Mirrors – like this one can see the sides of the boats.It might be nice to have lots of different mirrors – only trouble is there is not much floor space … which would make hanging them down from from the beams a more practical proposition.
Or this? Boats stitched together. The stitching would fit in with the fact that the planks of Dover’s Bronze Age Boat were stitched together and the stitches have been preserved, though deliberately cut when the boat was put out of use approx. 3,500 years ago.
I am wondering how best to present the boats – the ones I get to keep anyway; alot will depend on how many I get to keep, but even so, I need a general idea of how I might install them. One line of thought is to make a big boat and put all the smaller ones in it – obviously the one in the image is not big enough so I need to experiment with folding a much larger sheet of paper. I think it will be quite a challenge. I like the idea of not starting the project with the end installation fixed in my mind though.
Have posted a project listing on a-n here under projects.
Since last blog:
– have taken down work from Norlington Road Studios – the end of the show was marked by a friendly, relaxed BBQ; huge temptation for the dog with all the yummy lamb sausages around
– completed reporting for the recent DAD projects
– restoring the “Celebration Arch”; some pom poms got taken as mementos; ended up even getting my dad involved
– been to meetings and done some mentoring
– folded some boats on camera for The Voyagers project (video to come); had fun doing it
– started to think about textile piece for The Voyagers; not being a textile artist this is quite a challenge
– been to see potential new studio space; looks fantastic, just need some people to share with; am hopeful
– updated website, have decided to change the image on the landing page regularly, say, every week
– taken part in impromptu London Biennale event – White Happy Hour in Dover; as I left the house, dressed in white, someone I know took one look and asked if I was ok!
– usual domestics at home: walking the dog, playing with the cats, cooking, doing a spot of gardening …
Clare Smith's mixed English/Chinese heritage informs her perspective on issues of identity and categorisation. Her nomadic childhood and early adulthood have meant a somewhat ambivalent relationship to place, reinforced by the sense of ambiguity that comes from her mixed identity. Smith works with drawing, print media, collage and moving image to investigate this ambivalence, with references to craft, the importance of labour and the handmade. Through her choice of materials and approaches, she creates work which attempts to create a sense of unity, an interpretation of Homi Bhabha's "Third Space" - seen as a space in which different parts can come together to challenge dominant ideas of wholeness. Collaboration is part of Smith’s practice and she is also co-founder of Dover Arts Development (DAD) together with painter, Joanna Jones. This involves working with many different artists, curation, organisation, event management, creating networks across East Kent and influencing the public realm in Dover. Clare works from a studio in Dover. She has an MA in Fine Art from Central Saint Martins and has exhibited nationally and internationally.
