Once In a Universe

Well here we are. More than two months into the new year and nearly six weeks since my project launched. It’s been busy and varied – always a good thing, and now I’ve reached a natural pause where I can slow down and take stock. I feel as if I’ve got much better at planning projects now and seem to have got the hang of working in short cycles, factoring in pauses to reflect and get in the studio. This last cycle has been one of planning, organising and promoting, and working with other artists and the public has been fantastic to open up new ways of working which I don’t normally use. This simple GIF (below) made by Maja Jones from Fotofonty inspired me to have a go myself (click on the image to view Maja’s animated GIF).

Perhaps the most valuable part of the process has been the essential need to simplify my thoughts and ideas in order to communicate them to others. This started slowly and quite badly but finally, a workshop for children and grandparents last weekend forced me to pin down some essential thoughts and begin to communicate them more effectively.

Image below: Still from the launch event at Towner, by Brian Booker.

The launch event in January featured an interesting talk by John Cooper, Emeritus Keeper of Natural Sciences at The Booth Museum, Brighton. John’s talk focused on the huge expanses of geological time since the beginnings of the formation of the Earth. It put a new perspective on the concept of time and made me think about the very slow speed of change in nature and natural processes, in contrast to the incredibly rapid speed of change since the Industrial Revolution.

A while ago I decided I must explore the idea that everything I do is (or can be) art. So I decided that for my short introduction for the launch event, I should approach my PowerPoint slideshow as an artwork. Wow! Who knew that you can do such things in PowerPoint? I’m still developing this work even now, making long and short versions, GIFs (like this one), sound, narration, no sound… and turning the whole thing in to a short video. (Click on the image below to view the short GIF)

Here’s another recent resolution – not to move on too fast. Look and look again. Think and think some more. Don’t rush from one idea to another, instead build, slowly. Make links. Add layers.

Coming next: An Alternative Geology – Experimental Clay Workshops

That’s it. I’m ready. I’ve had my Christmas break and I’m ready to get started. Let’s go!

I’m excited to say that Once in a Universe will launch on Thursday 25th January, at Towner Art Gallery, Eastbourne with a talk by special guest, John Cooper, Emeritus Keeper of Natural Sciences at The Booth Museum, Brighton. John’s talk, It’s just a matter of time… will take a look at the processes of evolution by natural selection and climate change, set against the backdrop of geological time. Artist Susan Diab will chair the evening and lead a discussion following the talk, exploring how our knowledge might make us better equipped to understand the changing present and work towards a better future. I’ve worked with Susan before, when she chaired an event for my last project, The New Immortals, and look forward to the post-talk discussions which she’s so good at teasing out.

Above: Susan Diab chaired a valuable discussion event for The New Immortals in 2014.

This is the first event in a series of activities which all form part of my research for this new project and I can’t wait to see where they take me. This part of the project is all about getting people talking about some of the themes I’m interested in and finding out about how people feel about the future: their hopes, expectations and concerns.

In February and March I’ll be working with some exciting artists to run workshops for people of all ages at The Devonshire Collective’s DC2 and DC3 workshop spaces in Eastbourne. I have been working with DC Programme Manager, Amy Zamarippa Solis, and commissioning DC artists to plan events which will create opportunities for people to join in practical art-making activities as well as providing an environment where conversations can take place. I’ll be attending all the workshops as a participant so I’ll be able to work alongside members of the public and chat while we work, creating a space for all sorts of exciting things to happen that can influence the way my own work will develop. The practical events kick off with a two-part Experimental Clay Workshop for people over 65 led by artist Claire Shoosmith. I can’t wait!

Above: a clay workshop at Eastbourne Studio Pottery (image courtesy of Claire Shoosmith)

In March I’ll be working with Eastbourne’s Fotofonty (aka Elizabeth Doak and Maja Jones) who will be running “bring a grandparent” Cyanotype workshops for kids and an older relative, and in April, Brighton based digital artist Alex May will be running an all day video mapping workshop using his bespoke software, “Painting With Light”.

Above: work in progress in the studio, experimenting with new materials to form clumps, concretions and clusters.

Once the workshops are all done, my main focus will be back to developing new work in the studio and continuing to research galleries and partners for a solo show for 2018-19. So much to look forward to for 2018 – and no knowing how things will develop. Exciting times.

So all of this has been happening…

and this…

and then I had a tidy up and a re-assessment of the situation and decided just to carry on.

Meanwhile, good news arrived! First, my Pink Spread (a case of mistaken identity) got shortlisted for The Annex Collection Award and now appears on their website alongside some art I’m proud to be next to (www.tacuk.org/),

and then news came that I have, after much persevering, been successful with applications for funding for my new project, Only Once in a Universe! Woohoo! So enormous thanks are due to Arts Council England, East Sussex Arts Partnership and Devonshire West Big Local. I’m really excited to be able to embark on this project which has been in the pipeline for so long now and it means that I will be able to move on with some exciting plans to work with artists, curators and experts from other fields of knowledge, as well as the public, to open up new ways of thinking about growth, change and evolution in Extreme Present – “a time in which it feels impossible to maintain pace with the present, never mind to chart the future.”

The project will include a range of events and workshops in collaboration with artists Susan Diab, Alex May, Elizabeth Doak and Maia Jones (aka Fotofonty), Claire Shoosmith (Eastbourne Studio Pottery) and Amy Zamarippa Solis. The project will culminate in a two week public test space/residency at DC1 Cafe Gallery in Eastbourne in August/September 2018 and the funding will also enable me to work with curators Lucy Day and Sanna Moore to develop plans for an exhibition for 2019. How amazing!

So time ticks by… what have I been doing?

I guess the reading and writing part of my brain has been quite occupied and in the studio I’ve still been tinkering with small things.

I have taken the bull by the horns and pulled out a slab of clay (yes, you read it right – CLAY), still in its original packaging, which has been sitting under my worktop for… oh, I don’t know… maybe 5, maybe 6 years. Maybe longer actually.

There are two reasons for breaking out the clay. One: I wanted to try making some of the little palm pebbles in natural clay (rather than the polymer variety I have been using), and Two: I’ve been challenging myself for a long time to make a mould (mold?) of my favourite stone, this one,

and try casting it in different materials.

Now I’m not very experienced at mould-making. I’ve done it a few times and learned a few different mould-making techniques, but the last time I did it, I remember clearly, was 2010 on my MA. Hmmm… I think I need a refresher class. So I spent most of a day watching online tutorials, reading about the materials I could use (plaster? silicone? latex?…) examining my stone for undercuts and trying to work out how many pieces I’d need to make a plaster mould in (plaster being my preferred material because I actually find the form of plaster moulds themselves quite fascinating – the last one I made was like a little plaster coffin).

So I got my clay out and started to wedge the stone in place, building my clay walls around it and calcualting that I’d need to make a five piece mould, but it wasn’t long into this process that I realised that my undercut and pitted flint just wasn’t going to respond well to being encased in plaster. At least it would be encased alright, but would it ever come out? Oh well… off to the shops for some latex then.

Meanwhile, I’ve been updating my website with a new home page featuring what is currently my favourite piece of new work, a small concretion of those sticky pink pebbles I mentioned a blog or two ago and I’m feeling rather chuffed with it.

What I’m not feeling chuffed about is yet another rejection e-mail from an exhibition opportunity I thought I might stand a chance at. That’s roughly a 96% rejection rate this year. Hmm… so I just had to take another look at Laura Fitzgerald’s lovely P45 video which never fails to make me smile. Here it is http://laurafitzgeraldfrominch.com/project/p45/

“I’m confident that with the funding applications out of the way, I’ll be able to make a decision about next priorities and get stuck in!” That was the last sentence of my last blog – two and a half weeks ago. And actually, I have to admit that I don’t seem to have made a lot of progress. C’est la vie. That’s just the way it goes sometimes. I’ve been trying out some things, some collages, which haven’t been very successful yet but have opened up some new ideas. But I’m not sure I really want any new ideas at the moment – I just want to keep persevering with the old ones. So that’s mostly what I’m doing, with some thinking about the collages going on at the back of my mind.

As often happens I find myself disarmed by how much I’m drawn to the simplest of images. It’s hard to find the courage to leave them as they are; to know when something is enough.

In a different sort of development during the past two weeks, I’m very excited to have been selected as one of the artists to take part in a-n’s Writer Development Programme 2017-18. I’ve been spending more time than usual reading a range of different articles and magazines, as well as doing my first two writing tasks.

As part of my research for the writing tasks I also listened to some of the excellent Radio 4 series about “busyness”, Oliver Burkeman Is Busy. I would definitely recommend a listen – it’s worth making time for! http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07w1dpx/episodes/player

There are a few great things about taking part in the writers’ programme. Apart from getting some fantastic input into developing my writing about art from some excellent people (a-n News editor Chris Sharratt, art critic and journalist Fisun Güner, and Frieze deputy editor Amy Sherlock) I will get to know seven other exciting artists from across the UK who have also been selected, and visit some great arts organisations who will be hosting our workshops. It’s going to be brilliant!