Two weeks later and what’s been
happening? Lots of installing, lots of excitement, some new work and a bunch of
degree shows to go around and critique. I guess we should begin.
So for the past week I’ve been
installing Duty Free, the group show embedded within the Chelsea degree show.
It’s been going incredibly well, the structure stands up by itself, holds TVs
hanging on the bars and people sitting down on it. All my worries regarding
weight are thankfully forgotten. I’ve had some incredible install help from two
first years, being incredibly helpful in installing works with me and painting
the walls and floor. If only I was so helpful in first year. Here’s a
photograph of the space on Wednesday last week, since then all the work has
been installed on the walls, with one or two bits to add in the next few days:
I’ve also been slowly prepping the
creation of the book, basically sorting everything out to send to print as soon
as the exhibition is photographed and edited. In total the accompanying book
will be 140 pages, so not too bad in terms of cost, I should be able to make a
small amount of money back if they sell well. I’m thoroughly looking forward to
seeing it visualised and in print.
My interview with Elliott from Off
Site Project was finalised a few days ago, which is great. It was nice to talk
to someone about my practice and the themes of the show, something I haven’t
done for a little while now. It’ll be up on Curating the Contemporary in the
next few weeks, alongside of course in the upcoming book too.
As the week continued and I began
counting the works in the show, seeing how much wall space I had and what might
fit, I slowly added one or two more works of my own. In total there are five
works from me in the show, a fairly extortionate amount but it’s okay because
it’s my degree show, maybe? So the structure is officially a piece from me,
alongside the new video, the layered aluminium prints, the SIM card holder and
a wall based acrylic layered print with Bitcoins, reclaimed from its previous
use as a stool in the last exhibition. As long as I’m here, I think I may as
well contribute more works, so I have. Here’s a pic of the layered aluminium
prints, which do look incredibly crispy, all the other works will be
photographed this week:
I’ve also finalised the press release,
map and artist bios for the show, spanning three pages, with two as double
pages. It’s going to be a lot of printing, and I’m currently considering
whether or not to place the releases on the structure or attached to the wall.
I guess I’ll decide tomorrow whether to be casual or not.
Once again I had to start again on my
video, scrapping everything again as it had become too obvious and so cliched.
I have since opted to show the video, with accompanying Primecoin symbol
rotating in the corner in contrast to the amorphous blobs, and one concurrent
video playing rather than continually changing and chopping from one found
footage to another. I think this is the final product, I’m not totally sure how
happy I am with it. I’ve called it The News:
What else has happened? I’m currently
promoting the show on isthisit?’s Instagram, posting previous artist works as
well as personally inviting people to the show. I’m very happy how concise and
crispy it’s shaping out to be. There’s also a new online resident on the site,
Alex Tobin, and this month there’s unfortunately no new online show as the
curator dropped out. How annoying.
I’m continuing to plan issue 5,
finally sending out a bunch of emails to involve people in the show. After
Friday that will be degree over and I’ll have a lot of time to concentrate on
this, as well as getting a job of course, and everything else I’ve been putting
off. Hopefully it should be a good list of artists, the open call ended a few
days ago and I need to find some time to trawl through the submissions.
Another thing I’m about to undertake is
a Google Maps residency with Off Site Project, focusing on all the
artists/curators I’ve worked with through isthisit?. It’s called I Doxxed Myself (And Why You Should Too),
and will basically involve me emailing (or attempting to email) everyone I’ve
ever worked with before, asking them for a bunch of their data/to fill in a
form, adding their studio/house to a big Google Map. It should be fun,
something I’ll start doing after the 8th. That goes on for two
months, how fun.
And I think/hope that’s it in terms
of art, it’s mostly been a long week of installing, which has been generally quite
fun. Let’s now move onto exhibitions, which I’ve been pretty weak with the past
few weeks. I should have gone to a few this weekend, but it’s just so warm and overpowering…
Let’s begin with the CSM degree show last week. I always find CSM to be odd,
more like a series of showrooms than anything else, alongside the MA being
weirdly crap. Generally it just feels like so much crap is always packed in to
a small space, even though the building is so huge. Maybe they should focus
more on the art than selling retail space to businesses. Anyway, I think I
liked three or four works in total, mainly Sid and Jim’s work. Of course, I am
super bias as Jim is my brother and Sid is a friend, but there work was the
most tongue in cheek, the most aware of itself. It featured mascots for the
degree show wandering around, smiling for photos and being ‘off duty’ as well
as an information stand full of false news about the various fictional
exhibitions around the campus. Very fun, although no real longevity post degree
show, but to be honest work from BA students rarely is. It usually ends up in
the bin. Anyway, fun and knowing work from them.
Thinking back to over a week ago, I
think that might be my only truly memorable piece. Everything else was fine,
big screens, terribly sexualised paintings and smashed screens from a painters
point of view. All kind of basic and nothing that I truly interacted with. Very
odd, perhaps I should have returned post private view? Accompanying picture of
work by Gordon Berger whose work I feel fetishizes the screen and comes from a
fairly stereotypical view of what a painter thinks of digital art. Just very
dull, predictable and not interesting at all.
The Westminster BA show was also fairly
weird, although I’ve never been before. Yet again, unsure if I liked anything,
aside from a pizza chair by Mary-Anne Henn, fun literally because it was a
pizza chair, no concept to speak of.
Robbie Jeffcott had a kind of fun
installation with sand and rotting/abused commercial boxes and products. That
was kind of nice, although again super cliched.
I went to arebyte for a solo show by Saemundur
Thor Helgason titled Fellowship of
Citizens. The show was – kind of – launching a lottery of sorts made for
Icelandic people, a prototype for a universal basic income system. The show was
launching this lottery by presenting a series of works created by someone who
had been given a lump sum of money, the first person being given the lottery
money, so it wasn’t technically art. The work on show was ‘art’, but I’m unsure
how much art was actually occurring. It was very odd but interesting, and a
very subtle use of the space too. I think I need to realise that filling a
gallery with work isn’t always the best thing to do… I also got a thank you in
the credits of the accompanying booklet, as I am friends/working with
Saemundur, more bias.
IMT Gallery has an okay solo show on
from Maggie Roberts titled Glimmer Breach.
It featured a bunch of collages and videos, with the videos mimicking the
collages, lots of ‘glitchy’ visuals and unstable speaking. I am ultimately
tired of this aesthetic and want it to be gone. ‘Hey look, it’s Google’s Deep
Dream used yet again in some Art’
Alongside going to a bunch of shows I
went to a panel talk focusing on HereNow Residency at SPACE. It featured a
bunch of artists that I’ve worked with in the past and currently, like Laura
Yuile and Thomas Yeomans, as well as a few I’d like to work with too like Ilona
Sagar. It mostly was focused on what the residency does, as the current open
call ends for the next round of artists in July, although I mostly went to
check out the speakers who were giving micro talks about their practice. It was
fun and fairly informative. I will also now be applying to the residency, as it
sounds really nice and a positive boost to any practice. Although I’m assuming
I won’t get it due to being fairly young still.
Annd I think that is it for art, let’s
move onto films and TV, beginning with Solo:
A Star Wars Story. It was a ‘fine’ film, not great, but a fun ‘romp’
through the Star Wars universe. It is starting to feel diluted, although they
are still well made films, I think there will be a point where the plots should
become deeper rather than continually relying on call backs to the original
trilogy. I went to see it at the Barbican, a fun experience on a bank holiday Monday.
Blissful.
Early Man was funny and well
animated, although I’m unsure whether I’ll still remember it’s plot in a few
weeks time. Fun and ‘does the job’, I guess that’s an achievement of sorts. It’s
not The Pirates! Band of Misfits,
that’s for sure.
Cargo was yet another
zombie epidemic film featuring Martin Freeman, as the main character stoically
carrying on. Oddly cut and with a small budget, it does the job of satiating
your indie zombie film interests, but other films have undergone this narrative
in more innovative and interesting ways.
The new Fahrenheit 451 film adaptation of the fantastic book was crap and
cut out a lot of main, very important parts in the book. Michael Shannon is
great in everything he’s in but he couldn’t hold up this weak adaptation. And
to think I was vaguely excited about this…
Please Stand By, a tale of a young
autistic woman who love Star Trek, was touching, lovely and uplifting. Yeah,
just super nice and ultimately life affirming.
So I only watched half of A Wrinkle in Time and had to stop, as it
was just so bad. Terrible acting and a weak plot full of bad CGI. I just couldn’t
get on board with its PG tale of loss.
The new Tomb Raider on the other hand was great, a video game adaptation
which was actually good; an incredibly rare accomplishment. It was fun, kind of
video gamey, and a nice start to a series of films I guess. Very video gamey,
although I’d prefer this to Indiana Jones.
That is it for films. I’ve also been
indulging in TV, from binge watching the recently released season of Unbreakable
Kimmy Schmidt, Arrested Development and Thirteen Reasons Why, with the latter
ending in a failed school shooting that was teased throughout the season, and I’m
unsure whether this is okay or not…
And that is it for the past two
weeks, busy but content. The next week will involve finalising the install for
the degree show, which will hopefully be done by Tuesday, as well as sending
the book off to be printed. I’ll also try to go to a few shows, begin applying
to jobs after Friday and go to some exhibitions. It should hopefully be a nice
week.
