So this is the last week (aaarrrgghhh!) and it's friday the 13th! No seriously everything's fine, still no bloody mirrors though! Yesterday I managed to finish the beach ball piece so I'm pretty happy and it was lucky too because the Thanet Times came to take some pictures (my mum will be so proud) they will probably make me look like an idiot but I suppose as they say any publicity is good publicity. The photographer asked me the titles of the works and I realised that I hadn't named anything, (I wasn't sure that I should) so I suppose that's something else to consider.
Today I had some serious hoovering to do after making A LOT of mess. Everything was covered in dust after I decided to give the white walls a tidy-up. In-between the manic cleaning I did get to finish my other collage so at least I'll have a diptych. Everything's looking pretty sparkling so as long as I can do something to rollercoaster corner I'm happy.
Yesterday I had a lot of visitors to the space so I didn’t really get the chance to do anything constructive. It was really hot and sunny (at last no rain!) and the beach was pretty packed. Today it’s a little over-cast and very quiet which has given me the chance to really think about what I have made so far and the space. I’m going to get some gold chains for the beachball piece and possibly steal some sand from the beach (it’s a bit of a cliche really but i am a bit desperate to get some natural elements in the space). I also decided that the disco/rollercoaster corner needs mirrors, so I’m going to keep an eye out for tacky mirrors or any plain mirrors I can arrange in the space. I want it to look spangly and fun and be vaguely reminiscent of the old Dreamland theme park.
I've been working in the space for 12 days now and it really seems to be taking shape. I seem to drift between days of extreme energy and intense production of work to days of sitting and contemplating. I've been enjoying my travels around Margate town, not really like a flaneur cos mostly I'm looking for stuff to take back to the space but sometimes it is nice just wandering around, over-hearing conversations and looking at the beach. I made a really simple piece involving some gold chain, a twig, some plastic hearts and something from a skip. I find the fragility and balance in the piece quite interesting. I also added an element to the carpet piece which I'm fairly happy with, it's kind of reminding me of a clam or oyster shell (except a Margate version). I'm planing to take a visit to the Shell Grotto which I'm very excited about, it's suppose to be beautiful and supposedly over 100 years old. Apparently the rainfall is causing havoc so I want to see it before it's too badly damaged.
I've been really busy in the space and haven't had a chance to add any new posts so this will be a long one!
I found some plastic lights from rollercoaster tracks and arranged it in a corner of the space, I really wanted a theme park element within the space so I'm pretty happy, I like the way the arrangement glows in the light.
I changed the carpet so there is only the longest piece, which means it now has a gentle curve, kind of like when children make hiding places with blankets over sofas.
I had some pink tiles I fished out of a skip and used these to create an interesting floor arrangement in a corner. I felt it was a little sparse so I added a branch from the trees next to the space and some bangles from 'Claire's accessories'. I think the people that work in the shops in Margate think I'm a bit loopy (buying 20 beachballs and 30 bangles is not very sane).
I decided to move the mirror from the carpet to the swing. I felt it wasn't particularly working and it seemed to really help the swing piece to come to life.
Finally (!) I went to buy some bulldog clips to hang the collage properly but Margate is rubbish and I ended up buying a pack of assorted multi-coloured clips reduced in WH Smith for 99p. Realising that they would not work for hanging the collage, I made circles form them and hung them on the wall. They look a little like catherine wheels or like mini versions of the big wheel that used to be in Margate. The shadows created on the walls from them look really interesting.
I started hanging the beachballs today, it looks pretty good, like a big beachball cloud. I think it definately needs something else though. The packaging from the beachballs has pictures of these lovely ladies holding the balls, I decided to cut them out and make a collage. It's kind of strange working like this, I usually make work really quickly and spontaneously, so it's nice that I seem to have chilled out a bit, I'm in less of a hurry to make stuff and am taking longer to really think about things, although saying that, I'm already thinking about what element I could add to the beachball cloud.
