various items

Various items bought from two different emporioums in Southport. The Polish [I think] badges were a great buy and the flash box is for my gentleman on his travels archive-box.

Prototype of possible sculpture

This is a sculpture that I am working on (for a couple of months now)> I need to get back to work on it, the height is going to be in excess of 3-4ft.

letter box trip [three]

Amateur take on a joiner, I was standing in the middle of Oxford Road in Manchester opp, Uni.

quick three-dee study

This is a quick 3-D rendition of my ever evolving sculpture that I am building. I need to make proper plans and blueprints now that it is getting serious and the raw materials needs to be bought. This was drawn up on the bus coming back from Manchester and that is why it is a little bit crook.

Sean Caherty

Saw this guy's work at the Mooch art gallery. Love his stuff very tactile and a great three-dee vibe to it.

Mooch Art is going to be on the TV soon , it should be fun to watch, I suppose. The programme is Inside Out on 8 Feb at 7.30PM.

london trip

The London trip has been announced and there will be fun to be had. The dates have been given and the cost is in my price-bracket. Three days and two nights mid-week in February is all that I need to re[boot] my organic batteries.

Plans of my construct

Two plans of my final construct. Here I am considering depth and feasibility of what I am planning to do. I will be using various material for this construct. The dimensions was originally going to be 25ft by 20ft but, knowing the time-scale and my own capabilities...it's going to be at least 9ft by 9ft. After a chat with other students, I may need to find a site out of Uni. I have thoughts of recording the build-up and final immolation and making a film and projecting this with the remnants of the large scale construct...

I am now planning a new project to coincidise with the final end of year show/exhibition based around the concept of in-built environments such as street decollage/collage, cityscapes and habitation. This will be the segue between the Food project and my construct.

nowHERE

Reimaging of the text for the new[ish] film about the young John Lennon by the artist Sam Taylor-Wood.

ghosts in the photograph

The top two images are based on the concept of lost memories. Without the evidence of a photograph, there is no evidence of past activity and experiences so we cling onto the little piece of paper to remind us of fotgotten friends, relatives etc.

The latter photocollage is an accumulation of pieces from the top photocollage. I have merely supplanted one set of children into a new environment.

bird in a gilded cage

A collage using scraps from my paper draw.

page from my sketchbook

This is a page from my sketch-book illustrating how my all wood collage is coming along. It is to scale and the piece [in the flesh] needs re-tuning.

little book I found

I am contemplating a Cornellesque collage box with items that a man would need if he lived in the early twentieth century and decided to go on his travels. I have already accumulated a few pieces such as a Gilette shaver, fishing hooks and spectacles. I have found the perfect items if he wanted to travel abroad.

I'll need to contruct the box myself, though. Just need to collect enough fruit-boxes and get them processed.

productive day-off

I have started small scale version of my construct this afternoon...it took about two hours but it's getting made at last. I need to make/find/buy a m/2 window pane of glass and this in turn needs to be clean-broken. The construct will be made in various sections so it will be easy enough to handle and carry onto the bus and into Uni without too much fuss.

Just bought 36exp black and white film for the Praktica...I think I'm going to try and make some double exposure/macro photographs. Time to do some research and Susan Sontag's, On Photography has some clues/names.

bargain buy of the year...so far

Just got back from Skipton where I trawled the many charity shops to find bargains. It's weird that the charity shops are open but the normal shops are virtually closed up. I still can't find the elusive car-boot that are indicated around the town, though.

I bought a Praktica (Pentacon) MTLB5 SLR camera with attachments, hard case, shoulder bag and paraphenalia for just a fiver. I have an extra lens, shutter release, flash and other items. I couldn't believe how cheap it all was, just hope the darn thing works. I'm going to take it to Uni tomorrow and buy some film and have a play around town.

I have now a Digital SLR, manual SLR, an automatic and a Chinon Super-8 that I need to learn how to use. I'm in the process of screenshotting for a mini 3-minute movie/animation piece for the Chinon...just got to get the proverbial finger out and get it done but at £30 for a film, it'll have to be planned and not have any errors... I now need to buy a little digital camera that fits in the pocket and be ready to use any time I need it.

paintings one + two

This is a finished painting that is part of a sequence of paintings that I am involved with outside of the University scope of things. I have already painted one but have up to six practise pieces that I am kinda okay with.

When being looked at up close as on this blog...I think I need to be a little neater with the paint application. The former is finished and boxed up but the latter needs to be tidied up and framed.

Slide for construction piece

I am picturing this slide, that I found in the street, to be part of my sculpture/construction. It is this colour due to being held up to a light source, normally. the slide is in natural colour. When looked up close, you can just see the Thwaties brewery tower/stack in the foreground.

I am constructiong a light box out of fragment taken from the fruit-boxes that I am collecting. I plan to use a strobe light inside the construction and have the completed box held inside a darken place.

New Year's Eve skyscape

imaginery beasts

I adore these 3-D pieces of imaginery animals. They were made whilst on holiday using things that he found in the bin. A larger collection can be seen in the Picturing and Poeting book.

Alan Fletcher @ the cube, mcr

These show the fun side of corporate work and of leisure work.

catch-up

I went to the Alan Fletcher exhibition last night, only stayed for two hours due to travel commitments. There were free wine on the go and had one or three glasses and took a bottle of vitamin-water with me for the journey home. I was on the guest list so there were no problems getting in.

I've noticed that there is a clear divide, only slight mind, to his corporate work and his leisure work. They are both playful but he is more freer when not getting paid for something. I personally enjoyed the display of his collection of A-Z collage bits. I may be doing this in the future. My collage boxes are a little haphazard at the moment...they need sorting out.

Peter Saville was there and he gave a 15 minute talk about his relationship with Fletcher and of the company Pentagram. I wanted to get Saville's autograph but I couldn't locate him until I was out of the door and going home. The Membranes guy, John Robb was floating about but again , no autograph. The best thing about John Robb was the production of Cornershop's first batch of singles. I have them and I cherish the guiterrorism of the early Cornershop material.

assessment tuesday

Just had the group mock assessment today, should've been yesterday but health-wise...not a good idea. I was working on a bit of a script all through the weekend and did a few dry runs but on the day, sterred clear of it. I just did a chronological show and tell and that felt more natural, unforced. I had a pleasant enough response from the lectures and other students.

It was a good catch-up and chance to actually speak to people that I only had a handful of sentences heard from. There were good work shown, varied and thoughtful. I liked the self portraits that were in the style of Cindy Shermann and the book/collage set designs. Ryan' old people's home installation was the set piece though, it's displayed at the gates of the Link Gallery.

I've e-mail Adele Prince about information about neon lighting and manufacturing so, hopefully, she'll get back to me and I can crack on with that element to my installation/construction.

The Cube Gallery awaits me on Thursday for the.......ALAN FLETCHER........exhibition. Jon has been a star and made it possible for me to get an invite to the show review. I am a buzz with excitement.

Not very Super-Ted...

adam would've wept

How throwaway is the perfect little package. Not even a bite taken out of it and is just simply discarded.

Manchester Museum

I've been to the Manchester Museum this afternoon to see the Charles Darwin exhibition. I'd like to say that it was fantastic but I can't. Don't get me wrong though, it is astounding and all relevant adjectives but it was in a little room off the side to the shop. I thought the inclusion of his notebooks were a good piece of displaying but the room wasn't dressed right. The only person that was there when I was there were this annoying little girl who just stomped around the room all by herself totally oblivious to what was being displayed and why...ooh well. Probably a little underwhelmed after seeing the T-REX skeleton in the ground floor. There were huge section on animal and vegetation life and a good section on living cultures.

I only had two hours spare to investigate the exhibits so of course, I missed some interesting things. I usually have my little sketchbook with me when I visit museums and galleries but this time only had my project sketchbook in my bag. I managed to give a page for quick sketches, two of ameobas and one of the bone structure of an unknown (to me) dinosaur.

What I was going to do today were computer studies and a visit to the Whitworth Gallery but after a meeting that was very productive, I got as far as the Manchester Museum. I managed to do some computer work but had to get back home.

found postcards

These postcards maybe part of the large scale construct that I am planning. I want to go as high as 25 feet but I'm wondering if I could get away with that. I went to 6 feet at college so, fingers crossed.

I think eventually, I'll use the Master of The House but the Elephant may just be the right kind of subject matter.

off the cuff

This was part of an experiment that I did in the Letterpress workshop. I am trying to use wood blocks to print on ultrathin fruit-box wood but the ink wouldn't take, I think the wood was probably too wonky.
I got a nice effect though on this woodish card. I am into typography as an art-form and quite taken with Helvetica. The font isn't that fussy and is used in all kinds of instructional and educational signage and literature so, I could get away with writing subversive phrases...

annexed building to the right of the main hub

http://organicrobotixsketchbooks.blogspot.com/

This is a piece of fun collage by Alan Fletcher-very pop art and graphically produced. I am inspired by the remixing of found objects and the use of text and language in art.

FURTHER INFORMATION: biography and literature
http://designmuseum.org/design/alan-fletcher

mail art

I'm getting into the vibe of mail art, the sending of original art to friends and family as a surprising piece of altruism.
From a search I've found a website that holds various projects, I don't know all the info just as yet but this is the website:
http://www.mail-art.de
Note to self...get books out on Tapies.
Oh...the Alan Fletcher exhibition is due in the CUBE this month

orangelightsinthesky

During the bonfire party, the orange lights began coming over from the Accrington direction and finally disappeared over the Tower at Darwen. This happened at the turn of midnight and didn't cease until 1am, a few came from the Clitheroe area of the sky, but not many. A helicopter came to investigate at around 12.30am.

Pretty strange phenomena to see...there are many theories...disposable theories.