I was starting to feel a bit guilty about not having posted since the birthday party. The last two and a half weeks have been (over) full and (over) exhausting. There is still a lot to do and February will be a very demanding month, however I no longer feel quite so overwhelmed and things seems to be back in perspective.
I have been sorting out some days teaching in Gothenburg at the college where I also applied for a part-time job. The artist who suggested that I apply for the job, has invited me to be involved in a student project irrespective of my application. I am very excited as it is my first teaching work in many years, it will be fascinating to see if I can do some tutorials in Swedish! My presentation of my work will be in English as there are some international students – speaking English is both a relief and a disappointment. It is impossible for me to gauge how successful my application might be. I will deal with the logistics if and when I get an offer!
In the meantime there are two other exciting opportunities coming up closer to home. On Monday Anna and I will meet with the director of independent courses at Konstfack to discuss taking over the Introduction to Artistic Research course. When I heard that Rolf (the course leader) had been appointed Research Leader at the new University of the Arts Stockholm I thought it meant that I would not be asked to do a days teaching that he had hinted at, I was not expecting him to suggest that Anna (a student from another intake of the same course) and I should take over the course! Coincidentally Anna and I are at the same studios, though we do not really know each other. We had a good meeting on Tuesday evening and I am looking forward to working with her – providing we get the go ahead on Monday.
On the last day for applying to Gothenburg, the University of the Arts Stockholm (SKH) announced ten new PhD posts. Two of these will be at Mejan and it would be foolish for me not to apply, though (again) I am not certain that my work and I are quite right for it. This is not a judgement on the quality or ambition of my practice, rather a recognition that I find it very hard to produce text that clearly and appropriately communicates the kind of research that an institution can easily invest in. But that is not going to stop me trying!! I am going to see if I can shape my thoughts about glitter as a viable and serious artistic material in to something suitable. My presentation of it as an idea for a general research project were well received by my fellow students and Rolf, however it is a different situation and they are not the ones taking the decision!
As a very welcome counterpoint to all that writing and theory there is my work in the workshops at Mejan. Possibly as a result of being split between too many different activities I had been feeling rather lost, as though I had forgotten what I was doing and why. The first casts that I made after all those weeks of preparation did not excite me as much as I thought they would. Perhaps it is the cold matt white of the plaster, or perhaps the form is becoming less interesting the further it moves away from the original object. However, a couple of days working with wax have lead to towards something that might be of interest and make the process worth continuing. I want to cast glass in half the solid form – in an open mould – this means that you get flat clear side (which is often the bottom or back) of the finished piece. What I want to present is the glass upside down (or back to front) so that the cast seems to be somehow below the surface … this ‘illusion’ appeals to me and makes some kind of reference to the (intangible) shadow ….
