Take a trip to the stars
I have been getting on with some new work, which is based on a sign I saw in Bristol for the Planetarium. It was a simple piece of signage that reads, ‘Take a trip to the stars!’ Sounds amazing doesn’t it? Followed by, ‘Ask at the information desk for more details’ which takes the shine of the whole thing. I created a red and white plastic sign on a website and should be getting this in the post in the next few days. I love the convenience of using the Internet to produce work quickly. On twitter I saw an opportunity to submit video based performance work which will be curated into an online video festival in June, follow this link for more details:
http://contemporaryperformance.com/
I have submitted my plane video and the documentation of me singing ‘It’s Now or Never’ in the Bosa Novas bar. At the moment I am playing a bit of a waiting game with another video piece, which is based on the Chinese New Year, Gala TV show. There is footage of this material on You Tube but there is a break in it so I really need to get it on DVD. When I watched the show in China there was an English computerised translation over the top it which really undermined the performances as it sounds devoid of emotion, I found this amusing and I want to re-create this particularly the magic trick sections of the show.
Film Critique
Last week I presented my plane videos at Project Space Leeds film peer critique, which runs once a month. There were three artists showing their work and we used a projector in a white cube space to view the films. It was really nice to see my video being projected larger scale instead of just seeing it on a laptop. On reflection I feel the video needs to be larger so it offers a more immersive experience. I showed two versions of the plane video firstly the fast forward version and secondly a shorter sequence in real time, which then reverses and is accompanied by a soundtrack. Some of the comments I got back were;
I prefer the real time version as I can focus on the details within the image.
There was something about the quality of the atmosphere sound in the room with the video, which complimented the piece.
Conceptually there is something about going forward and backwards, never reaching your destination, never leaving and taking off.
I found it really helpful to get feedback on my work from people I didn’t know and for me to reflect on what really interests me about the video. I have enjoyed experimenting with the sequencing and speed of the footage; although now I have re-looked at the real time full-length version I feel it is the strongest piece. When I watch the real time version it takes me right back to Hong Kong airport and reminds me why I filmed it in the first place which I simply want to share with the audience. I know that 20 minutes is a long time for a video although I feel that the piece has a hypnotic quality to it or you could look at it leave and then come back to see the end. I have had a hang up about the reflection in the video as it is filmed from behind a glass window, however the quality of the film looked good and conceptually I like this idea of the viewer looking from behind a surface at the work which you may or may not be aware of. I want to get into the studio to see how large I can scale up the video and experiment with emphasizing the atmospheric sound in the space. If you are interested in showing your work at the crit follow this link for more info:
www.projectspaceleeds.org.uk/i_can_still_see_you_%7C_events_unid7282_page.aspx
Wang Jun open studio
When I was in China I met the artist Wang Jun who has a studio at 501 Artspace http://yyyiii.blogcn.com/index.shtml#. He is now the artist in resident at the Chinese Arts Centre and he has been here for two months the residency will culminate in an open studio show in which he has sent out invitations to artists to respond to his work. His concept for the open studio project is the ‘Paper, scissor, stone’ game and he has made a rock inspired piece which I went and had a look at last week. This is a new way of making work for me and I wasn’t really sure what to do although Wang Jun asked me if I wanted to interview him about his residency. This is something I started when I was in China I recorded discussions with Chinese artists who have made work abroad as a way of creating dialogue and learning about artists working internationally, although it is my intention to publish them. On Saturday I interviewed Wang Jun and Ying Ying translated for us I found it interesting how he has constructed this process, which I feel has similarities with curating. I asked questions such as how has he found living in Manchester, what has he personally learnt, and how he plans to pull all the submitted work together for his open studio. Wang Jun suggested that the audio discussion could be an exhibition piece with the headphones hanging from the ceiling for people to listen to. Reflecting on this idea of the ‘Paper, scissor, stone’ game I have been looking through some found images and I was particularly struck by an illustration of how a prism works in the photography process. When I look at this image I think of Wang Jun projecting himself through a rock shape around a space. Wang Jun open studio preview is this Thursday, 15th April at 6pm at the Chinese Arts Centre, Thomas Street, Manchester.
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Reality of the daily routine
Since being back from China I am really appreciating the time I had there and how I did not have to worry about money and the daily routine. As I work from home it is so easy to get caught up on the Internet, fill out a funding application, putting on a load of washing, and cruising the net for paid work. I did get a cheque in the post from the BLOP event which although was for a small amount still contributed to my travel and amenity costs. I need some paid work and have been looking at shop/cafe work to more unusual jobs such as training as a mobile spray tanner. I really enjoyed working at Paperchase over the Christmas period and I do find the whole customer service experience fascinating so I feel that I am well suited to a retail environment. There were a couple of shops in town I want to apply to so that’s what I will be doing today, and tomorrow I will get my glad rags on to hand in the applications in store.
I have had the post show blues a bit after the BLOP event. It seems strange to say but I always forget how raw I feel during and after making the work especially when there are mixed messages in the performance. When I am intervening myself in a public space I feel every look and dismissal which comes my way. The most successful bit of video footage I have got is at the end when I am clapping and singing Take A Bow in the main foyer as the crowd come out of the theatre. It’s funny as at the time I felt this was the weakest performance but on reflection I feel it is the strongest. When I watch the video documentation it makes me feel uncomfortable, as I know it is a stronger piece of work because I am being openly vulnerable and unspectacular which is hard for me to accept that my weakness is my strength. This experience has shown me how important it is for me to have video documentation to reflect on after the event to learn more about the work.
