Went to the local park the other day and took some snaps for my project. The fine weather had brought lots of people out. You see such a wide range of people enjoying themselves; every age, colour and so many different languages spoken. The mix is easy, the aim, the pursuit of pleasure, if the wider world were as uncomplicated as that.
I firstly photographed the wrought iron cherubs that decorate the park gates and benches. As a kid, they puzzled but intrigued me, I guessed they had something to do with the council, since they appeared as part of the town crest, but was uncertain beyond that. I think I imagined that these “council angels” were guardians of some form, patrolling the park. They didn’t worry me; they appeared heavenly and benevolent. The Park Bye laws are displayed just inside the gate, the text is faded and barely legible, they are dated 1958, I learnt later that they have not changed since that year. The rules appear quaint and out of time. I doubt if anybody even bothers to read- apart from me! Do rules matter? Do people need rules to guide their lives? What are the rules that guide our lives today? The protocol of a space may not be obvious – I remember the first time we took our kids to the local Roman museum. The centre piece of the collection is a large Roman mosaic, centrally placed, a low slung rope separates it from the public. We allowed the kids the freedom to roam and explore the museum on their own. A little later we heard shouts, all at once museum attendants seemed to appear from every direction: it turned out that our kids had stepped over the mosaic rope and were doing laps of the mosaic – you live and learn.
Oh well I can finish my park map now, will add cherubs and some of the park buildings.
Visited the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square London, outside the museum we encountered the marble sculpture, "Alison Lapper Pregnant". I thought it cast a dignified, somewhat noble air, quite in keeping with the grandeur of Trafalgar Square. A testament to personal fortitude – I found it interesting and challenging, well done to all involved in that project. In the gallery we saw the Leon Kossoff drawings, these studies are based on paintings held in the National Gallery collection, Kosoff created them in situ, marking the images directly onto metal plates. What an energy , the frenzy of the ‘marks’ advanced the formation of the image; I like drawings where the process is so evident. The only one that disappointed was his drawing of Rembrandts ‘Bathing woman’. Rembrandt, by contrasting areas of light and dark focuses attention to the beauty of the bather’s skin. I felt this was missing in the Kossoff drawing. Continuing on my fleshy trail, I next encountered the Velasquez nude, “Venus at her mirror”. A famous painting, it’s a most sensual thing; I felt myself drawn towards it and I studied it up close. Some minutes later I became aware of a group of students studying me studying the picture, I felt a little embarrassed, I suppose it could have been worse – it could have been Courbet's “L'Origine du Monde”.
I suppose our sex influences the way we see and react to images. You can hardly leave your balls out in the entrance foyer of the museum.
Some of my images have returned from the printer, I am happy with the outcome. Unfortunately, on the next leg, to the framer, they somehow stained, it’s not a great disaster but it does mean having them reprinted. It’s just a little more unwanted expensive. In the main this project involves sending files off to printers (usually found on the internet), you cannot always be absolutely certain of the end result. Some efforts I have scrapped, you learn, but at a cost. The colours might not right or the substrate is unsuitable or simply that a poor job has been made of it, this is the problem when others are making the things for you. My exhibition is only a few months away, I feel quite daunted by the various things that need to be done. I will knock up a excel spreadsheet; at least I can then see the task in hand. Will sign off there, going to a Hare Krishna do tonight. Love the chanting and the food is not bad either.
