Alternative platform: Jon Adams

Sunday 5th

Totally exhausted.

So spent some time in garden but unable to do much other than paint one wall. Spent some time with new camera manuals and updating this…….Deliberatly uneventful.

need space to think, hone ideas and prioritize next few months…

Saturday 4th

Spent most of day intimately involved with camera manuals in garden. Hot. I was taught how to use a camera at the age of 7-8 by my father. he was photographer in the Navy so always had a camera in his hand, from my earliest memory. My very first camera was a box Brownie which although the first film taken (at the zoo) was well exposed all the exposures were doubles as i had clicked twice on the 'lever'. My first camera was bought with a fiver i found on the way back from school when i was 9! I was taken to Portsmouth and was bought a secondhand 6×6 Agfa for £3. I used this until my first SLR a Russian Zenit. Because they were all manual i learnt the relationships between shutter speed and aperture. Even used a light meter. Since then i have been through all-sorts. plate cameras, roll film, Minolta SLRs etc. So back in the 80's i always dreamed of having a pro-amera let alone thought of 'digital'…. Had pictures published for a while but gave up in early 90s after six months as a wedding photorapher…so it nice to get back to some 'creative photography' with possibility.

Dropped emergency 3 submission off at Aspex and caught train to Hove. Had received an invite to a private view a few days before. (3rd space) The work was displayed in the basement of a Georgian townhouse in Hove, and very interesting. One of the artists was involved in one of the other Art Plus 07 awards project. Thought the 'wings' were themed very geological, intimate and moving. balmy evening, quite hot.

Train was full heading back with visitors to Brighton, so had to stand part of the way. In at 10 and spent more time with manuals……….very tired.

Friday 3rd

Long Day….

Left for London on the Victoria Train at 9:30, needed to be there at 12. Got off at East Croydon and headed to London Bridge. Fist, walked via Bough Market to Tate Modern, very full but wanted to see the Dali expo. I then needed to be in Islington, near the Barbican for a meeting with my project worker from UnLtd. (CODA project funders) Met with U and explained how far i had got with preparing. Went well and left for the Barbican Centre. Back in 1982 i had worked as a gallery attendant there. This was the first time i had been back since then. (Spent a year there, so happened to meet a few famous people who visited the gallery of theater.) It felt very strange yet uncomfortable familiar too. My most vivid memory was 'Friedrich Stowasser' sitting on a humus toilet he installed in his show. It was deserted, empty, resonant, so sat a while, then visited the gallery level and left out on that level and started for Morgate station.

Found some 'hidden' work. (see pic)

Headed over to the West end to get a lens and Flash gun for my new camera. It went smoothly and somewhat financially painful, was very hot so sat in pub with Cider n ice before leaving at 6 for Tate Britain. Late at Tate….

Meet up with J and C from Caravan Gallery.. They were very busy all the time i was there. caravan looked smashing parked out front. Headed inside and after looking around for 10-15 minutes 'left' a word 'somewhere' in there…….tried to take picture but was unsuccessful. Went back out and met with J and R from Aspex gallery. Spent time with them but had to leave at 8 to get train from Victoria home.

Very tired on train and in allot of pain. When i get tired my ME (or CFS) plays up and i feel it worse in my legs and hands. Sometimes am unable to hold pencil and draw. Takes its toll. Need a rest….. Respite on journey! There was a guy on the train who walked up n down the carriage asking for tickets, brought some humor as he wasn't the conductor but did comic 'performance'. In late….

Thursday 2nd

Spent the morning finishing the proposal for Aspex emergency 3 and printed it out, packed it in box and sealed it. Will drop it off today. Went into the university for a few hours. Just in time as it started to pour with rain hard, so gave up idea of walking to Aspex. Some 'supplies' for a future piece themed around dyslexia and genetics had arrived so went to collect them.

Left and went to meet KG about our joint project we are planning. Had creative conversations and the time passed to quickly. Left to walk home, took a few pictures on way home and collected some tea.

Spent rest of the evening setting up a new website for CODA. Community Of Dyslexic Artists, a project i have been preparing for and hope to get started in the Portsmouth area in the next few months. (Again its a googlepages website so take a look)

http://joncoda.googlepages.com/home

Wednesday 1st

Went to Artsway today…..realy good day

Will write more later as very tired…

Went to meet with PB and HS at Artsway-Scan about a project i will be doing with them next year. Really good meeting, good discussion and very creative. Lots of options am quite excited. Train over was OK, pretty hot but was there quite quickly. Discovered 2 things:

I was asked about why i left the word 'TIN@ a few weeks before, Easy- Misspelled TEN and tin is the 'anniversary' element for 10 years.

On the way back i found an 'intervention' i had left 9 months before was still in place…

At the station i was able to advise someone of the best train to catch. (Yep i know its starting to get 'sad' but am getting to know the train times and routes. The first person to use the TS word gets it.) We chatted and shared the journey back as far as Southampton. Interesting lady, interesting chat, turns out she is a choreographer from Winchester. rest of journey passed uneventfully and quick.

Spent evening looking at project examples on the Internet.