After my last post I could not help wondering if I’m shooting myself in the foot by revealing so much about the facts of life with M.E. Talked it over with a friend who can’t imagine it would hurt my prospects as an artist, but maybe she is rather idealistic? The thing is: when I see artists with whom I’ve exhibited, but not myself, selected for themed shows that might have been right up my street, by curators who know of my condition, I take out my worry beads. Is the quality of my work in question? My chosen medium? Or is it that I’m not fully (physically) available? I’m good at writing about things, handling stuff on-line, sending the work out, but maybe out of sight is out of mind when people keep meeting at private views, artists’ talks, and other occasions? Or perhaps it’s about pragmatic choices, for convenience, a simple life, the apprehension that I might need help with physical stuff? Paranoia on my part? Chip on my aching shoulder? Just the way things are? Too much food for anxious thought, so onwards!
Had some real, by which I mean person-to-person, face-to-face, art-contact this week, hey! The artist Julia Vogl came with a friend to interview me for her project HOME. She has made a conscious decision to make public art her focus of practice, away from the pristine white gallery-spaces where only a limited spectrum of the population actually venture, to more accessible, (at least temporarily) shared spaces. Art that involves people, as contributors and as audiences, in this case in Peckham, Southeast-London.
Three continents met here: Julia is from the US, Lindy, who grew up in Northern Ireland, of Ghanaian descent and I’m from Germany. Very different stories interlinked, fascinating. How lucky I was to be able to choose to settle in London, not for economic reasons or because I had to flee any kind of persecution. I came because I liked the idea of a living, breathing multicultural city. It doesn’t work quite as well as it could, but still. Made me think about communities, how they touch, share, live side by side, interlock, overlap, exclude, fight, come together, move apart. Depend on each other. In constant motion. Oh, the stories… And about my own work, the proposal I’m writing and how I’d like to open things up, but that’ll keep for now.
Julia asked to describe home in just a word or a phrase, still pondering it over, but said: the smallest place, the largest place. Enjoyed our conversations very much.
Monday I’ll take my little Acrobat in for the final selection of work for 2012 Outside the White Cube Open Exhibition. Cross your fingers!
Off to crochet a tiny armpit. Oh, and I’m going to type my name now, as advised by a-n technical staff, so that my blog can be found by searching for Marion Michell
My house of howls (2007)
Materials: crocheted from artificial hair; cardboard, polyester filling, stone for weight, red hairnet
Dimensions: 15 cm x 10.5 cm x 16 cm plus around 10 cm red
