“If a cluttered desk is the sign of a cluttered mind, what is the significance of a clean desk?” Dr. Laurence J. Peter
In my final year the tutors would often remark that my studio space resembled something like a junk shop, as they gingerly stepped over drying ceramics, half finished collages and avoided the various hanging oddities; bones casts, horns, homemade musical instruments, light bulbs, drying prints… My desks pilled high with animal skins, skulls, bird’s nests, a multitude of plaster and latex test pieces, suitcases full of fabrics both exotic and tacky spilled out onto the floor mingling with the reclaimed wood I’d sourced off Glasgow’s streets.
It was often suggested that I bring the junkshop environment to my degree show installation, but for various reasons it never entirely came together that way.
This idea of exploring ‘junk shop as installation’ still rings true to me though, and I think it’s a concept certainly worth exploring now I have to time and ability to think with a clearer, more rested mind. Beginning to inquire into this idea again I’ve have conducted a few 35mm studies of the junk shops at Piazza die Ciompi.
My time here in Firenze is being wonderful for getting some breathing space after the degree show. It’s not only giving me time to deal with things I locked in a mental box in 4th year, time to morn, grieve, cry, laugh; it’s also giving me time to test out artistic endeavours without the pressure of a final grading.
And this is marvellous.
