was a fantastic host and the work by Susan Johanknecht @gefn20 and Katharine Meynell @meynellkatharine was great and the cocktails were truly powerful. Work continues on the SZC residency with meetings about community engagement and new work just pouring out. The ring is part of an ongoing idea around archaeology in the year 3000. Really enjoying the new Charlie XCX featuring Billie Eilish https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huGd4efgdPA Onto films – The substance – wow – lesson learnt – live with yourself. Napoleon – just a little bit slow to sustain interest.

lifeworklifeanda#proundparentmoment

well a busy couple of weeks and we are still in it - assessments on the Textile Design at nua was smooth with some wonderful work -  the show at nua is almost up - we have built an extraordinary series of structures, creating an environment  to show off the work to its best - I've been north working on the assessment for OCA on the MA Fine Art Course and staying in the Premier Inn in Barnsley, there was some really excellent thinking underpinning great work. The next two years graduation shows could potentially be wondrous. The Degree Show Private View at Chelsea was gloriously old school - a packed space of randomly dressed individuals all enjoying being there - some excellent textiles and of course fine art - highlight was a #proundparent moment - Bob Bicknell-Knight. meanwhile A very English Scandal https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p065sk93 was tragically funny but I spent most of the time marvelling over Hugh Grants stunning performance. I got to see Solo - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3778644/ wonderfully geeky - with something for everyone - great back story infilling alongside swashbuckling set pieces. Christopher Brett Bailey https://christopherbrettbailey.com/  was the standout session at Pulse 18 last weekend - I cannot recommend him enough - I think this was my 5th outing and he just gets better. Meanwhile Snape Festival had a new opera - a kind of brutalist Jacques Tati set in a Kafkaesque modern space with a nod to the Truman show aesthetics. The Appalachian Spring session by the BBC Symphony Orchestra with Huw Watkins on the piano and conducted by Oliver Knussen was viseral. Playing Coplands Music for a Great City, The world premiere of The Book of Ingenious Devices by Philip Cashian, Feldman Structures and Coplands joyous Appalachian Spring one was swept away. On the way to see the Pavillion next to the Serpentine Gallery ..............I bumped into Christon next to the Christo in the Serpentine which was and which is fantastic and worth seeing offline.

wedoagoodjobthankyou

Francis Alys at David Zwirner was spookily simple but layered - Children's Games #15 and Paradox of Praxis Sometimes we dream as we live & sometimes we live as we dream are stunning videos. Simon Lee Gallery has Bas Jan Ader - his falling films from the 70's seem to say something timeless. just a couple of the exhibitions I saw before getting to the private view at Camberwell which was magical - the work looked great and the atmosphere all thoughtful and joyful. I seemed to spend all night talking to wonderfully beautiful past students who are all out there getting on with it, doing well and being happy - telling us how the course was great and that we do a good job - something I realised I needed and I received presents which is always nice - thank you.

booklessness

Well a great day in London culminating in the private view at Camberwell – the show looks most excellent with some interesting inroads into the courses ongoing discussion around and engagement with book. The first show was over 20 years ago in what is now the canteen! – It’s been an exciting journey of discovery. The show titled BOOK LESS NESS is worth a visit and is on from the 16^th – 23^rd July. In the next room there is also some good printmaking on display! It was good to meet past students and to catch up with their success stories – they are all doing most great things and it felt good to be a small part of their journey. I also managed to meet some prospective students and some that are actually joining the 2014-15 cohort – the projection has started. There were a number of prizes awarded – not only money and prestige from a book art  Alumni group but opportunities in the form of a residency at The London Centre for Book Arts with Simon in Hackney http://londonbookarts.tumblr.com/ and two interventions at thebookartbookshop with Tanya http://www.bookartbookshop.com/ – I look forward to it all.

anotherandanotherandthenanother

Another week........ the VIP PV at NUA is tonight with the family and friends PV on Tuesday http://www.nua.ac.uk/degreeshows/ – the show opens on Wednesday is open till July 8th when it all comes down and we breath for another year. Cley14 PV is on Wednesday night http://www.cleycontemporaryart.org/ - there are some great events around and attached to the exhibition. 

finalshowprintandtrip

The private view at nuca last night was a full affair – with some interesting work on display http://www.nuca.ac.uk/thegallery/badegreeshows the textiles are represented well by the web site designed by year two design students Mike and Adam – check out their site and the work of textile students at http://www.nucatextiles.co.uk/ or go to norwich to see the work.

The bookmare design for print is finished and a visit to the printers on thur will be added to the itinerary during a trip to London with MA Textile Design students from nuca for new designers and the RCA. http://www.camberwell.arts.ac.uk/camberwellspace/futureexhibitions/bookmare/