In a collaboration between Waygood Studios and Arcadea I have been invited to be a Resident Artist in the Project Space for 6 months. See also http://textartist.blogspot.com/
So after 6 months of work – The Opening.
Thursday 8th May. Thanks to Tony and Jo everything got installed on time and looked how i wanted it. Even a couple of last minute on the fly interventions worked, such as the Drift piece in dust of the parquet. Moving the parquet is no mean feat in itself. It doesn't look like a lot but believe me a thousand pieces, and it is dense, is not easy to move or re-assemble.
Openings are daunting and it's that culmination of time concentrated in the big hurrah, this is it, 6 months of my life. Also the chatting on, not seeing everyone, anxiety, chatting too long, nerves, excitement, making sure it's all ok for everyone – even yourself. It's al so much, too much. That big mix of STUFF. But i think it was good, i was pleased with the work, i was pleased that i had progressed my practice. The development process was just that.
Now, it's the hiatus. The it's all over. The what happens next.
When i lived in Bristol they used to say you could get anything on the Gloucester Road, and in my experience that was pretty much true. It used to be a similar story for Shields Road when i lived in Newcastle as a kid. I wondered if it still held true. I went to explore and returned disappointed but for a tin of cheap paint from wilko's. I guess Chilli Road or Heaton Park Road are the places these days. Progress ay! So this paint is heinous.
Therefore this is a work in progress destined never to be finished 2007 It is just so shiny it's unbelivable and so unbreathable too. But i will persevere with it cos now it has my curiosity. I want to discover it's properties and potential. Watch this space.
11/02/08
It's that old thing. You either have the time or the money, rarely both. When this residency was first mooted the year was looking like a desert road – long and empty. Now, in the midst of it things are leaping out, rearing up out of nowhere. For a start you can wipe 2 weeks out the calendar for xmas and new year. A couple of weeks after that i was in Cromarty helping my partner installing some work and the opening of her exhibition. Then i have just returned from a mercy mission to Spain. In amongst all this I am trying to complete the compilation of the book i took on when the waygood got delayed. So where does this fit in. Well, thankfully now it moves closer to the top of the list. Whilst not at the studio it is pretty much on my mind. Which is good. However it is also frustrating. Just before spain i had intended to go into the studio. However, I was unbelievably snowed in again. The second time this winter. How often does that happen in these days of global warming. Oh yeah and in amongst it all you have all the mundane life maintenance stuff to do. Sounding like a whinging pom its time to stop.
I tend to make things on the fly or in a spontaneous manner. I don't dwell on what it is i am going to make – it just comes into my head and i make it. I am not a perfectionist. I make do with what i have to hand or what is easily available. Hopefully that is cheaply too. So i have this friend who is looking to off load a whole load of parquet. It's already been an artwork. So i quite like that recycling thing. That lack of preciousness. And Parquet. Well, there's a word. It just sounds pretentious, up itself – at the end of the day it's just a floor.
This parquet is blocks. Old recycled blocks – even prior to being an artwork by Susan T Grant – not tongue and groove. I like the blocks. They are solid. Small and solid. Coloured and discoloured by time. Like a little piece of history. Each block with its' own memory. It's own story. And now it has one more. At the moment i only have one small box. It's not just a straight forward transaction. I get to buy a share in half of it. Get access to it all and then have to store the half which isn't mine. It also fits into the accumulation of stuff, clutter – that ocd-esque satisfaction thing going on. Lots of bits that get put together to make a bigger bit.
