My work, reasons behind it and what happens to it.

I’ve just come back from the studio, having primed  several different items I’m working on. It is considerably warmer today, but not enough for the paint to dry quickly, so I couldn’t start on the top coat.  It’s frustrating, but at least I can move on to the smaller sections of the installation that I’ve been working on, at home.

I’ve had three more wooden houses made by one of the art handlers, so I’m really eager to get on with it.

Although it’s annoying (for want of a better word) to go off and do paid work 5 days a week, I find that I’m using those days for ‘thinking time’ and I’m suddenly finding myself in a  rare position of having a spate of ideas.

Keen to start the ball rolling on a public art work I’ve been thinking about, I wrote to a local councillor to find out best person to speak to about getting planning permission for my idea.  No response.  Not even an acknowledgement.  So 5 days later I tried councillor No 2. A better response, even if it was ‘try this person…’.

I’m still waiting.

Its not even money I’m asking for – its just finding out how to go about things in the correct manner. But anyway,  I see this as a longer term idea.  I’ll need permission, then I‘ll need to cost out a budget …and then apply for funding etc etc.  It’s not going to happen this year.

It’s a really weird feeling, deciding to have my work removed from an exhibition. Weird, but I feel a huge sense of relief about it.

Friends on facebook will already know about the WCAF saga, but for the sake of others (and a record for myself) I’ll go through the details.

Due to time restrictions, I haven’t been able to get across to Warrington since the exhibition (the Warrington Contemporary arts festival) opened on 3 October.  I was going to go next week.

But then, several people, who had seen the exhibition started to contact me, alarmed at the way my work had been exhibited.

I searched for images from the PV night and found this…

I don’t think I could describe the shock. It looked awful, the plinth was clearly far too small and really, it would only take a child to grab the truck and the whole thing would fall off. (Plus, it was back to front….. but that’s just an irritation) I mean, who would look at that and think it was OK?

It was difficult to get in touch with the gallery as no one responded to the original address on the email. I tweeted them and got a response to try a different email address. I did this, but no one responded to that either.

I’ll just add here that I prefer to email as its easier to keep a record of what was said ( past experience and all that)

Then I was sent 4 images of my work by the Interpretation & Design Officer at the gallery. He thought that’s what I was requesting. On my reply, he asked me to send the original email again ( this was the 3rd time I’d sent it)

I’d deliberately kept my email very light, thanking them for showing my work and suggesting that perhaps a board could be placed under the piece to support it.  I would be more than happy to pay for this board.

In response to this, I received  an email off someone more ‘senior’ at the gallery , stating that my work should only have been accepted if I had provided a large plinth.

Oh OK, so its my fault apparently :-(

I’m just accepting that this was an open exhibition, they didn’t have enough plinths – or maybe they just accepted too many works?  It doesn’t matter.  I just want my work out.

I don’t want to enter any more ‘opens’, it just isn’t worth it.

It took a long time to adapt, but I’m getting more and more into the studio routine now.

I’m finding that even if I only spend 3 ½ hours in the studio, its 3 ½ hours of solid work – more than twice as much as I would achieve at home.  Not having the distractions helps enormously.

It is starting to get bitterly cold in there now though, so it would be hard to spend all day working.  There is heating, but that’s additional to the studio rent, so we’re all trying to last out as long as possible.

I’ve been thinking a lot about housing and its insecurities in my work recently. It’s on the news, it’s around people I know….  it’s a worry to many.  The title of  ‘While I move away’  (see image above) was taken from the Killers song, I don’t know if they intended the lyrics to be read in the way I saw them, but I thought they were quite poignant.

‘ Last time I said I was in control
I had 25 debts and we both know
When you come back now, you’ll see my face
I said 25 debts and we both pray

While I move away, hard times don’t come until tomorrow
These eyes don’t see, take your skin off when you’re listen to me
Move away, hard times don’t come until….’

Although my work is predominately about the life cycle of materials, I do keep jumping back to this security of housing for some reason. Not just the financial aspect of it all, but the seemingly increased environmental threat.

I like the idea of a’ safe house’ and I’m exploring the ideas of either being able to shift housing easily to another location OR to make it part of the environment.

I’m having a few wooden houses made for me (as mentioned in my last blog) but am also making smaller ones myself from reused card and paper.

I’m not working towards any exhibition at the moment, but hoping to have something completed for our open studio weekend (dates to be decided – but hopefully it’ll be next month)

I’ve set up a facebook page about the studio in preparation:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Alternator-Studios-and-Project-Space-at-The-Old-Bakery/741308269275460?ref=bookmarks