“All human experience is just one big collage.” Paolozzi
Editing my diary of Ten Days with Paolozzi – a Masteclass held in Edinburgh College of Art – I have been struck by how prescient he was of our future: of the role robots play, of the melding of man, machine and robot, how technology is changing us as beings and the way we interact with the world yet at the same time he ransacked cultures from the past re-creating them in his own images. He regarded the studio more like a kitchen or cauldron mixing stuff up and seeing what emerges at the end.
On a personal level I found my ten days with Paolozzi just as beneficial if not more so in some ways than four years at Glasgow School of Art because with Paolozzi one had a link direct to the past – he had met Braque, Arp, Giacometti, Leger, Dubuffet, Miro and Tristan Tzara in Paris.
And in a strange way the process of turning this diary into a book means I am re-living that time in Edinburgh College of Art and in a vicarious way touching these seminal figures from our artistic past.
“The golden rule is just to follow one’s obsessions.” Eduardo Paolozzi
“Paolozzi is all about the unexpected – as anyone brave enough to sign up for his Masterclass in Edinburgh this summer will quickly discover” – art critic Iain Gale. The Independent
Well, I signed up for this Masterclass in Edinburgh College of Art and he asked us to keep a diary. I did so. The other day I re-read it and realised what a remarkable insight it offered into this grand old man of British sculpture.
Oh it was not easy. We had a roller-coaster ten days when we saw Paolozzi in both his benign and belligerent moods.
Today with the ease of self-publishing both e-book and print-on-demand I have decided to put publish that diary.
But first comes the difficult bit: editing both text and images .
The city that distrusts photographers
I am great admirer of the Magnum photographers so I looked with special interest at last Sunday Observer colour magazine (17.11.13) which carried a selection of photos they had taken in Marrakech in preparation for the worlds largest photography museum opening there in two years time.
Two years ago I stayed in a riad in the medina and took photos.
Here was a rare opportunity to compare my work with these internatioanl photographers.
I would learn from them, see the opportunities I missed.
But it was not to be. The Magnum photographers had encountered an unfriendly reception from the locals and were unable, with the exception of Susan Meiselas, to access the local community who for cultural reasons are very unhappy to be photographed.
Well, for some reason I was able to win their trust and here is the result.
Drawing Together
“What on earth are they doing?” you may well ask.
Well this is the grand finale of a group of artists in the heart of Scotland “drawing together” using every kind of utensil you can think of from sweeping brushes and mops to household paint brushes, sponges and plastic balls using pure graphite and printmaking ink.
For we were all taking part in Perth Visual Arts Forum “Drawing Together” day at the Birnam Institute, Dunkeld.
Those of us who had travelled from neighbouring Stirlingshire were envious of the sheer quality, diversity and organisation of this artist led venture.
We have nothing like it in our area.
A number of international artists (Ilana Halperin, Su Grierson, Liz Kemp and Pat Law) spoke about their residencies in places as diverse and remote as the Arctic, Iceland, Japan and Kenya.
And one workshop run by Kate Downie on using the ipad as a drawing tool using an app called Paper53 will surely see the sale of ipads soar. Even the most cynical were converted at the end – here at last was an app designed for artists.
The curator is deep in conversation with a local artist as I pass through the museum café to join friends for lunch.
I can imagine the conversation. The artist is discussing a potential exhibition, the curator explains that much as she likes the artists work finances are tight and the schedule means she would not be able to offer her anything for at east two maybe three years…
And it got me thinking is this best that artists can hope for in this digital age?
The music industry which has been blown apart by the arrival of the internet: the traditional gatekeepers- record producers, music publishers, music critics no longer wield the immense power they once did.
The floodgates are open. Yes it’s far more difficult for musicians to get their voices heard and they have to be good, very good to be heard. But at least it is a level playing field.
And it got me thinking too about my own practice. I make-work, upload it to several websites and get feedback that day. For free. Instantly.
What I am doing, and others who use the Internet as art of our art practise, is to build our own “tribe” or “followers”, or if you want to be commercially minded our own “client base.”
