I saw a lot of doublets in spain, matching children mainly and thought that it was an extremely odd concept to want to attempt to replicate your second child with your first. Babies travelled in post war prams decorated with voluminous bows in either pink or blue, all wearing cotton bonnets. Older children were seen wearing matching outfits with boys in coordinating cotton pale toned shorts with attached braces and girls with flounced skirts and matching hair bows.
I have decided to work on a new series of works titled ‘We’ for the show in Nottingham concerning this theme of doublets.
Almost a month has gone by since my last update, but other than a week in Bilbao, Spain, I have had my head down working.
I have been fortunate enough to be selected for Exeter Contemporary Open, have a show in Berlin, (Small Moments of Fantastic Things at Galerie Antje Wachs, Berlin) curated by Catherine Hemelryk, SALE in on tour in Liverpool where small works are available for sale, I have work selected for Salon09, Vyner Street, London and I have a show with Tracey Eastham at HMS Nottingham in October. My work for g39 is coming along nicely and I have proposed trip to Venice coming soon for research based work.
My ideas are to be developed into short films with the fantastic photographer and film maker Tobias Feltus and others and I am coordinating a collage show titled Post at Trove in Birmingham for January as well as planning an extremely exciting larger project in the near future with a group of artists that were also selected for the Escalator Arts Programme at Wysing.
This has to be the busiest summer for me to date, and despite having to force myself to be really organised, things are going well and falling into some kind of order.
The project I am working on is expanding. I have invited friends and aquaintances from facebook and beyond to whistle a tune thus:
‘Hayley Lock is inviting everyone she knows to whistle a tune for a project I am doing.The idea is that if you were a whistling shepherd, then what tune would you whistle? Please leave a tune with your name attached (or anonymous) on (0044) 1379 678084 if you are outside the UK and 01379 678084 if you are within the UK’.
The idea of this project is to feed into the sound works that I have proposed for a residency at g39 in Cardiff in September. The recordings will then be worked on in some way, so that the work may not be identified as whistling at the end. I hope more people will join in.
These soundworks will also inform new work within the evergrowing ‘Imperial Leather’ series. I will add to these when in Cardiff, but I aim to have a suitcase of goodies before I go.
My practice appears to be ever changing depending on where and what I am surrounded by. I am looking at expanding my practice in different ways in order for me to be challenged and I am fortunate to be able to do this financially through my lecturing post. However this does mean that I need to work very hard to fit all of my ideas into the day to day.
The pressures to ‘succeed’ are for me, personal. Recently on the retreat ‘Neither Here Nor There’, at Wysing Arts Centre I brought this question up through a discussion a group of us were having at the time. We decided that this was an ever evolving query of personal development, measurable only by self, maybe measured by the audience on a different level (although displaying work through an audience in some way was seen as important). I have to say that I find exposing my practice to an audience highly excruciating, yet one of those challenges I appear to partly work towards in an oddly masochistic way.
My mind is full of ideas at the moment. Regarding the near future I just need to find the clarity of thought to put them onto paper for a proposal that I have been asked to do for work leading up to 2011. This will involve the idea of travel and storytelling.
I am also putting ideas forward to working with a photographer and film maker and hopefully a writer. All exciting and demanding stuff.
My work is coming together for the residency at g39 in September. I am currently working on sounds that I recorded on my trip to London to meet a couple of Russian ladies regarding selling my work. I was fortunate to take a break at St Pauls Cathedral on my way back to Liverpool Street, where the choir were in full voice for Evensong, so I took advantage and recorded the prayers as well. I am not a religious person and so my recordings are to be converted into some kind of conversation that I am working on with Gimp from the Imperial Leather series.
My work for g39 has been building for a while now with the Imaginary story of Imperial Leather. A number of incidents have occurred that force these characters lives to cross over in curious ways. The story has just started. i have no idea as to how it will end.
In the last few days, I have started to draw influences that Gimp has found significant in his life. I have also today made new images of the kind of things he may have had on his walls as a child. The story behind Gimp and his associates is ongoing and I add to his diaries most days in order for me to understand his and their personalities more.
Tonight, I am gathering up a few of his possessions and will be recording these objects in a number of ways.
I have been away for a few days with a mix of close friends and family with the intention of doing very little other than procrastinate about work ongoing, to think.
In looking at the visitors book of our stay at Bruisyard Hall, Suffolk, the latest entry by a child staying previously to us just said ‘I have enjoyed playing in the attic with the green lady’ which confirmed my suspicions… it is, most likely, haunted. Separate to this private reading, a friend also commented that she had had the sensation of the side of her face being stroked whilst reading a book..perfect material for storytelling.
Since last week I have been rereading old books and writing down words from the 23rd and 27th pages to inform new work. These significant numbers are linked to the number 23 being seen as unlucky historically and the number 27 refers to the ‘dead at 27’ myth.
It must have been coincidence to read the ‘green lady’ insert on page 27…..
