Another month has come and gone, moving ever closer to the end of 2018.
It’s been an interesting month, and an interesting few months being outside of
education and working semi-full time to earn money. It’s been fine, definitely
detrimental to my art and everything that I do with isthisit?, but that’s okay,
that’s life. Either way I’m looking forward to Christmas, to break away from
London for a moment, to walk in the fresh air and write a little in the comfort
of a warm, bright house with worries pushed into the back of my mind.
So, what’s been happening? The issue 6 open call ended, which will
hopefully be launching in January somewhere in London. I’m still discussing
where, although hopefully soon I’ll have a finalised location and will be good
to promote and to source artists to be in the exhibition. As mentioned before,
3 or 4 artists only from now on, keeping things open and not too cluttered,
alongside saving on shipping costs. I have about 20/30 people so far for the
issue, again, I’m keeping it a little tighter this time, giving room to the
texts to breath. Either from being slow or otherwise, I also haven’t got any
interviews in the upcoming issue, I guess it’s another way of distancing myself
from a magazine and more to a book. Of course, interviews can be in books, but
they feel a little more – in the moment – than essays, interviews are usually
for promoting upcoming projects/events (minus the times when it’s doing a look
back of an artist’s career, etc). So yes, that will all come together over the
next month or so, beginning to find a format, who’s going to be on the front,
etc. I want this one to be great.
I’ll also be writing something for the issue too, probably something
around 1500 words, a fictional story focusing on truth and deception, details
to be refined once I have some time to sit down and write something.
What else has been happening? Flow
My Tears debuted online at Daata Editions, which was really great, I just
hope now that some of the work sells and the artists who are a part of the
exhibition get somehow reimbursed for being a part of it. Either way, here’s
the link to the show, with full press release and artworks on view - https://daata-editions.com/art/curated/bob-bicknellknight
I made a new piece called Drone
Theory, influenced by the book of the same name by Grégoire Chamayou which
argues against the use of drone warfare. The piece is made up of a video,
alongside prints and sculptures, all hanging/resting on/within a structure made
from the aluminium modular system. It’s made to look a little like an
information stand, with the TV vertical in nature, as if it has a timetable of
train/plane times, slowly changing and providing information to the public.
Instead the video depicts a computer animated drone flying in the sky, being
looked at from an aerial view, so you can see the mountainous ground below.
This, accompanied by an animated gif featuring the YouTube logo in the bottom
right hand corner, is seamlessly looped on the screen alongside the sound of a
deep throbbing of a plane in flight. The video, in its peacefulness, focuses on
drones, and the desensitisation to warfare that has occurred through online
viewing of various atrocities/drone attacks, although more specifically, the
desensitisation to the aesthetics of these metallic birds, flying through the
sky and controlled from the ground. Through seeing visual representations of
these objects we grow accustomed to them and stop seeing them as a threat. The
use of the YouTube gif works in this way, referencing screens and our obsession
with these video platforms. The animated drone was purchased from a stock
footage website, alongside the gif being found online, adding to the work being
online focused - https://vimeo.com/300203199
Alongside the video, placed on the structure are a series of sculptures
and prints, one of them being a print of a drone, mid fire, caught on camera
and uploaded to YouTube. The print is half obscured by a piece of PVC plastic,
part of a curtain, speaking further about how seeing things through the sheen
of the screen obscures and changes one’s viewpoint of it. There’s also two
sculptures places on the bottom of the structure, a 3D printed blue shell from
Mario Kart, referencing the gamification of warfare, alongside another
reference to a chapter in How to Talk
about Videogames by Ian Bogust, The
Blue Shell Is Everything That's Wrong with America, where Bogust speaks
about the blue shell and how its qualities are duplicated by the military
drone. Finally, there’s a Donald Trump knock off inauguration coin from and
produced in China placed next to the shell. Although less drone focused, it
speaks to the production of falsified goods sold online, presidential power
regarding drones and the controversies regarding Trump. Although, thinking
about it now, it would have been potentially slightly better to feature the
Barack Obama presidential coin, due to his widespread use of drones during his
presidency. Perhaps if/when it next gets shown that will be the best way to do
it… Anyway, here’s some photographs, I think it turned out really well.
Next up was re-showing Colleen and
Joshua. It was nice to return to this work, although I think the new
installation wasn’t that successful, potentially better than the deck chair,
although still not that amazing. Someone said to me that it looked like a
weight lifting bench, which I didn’t really see until it was said, then once it
was said I couldn’t get it out of my head… It also included some emoji
stickers, which I liked. Anyway, I’ll eagerly await reshuffling how it’s
installed. Here’s some photographs.
I also finalised the two sculptural works utilising bolts and aluminium.
They turned out quite nicely, although felt a little unknown when not being
shown with the accompanying video (that I’m still yet to add a voice over track
to). I’d really like to show them together at some point soon. Here’s some
photographs of those:
The exciting piece of news is that the group show I’m in next year,
curated by Yasmine Rix, got funding from the arts council, which means I’m
going to be able to get some of my paintings produced, 4 in total, which is very
exciting. The selected works are below, the ones that are actually edited,
rather than simply pictures that I’ve used the paint filter on photoshop with.
That may well potentially be it for new work. I’m thinking of beginning
a series of works made out of clay, as I’ve been very drawn to it as a medium
recently, so have been thinking about how to incorporate it into my own
practice. I’d like to make a symbol based series of works, influenced by my
previous interest in Psi, potentially moving backwards and finding other
symbols that have been utilised by companies/corporations, and carve/build into
bits of clay as works. I think that could work quite well.
I’ve also been chatting with Tom Galle about collaborating on something
with him, potentially a meme based series of paintings/works, all focused on
different memes/internet cultures fighting on a battlefield, with each painting
depicting two figures, fighting one another, alongside perhaps sculptures and
other things. It’s a work in progress, but would definitely be interesting to
keep coming at and thinking about. Here’s a super basic concept idea, obviously
it’s very early in the planning stages.
What else? I was really interested in making a series of puzzle works
again, featuring burnt puzzle pieces as well as puzzle pieces vacuum packed and
made into sculptural wave like works. Each puzzle piece would depict a
different cryptocurrency symbol (I think), and would be burned slightly on the
edges, representing the crypto crash and the crypto currencies continued
fragility, whilst being vacuumed in plastic, making references to
authorities/governments wanting to keep these currencies from becoming fully
realised and used everyday. So, as part of the series, there will be framed
singular puzzle pieces, and sculptural works. This is something I want to make,
perhaps in the next few weeks whilst I’m still in London, before Christmas
occurs… I have two weeks, it should be enough, ish! I just need somewhere to
photographs work in…
I also want to start working on a new video work, as I feel I’ve
slightly neglected video work lately, although I’m unsure why. I guess I’m
succumbing to enjoying having physical things, rather than digital files, I
don’t know…
I think that might be it for now work being produced or being thought
about. Now let’s look at the exhibitions I’ve been to. As usual, it’s a bunch,
beginning with Live Dead World at
Seventeen, a solo show from Gabriele Beveridge. It was a series of beautiful sculptures
made from glass and modular shelving systems that you’d find in commercial
shops. It was very clean, considered work. Definitely a fan.
Julian Stair was basically big mugs/cups at Corvi-Mora, I was unsure how
much of a joke this was or not. It felt a little like being in Muji.
Karin Ruggaber upstairs at Greengrassi was also very weird, kind of like
a GCSE project, featuring copper and steel wire assemblages, all untitled. Two
very weird shows that I really did not like. They were serving soup at the
private view though, which was very lovely, so I guess that balances things
out?
The Lotus Eaters, a group show at Aindrea Contemporary, was
very weird and not so great. It featured some great artists who I really
admire, like Jane Hayes Greenwood alongside Harriet Fleuriot and Sarah Cockings,
but it felt like such a selling exhibition, devoid of emotion and feelings. One
piece had a booklet showing how much each of the works were, supposedly a part
of the work, although it felt a little too on the nose for my liking. Plus, I
couldn’t find a press release on the private view, apparently there was one,
but I did search one out and only found a map with artist names. So who knows,
maybe there was a press release?
Flo Brooks’ solo show Scrubbers
at Project Native Informant was super nice, a series of quite
intricate/delicate paintings on MDF, focusing on cleaners in various spaces,
interacting with day workers, with little details within.
Bodies of Water: Age of
Fluidity at White Crypt, a
solo show from Hannah Rowan, was a nice environment focused exhibition, full of
melting ice and whirring machinery. I believe it’s work created to make you
wonder/worry about the melting ice caps and everything else, which it kind of did,
but also by making this type of work one wonders how much it’s adding to the
problem you’re critiquing.
The romance of flowers at Kingsgate Project Space, featuring work
from Victoria Adam, Aaron Angell, Holly Graham, May Hands and Sean Roy Parker,
wasn’t really my type of show, lots of work that felt like it had no real
lifespan, which is fine, but I do like work to have some longevity. Saying
this, it was very well curated, with all the work feeling very similar and
functioning together incredibly harmoniously. So, a well-done show featuring
work that I’m not so into.
James Fuller and Marco Miehling’s duo show at William Benington Gallery,
An Arrangement in Two Halves, a Bench in
Two Parts was fun and felt very tight. Basically modular parts of a sculpture
set in incredibly precisely cut packing foam. Then, for the second part of the
show, the works will be made into chairs, becoming the final work, which is
super nice. I’m looking forward to the second stage, which occurs in January.
I went to Cell Project Space to see their current show, The Nth Degree by Emanuel Almborg, but
unfortunately it’s an hour long film, quite the commitment which I was unaware
of. I need to go back…
Safe City, Amikam Toren’s solo show at Matt’s Gallery
was very clean, one print/painting that featured a painting bought in a charity
shop with the works KILL RUSHDIE cut into it, words taken from graffiti in
London (in 1990!) alongside a number of banana skins, slowly rotting in the
gallery, also found around/on London’s streets. So yeah, very clever and
concise.
Bone Memory at Lychee One was okay, although felt a
little throw away, due to it being the launch of the new space. From talking
with people, it was a very rushed exhibition. With works by Bea Bonafini, Freya
Douglas-Morris, Marlene Steyn, Aishan Yu, Lian Zhang and Vivien Zhang. I was a
fan of Bea Bonafini’s carpet based works the most.
Hun Kyu Kim at The approach was super nice, incredibly detailed
paintings depicting animals fighting in post-apocalyptic spaces, clever and
just very well made. Excellent.
Polka Dots and Curls, a solo show from Andro Semeiko at
Narrative Projects was solid, some nice paintings of bubbles, smoke and vent
shaft type things.
Chiharu Shiota at Blain Southern was super dull, Venice 2015 flashbacks.
I’m unsure why I didn’t like ◊P |
Protocols of Uncertainty at Gossamer Fog, a group show curated by Felice
Moramarco featuring Yen Chun Lin, Milan Mazúr, Lucia Sgrafetto and Natália
Trejbalová. The work was nice, but the positioning just felt incredibly odd and
uncomfortable, plus there was no lighting in the space, well, a little purple
lighting but no more. I even spoke to the curator and tried to identify with
him why I didn’t like it, but I just couldn’t put my finger on it, I still
can’t. It’s odd, plus the press release felt way too academic for my liking.
Oikos Logos at Enclave Projects with Hannah Rowan,
Matthew Verdon and Gregory Herbert was okay, again, too academic and science
esque for me.
Josephine Pryde’s In Case My Mind
Is Changing at Simon Lee was fine, some nice sculptural and wall-based
prints, but overall it was fine. Not amazing, no train to ride on.
Martin Creed at Hauser and Wirth felt very weird and unpleasant, like a
child’s fun house, but an incredibly diluted one with no real sense of
experimentation.
The Age of New Babylon at Lethaby Gallery was fine, although I
wanted more from the show, I did appreciate the insightful press release with
an in conversation with the curators. That was fun.
The Perfume Shop, a group show at Ryder, was nice, basically
a bunch of perfumes made by artists. It’s been something I’ve been thinking
about for some time, perfume artworks, so it was nice to see a group show of
them, featuring Thomson & Craighead, Fabio Lattanzi Antinori,
littlewhitehead, Clara Ursitti and Kentaro Yamada.
2068 at [ space ] was good, although I’m unsure
if I was totally into it, a group show featuring work by Paul Chapellier,
Rachel Cheung, Anna Mikkola and MH Sarkis. I think I wanted more.
Ginte Regina’s solo show Monika in
September at GAO was good.
Frances Upritchard’s solo show Wetwang
Slack at Barbican was okay, although a little too museum like for me, being
very knowing and museum like within itself. It was fine, some nice sculptural
doll like figures.
Emmanuelle Lainé at Southbank Centre was good, office spaces as art.
Iain Forsyth & Jane Pollard at Kate Macgarry was fine, multigraph
images of various actors among other things, it was fine…
James N. Kienitz Wilkins’ Hearsays
at Gasworks was interesting, full of copyrighted content and a VR piece that
wasn’t so satisfying.
Bojan Šarčević solo show at Modern Art Sentimentality is the core was basically a bunch of freezers in a
large white cube gallery. It was cool, although after I left I started to think
about the environmental impacts of the work, keeping freezers open for the
duration of the show, cooling the gallery space and wasting energy. I’m unsure.
Lothar Hempel’s Le Terrain Vague
upstairs was fine, an acrylic box full of international currencies?
Tom Worsfold’s solo show Models
at Castor was fine, a series of paintings that are started but have no
knowledge of where they’re ending, so I liked parts of the pieces, snippets and
segments, but the finished works were not to my taste, it felt like a mish mash
of different painting styles which felt super odd and misplaced. I kind liked
his solo at Carlos Ishikawa, but this new series wasn’t that fulfilling.
I went to a very fancy group show at Laure Genillard, basically a
gallery in a home near Oxford Street, with works from Gertrude Stein, Heinz
Gappmayr, Olivier Mosset, Alan Charlton, Valentin Hauri, Colin Sackett,
Elizabeth McAlpine, Ella McCartney and Yun-Ling Chen. So yeah, big names but a
weird show that felt way too much on the opening night.
Korakrit Arunanondchai’s No
history in a room filled with people with funny names 5 at Carlos Ishikawa
was a solid show, not as crazy as his previous works, although I guess that’s
growth? It’s a video installation that focuses on the cave that a group of
young people were trapped in earlier in the year, taking that as a metaphor and
allegory. It was fun.
Archive Fever, a group show with Özgür Kar, Adriana Lara
and Dena Yago, curated by Elisa R. Linn & Lennart Wolff at Emalin was maybe
my favourite from the past month. Some very nice works that all felt very of
ease together, spaced out perfectly alongside just a really nice use of the
gallery. I’m a big fan of their shows in general.
CACOTOPIA 03 at Annka Kultys Gallery is going fine.
Space Shifters at Hayward Gallery was terrible, I hated
every minute of the experience, full of mirrors and people taking so many
pictures on their phones. It just felt so cringe inducing and painfully click
bait esque. I’m just incredibly glad I didn’t have to pay 15 pounds to get in,
thankfully friends had free tickets.
PROUDICK at Hannah Barry Gallery, a duo show with
Lindsey Mendick and Paloma Proudfoot, was well put together and felt like a
true collaboration. They both work primarily in ceramics, so they’re a very
good fit, although I really do not like Mendick’s work, it feels so messy and
very overloaded, whereas Proudfoot’s is so nice and crispy, well made ceramic
works that feel considered.
Elmgreen and Dragset at Whitechapel was both great and dull. Putting a
pool in a gallery is obviously awesome, but everything else felt weird and too
on the nose. A baby in front of a cash machine? Perhaps a little too
stereotypical…
Javier Chozas at Tenderpixel was fine, although it was very Tenderpixel,
a very liminal exhibition with earthly sculptures.
New Contemporaries at South London Gallery was crap, as one assumed. A
lot of paintings and a lot of work, just thrown together with no real
connections to be seen, accompanied by a press release that’s incredibly weak
with no artwork explanatory text. Without I am left lost and wanting.
Meiro Koizumi’s Battlelands at
White Rainbow was good, lots of ex-military soldiers (I think) recounting their
stories of death and destruction whilst showing head cam footage from them
exploring their homes. It was very good and very clever. I should really go
back, as the video is an hour long and I only probably scratched the surface.
GOOD GRIEF, CHARLIE BROWN! at Somerset House was okay, it felt super
museum esque, although there were a few works that I really enjoyed seeing,
namely pieces from David Musgrave. Bronze, silicone and video works, all
incredibly beautiful and very well made.
Karanjit Panesar’s The Way Things
Are at arebyte was super nice, although at this point I’m a little worn
down to write anymore, so I’ll just say that it’s definitely well worth seeing
it.
Annnd I think that’s it for exhibitions, 40 exhibitions in a little over
a month, not bad! Next up is films and TV. Whilst browsing I found this
beautiful little show called Bee and
PuppyCat. Kind of like a mix of Steven Universe with a little bit of
Adventure Time and Over The Garden Wall. It’s focus is a young woman and her
puppycat, who speaks in a different language and moves through different worlds
doing various bits of work for different people. It’s incredibly lovely and I
would highly recommend it.
Sheep in the Big City is a little weirder, very early 2000s in
its animation style and storylines that don’t flow from one to the other. It’s
very absurd and quite good, just not lovely.
Smallfoot was fun, a film focusing on a Yeti living
on top of a mountain within a community of Yeti’s, living with no knowledge of
human beings. It’s fun, have a vaguely interesting fake news kind of back
story, but overall fairly forgettable.
I loved Teen Titans Go! To the
Movies, incredibly clever and knowing, fourth wall breaking and layered
ideas surrounding superhero films. Very good.
Dilbert was another, quite clever, animation
focusing on the work life of a number of individuals working in cubicles within
a bland office. It was very enjoyable.
Crazy Rich Asians was amazing, just a very fun comedy romance
with well-formed characters.
The Equalizer 2 was a fine action film, not amazing but
what did I expect?
Great News was a nice tv show focused on a new group.
It was fun and forgettable.
The Kominsky Method was another of Netflix’s old person
comedies, unsure whether I enjoyed it or not. Again, I assume it will
eventually be forgotten.
That’s it I think, I’ve also been watching a bunch of Christmas films
like Home Alone, The Holiday, Love Actually
and all the others, but I don’t think those truly count, especially as I’ve
seen them many times before. Either way, it’s been nice to get into the ‘Christmas
spirit’.
So, continuing forwards, Christmas will happen, it’ll probably be the
new year before I get another chance to write this. So, in the coming weeks,
continuing to create work, potentially the puzzle sculptures, getting works
painted, ordering Obama coin, issue 6 preparation, new/old video work, new clay
works, new and old everything. It’s going to be a busy few weeks and then I can
rest and sleep in Suffolk. I’m very much looking forward to it…
