Only a two week gap this time,
hopefully this blog will return to ‘normal programming’ in the next few weeks.
The other night I looked back a little, back at the last few years of my ‘art
life’ as documented in this blog. It was a very weird experience, definitely a
motivator to keep writing this thing, keep documenting, so in a few years’ time
I can look back and see how much of a wanker I’m currently being, drunkenly revisiting
those mind sets, thinking about wasted time and wasted opportunities… Anyway,
past few weeks I’ve been working a little on my dissertation, although I’m a
lot less stressed about the whole thing. I don’t want it to take over my work
or my life, which are pretty much one and the same at the moment, so I think I’ll
always end up concentrating on other things first, perhaps. I’ve also been working
on the next issue of the mag as well as an exhibition I’ll be curating at
Gossamer Fog in conjunction with the launch. I exhibited a new version of the
Pepe the Redeemer work for an exhibition/crit at uni and I went to both Frieze
fairs. It’s been fun, although I think I need to balance isthisit?/my own work a little better. Over the summer I let the
platform slightly dominate my life, so I think it’s time to take back my own
work, think about where I want to be in a years’ time, all that shit…
Let’s begin with the magazine, which
currently has over 60 contributors in it, probably too many really, although the
more people in it, the more likely they are to sell, and I’ve upped the amount
of physical copies from 20 last time to 50 this time. Making more ‘profit’ than
last time as well as hopefully actually having copies to sell at the launch
event too. The following image is the announcement image of all the artists
that are involved currently, I’m literally adding more artists daily at this
point, hopefully getting more essays from people as well as more interviews.
Pre-orders are now open for the magazine too, priced at 9.99 (excluding
postage, UK only) and 99p for the PDF copy. I think next time I’ll probably
just release the PDF copy for free, as very few people actually buy them and I’d
like more people to actually be able to read the magazine… Link is here - www.isthisitisthisit.com/issue-03
I’m currently conducting a really
interesting, incredibly long, interview with Jakob about video games and his
practice, but want to talk to someone else too. I kind of forgot how fun it was
to interview someone, how much you actually get invested into their practice.
After looking around the current
Gossamer Fog show, which I then wrote very briefly about in the previous blog
post, the guy who runs the gallery emailed me submitting to the magazine as
well as offering the space as a potential launch event venue. Obviously I said
yes as I love the space and the actual submission was great. I’m currently choosing
artists from the magazine to be in the show, which will hopefully be a lot more
succinct and fleshed out than The Muse exhibition, which was full of artists
outside of the magazine and was a little overstuffed. At the moment I’m looking
for more artists that make sculptural work about video games, it seems like
very few of them do, and even fewer are based in the UK! Anyway, that’ll be
happening in early December, probably on the 8th or so.
What else? I showed a modified version
of the Pepe piece, although without the pepe USB as I hadn’t gotten it back
from Berlin yet, so I don’t think it was called that when it was shown. It
featured the same two videos, although now with a third video and shown
sideways, with each of the videos having their own space to actually be seen.
The third video was of a man reloading his virtual gun in a VR game, where you
have to nearly literally re-load the gun with your virtualised hands, doing the
motions, etc. This was accompanied by the two previous videos, one being the
future drone machine, the other the gallery protest. I think I liked it better
like this, although I want to move away from this work a little, maybe make
something more cohesive and sculptural? I don’t know, but I need to think about
it. I love making my own work and I feel like I haven’t fully immersed myself
in that for months, literally.
I’ve been asked by dateagleart, an
online platform for art, to curate 6 months of artwork, 6 artworks from 6
artists, for a project of theirs called ‘Spread the Virus’, basically making
people more aware of ‘digital’ artworks and artists. However, it does involve
asking artists to make work with no monetary compensation, which for me is
tricky. I’ve never really in the past asked artists to do this, they either do
it without me actually asking, which is great, or I use previously made works,
which is the norm. I’m still going to do it, although it does make me feel
slightly uncomfortable I guess. More on that later, the curating begins in
March, so I have quite a while to select and contact some artists to make a new
‘digital’ artwork.
I talked a little about YAC and the
interview that I’ve been having over the past few months. It’s now online to
read. I talk about my practice and Pepe, young artist led collectives,
nepotism, funding and a bunch of other things. It was really fun to have that
conversation and you can read it here - http://youngartistsinconversation.co.uk/Bob-Bicknell-Knight
Hmm that could be it for me and my own
stuff, maybe. I keep thinking, worrying, about the future. What I’m going to do
when university ends, where I’m going to go. I had a really interesting discussion
the other night when I went to drop off a piece for an upcoming group show,
extending long into the night, discussing money and how I can begin to make it
from this process. Funding is obviously an option, but that wouldn’t be
sustainable for living and definitely not in London. I’ve also been thinking
about the possibility of moving out of London, to a smaller city where things
are cheaper, where things are slower, enabling me to set up my own gallery, to
start attempting to sell the work I exhibit. Do I even want to do that though?
I’m not totally sure. I guess I need to work out what I want from my life at
the moment, where I want to take it, although right now I’m a little tired and
want to enjoy something.
Now, onto galleries and Frieze! Let’s
begin with Stine Deja at Annka Kultys Gallery. The show imagines this ideological
living room space, full of falsities and non-realities, from the IKEA flowers
to the idyllic birds chirping as background music. It was fun, but a little
busy, lots of work for a small space which felt a little crammed in. If there
had been half the works it would have worked, or simply some re-positioning,
although that’s only my opinion!
Vitrine was okay, two new things, a
commission from Charlie Godet Thomas (who I’m media partnered with) and a Wil
Murray exhibition. The Murray show was super dull, just layers of printed on
board, kind of grassy images, trapped between the glass. I didn’t really get
it, nor did I have the energy to attempt to. I’ve said it before, if something doesn’t
attract me to a work I’m not going to be motivated to actually want to learn
more about it. Why would I?
Charlie’s work was basically a weather
vane that spins with the wind. It was fun, although I think I ultimately preferred
the last commission more, a fallen figure carrying the earth. I do like his
previous work though, just this is less fun, a little too simply perhaps? I’m
not being very helpful I’m sure.
Lisson Gallery had three shows on. One
was featuring Allora & Calzadilla, an exhibition that apparently ‘continues
the artists’ ongoing investigation into the politics of language in public
speech’. Who writes this stuff, it’s just fucking boring, no ones going to read
it. I dunno, the work was ‘nice’ but, I dunno. Maybe I’m just tired from the
week writing this post, but like, I dunno… Didn’t grab me, a you can probably
tell.
The other space had a show by Daniel
Buren, the kind of work I used to love in earlier years, but now… Nice mirrors
I guess?
Upstairs there was a micro show
featuring a number of artists that they represent, the favourite for me being
an incredibly short video called The Hunt by Christian Jankowski. This involves
(I assume) the artist, walking around a supermarket with a bow and arrow,
standing incredibly close to various food items and shooting them, then picking
them up and putting them in his trolley. The food was then purchased with the
arrows harpooned in them. I loved it, hilarious and easy.
I went to the Seth Price opening at the
ICA, but only went around incredibly quickly, as I had a number of PVs to
attend that evening. I basically need to go back, so much video work. You
really should balance that out in some way with physical works, too many videos
can be suffocating. The space is cool though, they’ve changed the shop a
little, and knocked down a few walls.
For art licks last weekend I went to a
number of things, one of which was a friend of mines (Campbell McConnel) thing
called Word in Transit, which is basically a bunch of performances on a tube,
with each performance lasting for the duration of a stop. It’s a really nice
idea, was executed fairly well and I’d highly recommend going to it again if
there’s another event. Very fun.
PI Artworks was fun, although my main
takeaway from the show was the use of flowers that were growing over the
duration of the show in the gallery. I love when things are growing or
changing, making you want to come back. Apart from that *shrugs*.
Juliana Cerqueira Leite at TJ Boulting
was okay, some weird sculptures of plaster hands attached to very not nice
looking wooden plinth like things, but then in the back there were prints from
YouTube videos, layered up to create a blur, which was kind of fun?
I went to the opening for the new show
at the Zabludowicz, which is always packed, or at least it feels packed due to
not being allowed to drink their massive amounts of free alcohol inside the
actual show. How’s that boycott going? (not that I don’t think selling guns to terrorists
isn’t bad I just think a boycott isn’t the best way of handling the situation).
Anyway, the main show was featuring a big body of work from Haroon Mirza, which
I was actually excited about. It ended up being a lot of ‘glitch art’, an
aesthetic I hate, alongside some really great looking sound installations. The
ambiguous visuals and use of overused imagery was just a bit much for me
though, a bit too in your face and a little less actually giving me something
to chew on I guess. There was one room I wasn’t able to go into though, a
chamber of sorts, which looked very interesting, so I’m definitely going to
have to go back. How annoying.
In the invites section Rebecca Ackroyd
had a show, I’m not sure I’m really into her art that much. It’s very personal,
which I’m totally up for, but the simple set up (carpeted floor, a grate and
covered windows) didn’t really do anything for me. I’m obviously really worn
whilst writing this. Who am I doing it for?
Katharina Grosse at South London
Gallery was very boring, she’s known for making huge colour/paint installations
in various outside locations. Reducing this to inside a normal gallery space
made it seem kind of boring and institutionalised I guess. Not for me.
Edel Assanti had an amazing show on by
Marcin Dudek. He had transformed the space into a stadium of sorts, going
through a turnstile like contraption when you walked in, then encountering
various clothes that seem to be frozen made from plaster in an attempt to
capture these moments of anxiety and excitement. The whole space was painted
orange. I liked it, recommended.
Josh Lilley, as always, was boring.
Paintings. Also, the beer they were serving was very weird. I did not like it,
a weighty drink.
Modern Art on the other hand provided some
great beer; Hells, alongside an amazing show from Josh Kline in their new
space. I’m a big fan of his previous video works, in this show there were a
bunch of concrete sculptures with tech embedded within them, from sofas to toy
trucks, alongside various devices chopped in half and tapped back together. The
different devices were paired together, for example, a mac with a pc, or a
higher quality version of one thing attached to a lower quality of another.
These were fun, but very odd and not that ‘lovely’. More funny than
aesthetically pleasing.
Yuri Pattison at Mother Tank Station
was fun, although a lot of his work involves various live streams of things, so
to ‘get’ takes a very short amount of time. I prefer his previous work which
actually had a structure, more solid things that I could watch and interact
with I guess. The business like chair though was great, which you watched these
live streams on, alongside all the work really. I am a fan.
TJ Wilcox at Sadie Coles didn’t grab me
at all. When watching multiple docs you need to be grabbed.
A new gallery, GAO (Gallery in Active
Operation) had a beautiful stone carved sculpture from Felix Bahret. Very
crispy and reflective. I’d quite like it in the middle of my large house, if I
had a large house.
Jake and Dinos Chapman at Blain
Southern was fun; bronze bomb vests. Do I need to say more?
Maddox Arts has a boring, overpacked
show going on from Nicolas Schoffer.
Sophia Contemporary, a gallery I was
literally just walking past, had a really great show called Im/material:
Painting in the Digital Age. Lota of interesting paintings questioning what
painting means. Using computers to paint, computer paintings, etc, etc. It was
some solid work, recommended if you’re in the fancy part of town.
Pre-Sliced Orange Segments , curated by
Sid and Jim (one of which is my brother) at Light Eye Mind was fun, lots of
work about sports and activities, presented in a make shift locker room with a
bench running around the incredibly small gallery space. It was definitely
slightly overpacked, more so as it was the PV, but it was a tight show, you
could see the links, the intersections, the thought.
Finally, let’s talk about Frieze. I
went to both. Frieze Masters, the first time I’ve been, was truly extortionate
and way more fancy than normal Frieze. The booths were incredible, fake wooden
floors, serious lighting and the most amazing selection of chairs for potential
buyers to sit down at. I felt very overwhelmed walking around and didn’t see
anything I liked, unsurprisingly.
Frieze London on the other hand, this
was kind of fun, even though I went through the whole space in about 2 hours. Some
highlights: Anna Uddenberg sculpture was amazing, like a fluffy chair which you
definitely weren’t allowed to sit on. It was at Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler and was £35,000.
It does look very nice.
Hannah Black at Arcadia Missa was very
cool, a very slick animation of a panopticon museum with a few benched
sculptures. I wanted to sit down, but it turned out the benches were the art…
Anna Hulacova at Hunt Kastner was
pretty great, a blue and white installation with foam coming out of one of the
sculptures, that was definitely very visually enticing. There was probably more
that I liked, but, you should really follow isthisit? on Instagram if you want
to follow every detail. Whenever I go to a gallery I document it on there,
rating it with emojis. So go to is_this_it_is_this_it and follow to
check for those gallery days/PV evenings.
I also went to an amazing panel there
today featuring Ed Fornieles, Constant Dullart and Angela Nagle (she wrote Kill
All Normies, an amazing book I read over the summer). It was basically talking
a lot about what my current work is about, the alt-right, culture wars, 4chan,
the internet being a space of non-discussion. I loved it. You should have definitely
gone, and if not, read Nagle’s book as it’s incredible.
I think/hope that’s it for art over the
past few weeks? Maybe I missed one of two shows out, who knows. This whole art
thing is getting a little overwhelming.
I realise also I didn’t talk about everything
I’d watched over the summer in the last blog post, a lot of which has probably
been lost, only to be discovered again when a friend brings up a film that I slightly
recognise but only remember I watched when I look at a trailer or accompanying
image. Anyway, I’ve watched a bunch of stuff obviously, so in no particular
order, and definitely no where near everything I’ve seen:
Big Mouth, Rick and Morty season 3
(obviously, it’s amazing), The Hitman’s Bodyguard, The Emoji Movie, The
Orville, The Good Place, Okja, The Big Sick, Baywatch, Neo Yokeo, American
Vandal (so fucking hilarious, I can’t recommend it enough), Naked, Spider-Man
Homecoming, IT, Wind River, Captain Underpants, Despicable Me 3, Baby Driver,
The Boss Baby, Bojack Horseman season 4 (amazing, obviously), new Twin Peaks,
Master of None season 2, Glow, Star Trek: Discovery, Wonder Woman, and
literally like, probably at least 5 times this list, probably a lot more. All
lost to the ether basically. Fuck.
So, unsure if there’s anything else, or
should be anything else, at this point. Oh and new studios are great, high
ceilings, great space, I’m looking forward to working. Week ahead is
dissertation stuff with new tutors, starting on some new work, continuing to
email people about the magazine, starting to put that fucker together, seeing
more shows, etc, etc. All the boring/exciting shit. Maybe getting out of London
would do me good? Also, new policy with these blogs, no re-reading it through.
This is a record for me, not for anyone else, it’s been decided.
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