Pattern

 

 Text/writing 

 

 

Stuff and writing/text

Found stuff

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Thinking about found incidental marks and colour/form combinations

 

 

Something I started on

Stuff I saw today

 

 

Bus journeys don't have to be wasted

Book - DB response

 


After seeing this exhibition featuring David Batchelor in the summer at the Fruitmarket Gallery in Edinburgh, I created a book-type response.

This was then exhibited at the London Book Fair at the Whitechapel Gallery in September, with Second Century Press.

It is a simple/complex response to some really amazing paper based work which was on display.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

Open House - Opið Hús

   Usually at the end of a residency period here at Listhus there is an "open house" - almost like a cross between an open studio and a curated exhibition.

   Almost at the beginning of our time as a group here we discussed collaborating on a participatory intervention or performance as part of this.

   Using the opportunity to work in an almost spontaneous way to engage with the community and raise questions about art in a humorous way.

   Please Wait to be Seated was a "walk-thru" portrait factory facilitated by our collective which we named The Serendipitous Sisterhood. Menus were collected on arrival, choices were made (line drawings, water colour for example) and participants could choose payment method - sing the national anthem, teach an Icelandic word and so on. Raising questions about exchange value, ownership, authorship, commissioning were all there but lightened by our carefree manner, costumes and showtime element.

Example with menu

   Participants would then be photographed with their portrait which they took with them, both photograph and portrait record and memory of the event. 

Happy customers

   An enjoyable was to spend an evening creating art, interacting with the locals - it is the first real engagement we have had - it is unfortunate it has come near the end of my time here. (Although admittedly I could have initiated something beforehand). Getting to know an area or a town is not just about places and landmarks or where the supermarket is but the people who make it. 

   Reflecting on this, an idea for the future which would be great to be involved in would be to create a longer term project within a community where the participants are not just invited to be part of one event but are part of the development and shaping of the event and have ownership and are part of a collaborative project.

Promotional material

And top picture, our beautiful sign by Lee Wansool, in English, Icelandic and Korean.

Same all over

    William Morris, reflecting on a visit to Iceland 1871/72  - "Watching the fowls [sic] scratching about, felt a queer feeling something akin to disappointment of how like the world was all over after all."

     Nearing the conclusion of this time on residency, reflecting on the change you go from being a foreigner, an outsider - you are unsure of the surroundings, bereft of local knowledge - to then being part of a community, having routines, places you tend to go, things you tend to see. This integration of course takes a lot longer than merely a month but small things can fall in to place in this time - the feeling of having your space (physical/mental), your way of existing in this new environment  - things which were new, unfamiliar and novelty became routine, usual and sometimes banal. Being comfortable in your surroundings can sometimes take a while and each person is different. But it is true that you do begin to notice that people and things are not so different after all.

    Not to take away from the many unique things you can encounter in Iceland, but that almost in a comforting way things are like or similar all over. We can adapt quite easily and quickly to an established routine almost without knowing it.

    I'll be glad to return to my "old" routine - but with a fresh viewpoint. I enjoy the perspective changing and novelty of return that travel and extended stays bring.

One of the unique things - crater things

Quote from Roni Horn - Library of Water, Adrian Searle p.36