Simulacra And Simulations

Alice In Disneyland @ The Terrace Lincoln is now finished, and I’m really pleased with the feedback in my gloriously tea stained comments book – follow the white rabbit to Lincoln Central Library from 4th – 7th May, by which time I will have hopefully finished my animation, the final part for this is now coming together.

http://sites.google.com/site/lincolnartistnetwork/…

We’ve been invited to a consultation at The Collection on Wednesday 5th May for artist’s networking in the East Midlands.

Lincoln University are building an entirely brand new Art, Architecture and Design faculty building, and it’s exciting to have been asked to offer suggestions to the consultation committee.

The LAN ACE grant application was not successful again, so I’m thinking of re-applying, but I really need some more advice I think. Alice In Disneyland is coming to an end, so we will all get together and come up with a new plan to develop the LAN after Lincoln Artist’s Markets, which commence tomorrow on The Strait, Lincoln, and we’re using the first one to promote Alice In Disneyland with a Tea Party and Unbirthday Cards. The weather is glorious, so I’m hoping it’ll go really well.

Thankfully there was no train strike, and our holiday arrangements went ahead as planned. Better still, Albert Cottage Hotel in East Cowes is nothing like Fawlty Towers, former Royal residence to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, we enjoyed a lavish two days with sun, sea and yachts, all for free, including a visit to Osbourne House, where amongst all the extravagant gilded ceilings, untouchable furniture un-photographic art, and strange marble casts of Queen Victoria’s children’s limbs, I eventually discovered Holman Hunt’s The Beloved, hiding away in a darkened corner of the billiard room.

And it wasn’t until just now that I realised our local hero Tennyson lived on the Isle Of Wight, but I would never have had time to visit Farringdon House as well. So I thought that I must go back again sometime….

Albert Cottage Hotel – potentially a fantastic location for an APT summer residency I have concluded.

We observed Queen Victoria’s bathing machine – it’s like Howl’s Moving…. Shed – this beach hut on wheels, ironically beached in the grounds of Osbourne House, never to be used again – I think it should, and I want one for an art gallery!!

After a 5 hour train journey back to Lincoln, there wasn’t much time before the Private View for the LAN exhibition for Alice In Disneyland (as it’s now known) at The Terrace.

As one artist had to drop out, and following Alex Pearl’s talk in Lincoln a couple of weeks ago, we’re pleased to have received a DVD of his work to exhibit – Study For The Invisible Girl, and I managed somehow, in the midst of holiday arrangements, to borrow a DVD player and TV to display this on, and the exhibition itself looks good – curated and installed by colleagues whilst I was away, Alice In Disneyland is at The Terrace until 21st April, then we’re moving it to Lincoln Central Library from 4th – 7th May for a larger exhibition, by which time I hope to have my animation finished. It’s coming together now, but work has been interrupted by Easter.

The spaces are a compromise – the exhibition would’ve been so much better in its original location at the Odeon cinema, and I have issues about the space at The Terrace, but the main thing is that we managed to put the exhibition together, and we’ve already received an invitation to a steering group for the East Midlands at The Collection next month.

My long awaited free holiday to the Isle Of Wight is approaching, I was getting excited, train tickets were booked….. then last week someone announced that there is due to be a rail strike.

On the exact dates we plan to travel down to Southampton for the ferry.

I sometimes wonder exactly when my life turned into an episode of Fawlty Towers, but can never quite fathom it out.

Lincoln Artist’s Network are looking for artists that wish to sell work at Lincoln Artist’s Market. If you have work to sell, please get in touch!

I finally managed to get in for a quick tutorial for After Effects on Friday, which seems very straightforward, but I can pretty much guarantee that at some point I’ll encounter some confusion between timing and keyframes. Because I usually do.

The animation department insisted that I use After Effects. I can’t do ironing board and old LPs like Alex Pearl does, because it just wouldn’t be right!!

I snuck into his talk at The Collection this afternoon, and sat sniggering at the thought of Button Moon and Dave Gorman, amongst other things. Once those things appear in your mind, that’s it.

I of course never know who’s coming to the artist’s talks, because no one ever tells me. So I go along and have to guess. At some point I will do one of my own…

And it was nice to see John Newling’s Lemon Tree, grown from The Noah Laboratory: Constructing Soil compost he made last February, in a somewhat space – like capsule in The Collection.

I attended a networking event last Thursday evening for Enterprise @ Lincoln, and would’ve thought it a complete waste of time if it wasn’t for some drama students that want to involve the LAN for a forthcoming project, and another student who inquired if we were the ones that did an art installation around the Brayford Pool last summer. (The Lady Of Shalott/The Cupboard Project) It means we’re recognised locally for what we do, which is a good thing.

We have some space booked at The Terrace in Lincoln from next Friday, and a few members are keen to have a mini Alice exhibition there over Easter.

This will run from 8th – 21st April, and I’m just in the process of finalising details for that. I however, am looking forward to going to the Isle Of Wight courtesy of The Young Victoria. A visit to Osbourne House will be lovely, especially because it’s all free!

I caught up at University with regard to the AA2A scheme, have been advised to add images to my blog on the website, which I was avoiding, because it meant uploading them again, when previously I’d been keeping my blogger blog updated.

http://helend-blackbird.blogspot.com/

I’m desperate to get on with my animation, but have been twice to the faculty of animation today to find no sign of anyone available.

I did attend a lecture on Monday about setting up a social enterprise, which was very informative, and confirmed that’s where the LAN is going.

The Alice In Wonderland exhibition will now be in May hopefully, we have provisionally booked Lincoln Central Library for this, and I’ve spent most of this week working on a new ACE grant proposal, fingers crossed we have no more issues with that this time.

Another outcome of the lecture on Monday was a whole lot of Social Entrepreneurship Grant Awards and funding opportunities. From May the Enterprise Inc funding will stop, so it’s imperative to make sure the LAN is sustainable.

I’m rather glad to have more time to get the animation together to be honest.

This month is difficult. My sister has organised a meal for us all for Mother’s Day, which is a week before what would’ve been Dad’s 60th birthday, and their wedding anniversary. My sister wants to do something for Mum, but I don’t really feel like celebrating.

I’ve started to become more reclusive, not through any fault of my own, and seem to find social networking a distraction now – I recall someone saying that spending too much time on Facebook or Twitter was a sign of depression! But then I’ve heard much nonsense about what constitutes depression lately. However, it seems that those that initially criticised its use are now the ones that are having to concede its effectiveness. Here is my twitter feed if anyone isn’t already following me: http://twitter.com/Blackbird1976

The LAN have a separate twitter: http://twitter.com/lincolnan