I’ve at last got my new pinboards up, which means I can get my accumulated research out of the carrier bags and up on the wall where I can gradually add to it and move it around as I see fit.
It’s a blanket, with pockets pinned to it. Each pocket has a label with a topic title, such as guilt, fear, play, parents, childhood, nanny state or even Deleuze… each pocket represents the Deleuzian representative rhizome… a little bit of knowledge/experience (hand written on envelopes and such, as I come across them) that all adds up to a whole, any bit can connect to others, spark new ideas and new connections.
I was originally intending to make it into a quilt, but the reading has led me to think that perhaps I won’t, I shall leave these pockets in a state of flux, a contested space. If I sew them together, they lose the potential for change.
I do expect that other people would put the bits of writing in different pockets to me, and that will help with the new connections a great deal.
My challenge will be to get it to hang together enough to be “read” by others. I’ve got a long way to go.
I think I now know why I’ve felt unsettled. I spent a few hours alone in my shed with a pot of tea and my sketchbook, worked through a few ideas and threw a few out too.
I came to the conclusion that I’d spent so long thinking about how I’m thinking that I’d forgotten what I’m supposed to be thinking about. The work had become a little disjointed and was flailing about a bit.
So… I’ve put away the Deleuze and the Cixous for a while and will concentrate on making things and thinking about that instead.
So… I’m back to thinking about these clothes, these items of household textiles I’ve collected about me, and why I’m tied to them, why they make me feel safe. Similarly, why are we obsessed with keeping our children about us, safe at the cost of their independence?
So… I shall hopefully find my sense of humour in my work again, I think Deleuze took it away temporarily.
So… My reading is now Bachelard’s “The Poetics of Space”… appropriate for my shed.
Sew… I’m content with the obsessive domesticity of embroidery and as a consequence I’ve found found solace, contentment and inspiration in my iPod again…
Thank you Elliot Smith, Lisa Hannigan and Joan as Policewoman!
I’ve been busy all weekend: I’ve sorted out the website (for now); I’ve started a batch of cutting and sewing for a commission (more news later); I’ve read the article David Minton sent me about Deleuze (see comments below); and read some more too. If only I’d written a to-do list I could have crossed them all off!
But despite all this satisfying activity (and a cheering payment from the tax man) I’m feeling a little unsettled. A symptom of this is I can’t find the right music to listen to for my current state of mind. I scroll down and click, listen to two tracks off an album and want something else. I’ve tried all sorts: Kathryn Williams, Doves, John Martyn, Fleet Foxes, even my friend Dan Whitehouse’s efforts aren’t doing the job. I find this worrying. Music not soothing the savage beast? Whatever next?
Please don’t tell me to shuffle… it’s against my religion.
So I think I shall take my sketch book into the shed and empty my head for a while.
(I’ve also been having an interesting discussion with Wendy Williams on her blog about the nature of Galleries versus “non-gallery” exhibition spaces and the amount and type of visitors you get at each)
www.a-n.co.uk/p/1321797
Some changes made to the website, probably a few more tweaks to do…
www.elenathomas.co.uk
Let me know if I’ve made any spelling mistakes!
http://www.elenathomas.co.uk/
I’m going to make some changes soon to my website. I’m not happy with it any more… If you get a chance please pay a visit before and after and tell me what you think. I’d be very grateful!
