Post 10b: Fine art gen: ideas

I've been thinking a bit about putting together a list of ideas that could be used towards general call outs for opportunities. What skills could I develop to apply for a broader range of call outs? I think my SL stuff is okay, but has quite a narrow application thus far. I'd like to have the chance to be a bit more spontaneous in my current approach.

1. Re-introduce my twigs project.
2. Try out different ways of showing work: film, sculpture, sound, multi media, installation, photography.
3. Keep looking at other artists.
4. Respond to open calls.

5. Idea: Make some bubbles using bubble bath and place them into a container. Get a torch and shine at the bubble bath container. Set this up at the beginning of the exhibition/installation and title the work '(time and date, 'This is happening now...a lit torch shining onto a beaker containing radox bath foam bubbles').

I suppose I'm trying to say something about the slipperiness of time. Inevitably the bubbles will recede and evaporate. The batteries will run out on the torch - it is perhaps a statement about the ever changing ideas of identity.

Today, I'm alive, breathing and typing on a keyboard in front of my computer. This is what I'm doing now - which is now a then. The self of a few moments ago has now evaporated. Could objects and stuff act as a kind of substitute for the self?

I think an interest in the notion of time passing is something that's represented in the FL project: recording, highlighting, referencing etc. Again I pose the question: What interests and informs my practice? Is it the very essence of the temporariness of my existence? The grand questions?

Post 9b: SL Installation ideas/musings

I'm conscious that i don't want my life work project to be misunderstood. Is the FL too narrow? How can I develop the project using other media? I guess to keep on adding to my list of artists could help in the evolution of the project.

Is the football element another vehicle to convey less obvious messages? I think there is certainly an element of subversion at play with my project. I suppose football is quite often seen as the anathema of art. The two don't necessarily go hand in hand. The game is traditionally of the people - but then I'm not necessarily a true supporter. How many times have I seen my team play...once?

As I continue to write I begin to question why I keep various elements of my work separate? surely, it's all good for the mix? I suppose it's still boiling down to the question of 'What am I trying to say?' I'd like to hit the nail on the head here.

Well I have interests. The collection of data. I also feel irritated at times that I don't always have the voice I'd like. I think I'd like to be more outspoken and have the confidence to really believe in my ideas and just run with them. There's just too much introspection that is really quite restrictive.

Post 8b: SL (Real time)

An ongoing problem I have with the SL is keeping up. I need to accept that this will always be the case if I've set myself such a task. I'm about 3 years behind schedule. Is that a problem? Well, ideally it would be good to catch up, but maybe that adds to the mystique or charm?

So I catch up to the year 2010...then I could get ahead of time. It raises interesting questions all of it's own. This is an ongoing project, but the dates can be deceptive. It raises issues about the latest trend, keeping up to date. The past can often become a bit of a bug bear. Past, present and future are collapsed. I'm the author - I could change the dates to 1564 if I wish.

A date is a label - it anchors events in history. I've now started to record the statistics in sketchbooks before transcribing them on a larger format at my drawing desk. I find the portability of the sketchbook offers the possibility of working on the project in locations other than relying on the studio.

Post 7B: illustrative

I've recently entered some work into a sketchbook show. During a conversation with my significant other, it was pointed out to me that my practice focuses around the use of this meduim. I've been considering how the production of journal based works really is key do what I do. I could somehow look at making this the key to my research topic. I need to find the title of a book devoted to this which I came across during my MA...could be a trip to the library in my alumni capactity...

## The image today explores my interest in the architctural. I enjoty the way one can just allow the pen/pencil to explore the paper and how it was possible that I used an existing object/image as a starting point for an unplanned outcome.

I didn't know what the animals within the boxeas would look like. It could be a loose comment on city living and how people live on top of one another. I'm not really looking to communicate a specific message, rather, I let intuition on my part give the viewer the tools in which to make their own conclusions.

I would also say that it looks 'kinda goofy.' Do I want the viewer to look and smile? Am I playing at part - time comedian? I think humour is a real issue I've got running through my work. It's always been a very dry sense of humour at that!

Who is the viewer? Will they find the image funny. Will it illicit a smile? Maybe I should look at taking a career turn into the world of the stand up? I'm always felt a need to comment, critique. There is also a underlying irritation, I try to keep the work from boiling over into full scale venom!

I think the sketchbook enables me to find a certain kind of honesty which I would find difficult to do in day to day life. There is also something quite satisfying that these images coupled with the various texts will then have an opportunity to be seen in the public realm. I'm deliberately awkward in my drawing. I feel that the work that I just do is enough - I like the feeling that it isn't completely contrived.

Why the hats? They also look kind of blocky. This is probably me continuing the theme odf modernist architectural shapes but also referincing crude digital technology...pixels.

11th Dec 2010

I went to the sketchbook show last night and was interested in the varied selection of sketchbooks that were on show. Ideaally, I'd like to pay another visit and spend a good day looking at the books and making notes.

I think that there could be mileage in this as a project and will also consider the viability of attending the symposium that's attached to the exhibition in Feb 2011.

Post 6b: Fine Art Gen

I've been snowed in here in the UK due to quite extreme weather conditions. I live in a village and find it interesting that many people are spending time shovelling snow from under their vehicles. I'm not entirely sure that the people really need to do this as the roads are much too treacherous to go into town. There are a lot of people who are off work and I guess the shovelling fill a hole if you'll excuse the pun.

I'm interested in the change in the atmosphere of the village as people who are normally at work are now at home, in their driveways armed with shovels. It almost evokes a feeling of a bygone era when people used to spend more time in their rural locations. It also seems to promote the idea of the social. There is a real sense of community, people stopping to talk to one another - a commonality.