scope to play

sitting at our dining table i find myself staring out the window at a scene of slowly fading light with becoming brighter moon.  what leaves are left on the trees wave at me like they are all vying for my attention before they start their descending journey.

i sense the horizon line is becoming redder and the yellower leaves on the willow dome accent against the fast becoming blackened background.

i pause to turn the light on – its one of those low energy bulbs so it takes a few minutes to get up to full brightness.

returning from topping up my mug of tea the keyboard has re-appeared.  the scene is set for my work here to commence.

i’ve added a post to the non linear blog about my experience with the internet enabled symposium appearance in australia.  what i didn’t say in that post was how i amused myself by pulling faces at myself in the web cam feed.  in the non shared symposium space no one can see you smile.

in my recent blogs i’ve not so far included any references to my partner’s ma.  its in fine art and being around her research and workings out of what she wants to say and how to say it it has got me thinking about something that otherwise would be missing my from current set of thoughts.

i witness how she is being invited to delve deeper into her practice, her thinking and her knowledge.  the last of course being bolstered by the diet of books i watch her gorging on.  it gets me thnking about my own practice and how might i … or where do i fit into the bigger scheme of things art world related.

this might be uncomfortable for me as the notion of having to gorge on books in a search for knowledge and enlightenment is something that i know would be really difficult for me to do.

the side of myself that requires acknowledgement and peer admiration looks towards the notion of ma as a means to get this into my life.

earlier this week i explored the findings about my grandfather on my dad’s side.  he was a field ambulance man in the first world world.  he was dead by the time i was born and during his lifetime i don’t think i ever heard my father talk about his father.  as a family growing up we seemed to have missed the memo about its ok to talk and share the family story.

during my sharing of the grandfather revelation i touched upon feelings that i later came to realise were feelings of disappointment in my family for not being prouder about our storey.  this sense of under valuing and not being sure sometimes eats away even now at my confidence within my practice.  i think it is at least for this one reason that my notion to play is sourced.

from play can coming learning.  for me i can learn about myself, my family story maybe having sailed sometime ago.  this is at least true on my dad’s side of the family – he was an only child.  on my mum’s side i am in contact with one auntie still.  might it be possible to undo years on non story telling.

again is this where part of my practice is sourced from ?  the nature of non linear story telling making the whole thing slightly easier to handle.

reviewing what i have written about feelings about family i connect with a sense of loss of not being able to share what i do with them.

i can remember sitting in a well dressing meeting some years ago while the search for a new chair person took place.  the wise one at the table suggested  “if you want something doing, ask a busy person.”

during the last three weeks i’ve understood the words from the wise one – being in flow of work its easy to say yes and fit the things that need doing within the already busy schedule.

before i share with you some images from my week i need to reflect about how within this flow state i am becoming mindful of my own practice and a need to maintain it.

as well as the upcoming symposium in australia i’m also taking part in the skin and bone gig in belper.  not much time at the moment to spend on them however they keep me connected to my practice.  i start to look forward to picking up my practice threads again when my schedule adopts a weekly pattern.  i’m so looking forward to starting the next tranche of the silk mill non linear project.

i’m aiming to hold onto the confidence i’m finding through being so busy within my practice too.  i’ll return to this thought in the weeks to come.

feeling pleased about parking my reflections and hopes i can glance back over this week and share some of my favourite images from the week.

the skin and bone rehearsal.  i’m enjoying working with walt, geogre and greg as they produce improvised compositions that draw me in and at times near place me in a trance like state.  my work here is to improvise visual compositions and i’m well on the way to have enough material for the first time i gig with them later this month.  set list agreed … tick.

revealing joseph wright’s mourning ring.  in our second pre-project planning meeting curator of the joe wright collection at derby museums  – lucy bamford – shared with us a ring the painter would have worn.  this is the first time i’ve mentioned this project at derby museums funded by the royal academy to work with young people to re-interpret the joseph wright of derby gallery within the museum.  we all got to hold his ring.  the energy and atmosphere in the room was quite something.  hold ring worn by joseph wright of derby … tick.

views of manchester.  in china town we headed to the most popular restaurant and spent some quality time eating, drinking and sharing stories –  steve and i sharing time with graham of 24 design.  the makory had returned as 24 design’s work needed to complete, part of the knock on of earlier events out of our control.

steve and the bandsaw.  steve is the workshop manager at the museum of making and i’ve worked as his eager assistant as the machines and vices came out the boxes and made their way onto the makory.  the transition of the vehicle getting very close to 100% finished.

case for collection object.  we almost left without the cases for the collection objects !  they quickly bolted into place.

on our journey home we encountered a closed road.  three point turn in the makory … tick.  adapting travel plans to include ‘b’ road to get past closed ‘a’ road … tick.

inside the makory.  the makory went to a community event at the weekend – the first time for activities in the mobile museum.  we quickly got to work with the modular interpretation boards and work stations to adjust light and height levels respectively.  clay hippos and badges made … tick.

makory at first school location.  we’ve also taken the makory to its first school location this week as we begin an after school project there.

parrallel parking the makory … tick.

when i sit and look at the pictures here i can’t quite believe the week i’ve had. it’s been great !

in the coming weeks the two projects i’ve mentioned will get into a good rhythm and the extra work on the makory decrease – we’re getting so close to having everything finished.

i look forward to feeling the flow state again within my own practice.

blog post written, reflections made … tick

scary – worked all day at derby museum and it’s been so good i’m blogging before i’ve eaten.  i’ve lead a gif and meme session.  put into the public programming after the artist rooms tate bursary pilot programme associated with the richard long exhibition we explored making gifs and memes, alongside some analog versions for younger visitors.  its’s been an awesome day.

we used the work of joseph wright as basis for our memes.

in the summer i saw that when having a digital session there were visitors to the museum who come along because there is something to do.  today i used what i learnt in the summer to ensure we could cater for all ages and abilities and those families wanting to make something at the museum.  i’ve run a digital session that i had no one turn away from because there wasn’t something for them.

last week was scary for different reasons !

i’m currently the driver of the mobile museum – by driver i mean literally the person behind the steering wheel.  a few weeks ago i had an initial introduction to it in goole.  last week we again visited it to move it to manchester.  it looked magnificent in the autumn sun.  i rather like this manipulated image of it :

from goole we drove to manchester and met road works,  rush hour and football traffic.  i was getting to know the vehicle well.

24 design of manchester have been looking after the transformation work on the mobile museum.  through a process of human centred design the museum and 24 design have facilitated ideation and prototyping workshops.  while in manchester what was an old mobile library was re-energised into the makory – the silk mill museum on the road.

the makory will visit schools and communities in derby and derbyshire, the project is in partnership with the derwent valley mills and funded through the hlf great places project.  there are so many partners and stakeholders that listing them all and in the right order is a bit of a task so apologies if i haven’t entirely nailed it right now.

at the end of the week was to be the derby mini maker faire and this was to be the makory’s initial outing.  through circumstances out of our control we had delivered the vehicle later than planned so we were going to have to take the vehicle with not everything inside fully commissioned.

i’d not driven the vehicle at night so decided to play it safe and go the motorway route to derby.  this all changed friday lunchtime when we saw how the m6 was blocked due to a huge accident near knutsford.

reverting back to plan a that was once plan b that once was a and became b – we drove from manchester to the derby via the a6 in the dark. awesome journey with my personel highlight of highlights being coming out of buxton up the hill to see a low moon behind some tress.  the moon was so low it looked huge.  it was an emotional moment !

the following morning we were in derby :

i can’t start to explain the feeling of achievement i have for both getting the makory to the maker faire and back and the digital session at the museum today.

what i can explain is my rumbling stomach.

with a massive smile on my face i close this post out and tootle off to the kitchen to make some dinner before the low blood sugar becomes scary !

there is something very satisfying about getting to mid afternoon on a friday and logging into my a-n account to prepare a blog post.  for one it means that i’ve got to the end of the week and managed to get all i needed to do done and i’m happy and awake enough to pull the photos together and write a story around them.

my process is to firstly edit and upload the photos.  once thats there – select some music – helps me to generate a vibe to bound me along.

so what have i been up to lately and how does this impact and move on my practice ?

the main thing that springs to mind has been putting together the presentation for the australian symposium, finally finished on sunday.  the shimmering place project is one i’ve done alot of reflecting about and producing the 10 minute presentation as a video again gave my space to reflect upon it.  this is important now as there is another commission waiting to begin and there are a list of things i want to do with the third tranche as a result of the first.  it’s a friday so i’ll spare you list !

the day before finishing the video i’d co-facilitated a session we called “creating calm” at derby museums.  linked to world mental health day we had a drawing based activity and a contemplative activity available for the visitors to lose themselves in.

i took the initial lead with the contemplative activity and artist stevie davies led on the drawing activity within the context of her surface details project.

i made this  drawing with the collaboration of stevie and 3 visitors.

i enjoy the sessions where the sticks and stones come out as i witness so many responses to them :

after my day at the museum and finishing off of international work, walking the dog …

earlier in the year i wrote about  a first aid course i’d begun and been unable to complete due to commitments at home.  this week i’ve been able to complete the course and in doing so renewed my first aid certificate for another 3 years.

the small yellow box in the picture is a trainer aed or automated external defibrilator.  when used the actual units help to recover the natural rythym of a beating heart that had gone a little spammy – that’s not actually an official technical term for what happens.  to put it simply an aed helps to restore calm beating to a heart that is other wise beating.  aed’s are being placed more and more in the public sphere and they are relly easy to use and really really helpful in a cardiac arrest situation.

for the first time in this first aid course i was able to fully engage with the cpr practice as i was not dealing with emotions connected to my father and his heart attack.

the course accommodated outdoor scenarios.  when i did mine as first aider the causality i came across in the  role play session was beathing yet unresponsive.  the casualty soon stopped breathing so immediately was given the resus annie and began cpr and calling for “the defib”.

the role play was mass casualty so my initial cpr was more than the 2 minutes guideline for each person before swopping.  30 compressions followed by opening the airway and 2 breaths.  the rate of compressions delivered about 100 per minute.  in the classroom we practiced with a metronome set to 120 bpm.  2 minutes at that rate is about all you can do before you need a break – on an adult.  in my role play setting the casualty was a child so the effort needed is less than an adult.

if you’ve found the cpr description interesting i recommend you find a 16 hour first aid course and give it a go.  as well as cpr we covered how to respond to other situations like asthma attack, cuts, fractures and keeping warm while waiting for the ambulance.  me in a bothy bag is a picture i’m going to hang on for now.

there are multiple projects happening or beginning at the moment at derby museums.  one afternoon this week saw me in three different meetings.  one of these was about the after school club project with the makory.

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i hope by now the question of what is the makory?  is within your conscious thoughts !

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the makory is the name of the mobile museum of making. – effectively the museum of making while the physical building is unavailable due to building works.  the vehicle will be kitted out with a workshop, workstations and collection objects.  it’ll visit schools, communities and heritage sites in derbyshire prototyping activities that will be deployed in the museum of making when it opens in 2020.

i’m part of the team of facilitators who will be working in the makory .  the makory currently looks like a retired mobile library :

there’s one other thing i can tell you about the makory … i’m getting to drive it !

can you tell i’m a little excited by this prospect ?

it’s having its refit next week, so all being well i’ll be getting up front and in the driver seat as it’s journey to derby via manchester begins – next week sees the conclusion of a period of co-production into how might the mobile museum of making look on the inside.

the after school club will focus on making and acquiring skills.  i took in my box of whittling and carving to the meeting yesterday so i could demonstrate how i’ll introduce myself and that i like to make things.

the conversation was excellent and how it evolved informed our thinking about what will go into the first session.

so i’m getting busier with the museum and this is a good thing.  next week will be a one off as we move the makory, complete the refit of the vehicle and move it to derby to begin the journey as the mobile museum.

i’m keeping an eye on my non linear project practice as i have some ideas to research for the third tranche.  for the next few weeks this might have to be stolen hours here and there.

being busy makes it more important to keep my practice ticking over and finding moments to play …

my day today has been supported by forest school dog – i’ve been finishing off my 10 minute presentation for the smart story telling symposium in november.

it’s been a while since i gave any type of presentation so a 10 minute via video has been an interesting challenge.

i’ve worked nearly 12 hours today so i have a glass of wine now and bakeoff extra slice is calling.

oh the high life of international working !