iminabook!

I’m in a book! Pattern and Chaos in Art, Science and Everyday Life (Book) Critical Intersections and Creative Practice. By Sarah Horton and Victoria Mitchell some work I made whilst in resident at Nanotech DTC in Cambridge. Working on some 3D structures using a present – PLA that gradually blends from one colour to another – the first one looks totally alien. Saw Little Shop of Horrors at the Wolsey in Ipswich – intriguing musical that kept me interested throughout all the show tunes in that it seems to comment on capitalism/slavery. Onto screens – Land of bad –the caring might of America demonstrated through drones and expensive technology! Code 8 part 11 – superhuman powers, robots, authoritarian state – what could go wrong. The Gentleman – wonderful, glorious nonsense. Just at the beginning of Masters of the Air – truly shocking visceral, footage that depicts the utter madness of flying in a metal box into a war zone.

walkingthewalk

The books created for St Michael's C of E School in Louth have arrived – they look good, I am sure the pupils will love them, especially seeing their own names in print. ‘found’ a fantastic site to animate images – a link to one from the work created in Louth – https://sketch.metademolab.com/share/7cc2680d5bd042f7b6695b693472c9c9/wave_hello_3  but you can put any image in the portal – strange movements occur. Started the research for a commission from Norfolk and Norwich Festival - a map of a walk – questions answered - In these unsettled times we would all like some answers. On the walk, using a treasure map you will find some answers to some questions. X marks the spot. Walking the walk I have found so many starting points and general oddness, along with a rich history explained by numerous plaques – looking forward to collating and editing. Onto screens – two series – just finished season 2 of The Only Murders in the Building – the sharp and witty script has great characters written with some excellent lines. Just started Rabbit Hope – this must win awards for handbrake turn twists – my mind was blown….

editionsprayer

I have been developing imagery from ideas first started when I encountered crystallography. The shapes are derived from exploring Penrose tessellation and manipulated in illustrator. Lazer cut forms are then used as a masking device which offers unlimited possibilities, the choice after making is where the work happens, as layers are added the work becomes more complex, especially after cutting into the prints and juxtaposing the many layers. The spray-painted imagery seems to blur and move in and out of focus. The images are a series of prints, and the film is made from pages of a bookwork. Onto screens - The infernal machine – full of slowly dawning ah-ha revelatory moments. Inheritance – twisted and dark. Athena – lots of shouting and running and explosions. Bullet Train – unsure if it was intentionally knowing or if it was delusional, the former would make it hilarious….4 episodes into the frantic and fast paced The Bear and yet to breath out.

invisiblethinkingmadevisible

I’ve hung a display of some starting points, samples, and paths of investigation within my recent material development research in the foyer at NUA. Its inception derives from ‘we work everywhere’, part of a new iteration of initiatives. The plan is to demonstrate that tutors have a practice that informs the teaching we engage in with the students, one could argue that without a public facing personal practice that includes research and reflection we do our students a disservice, that what we do outside of the institutions we work in enables us to work within them. Onto screens – the wonderful yet totally stupid nonsense that is Moonfall, the slow yet focused Coda. Just started the painful and disturbing series Anatomy of a scandal.

workinginstudio

Spending time in the studio – working on the surfaces of some structural sculptural pieces. Their starting point was an agreement to be part of Firstlight Bird Box project but/and/so this input has taken the practice into interesting places.

foldedpossibilities

this week I had the opportunity to run a presentation with a Q&A for year 2 biomed students at Kings – as ever when building a presentation there is always a lot to reflect on especially when it has a sci-art focus, I think it went well, with some excellent questions. The online workshops with Leicester Print Works continues with some interesting work being made. checked out the truly glorious ‘dance’ piece how sometimes we cannot believe where we have been: Screensaver Series video essay by Janine Harrington and a host of wonderfully talented people. https://www.janineharrington.com/believe-been It was on The Place website, it is exquisite. https://www.theplace.org.uk/ Meanwhile screen - Blithe Spirit – just no.

 

mentalgymnastics

At NUA we are now moving into a blended teaching experience. There are many elements to consider and with time and due diligence they can be addressed.My latest obsession is Arboretum by David Byrne - it's a book of diagrams or mental maps that explore a range of idiosyncratic lines of mental gymnastics - there are so many starting points for great conversations. You might be interested in checking out his website - there is great thinking and commentary there http://davidbyrne.com/ meanwhile work in the studio is all about films and gifs of crushed structures.

siteformspecific

I have some images of work in a site-specific on-line exhibition at The Cut Arts Centre in Halesworth. http://newcut.org/sitespecific it's an Interesting exhibition and my work sits alongside a range of excellent people with some great work http://newcut.org/sitespecific/les-bicknell

meanwhile back in my studio I've been thinking about the fold, concealment, duality and the creation of narrative. The images are close-ups of the 17 new bookworks created for the upcoming Station show. The works are conceived as 3D objects, although to make the work a number of rules were followed, the main one being that all forms can be folded to 2D.

Although the actual work is abstract there are a number of narratives to be created in the mind of the viewer if the idea of the body and the book are considered, alongside the interrelationships between shape, structure and form in general.

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.

newroofoverourheads

It's been a full-on manual labour session rebuilding the roof of my studio - it is now very ready for work to take place. This week at Camberwell the set project was mask - mine was informed by power, control and order - all the issues that fuel my practice.

meanwhile films - Fire Saga - Will Ferrell not at his best but the costumes are a wow and the whole film was obviously made with love and care for Eurovision. The Personal History of David Copperfield had some joyfully clever film-craft moments, using projection and editing to tell the story. The Lake House https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0410297/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_1 had a nice twist after a long set of twists. Transit https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6675244/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0 had a disjointed feel that was totally at one with the narrative

selfbookwork

Focal Point Gallery in Southend have asked for a self portrait to celebrate 30 years of exhibiting - I had a show of digital images created with 3D software titled reading landscapes, work that developed from a commission for Suffolk County Council in 2000. The black and white gif is created from a number of the versions. The digital bookworks gif is made up of images from the exhibition.

meanwhile some films - lost bullet - a long drive to get to a point, plus one - a glorious leave your brain on the side romcom  https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9076562/ Irresistible - a clever punchy comment on the dysfunctional system looking at how America goes about doing politics - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9076562/

housebecomeshome

This week on the Book Art Course at Camberwell the email project has been all about mapping home - where it starts and stops - I used the video the RIBA Suffolk Design Awards made when the extension that was designed by architects Kirkham Sheidow was up for an award (we won!) thinking about my mum and the idea of a house becoming a home and then a house. Adding time lapse films made of the site of the house I grew up in was a little too much and video of the last time I saw my mum was just too sad.

Above are some screen grabs.

Irresistible by Adam Alter is an addictive book about addiction, focusing on the screens that surround us - there are some truly frightening and instructive moments that will see me altering my behaviour. http://adamalterauthor.com/irresistible

Who you think I am - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7552686/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0  Juliette Binoche is extraordinary as a woman adrift from her sense of self, developing narratives within narratives to make sense of a/the world. Truth with Binoche and Catherine Deneuve https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8323120/ explores versions of truth within collective and individual memories. Days of the Bagnold Summer was so sweet, you feel for both sides until they become at one The King of Staten Island had great moments of thoughtfulness where you are taken out of your own soul to reflect on oneself https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9686708/  Da 5 Bloods, Spike Lee's  latest is a long mixture of every film genre you have thought about and a few you haven't. there are some extraordinary moments worth watching.

foldingmodels

Time is always precious and getting time in the studio to actually make work is always a challenge due to the other stuff - workshops, projects, writing applications taking centre stage. But the last week has meant a new strand of folding, taking on board some earlier breaking of rules and thinking about transition. I now need to document how the pieces articulate and work in the hand.

meanwhile some films - The Gentlemen another outing from Guy Ritchie, more geezer action and for me Colin Farrell stands out as a coach doing the right thing (superb tracksuits). Dark Waters was a churning indictment of Capitalism's hold on the systems we trust. At the time I didn't get round to it but The Trip has it all, sun, food and acerbic wit from two middle aged men in a car. re-watched The Oceans 11, 12, 13 fun fun tricky fun, Brad and Clooney on cooky form.

oldnewgifs

speaking at Materials Research Exchange 2020 has meant that I've had to create a number of gifs created from films I made as part of residencies at Kings Robotics department and NanoDTC and a show in Cambridge with Art Language Location. It was interesting to revisit the work, choosing clips to make into endless cycles offers a moment of reflection, a strange lingering or stillness gives the chance to rethink them.

meanwhile - I've made a list of a number of non-English speaking series on Netflix and at present working through episodes of Nobody's Looking, which is fun, it's a typical 'person out of place' narrative with a twist. Pedro Almodovar's Pain and Glory was a gloriously layered film with the last scene bringing another layer of meaning to the work. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8291806/

newmodelsofbehaviour

I have been working on a number of new shapes that explore the book form within the structures. They use different qualities of paper to exploit bending, squash, deform and friction. Continuing the work with Kings within the synthetic anatomy project. It really is a glorious experience. The situation has so many positive aspects - to be valued for the creativity brought into the room and celebrated by the students who are focused and alert to new possibilities. Working in the laboratories presents an interesting number of issues but mainly one is aware of the tech support, each bench having a monitor and using a microphone means that one can talk clearly and also use it to offer each student the opportunity to talk to the whole class. They did great work, revelations all around using 'art school thinking' to explore lateral thinking and problem solving. The act of reflection was flagged up and explored - scientists using sketch books. Working with the glorious Celia Pym is such a pleasure and I'm looking forward to this week where she is leading a session using drawing as a vehicle for thinking.

managed to get back to Kara Walker at the Tate - it was good to go back and look at the work again - it's quite a monument with an impressive use of the space.

meanwhile Parasite is a glorious film of shifting genres and meanings, Never Look Away is a stunning film about art, and creativity in adversity - a real winner - don't be put off by the 3 hour subtitles, it will feel like 3 minutes https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5311542/?ref_=rvi_tt and you get to see a lecture by Joseph Beuys - most excellent. finally worked through Sex Education which continues to do good work, demonstrating some excellent lessons - if you have children watch it with them.

articulatedhands

working on some new articulated models - a couple of test films to enable reflection on their movement. meanwhile assessment is in full flow at NUA and UAL, an interesting time where the spaces are empty of students and our focus is fully on them through their work. The Goldfinch was a little all over the place - the fractured narrative made one feel a little disconnected from the whole experience. Eaten by Lions was a quirky English film about tolerance and our lack of it. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6809094/

addictedtofold

working on building new structures, thinking about movement and scaling up to take into account the body.

If you want to see what Southwold is like today check out East of Ipswich based on Michael Palin's memories of dreary holidays in English coastal towns in the 1950s! https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090990/ Eddie Murphy almost carries it off in Dolemite Is My Name but the rolling scattergun delivery of his character is so monotone that it fills the film. But the clothes are most excellent. if you want a warm glowing feeling check out the lovely storytelling in Let it Snow - spoiler - everything works out okay!

truthtruthtruthsandsometruthsaboutlies

weeks into my Annual Leave and working on timetables for next year - in-between I continue to read books that explain that we have little hope in terms of technology. Marcus Gilroy-Ware details the psychology behind social media in his book Filling the Void. It's a must read if you want to know why we really use social media, who gets to win and what it's doing to us while we do it - plot spoiler - it's all about rich and powerful people using capitalism to continue to be richer and more powerful - who knew! but his argument goes beyond the usual conspiracy theorist - the page gives you a flavour of the tone. Well - some films.... combine every scenario about immediate danger even including I am Spartacus and you have The Commuter,  Dark Crimes - who cares and Tully - cares too much and that ending......anyway working on creating covers for books made in a reflective mood after working at NanoDTC exploring sequence and handling of objects.