OK so just when I was going to have a moan and do a post because there was nothing going on, I find a show at Sheffield Haslam Uni worth entering. Deadline was imminent so I rushed around doing the submission. My work is perfect for it so I'm hopeful.
Also feeling motivated following a particularly poor show I saw yesterday, Straylight Cavern at Cell Space. Just rubbish unfortunately. I'd read the AN review and was intrigued but should have known from the blusterly bombastic press release that it was a load of blather to cover up the fact there was not much to say. Poorly executed by the curator and some of the artworks were just shoddy, I'm sorry to say. Apocalyptic future, I thought (putting the paradox of that phrase aside for a moment), HELLO! Let me in!
The upshot of it all is I have more confidence and think I can definitely get away with it now. Even be convincing. Although, my art pieces never feel very tangible to me. Does that happen to anyone else?
I also attended a talk by Jem Finer at ArtsAdmin. Titled 'Performance lab' it inevitably had more of a perfomance bent than I would have liked, but the guy was interesting and showed us some of his work. I wish he'd spoken more about his creative process though.
On the Thursday I went to see my friend David Bray's opening of a solo show of his pen drawings at Stolen Space. Such accomplished work and a giant golden cock in a box, fantastic. Also some embroidered pieces that were stunning.
Well over a month since my last post, and it has been a strange one. It's been hard to summon the impetus to retain any offical creative flow, but an artist curator in Milan has shown some interest in my Flyover series and possible sound works as well, for an upcoming exhibition in Italy so I'm curious to see what happens.
I like to remind myself that inspiration and influence for me is ongoing and more commonly occurs outside the remit of conventional research and creative practice. Like going to the supermarket for example. Or being turned on to Richard Feynman's way of thinking through some great YouTube links a friend sent me. TO summarise, it's ok if you don't know the names of stuff, but it sure as hell helps when you're trying to talk to others about it!
Very strangely, a few of my peers and all seem to be thinking at the moment about diversifying into other creative areas (naming creative and comedy writing, plus what I call Money Paintings). Some for all too obvious monetary reasons, others purely for exploration. So the future fruits are a yet unknown species, and may involve psuedonyms for logistical reasons.
I have started an Artist Book (as I believe they are called); as you may remember Dear Reader I have been doodlling and think I have found a way to group pieces together cohesively.
Lastly a pause for thought to consider an artist friend who is contractually stuck in a creative partnership hole, trying to get out but caught in much red tape and need to earn a living. How lucky I am that I swan about pretty much free creatively, with purely time constraints and the wants of a small toddler to butt against. If I had to work in a certain way, day in day out, with someone I no longer cared for artistically or emotionally I would be very sad indeed.
