I have been very busy over the past week or so, and time just seems to have flown by. I am now in the stage of visiting sites in the North West, and have also visited one in the North East.
I had a very productive second visit to The Midland Hotel in Morecambe last week where I met with the artist and ice cream entrepreneur Kate Sundae. I then had a fantastic in depth tour of the hotel with Brian, their concierge, who has written a book about the history of the hotel (still to be published). You can read more about this visit on my research blog: https://lookingbackmovingforward2014.wordpress.com/2015/05/23/the-midland-hotel-morecambe/
I also took a visit to Oxford to see the museums and also Modern Art Oxford, which had a really interesting exhibition on about performance in public, with particularly insightful videos about the practices of Jeremy Deller and Serena Korda. I liked the God’s in Colour exhibition which depicted casts of Greek and Roman gods repainted in colour and patterns found by archaeological research. Their research states this was how they were originally painted, but had actually faded over time, and assumed to be white.
I also met with artist/curator Rob Carter, who I proposed to curate the ‘test bed’ exhibition at In Certain Places in September. I had worked with Rob before when he co-curated my solo show ‘Why buildings stand up/why buildings fall down’ at Malgas|Naudet in 2013 with Helen Collett. I really enjoyed working with him and appreciated his inventive to displaying works. We are also both interested in ideas of pattern, design and how they relate to changing society.
Rob and I had a chat about what the form of the exhibition in September might be. I was thinking a series of smaller sculptures and drawings, as it is a former domestic space. Rob suggested it might be a space to show the research, which might be a possibility alongside some smaller work. My research feels quite nebulous at the moment, and I am not sure which way things will develop. Rob’s situation has changed slightly as he might be moving abroad, so we are just going to have to play it by ear in the meantime.
I also went to visit The Park Hotel in Tynemouth, which was one of the few Seaside Moderne examples I could find in the North East (please correct me if I am wrong). The hotel is an impressive, heavy curved shape, and although functioning as a hotel, it is not in wonderful condition internally and externally. The interior decoration is not very sympathetic to the period of architecture. There is a modern extension built to the right of the building and this seems to act as the main source of income for the hotel, by which I understand from meeting with the very friendly manager is privately owned.
This week we also had a researcher from the University of Manchester to undertake some research about the experience of artists at Rogue. Abi Gilmore, David Gledhill and Ivan Rajkovic are writing a chapter in a new book about UK arts ecology, and how this can be shaped or assisted by experiences in Higher Education. Ivan came to interview the artists, and it was quite interesting to think and discuss with another person where and how I have gotten to where I have. It also allowed me to reflect on (perceived) mistakes I have made, such as staying in London too long and staying in teaching too long. It sometimes feels a little self-indulgent to think about yourself that much, but it can be useful to evaluate on where you are, where you have come from and where you want to go next.
