10pm

Today was a total write off. I’ve done nothing except writhe and cowl in darkness.

Onwards with pinhole and live art; I picked up the dried prints today. They’re an improvement on the first batch but much work needs to be done to get anywhere near the standard of image I intend to achieve. I am a novice after all and the whole process it about learning from my mistakes.

Lighting is important. I seem to have pure white and pure black in the images. It’s dramatic. All detail is lost. Florescent tubes direct the eye to a central point which is not always the intended focal points of the image.

To get an idea of what is possible I am researching other artists who use pinhole and some who use it to document live art. Here’s the list so far:

Peter Richards http://www.richardspeter.co.uk/

Of course Justin Quinnell http://www.pinholephotography.org/

Jamie House http://www.pinholeparcelproject.com/

Martha Casanave http://marthacasanave.com/narratives.htm

And a handmade paper making artist using photography so exciting Helen Hiebert http://helenhiebertstudio.com/Film.html

Alyssa Salomon http://alyssasalomon.com/home.html

Okay that’s enough I’m too excited about all this I’ll never sleep.



Today I took the undeveloped pinhole images into college to develop them. It’s an exciting process seeking the unknown. I pretty much had no idea how these images would turn out and I cannot share them yet as they are stil drying. Much different to using a digital camera where you can check and take another shot if you’re not happy with the one you’ve got.

Much improvement is needed. Fluorescent lighting is an inconvenience so I am considering staging the pinhole images after the event has taken place. You can’t take chances with pinhole if you want a result.

continued from 17th

In this project I am learning that the document is vital in order to transmit the idea/event/object to an audience especially here in Poole where there is a lack of audience for contemporary art. Making the best document of the work can take much longer than the work itself. Yesterday we spend two hours working on getting the right shot for a re-enactment of Bruce Nauman’s walking in a square. Today I have spent more time uploading than making. It’s really about the tree in the forest, if nobody hears it doesn’t make a sound. Whatever I make or do in the name of art does not exist if it is not transmitted and it cannot be transmitted if it does not exist in a transmittable form. I’m an emerging artist and an art dealer/commissioner is not going to walk into my studio and discover me, at least not in Poole.

It’s not just about the location it’s also the legacy. Creating transient works and work that evolves and transforms through the process requires recording in order to exist beyond where it is now. There is a liberty in making these images. Once the image is made the art can disappear and becomes something else or be returned to its former function as a ladder or a bucket. The created image is alive and transmitting on request for whatever purpose it is required. It can be condensed down, altered, uploaded, posted, reused, re-presented in another context.



no internet so this is from 17th

Productivity is not necessarily the key to good work but it was a productive day. I got to the studio/gallery at about half ten this morning. Since Tuesday at 6pm I’ve been running a live art event where I am exploring how I document my work. I’m using a motion detecting webcam that takes still images every 3minutes or 10 seconds when it detects motion and pinhole cameras as well as minutes written on the wall as things happen. Also involved in the project is Christopher Fraser, Jonathan Shelper, Andrew Stacey and poet Peter John Cooper who got involved through a post on Facebook. I should mention that the whole event is constantly being updated by various contributors on a Facebook event.

The main purpose is to redefine the document. I work with paper mainly which in itself is a document and by processing it the traces of that processes are visible in the object. The problem is that we do not usually experience art objects first had and the process is sometimes hidden unless explained in text. The aim of this project is to consider documentation as a priority rather than an afterthought as I have done in the past. So many times I have created work and documented it badly or simply forgotten about it entirely.