Wild Lace

Anna Baxter MA - Fashion Footwear - London College of Fashion

2011-08-01T13:51:00.007+01:00

It was a real pleasure to be at the Festival Hall to see Anna and her fellow students receiving their Masters degrees, congratulations to them all.

Extra special thanks to Ruth and Johnny (and their families) who helped make it such a special occasion.

Over Here by Shane Waltener at Jupiter Artland

2011-07-31T11:53:00.008+01:00

Over Here by Shane Waltener at Jupiter Artland introduces contemporary lace as sculpture in a familiar form - a giant knitted web.

Waltener describes the web as "Trapping the essence of the place and framing an ever changing imprint of it". The technique references traditional Shetland lace and the material (fishing line) hints at the the net as a means of capturing prey, a strange mixture in theory but very effective in this situation.

The thread is quite transparent when viewed against the light but, as with a rainbow, viewed at the right angle that the colours become apparent. It would be great to see this with a backdrop of autumn leaves but sadly I have no plans to be in the area in the fall.

The knitted structure of the work only becomes apparent at close quarters but reminds me of a comment that I once heard; 'women knit - men are continuous loop construction engineers'. Either way this is a work that successfully brings knitting / lace / textiles to the attention of a wider audience. Perhaps not one of his most adventurous pieces but powerfully effective in this setting.

Firmament by Antony Gormley at Jupiter Artland

2011-07-31T11:15:00.015+01:00

For me Firmament by Antony Gormley was one of the most fascinating pieces at Jupiter Artland, this vast steel sculpture has distinct connections with the research that I an doing with archives and with contemporary lace structures.

View from the right angle the form of a person kneeling, with their head to the ground, can be distinguished. This connection of man with earth is elemental to our being but it is the sky showing through the work that dramatically emphasises the tenuous nature of this connection.
As a contemporary lacemaker much of the appeal in this piece is in considering it as a piece of lace - the voids being an integral part of the work without which it would be a very different, and in my opinion less effective, piece.

My lacemaking is about making connections and giving form to voids which is what this sculpture does in three dimensions.
Taken out of context images of the work can appear wonderfully random and formless but in reality every strut and joint is an essential element of the overall form which is only revealed at a suitable angle and distance from the work.

One thing which surprised me about the piece was the presence of an annotated numbering system for the elements which gave it a direct link to the accession numbers that I have been working with in the Birmingham Museum archives and collections.

Jupiter Artland

2011-07-31T09:08:00.012+01:00

Jupiter Artland sculpture park is just west of Edinburgh, it can be a little difficult to find but is well worth the effort.
'A Forest' by Jim Lambie is an installation on the rear wall of the entrance shop and gallery. The mirrored surface of the chrome panels reflect the surrounding woodland but this natural harmony is interrupted by the apparent peeling away of corners of the mirrored surface to reveal glimpses of brightly coloured layers beneath. The effect is at once beautiful and unsettling, natural and unnatural. As the light and the seasons change this piece will change with them and I suspect that in due course nature will also play its part in the evolution of the work by beginning to colonise the nooks and crannies with plant life.

'Suck' by Anish Kapoor is a very solid rendering of the archetypal black hole that absorbs all light and matter, to the dark places within, a sink-hole delving into the bowels of the earth - for most of us the stuff of nightmares. The iron clad hole at the centre of 'Suck' is surrounded by a 17 foot high cast iron cage which poses questions of whether the hole has been captured and neutralised by being caged or we if are being kept at a distance to ensure our safety?
Cornelia Parker's 'Landscape with Gun and Tree' references Gainsborough's 'Mr and Mrs Andrews' in which Mr Andrews stands, beside his wife, beneath a tree, with a shotgun. The scale of this piece is in keeping with the potential for violence inherent in the weapon, loaded or otherwise. The menace is no doubt amplified in winter when the trees are stripped bare and the wind whistles through the branches.

I've seen numerous images of Charles Jencks' 'Life Mounds' but actually being able to walk amongst and on them is a quite different experience. This is especially true in the pouring rain when the surface of the water becomes highly textured by huge raindrops that disrupt the normal stillness of the pools.

Andy Goldsworthy's 'Stone Coppice' was the highlight for me, possibly helped by the spectacular thunderstorm raging around me, and the fact that everyone else had sought shelter so I had the copse to myself. The boulders are left over stones from 'Stone House', another Goldworthy structure at Jupiter Artland. The limbs of the coppiced hazel are sturdy enough to hold the boulders and will slowly grow to trap and enclose the stones in a vice-like grip, fusing plant and mineral as one piece. The area will continue to be managed for coppicing and the addition of further boulders (in 10 to 15 years) is a possibility. Slow art but well worth waiting for.

'Clay Tree Wall', in the Gallery, is also by Andy Goldsworthy. Coppiced branches were fixed to the wall and then covered in wet clay, mixed with human hair. As the clay dried the cracks appeared making it look as if the branch was caught in a dried up river bed. Goldsworthy refers to it as exploring the surface that forms the divide between 'above' and 'below' ground, transition points are often contested and here it is the cracks that make the 'below' ground visible that are so important to the visual effectiveness of the work.

Platanthera Orchids on the Caledonain Canal

2011-07-14T20:47:00.006+01:00

A pleasant day walking along the Caledonian Canal with great views of the north side of Ben Nevis was given a real boost when I came across an orchid that I'd never seen in the wild before. I'd seen lots of common spotted orchid of various colours in the hay meadows in Glen Nevis and there were both pale and dark ones along the canal side but a white one caught my eye and on closer inspection I realised that it was quite different. Looking it up it appears to be a Platanthera (Butterfly orchid) but I'm not sure if its the greater or lesser variety.

Traigh golf course

2011-07-14T20:15:00.009+01:00

It's not very often that I can be persuaded to walk a golf course but the views from this one at Traigh were just stunning (the sunshine helped of course)

It's situated in a tiny bay just south of Mallaig on the west coast of Scotland. The journey from Fort William (Ben Nevis) to Mallaig is beautiful and can be done by train as well as by car but by train you don't get to stop in places like this. The islands in the distance are Eigg, with its basalt cliffs, and Rum.
As we crossed the tidal burn at the 5th I noticed that mother nature had been trying her hand at a bit of contemporary lacemaking. In fact its dried weed that had been washed out of the burn on a particularly high tide and left in the sun to dry - a bit like paper making but with very long staple fibres.

Ospreys and red squirrel near Keswick

2011-07-07T17:17:00.007+01:00

The Lake District is a great place to watch birds and just north of Keswick the pair of breeding Osprey are rearing two chicks. The Osprey Watch Project have set up two viewing points on the side of Dodd Wood, just above MireHouse where they are providing scopes and binoculars as well as information on the progress of the nest this season. This morning the chicks were provided with a fish at 10.30 and then the female sat watch on the side of the nest for most of the morning. Unfortunately this year the Ospreys have decided to nest where the project can't get a camera on the nest but they should have some great photo's on the website soon as the chicks are due to be ringed any day.

The lower viewing point also has a bird/red squirrel feeding station which is very well attended.

Two young greater spotted woodpeckers, two jays and a red squirrel put in prolonged appearances while I was there today.

An otter was also reported as having been seen in the pools at the end of the lake this morning.

Antony Gormley - Another Place

2011-07-07T16:38:00.007+01:00

This week I finally got the opportunity to visit Antony Gormley's installation Another Place at Crosby on Merseyside. It was fascinating to see not only the scale of the work but also the effects that time and the sea are having on the individual pieces.

Most of the pieces that I saw were standing in their own pools of water where the eddying tides had scoured away the sand from around the bases on which they stand but a few, closer to shore, had become partially buried in the sand.

It was also interesting to see how the proportions of the bodies had changed as they have become colonised by seaweed, barnacles and muscles.

I think that what struck me most was the way in which despite being a real 'presence' the statues were dwarfed by the wind-farm, just off shore, and the vast ships moving in and out of Liverpool docks. This was perhaps enhanced by watching them being rapidly engulfed by the incoming tide.

Despite this the most enduring memory will be the haunting sense of absence/unknown - why are they looking out to sea; are they guides waiting hopefully for something/one to return or are they sentinels standing as a forlorn reminder of those who will never return - I fear the latter.

Anna Baxter - MA Fashion Footwear

2011-02-08T17:58:00.059Z

Anna Baxter showed a collection of men's footwear at the London College of Fashion MA Showtime Exhibition. This is a finely crafted footwear collection that subtly redefines classic designs with a contemporary twist. Design detailing includes brass sole inlays, tufted and hand shaved fur. The range moves from formal, midnight black, evening shoes through to light, casual, daywear.

Black evening shoe in leather with pony skin tongue and brass sole inlays (below)

Day shoe in taupe leather and brown pony skin with brass inlays to toe and heel tips (left)

Day/evening shoe in metallic bronze leather with dark brown hand shaved kangaroo fur

Asymetric shoe with rex rabbit fur detailing

Leather and suede, concealed wedge with rex rabbit seam detailing

This is a range designed to appeal to the fashion savvy man seeking edgy statement pieces

Johhny Chin - MA Fashion Footwear

2011-02-08T17:31:00.009Z

Johnny Chin showed a superb collection of men's footwear at the London College of Fashion MA Showtime Exhibition.

Knee length Derby boot with white horsehair tassel - I must admit that its the flow of the horsehair tassels that makes these for me, at this length they might not be too practical but that's not really what an MA collection is about and they certainly are a sensuous statement.

Pull-on boot with crane embroidery - Traditional Chinese emblems in traditional cross stitch but worked on leather, now that's an interesting twist!

Military boot with unicorn embroidery

Derby Shoe with cloud embroidery - Love the idea of different colour clouds

Oliver Ruuger - MA Fashion Artefacts

2011-02-08T17:13:00.006Z

Oliver Ruuger showed a range of artefacts at the London College of Fashion MA Showtime exhibition. The umbrellas with exaggerated curled handles and super long horsehair tassels were truly things of beauty that would be a joy to own. A briefcase and bicycle saddle might seem unlikely companions in a display but both were exquisitely crafted and showcased Oliver's range of talents. The briefcase is covered in 'Sam Brown' studs that offer ornamentation as they catch the light but also act as protection for the fine leather skin of the case. The saddles also have a rim of 'Sam Brown' studs and in both cases appendages, which look like black fangs, can be added to the studs completely changing the look of the item.

Hanwen Shen - MA Fashion Artefact

2011-02-08T14:33:00.007Z

Hanwen Shen showed her collection of 'nape pieces' as part of the London College of Fashion MA Showtime Exhibition.
As a jeweller she has noted that there is a tendancy to focus on forward vision and the wearing of jewellery on the front of the body rather than the back. To challenge this she has created a collection of nape pieces in which the sinuous curves blur the distinction between front and back, neck and hair.

Shown left is; 24k gold collar neckpiece.

Shown right is; nickel and black nickel nape piece

Wei Wang - MA Fashion Artefact

2011-02-08T14:10:00.002Z

Wei Wang was one of a number of Fashion Artefact students showing at London College of Fashion MA Showtime Exhibition.

Whilst handbags are not exactly an unusual item of focus among Artefact students Wei Wang's innovative use of ceramics most certainly was unexpected. Her use of subtle Chinese crackle glaze gives these bags a visual element of fragility that belies the nature of their solidity. For me these bags are not only unique but also highly collectible.

Saida Bruce - MA Fashion and the Environment

2011-02-08T13:54:00.004Z

Saida Bruce displayed a subtle range of garments from her Trace-in-Time range at the London College of Fashion MA Showtime Exhibition.
The philosophy behind the work is based on 'Object Interviews'. To quote from the web entry 'Trace-in Time mirrors and accentuates the attributes that people come to love about their clothes. Meaningful detailing and considered silhouettes are formed with strategically placed layers of printed fabrics, intending to portray the physical aging, to communicate the wearers' life experiences. The evolving piece offers surprises that mature and age in time with the owner, thereby creating a direct point of reference to the life of the garment.' - a beautiful way of saying the we should cherish the clothes in which we have been happy and allow them to continue to nurture us as we and they fade and soften with age.

Jennifer Rothrock - MA Fashion Curation

2011-02-08T13:36:00.003Z

Jennifer Rothrock was one of the participants in the recent MA Showtime Exhibition from London College of Fashion. Although the Fashion Curation students had a very minimal presence at the exhibition Jennifer's statement was fascinating and so I followed it up on the web.

Her research on Mourning, Memory and Memento looks at the significance of mourning in the lives of Victorian women. The outcome of her work is the design for a three room exhibition to create an experience of Victorian mourning through dress curation. Knowing nothing about professional exhibition curation I found the room plans as interesting as the theory behind the work.

Peaceful start to another busy day in Tokyo

2011-01-09T14:36:00.008Z

On the way to breakfast we passed this entrance way, sandwiched between two tall buildings. The sun was illuminating the courtyard and chair and it looked so calm and inviting, the perfect place to contemplate the coming day.

After breakfast we headed south to the Zojo-ji temple. I hadn't expected to find such an imposing entrance right on a busy junction.

I now begin to understand what they mean when they say 'Temple complex' on Time Team. There is a main temple building but there are also lots of smaller sub-temples and shrines within the boundary walls. I assume that the main bell is only rung on major ceremonial occasions, hopefully one day I shall hear one of these amazing features in action.

Having enjoyed the peace and tranquility of the minor shrines I was rather taken aback by how ornate the central area of the main temple was, very beautiful but I simply hadn't expected all of the gold and ornate decorations.

One of the surprises for me in Tokyo has been the amount of greenery, mature Ginko trees lining so many of the roads were not what I had expected. Many of them are relatively old and some were dropping huge leaves. This multi-trunked one in the temple grounds was especially beautiful with the sun on its canopy.

Today I finally got the hang of the subway system. Alternate track side signs have the station names in English. We were starting from Daimon and the arrow meant that the next stop on this track would be Shimbashi so you could tell that you were heading in the right direction.

Omotesando Hills to Harajuku Dori - Tokyo window shopping

2011-01-02T19:44:00.019Z

Window shopping is not usually my idea of fun but seeing the contrast between the flashy modern shopping mall at Omotesando Hills and the wacky youth culture of Harajuku Dori was fascinating.

Omotesando Hills was a twinkling wonderland of reflections from the glitter-ball baubles suspended from the roof and the enormous Swarovski Christmas tree.
On either side of the stairwell below the tree were showcases featuring elaborately decorated cakes and images of the chefs who had created them.

My favourite outlet was a very elegant homewares shop that sold a delightful array of tableware and red, white and gold paper decorations like the one at the bottom left of this picture which I was very tempted to add to my own Christmas tree.

A few doors away Carol Quarini photographed this shop dedicated to dogs apparel; coats, hats, dresses and jewellery

From Omotesando Hills we headed towards Harajuku Dori to take in the youth culture.

I was already finding 'Christmas' in Japan a slightly strange experience when I came across this window display featuring a neon skull and cross bones surrounded by a Christmas wreath - definitely very peculiar.

I was rather more taken with the use of lights inside large, drilled, bamboo canes as a local variation on the traditional Western fairy lights.

Harajuku Dori and Takeshita Dori are the heart of Tokyo's youth culture district. According to one of the guide books; shops here sell a most extraordinary blend of goods reflecting the Japanese notion of "cute", "cool and American" and "rebellious British". In other words a strange mixture of Hello Kitty, hip-hop and the infamous British punk. As for the shoppers; well, any form of fancy dress goes.
On seeing the window display of dresses (above) Beverly Ayling-Smith commented that they were very 'Greyson Perry'.

Back on one of the more main streets we came across a large street stall selling one-off, handmade clothes from recycled materials.

They may have been sold under canvas but there was nothing cheap about these unique items, the dresses being about £400.

I'm not sure that the stocking neck tie would catch on in the UK but I loved the multi-layered dresses.

Nezu Museum, Tokyo

2011-01-02T14:00:00.020Z

A small street-corner shrine, Prada and Chloe shops, a modern museum and a hidden garden - this must be Minami-Aoyama street. An array of up-market designer clothes shops punctuated by a local shrine (with a Pomegranate tree) and a busy junior school terminates at the wonderfully modern building of the Nezu Museum of Art and its beautiful hidden garden - truly a street of contrasts. Stepping off the main street into the sanctuary of the small shrine (above) was an unexpectedly calming experience you'd stepped into another, less hurried, time and place.
Within yards of this Shrine were the ultra modern fashion temples of Prada (left) and Chloe (below), I declined the opportunity to enter either.

For me the object of being in the area was visiting the Nezu Museum o f Art which was showing 'Living on Paper: Daily life as expressed by Japanese Medieval and Pre-Modern painters'.
Even the entrance way to the museum (below) is a delight with its tiny garden and long bamboo lined walkway. Inside the displays were minimal but of the highest quality, although it did take me a while to get used to seeing breakables such as ceramic statues tied down in every direction to prevent damage during earthquakes. The Paper exhibition was very enlightening; the scrolls, hangings and screens so often seen in books or museums in the West usually depict the lives of nobles or scenes of natural beauty, to see daily life portrayed as something to be celebrated was fascinating.

For me the most wonderful surprise was the vast garden hidden behind the museum building. Although we'd missed the best of the autumn colour we were lucky enough to catch the tail of it.
The carefully manicured conifers,

reds of the acer leaves,

autumn flowering camelias,

ponds

and bamboo groves combined to make this a dream visit for me.

It was whilst enjoying lunch in the contemporary glass 'Tea-House'
that I experienced my first earth tremor; a gentle swaying of the table confirmed what my ears were telling me, the earth was definitely moving! This was confirmed by the bronze cauldron outside where some of the carefully arranged leaves had been washed onto the lip of the vessel which had been dry and leaf free when we entered. The Japanese didn't seem to register the event - evidently too minor to bother about.

Babaghuri

2010-12-26T14:58:00.012Z

Babaghuri was another fascinating shop, a blend of ethical fashion, home-ware and publications selected by Jurgen Lehl. Lehl specialises in natural materials and dyes with limited editions for the discerning customer. The garments were cut in really interesting ways and the website shows a good selection. The tables and large baskets were superb but out of my league in both price and transport possibilities.
I loved the hand hammered copper kettles the smooth, classic, shaping of the pot was such a textural contrast to the crazy stainless steel handles. They were not as heavy as I feared and I was very tempted to bring one home.

I also took a shine to their short stools, hand carved from a single block of wood and finished with linseed oil and bees wax. I'm sure I could have got one in my suitcase if I'd tried really hard!

After this some of us, who had not slept on the flight, headed back towards the hotel to find something to eat. Seven of us ended up in a tiny eatery where we made our selection from a machine which produced a ticket that was placed on the counter behind which was one man and his vats for frying and boiling. To give a sense of scale of the place; there were only two spare seats when we had all settled ourselves.

I chose number 4 which turned out to be a vast bowl of noodles in broth with a large vegetable fritter in the top. It was excellent; hot, filling and cooked to order - although I must admit that tackling the fritter was an amusing game. Rosie had fried aubergine on the top of her bowl of noodles and Mary seemed to get a very interesting selection including an egg broken into the broth and left to gently cook itself.

Nuno

2010-12-26T13:11:00.009Z

On arrival in Tokyo we dropped our luggage at the hotel and then visited the Nuno shop.
The wonderful Reiko Sudo generously guided us through many of the fascinating fabrics on display.
Nuno are famed for their innovative combinations of threads such as those with different shrinkage rates which produce highly textured surfaces when heated after weaving. I treated myself to this black and white scarf which would also make a great wall hanging. It's a double cloth weave that has been crinkled to give it width wise stretch. The vertical slits not only add interest to the design but allow you to pass one end through to keep it in place is wear.
The fabric that I found most interesting was this one which has a standard synthetic woven base fabric with floats of paper yarn which are cut by hand to random lengths. Apart from being a stunning fabric it reminded me of the way in which the surplus outlining threads had to be cut away, by hand, from the surface of early machine made laces.

UCA Textile Study Visit to Japan 2010

2010-12-24T20:13:00.005Z

This study visit to Japan was based on textiles but encompassed a broad spectrum of cultural experiences.
Three nights in Tokyo afforded us an experience of fast paced life in the ultra modern capital. Our hotel was always easy to locate as it was not far from the Tokyo Tower, shown above at night from the observation deck of the Mori Tower.
Our Tokyo experience was followed by four nights in the gentler surroundings of Kyoto with it's myriad temples and shrines. Here we also had an ultramodern beacon to navigate by in the Kyoto Tower, just north of Kyoto Station.
I'm extremely grateful to Diana Harrison, Linda Brassington, Louise Anderson and Hannah White from UCA for all of their hard work in organising the trip and to Nao Fukumoto, our Artist in Residence, for her wonderful translations and excellent introduction to the workings of the Tokyo subway system.

La Hougue Bie, Jersey

2010-09-30T13:48:00.014+01:00

La Hougue Bie is the most amazing archaeological site with evidence of building activity from 3,000 BC onwards. For anyone interested in megaliths I would highly recommend a look at the website http://www.megaliths.com/

The lower level of the site's Museum covers the highly varied geology of the island whilst the upper levels work chronologically through the islands history from a Rhinoceros skull, through its earliest human inhabitants to a hoard of coins from the Roman occupation. There are also fascinating displays of objects including a Bronze Age hoard (above) and polished stone axes (right).

At the core of the site is a Neolithic passage grave that is now surmounted by a medieval chapel (left). The cruciform passage grave is over 5,000 years old and, with its largely intact mound, is considered to be one of the finest examples in Europe.

The eastern side slab of the grave's northern side chamber has at least 24 cup marks on its eastern face. This is the only rock art in the structure and despite the fact that their significance is long lost the time invested in their making testifies to their importance to the people who placed their dead in this special place.

Like the Christian chapel above the passage grave is aligned on an east west axis, in this case to allow the sunrise at the equinoxes to penetrate to the heart of the chamber complex.

The original structure of the chapel dates from the Norman period. The original building is now divided into two chapels and a rotunda with a ring crypt beneath.

The Jerusalem Chapel has two very feint ceiling paintings of angels from c. 1520. Quite different to the rock art below but undoubtedly equally significant to those who worshiped there.

Although there is no longer any evidence of its presence the chapel was extended around 1792 to form the Prince's Tower - a private dwelling in the form of a miniature Gothic castle. The Tower fell into disuse and was demolished in 1924.

The site does much educational work and includes a reconstruction of a Neolithic house, a group of querns for grinding grain to flour and a replica log boat. A German Command Bunker, elsewhere in the grounds, houses a memorial to the slave-workers of the second World War.

St Brelade's Church and Fishermen's Chapel

2010-09-30T13:36:00.011+01:00

This lovely old church sits at the western end of St Brelade's Bay, Jersey. Originally founded in the 6th century as a small monastic church it has been a centre of Christian worship for 1400 years. The main building began life in the 11th century under the guidance of the Bishop of Coutances and the original wooden chapel was rebuilt in stone.
In the 14th century the original tiny chapel (to the left of the main church) was appropriated as a burial place for a prominent family and the east wall decorated with a painting of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary, flanked by 14 kneeling figures.
Elsewhere on the ceiling are further paintings, these are thought to date from the 1350 to 1450 period. Near to the east wall is a scene depicting Christ riding on a donkey. (above)

Further down the chapel, on the opposite side, are more scenes including another Annunciation from which the Angel Gabriel is best preserved. (right)
In the days when the vast majority of the congregation were illiterate these paintings would have helped to tell the story of the gospels.
The chapel became associated with the fishing guilds in the late medieval period and has continued to be known as the Fishermen's Chapel.

St Brelade's Bay, Jersey

2010-09-30T12:34:00.012+01:00

I've just enjoyed a brief holiday on Jersey, staying on the southern side of the island at St Brelade's Bay. The weather was generally kind to us although it looked quite menacing at times. I just love the sea when the light catches it like this - very Kurt Jackson!

Jersey has a wide range of geology which includes swathes of pink granite (I'm told that the pink is feldspar). Here at the back of the bay the granite has been eroded to expose the much softer rocks behind. The roots are of a Monterrey Cypress which is clinging on tenaciously.

My stay coincided with a full moon close to the autumn equinox and produced quite extreme tidal ranges. At low tide these rocks were exposed, from the hotel they had and unnerving similarity to the shape of a submarine - many of which patrolled these waters in the last war.

At the western end of the beach is a sheltered harbour and the Parish Church.

The old tree trunks that are embedded in the old harbour wall are, to my eye, wonderfully weathered and a testament to the resilience of wood in such exposed conditions. I've no idea how long the trunks last but they seem to be fairing better than some of the man made objects in the vicinity.

Harbours are always a good hunting ground for two of my favourite things - old rope and rusty metalwork. I was not disappointed here, chains of all sizes were gradually being eaten away producing some wonderful colours and textures.

Kurt Jackson - Dart

2010-09-26T09:42:00.011+01:00

Kurt Jackson's latest exhibition, at Lemon Street Gallery Truro, is an exploration of the river Dart from source to sea. The gallery website also has an essay by Jackson discussing the background to the series of works.
Agatha Christie's Fine Trees - this image is being used on the publicity for the exhibition and gives a real feeling of the still calm of winter, chill but with a stunningly clear light.
Across to Sharpenham - Another scene from deep winter but here the feeling is quite different with the steep valley sides offering a sense of shelter against the elements. It also features the play of light on water for which Jackson is justifiably famous.
Two Bridges, silence, snow - Snow can utterly change the landscape, for town dwellers it's a magical dusting if icing-sugar sparkle. For those living and working high on the moors it's a different story bringing access problems and worries about the safety of their livestock. Here Jackson offers wilderness with a hint of the snow's transformative powers.

Fishing Dam Pool for Salmon - This one really caught my attention, I've known many places like this with the gentle sound water mixing with grasshoppers and bumble bees in the background.
Catkins from the banks of the Dart - A beautiful little still life that perfectly captures the joy of seeing the first catkins waving gently in the breeze; signalling that spring is on its way.

Gale Force - Totally different to the inland pieces this one
is looking out to sea, from the mouth of the river, into the teeth of a gale that is whipping the sea into a foaming turmoil as it crashes ashore. Exactly the sort of weather that I love to watch whilst safely tucked away behind glass (getting softer as I get older, was a time when I loved to be out in this sort of weather!)

MA Exhibition UCA Farnham

2010-09-13T10:55:00.014+01:00

This years MA show at UCA Farnham was another diverse mixture of disciplines and ideologies that will have appealed to a wide audience. A few of my personal favourites appear below.

Tom McDowell - Jewellery - Tom sets out to challenge the traditional formality of jewellery wearing. He transforms children's drawings of creatures, imaginary or real, into quirky but highly wearable art that brings a smile to those who encounter them.

Alex Archbold - Glass - Alex uses cast and kiln formed glass in sculptural pieces of architectural and public art that explore the boundaries between two and three dimensional forms. Her recent project to design a large window for the Churchill Archives Centre in Cambridge was shortlisted for the commission. The work is cast from impressions of books and papers and relates well to the layers of history that are stored in such a repository and the transparency that archivists strive to achieve in their work.

Melissa Ryland - Ceramics - Melissa's work deals with the concept of memory and how everyday objects go unnoticed by most but may have a deeper resonance for some individuals or audiences, sometimes offering an expression of presence through absence.

Beverly Ayling-Smith - Textiles - Beverly is exploring melancholia with a focus on the emotional dimensions of the words grief, loss and absence. For me this particular piece spoke of the emotional baggage that we carry with us, the grief unspoken and locked away in a cage that we can never risk losing but are reluctant to open. The barbed wire shrieks its message loud and clear - touch at your peril. By contrast the delicate, almost invisible, interlacing of human hair speaks of the genetic markers that we carry within us, often unseen or denied but integral to out being.

Louise Anderson - Textiles - The essence of Louise's work is about the passage of time. The weaving and dying processes that she employs take time and patience; planning and precision, and yet the outcome can still be excitingly unpredictable, producing unique results. Edges are important to Louise as they frame the time that has passed in the making of the work.

Bruce Marks - Glass - This installation from Bruce explores the fine line between sanity and insanity, surely one of the finest lines that we can ever encounter. The work juxtaposes the apparently fragility of the lacelike glass structures with rust coated spikes that might, at any moment, rupture the bubbles of illusion and destroy the safety net of domestic sanctuary.

Cultex - Rugby

2010-08-13T09:13:00.009+01:00

Cultex has now moved to the Rugby Art Gallery and Museum

A rather unexpected sight in the foyer is Machiko Agano and Anniken Amundsen's Greenhouse Installation. Although the setting is less than appropriate the installation is a triumph. The sinuous forms of Anniken's creatures entwined and reflected amongst the angular shapes of Michiko's cut, printed, mirrors works extremely well to give the impression of a verdant forest of growth that tricks and confuses the eye whilst creating its own unique habitat.

The landing, before the main gallery, is an excellent viewing point for the new commission by Eva Schjolberg 'Parterre/Water'. A mixture of here evocative photographs, of Norway and Japan, and rich blue second hand textiles that are manipulated to make textures and patterns along linear rods

On entering the gallery I was immediately struck by how different the exhibition was going to be in this setting; a much more open gallery arrangement allows relationships to develop between different works, not just the originally planned pairings. Kiyonori Shimada's sensuous white walls have been arranged to form a corridor that narrows in the centre forcing visitors to consider the etiquette of passing in restricted spaces. At the end of the corridor is another balcony where Gabriella Goransson has installed another new work. 'Glade - Taaje'. Seeing the balcony as a 'glade' with the building space Gabriella has created work that will gradually break down and return to pulp reflecting the natural process of decaying leaves in a forest clearing.
Moving back through Machiko's work the viewers own reflection on the mirrored surfaces is placed firmly in the midst of the consumer culture depicted on the printed side. From here Anniken's 'Mutant Clusters' grow and glow. I was particularly taken with the ligting of the deceptive simple wall pieces which were enhanced by an intense light that gave the impression of emanating from the work itself.
One of the most successful positionings in the Rugby gallery is 'Calm Correspondence' by Yuka Kawai. These graceful woven columns sit so well within the rotunda, echoing its curved walls and tall narrow windows, that they could have been site specific.
Eva Schjoberg's 'Aqueous' has a grace that belies the complexity of the curves from which it is formed. Each rod is gently bent to fit into a specific shape and place, its relationship to the wall and floor as important as its relationship with the other rods.

Ratatosk

2010-07-30T09:58:00.008+01:00

Ratatosk, by architects Helen & Hard, is part of Architects Build Small Spaces at the V&A. Set in the John Madejeski Gardens, this installation of split Ash, woven willow and shredded bark comes with an invitation to explore.
Please touch is very much the message, with the audience invited to enter the structure and experience the variety of tactile surfaces and the scents of the wood. The inner surfaces have been digitally sculpted and smoothed to enhance their natural beauty. From the interior the negative spaces between the trunks are brought into sharp relief.
For me there was a sense of sanctuary within the structure and I wondered if this was due to the intimacy of the space or being surrounded by natural materials. The materials and the nature of their placing led me to consider the similarities with ancient wooden henges, also made from split tree trunks, did they too offer their users a feeling of sanctuary?

Antony Gormley - Test Sites

2010-07-30T09:37:00.005+01:00

Antony Gormley's Breathing Room III fills the entire basement area of the White Cube in Mason's Yard. A three dimensional labyrinth of cuboid frames that gently glow in the dark gives an eerie, otherworldly, sensation of being part of science fiction movie. Being able to engage with the work by walking through it and viewing it from different angles only enhances the sense of ambiguity. It comes as a major shock when the windowless room is suddenly, without warning, flooded with strong light and the gentle blue glow is replaced with the solidity of white metal bars. The illusion is destroyed instantly but somehow the magic is not lost - day and night, positive and negative, solid metalwork and illusionary light, each highlights the qualities of the other.

UCA Graduation

2010-07-30T09:30:00.005+01:00

The UCA Farnham and Epsom Graduations take place at Guildford Cathedral. This year those of us graduating were honoured to shake the hand of our new Chancellor, Zandra Rhodes. Zandra was resplendent in fuchsia pink robes of her own design. A tiny lady with a huge personality, she certainly stood out from the crowd.

Ernesto Neto

2010-07-29T17:04:00.008+01:00

The Edges of the World, a series of installations by Ernesto Neto is showing at the Hayward Gallery until 5th September. The major piece in this exhibition is the immersive installation in gallery 6. Prior to reaching this, one encounters Just take me out of the ground (left) a series of steps/sculptures that invite the visitor to rise up into the canopy and enjoy a different view of the installations skin.
Not content with challenging the visual senses with the fluctuating shades of green in the translucent membrane walls Neto asks the audience to engage their sense of smell. As they pass through Flavour flower womb domus a series of aroma pockets, resembling wet sand-slips, (right) are filled with pungent materials including lavender and chamomile.
All three roof terraces have installations, my favourite of which is Walking to the future which contrasts a tropical palm with a temperate hawthorn symbolising two different culture as well as different climatic regions. Again audience participation is invited; the trees are surrounded by a wall in a continuous double loop which the audience is encouraged to walk along as if it were a path in an urban park. Unfortunately in the day I visited the weather was decidedly not tropical.

The New Decor

2010-07-29T16:35:00.008+01:00

The New Decor at the Hayward Gallery is part of Festival Brazil which runs until 5th September. The exhibition brings together the work of 36 artists from 22 countries. They all take interior design as a starting point for their installations/sculptures.
Amongst my favourites is Lee Bul's Sternbau No.3, (left), a chandelier inspired by the unrealised work of architect Bruno Taut.
I was also very taken with Nicole Wermers' Untitled Bench, a large perspex case enclosing large stones/small boulders of golden quartzite, purple slate and granite. Each stone is a thing of beauty that could be admired in a vitrine in its own right but here they question whether their purpose is decorative or practical - are they merely ballast that happens to look good or is their weight a happy sideline to their visual appeal?

The real highlight for me was Mona Hatoum's Interior Landscape - a truly inhospitable bed with its framework of barbed wire supports a pillow with a straggle of stray hairs. On closer inspection the hairs mark out the outline of a map of Palestine, a theme repeated with the bent coat hanger on the wall hooks. Maps also feature in the bag on the hooks and the tray on the bedside table.
These maps are complemented/reinforced by the World Map rug positioned outside the room setting of Interior Landscape.

Unravelling the Manor House

2010-07-29T14:55:00.010+01:00

Unravelling the Manor House is a series of interventions in Preston House, Brighton. Twelve contemporary artists unravel, interpret and expose the hidden histories of the building and its occupants. Some of the stories are imaginary and some relate directly to people or occurrences in the house.
James Hunting has produced a pair of hangings that reference the roles of the footmen in the house. 'James and John' came as a pair, chosen for their uniformity of height and looks (usually good). On duty they would take on the names used by the family for footmen over the generations adding to their anonymity. Hunts' footmen however share a secret, a tattoo that is only complete when the pair are together as one.
Laura Splan has a series of site-specific pieces around the house. 'Trousseau' is constructed from the remnants of cosmetic face peel that retain the impression of the skin. The sculptural pieces are embellished with ruffles and buttons alluding to the garment like qualities of the 'fabric'.

Catherine Bertola has installed 'If she is not out as soon as I' in Ellen Thomas-Standford's bedroom. The title of the piece is taken from an old lace tell and the work also references the making of pillow lace. Bertola's use of pins to create a lace pattern on a bed pillow is unsettling. This usually soft and comforting object now questions the relationship between those at the higher end of the social scale who could afford to wear hand made lace and those at the lower end who toiled long hard hours to make the lace for pitifully low wages.
Kira O'Reilly has used lace in a quite different way to Bertola. The bathroom is the site chosen by O'Reilly for her discrete prints made with her own blood. The use of lace to make these prints references the curtaining off of our private ablutions and the nature of the most intimate 'feminine staining'.
Matt Smith's 'Bulldog' series relates directly to the collection of ceramic figures with which they are displayed. The once potent white Chinese porcelain 'Dogs of Fo', caged in an English dresser, are stripped of their traditional meaning and power and are reduced to mere 'talking points'. On the surface Smiths' Bulldogs are the essence of Britishness but look beneath the surface and the deceptions are revealed. Made using American moulds and coloured with Honda car spray paint they are not quite as British as they appear.
This is another exhibition without labels and here it is quite easy to miss some of the installed works, they just blend in so well with the somewhat quirky collections on display that it can be hard to tell what 'belongs' and what doesn't. For me this adds to the intensity of the experience, I hope it worked as well for other visitors.

The Concise Dictionary of Dress

2010-07-29T14:49:00.010+01:00

The Concise Dictionary of Dress by Judith Clark and Adam Phillips was an installation at the V&A's store at Blythe House. Details of the project and essays relating to it can be found on the Artangel website. A truly magical mystery tour behind locked doors revealed 11 installations and their accompanying definitions - no dates, no makers, no artists, no materials, no accession numbers - just one mans definitions of a series of chosen words and the artworks that had been chosen to accompany them. There was something very special about this exhibition and it wasn't just the privilege of a peek behind the scenes at this treasure house of precious objects. The audience is forced to think about what they are seeing and what it means, without the usual back-up information. This is highly stimulating and more than a little risky on the part of the curators.
Armoured - One of Adam Phillips' definitions for Armoured is; 'Hardened for the elements; soft-centred'. This seems highly appropriate for the cast resin lady in period costume who looks out over the London rooftops.
Conformist - For Judith Clark nothing says V&A more aptly than the designs of William Morris. This installation features an exquisitely hand embroidered Morris wallpaper design on a calico dress toille that is merely pinned together, highlighting its impermanence and transitory nature. Above all this piece questions our desire to conform and blend in with the norm.
Pretentious is a series of dresses hung opposite a wall of wax that has been carved to represent their relief. Without the usual labels the only the connoisseur knows which dresses are by famous designers and so it is down to the audience to judge for themselves the quality and desirability of the garments. The wax 'impressions' give the opportunity to study subtle detailing without the usual distraction of colour - the drape, line, tucks and pleats all become clearer in this most unconventional medium.
Plain - the piece exhibited is 'Balenciaga: A Retrospective', inspired by a Balenciaga dress in the collection. Created entirely from museum storage materials, such as Tyvek and bubble wrap, this piece questions what happens to the pieces in a collection that are not on display and hence why we collect in the first place. No small question in such a setting.

Artist In Residence - UCA Farnham

2010-05-22T11:38:00.013+01:00

The Artists' in Residence have been exhibiting in the James Hockey Gallery at UCA Farnham. Amongst the highlights were;

Kirsty Alman, Jewellery, Cluster collection. Inspired by the opulence of the baroque and rococo periods these are elaborate and richly textured pieces designed to make a statement. For me it is the encrusted forms, produced by drop casting molten silver, that make the collection so spectacular.

Nao Fukumoto, Hand Weaving and Natural Dying, The Shell that went Travelling. Nao finds her inspiration in nature, translating the form, pattern and colours into the language of warp and weft. The interplay of vertical and horizontal creating fabrics that are at once simple to understand and yet complex in their endless variations.
Rosie James, Textiles, Shed Series. Unusually for Rosie this piece is of a space rather than people, even so she manages to evoke a sense of movement that implies the active hustle that such a workplace engenders. These detailed drawings in thread on transparent cloth are enhanced by the subtle use of screen printing to give a lightly layered effect.

Tara J Murphy, Jewellery, Best Before collection. Attracted to the transience and impermanence of everyday materials Tara finds beauty in the discarded and cast-off waste of the consumer society. This series of brooches attest to her resourcefulness in turning the unwanted into the highly desirable. These innovative pieces capture the essence of something or someone that has gone before, some even commemorating personal loss.

Emma Yeo, Textiles & Jewellery. Emma is a multi-media designer who creates striking fashion accessories and bespoke interior installations. Her unique combination of technology and craft techniques produces intricately sculpted works that are both architectural and linear revealing an inquisitive approach to line and form.

Also showing work were;

Shiho Kito, Photography

Banu Bal, Ceramics

Jackie Denham, Ceramics

Tracy Nicholls, Glass

Janice Scull, Fine Art

Shelly Doolan, Glass

Niccolo Fano, Photography

Oxford University Museum of Natural History

2010-05-21T12:54:00.011+01:00

I was lucky enough to be part of a 'behind the scenes' tour of Oxford University Museum of Natural History.

The Museum is celebrating it's 150th anniversary this year. The building is Grade 1 listed and considered the finest example of Neo-Gothic architecture in Oxford.
One of the aspects of the architecture that I had never considered is the lack of condensation in what is effectively a vast, metal framed, conservatory at the heart of the building. Apparently there is a built-in ventilation system that creates a continual flow of air throughout the building - amazingly far sighted for the period.
Among its other architectural delights are the columns, nearly all of which are made from a different rock. The one shown left (from the upper Gallery) is of Porphyritic Granite from St Just in the far west of Cornwall.
The Museum houses the University's scientific collections of zoological, entomological and geological specimens. As part of our tour we were taken into the Huxley Room with its recently restored ceiling and cabinets of entomological specimens. This is where, in 1860, the famous Huxley - Wilberforce debate on Charles Darwin's Origin of Species took place.
Among its most famous specimens is a Dodo that still has some of its skin attached. This has been used for DNA testing that showed it to be a relative of the modern pigeon. As part of our tour we were also shown some of the museum's collection of Birds of Paradise. Sir David Attenborough will be giving a talk on these fabulous birds as part of the anniversary celebrations.

The museum is very popular with children as it displays a number of dinosaur skeletons. School visits are encouraged and trails are provided for other visits with extras activities scheduled for weekends and school holidays.

Embedded in the grass in front of the building are casts of the footprints of the bipedal carnivorous dinosaur Megalosaurus from 168 million year-old limestones in Oxfordshire.

This is also a good spot from which to watch the swifts wheeling and screeching around the main tower, where they nest. When the birds return each spring cameras are activated to allow the public to view the nests.

Susan Collis

2010-05-06T19:46:00.008+01:00

Susan Collis, Since I fell for you, at the Ikon Gallery, Birmingham.
The exhibition begins with with what appears to be an empty 'white cube' gallery awaiting redecoration. For those who know Collis's work this is an instant invitation to explore every scuff of the paintwork and every hole in the wall. The reward is 'nail holes' of garnet or black diamonds and screws made of hallmarked white gold and a white Sapphire set into rawlplugs of solid turquoise. These apparently mundane marks of life, 'little nothings', become something special, something worth noticing.
Collis likes the 'idea that meaning is yo-yoing back and forth; it's precious but it doesn't look it.'
Untitled (Tony Amore), 2009, (left)looks like any other plastic laundry bag until it comes under close inspection. Pencil grids, on paper, have been coloured in in biro to create the illusion of fabric, every stitch has been carefully added to the three dimensional constructions that mimic these most mundane of objects. What is precious about them? It is the time expended in their creation, time that cannot be reclaimed or recycled but that is recorded so intimately in these apparently worthless objects.

I'm particularly keen on some of her older work, such as White Lies 2006 (left), a wooden stepladder splattered with 'paint' of opals, pearl, diamond and moon stone. It is the element of duality that appeals to me, the look of carelessness that has been so painstakingly and slowly crafted.

Janet Leach Vase

2010-05-02T19:57:00.005+01:00

Having recently seen the Janet Leach Retrospective at the Leach Pottery I was intrigued to see a piece being offered at auction by David Lay of Penzance (Lot 1071).

Described as a 'small stoneware vase of rectangular section, with cylindrical neck, pan rim and angular body. The black ground with a slip trail. Height 5 1/2ins., personal and pottery seals.'

The auction takes place on May 6th with an estimate of the vase of £250 - 350.

Janet Leach: Her life and work

2010-05-01T19:48:00.013+01:00

The current exhibition in the cube at the Leach Pottery in St Ives features Janet Leach.
This retrospective on the life and work of Janet Leach is curated by her long term friend and assistant Joanna Wason
Janet arrived at the Leach Pottery in 1956 and managed the daily running of the workshop.
During her time at the pottery she also made her own extraordinary pots, the results of many experiments with different clay bodies, working methods and firing techniques. The lack of trees in the area were lamented as she liked the wood-firing process.

Shown left is part of a stunning group of Janet's stoneware vessels from the 1970's. Gas fired in saggars, wrapped around with seaweed, wood and charcoal. (Private Collection) The variation in colour and surface texture achieved in these pots belies the simple elegance of the forms themselves.

Her interest in texture can also be seen in the surface treatment of this stoneware dish which incorporates stone and ash glaze with black and white glaze pours. (Crafts Study Centre)

This bottle is one of a number of examples on display of Janet's work with grogged porcelain. It has a pale, almost transparent, body glaze and dark glaze pour. (V Manussis collection)

This large pot, circa 1975, is a superb example of her later work. In red stoneware with a white glaze pour it is beautifully proportioned and strikingly modern with its dramatic decoration of poured white glaze.
The final shelf of pots in the exhibition houses a group of seven, relatively small, slab-built pots in black stoneware with white pour glaze. These are the last pots that Janet completed and make a fitting statement as to the level of sophistication that she attained in her work.

Not So Fast!

2010-05-01T18:32:00.009+01:00

Not So Fast! is an exhibition by twenty one textile artists and designers who bring together a range of contemporary artworks and functional textiles at the historic Octagon gallery in Bath. The show is curated by Carole Waller.
Each individual artist uses textile as a material or source for his or her own discipline, with intriguing techniques and results, producing vibrant colours, sumptuous fabrics, tactile surfaces imbued with meaning, depth and function.
Each exhibitor has a story to tell. The work ranges from individually designed clothes and accessories, to small and large scale textile hangings, and to interpretations of the metaphorical meaning of textiles through sculpture, installation and new media. This cross-over between the functional and conceptual is shown in one of Bath’s most iconic buildings: the 18th century Octagon.

Carole Waller showed a range if beautifully crafted garments alongside her vibrant, sculptural glass pieces (left).
Amy Houghton's interactive installation Made in Edinburgh invites the audience to sit down at the desk and engage with the out moded manual typewriter and record their comments, thoughts or stories to be archived later by the artist as part of the work. The hand written letter, projected onto the desk, come from the Bate Archive for the Dovecot Tapestry Studios. The animation of the letters is only activated when the typewriter is in use, at this point the words gradually leave the page and disappear as if lost in time.
Anna Glasbrook uses the effects of layering, transparency and the travelling line to create free standing screens with a lace like quality. Her textiles vibrate with vivid colours and movement enticing viewers to stop and look more closely.
Liz Clay showed large hangings and functional accessories in exquisitely hand made felt. The hangings rely entirely on the inherent beauty of the materials' natural textures for their elegant effects. Her boas, wraps and scarves are carefully created from cashmere, merino, alpaca and silks. They have featured in the collections of Stella McCartney and Givenchy as well as being stocked by Harrods.
A superb hanging by Tim Parry-Williams was suspended from the balcony of the central octagon and I very much regret not having a picture to remind me of its subtle beauty.

Walls Are Talking: Wallpaper, Art and Culture

2010-05-01T18:07:00.009+01:00

The Whitworth Art Gallery's major exhibition of artists' wallpapers includes work by Andy Warhol (Mao, right), Thomas Demand and Catherine Bertola.

The rolls of paper in this exhibition provide an unprecedented insight into a bold and progressive contemporary art form. Wallpaper has long been thought of as a backdrop to the main event. With so many prominent designers and artists using the medium as their primary method of expression, this exhibition provides a timely exploration of the possibilities and power of print.
Zineb Sedira uses wallpaper patterns to illustrate social inequalities and gender difference from her French-Algerian Islamic perspective.

Une Generation de Femmes, 1997, (above) is a hand screen printed geometric grid referencing the patterns of traditional Islamic wall tiles.
Closer inspection reveals hand written French text hidden within the trellis pattern.

Thomas Demand is one of the foremost conceptual artists working today. His Ivy wallpaper, Efeu, covers the entire South Gallery in addition to being shown in the main exhibition. Based on intricate pieces of paper cut out and photographed to make up a lifelike work of imprisoning beauty so dense that it is suffocating.
Catherine Bertola's Beyond the Looking Glass appears, from a distance to be just that, a frameless mirror on a plain wall that is reflecting patterned wallpaper. Approaching closer reveals the 'looking glass' to be a window onto another room. Beyond this illusory frame a room full of three dimensional wallpapers peels away from the wall as if coming to life and making a bid for freedom.
Accompanying text explains that the work is inspired by fictional wallpapers from classic novels, visualising for the first time wallpapers previously unseen except in the readers imagination.

Gustav Metzger - Flailing Trees

2010-05-01T17:42:00.005+01:00

Gustav Metzger's Flailing Trees is set in the forecourt of the Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester.
A commission for Manchester International Festival the 21 willow trees set in concrete reflect Metzger's long standing concern with the environment. The upside-down-ness of the trees emphasises their precarious position in relation to the busy Oxford Road. With their heads plunged in concrete and roots in the air the artist's act of inversion opens up a myriad of possible meanings within the piece.

Gail Baxter - Arkheion

2010-05-01T17:32:00.007+01:00

Arkheion is the title of a new series of work that I have begun as part of my practice based PhD studies.

My current research considers the manifestation of gaps and absences with archives.

As a lacemaker I can relate the known gaps in an archives to the deliberately constructed voids in traditional lace and unexpected archival absences to the incidental spaces between the stitches.

In Arkheion hand made paper is used to reference the sedimentation process by which archives are formed. The accumulation of paper fibres on the irregular grid system mirrors the way in which papers are gathered into an archive. Certain areas will naturally be more densely populated whilst other remain sparsely covered. This natural variation combines with the voids to create a complex three-dimensional labyrinth of light and shadow.
The shadows themselves speak of the hidden stories that lay buried within the subtexts of the archive awaiting discovery by those who are willing to delve deeply enough.

Constructed Space

2010-05-01T16:53:00.013+01:00

Constructed Space, at The Sunbury Embroidery Gallery, is an exhibition of work by four artist/makers who met whilst undertaking MA studies at UCA Farnham. They work in different materials but each is concerned not only with the construction of the work, but with the negative spaces that result, and how these spaces contrast with, accentuate and highlight the made objects. The 'spaces' allow light to permeate so the shadows become part of the architecture of the pieces.
The exhibitors are; Gail Baxter - Contemporary Lace, Carol Quarini - Contemporary Textiles, Ros Perton - Ceramics & Tracy Nicholls - Glass.

Gail Baxter uses hand made paper to reference the sedimentation process by which archives are formed. The dramatic impact of her installation of paper lace cubes comes not from the delicate white tracery of the lace itself but from the effective use of lighting to draw new patterns on the walls. The angled lighting highlighting the different impression that is obtained according to one's point of view.

Carol Quarini's work examines the familiar becoming strange and the slippage between the animate and inanimate and the familiar turning on its owner. Her delicate net curtains reveal a subtly more menacing side when one takes the time to look closely at what the curtains are saying. Taking on a voice of their own and engaging in whispered conversations these apparently innocent nets know a secret or two. . . 'Appearances can be deceptive'
Ros Perton uses porcelain and other coarser clays to exploit the distinctive textual relationships between materials for visual and tactile effects. Here she shows a range of ceramics from translucent porcelain orchid pots to stacked vessels that showcase a variety of ceramic materials.
Tracy Nicholls completes the lineup with her fused and slumped glass panels. Visually these remarkable pieces are very strong and yet the knowledge that they are made of glass constantly reminds the viewer that they are also very fragile.

Archives; A Panel Discussion at Whitechapel Gallery

2010-05-01T16:24:00.007+01:00

A Panel Discussion: The Archive at the Whitechapel Gallery was chaired by Lisa Le Feuvre, an independent curator and writer. The discussions brought insights from Melanie Manchot, an artist who has worked with material from archives as instigation for her own work, from the gallery’s Archive Curator, Nayia Yiakoumaki, and from Marysia Lewandowska, an artist who is currently creating an online archive of recorded material from the 1980’s.

For her project Celebration (Cyprus Street) Melanie Manchot utilises the photographic archive at the Whitechapel Gallery for inspiration. She draws on traditions of group portraiture at public street parties, and her work explores individual and collective identity through photography and film.

The film is shown alongside a new series of photographs made with the residents and a display of archive footage of street parties, such as peace parties in 1919 and 1945. Celebration (Cyprus Street) is part of the Gallery’s Education Programme, which commissions artists and explores the relationships between the Gallery, public spaces and community.

Nayia Yiakoumaki has recently completed her Doctoral studies Curating the Archive: Archiving the Curator. Her insights into the formation, content and future of the Gallery's archives was fascinating.

Mayysia Lewandowska spoke about her creation of The Women’s Audio Archive which was established in 1985 when she moved from Warsaw to live and work in London. From an obsessive process of recording which marked the first engagement with cultural life in a new context and acted as a form navigational procedure performed for a personal use, she decided that the closed collection should be made publicly available. This involves negotiations with various authors securing the new terms of use open to all. The project consists of taped conversations with women involved in different aspects of cultural production as well as recordings public lectures and conferences between 1983-1990 in England, USA and Canada.
The archive is hosted at the Library and Archives of Center for Curatorial Studies Bard College contains over 50 hours of material featuring amongst others Susan Hiller, Judy Chicago, Mary Kelly and Donald Judd. The movement from Private to Public domain of this archive has not been without its problems and the thorny issue of copyright has proved a stumbling block on more than one occasion.

Diana Harrison Quilt at V&A

2010-05-01T15:57:00.007+01:00

Diana Harrison's Box is a two part installation of quilts based on discarded cardboard boxes.
The larger of the two (left) is wall hung and the edge panels are allowed (or possibly even encouraged) to curl as they would naturally do on a damp, discarded box.
The subtle colouring of the layers of dyed and bleached cloth is enhanced by the stitching lines that add to the sense of wear and tear that such a box would have seen.
That the second piece is shown on the floor as if randomly strewn there is very apt. For me this is the most exciting piece in the exhibition.
Based on a box lid its similarity of shape to so many of the bed quilts on show is unmistakable. Again incredibly subtle in its colouration and stitch detail it is the rendering of the marks left by parcel tape that sets this piece apart as being so outstanding.
Close inspection reveals the bands of sticky marks to be rendered as lines of immaculate tiny holes that allow the deeper, darker, layers to show through.

I would highly recommend watching the video of Diana talking about the inspiration behind the making of the quilts on the V&A

Quilts 1700 - 2010

2010-04-30T12:00:00.005+01:00

Quilts 1700 - 2010, at the V&A explores over 300 years of British quilting. A stunning array of both traditional and contemporary quilts has been sympathetically displayed to showcase not only the exquisite workmanship involved but also the, often political, messages engendered within the work. For me the highlight was Diana Harrison's Box quilts (see next posting)
Winter/Male (detail, left) and Summer/Female by Jo Budd are a response to the changing seasons in the Suffolk water meadows and surrounding landscape. The tall vertical forms of Winter/Male echo the more solid, blocky, elements of the landscape; trees, farmhouses and field boundaries. The darker, more earthy colours of this piece also speak of man's connection to the soil. By contrast Summer/Female is altogether softer in appearance, with curved forms and paler colours alluding to the gentler climate of summer days and rounded form of the female body. I may be a little cynical here but I am somehow not surprised that it is the Male version that has been purchased by the V&A.
I was disappointed by the size of the screen on which Nicola Nasmith's Between Counting was displayed. Having seen, and heard, this on a much larger screen I felt that this exceptional piece was rather lost in a corner. The work centers on her exploration of the connection between the industrial and the hand made - it is the industrially made needle that enables the highly skilled hand piecing and quilting to be carried out.

Be careful where you park your car!

2010-04-30T11:57:00.005+01:00

I thought that the walls of crushed cars flanking the entrance to this Birmingham car park showed a great sense of humour on the part of both the operators and users.

Curtain Show

2010-04-30T11:55:00.006+01:00

Curtain Show at Birmingham's Eastside Project showcases a wide ranging number of projects from Albrect Schafers recreation of an aluminium curtain wall facade from Berlin to Grace Ndiritu's Still Life, set in an area curtained off with West African fabrics from Holland, fabricated in China, and available in Birmingham's rag market.
Ines Schaber has been working on archive based projects since 2005. In a series of case studies, texts, and artistic works she investigates and tests notions of the archive, in which not the collecting and sorting of things, but the work and production done around archives is central.
For Curtain Show Schaber is exhibiting Diabolic Tenant (2007) created with Celine Condorelli and Alex Nikitas (sound by Tychonas Michailidis). The domesticated, curved, enclosure formed by the green silk curtain harbours a directional speaker that is in conversation with another speaker placed in front of the more formal, almost industrialised, vertical blinds. The two curtains' discussion embodies the different social and political spheres that they inhabit and offers insights into both their functional and social roles.

Blind: We have many things in common. We organise the relationship between inside and outside.
Silk: (dismissive) The old myth of inside and outside. Thereby I am a scheme for a space and you an attribute of it. In my case however, it is about structure - more than separating, it is about creating a new space.

Chiharu Shiota - During Sleep & Trauma

2010-04-30T11:43:00.012+01:00

Chiharu Shiota's exhibition at Haunch of Venison moves on from One Place with another room filling installation - During Sleep and then on to a series of smaller pieces Trauma.
During Sleep speaks hauntingly of that which goes on around us in the night when we sleep, the tunnel through which the audience walks could so easily close off behind them, leaving them no choice but to keep moving forward.

The creeping cobwebs that engulf and trap the unwary are constantly searching for a new victim

The innocent white bed and its crumpled sheets offer little protection from the encroaching mass of obliterating black webs

As one looks closer the shadows of the webs become visible as if dreams, or nightmares, were becoming manifest and multiplying in the gloom.

The final area of the exhibition, Trauma, is a series of smaller 'boxed' thread works that enclose everyday objects, such as dresses and hair brushes, in black webs. If the webs were white they might be seen as protecting the objects but here, in black, they trap and imprison forming an impenetrable barrier to those who might seek to free the objects.

Chiharu Shiota - One Place

2010-04-30T11:39:00.008+01:00

Chiharu Shiota's installation One Place at Haunch of Venison is constructed from 400 windows from East Berlin. The enclosed spaces formed by the installation hint at the situation that formerly existed in East Berlin. The inhabitants were enclosed and shut off from family and friends on the other side of the Wall, always looking out towards that which was beyond their reach.

Stacked in towering layers they remind me of pictures at an exhibition, but with their stories missing - what has been seen from these windows? Who has looked longingly out? Or, did they give someone a sense of security, a place where they belonged?

The glass in windows allows light to enter a room but at the same time forms a protective barrier against the elements; wind, rain and snow are prevented from entering. However this protective barrier can also become a threat to safety; shards and splinters of glass from a broken window can inflict serious harm on the unwary.

I found it interesting to note how much clearer the view through the installation was where the glass was missing from the windows. By contrast some of the panes showed the accumulated grime of years of neglect, obscuring the view and begging the question what was being hidden and who made the marks in the dirt?

For me the most disturbing element of the installation was this window with its obscured glass (left), there were others, but it was only this one that bothered me. It seemed a much more solid barrier - No Entry - Keep Out - Don't look in here. Interestingly viewed from the 'inside' of the installation it lost its sinister feeling, perhaps because the opaqueness of the glass blended into the whiteness of the gallery walls.

This was the first time that I had seen one of Shiota's window installations and I found it one of the most impressive pieces of art that I had ever seen.

Henry Moore

2010-04-30T11:34:00.007+01:00

Henry Moore at Tate Britain 28th February to 8th August. The introduction to the exhibition refers to the diversity of sculpture on show as illustrating the extent of his experimentation in seeking a union of material, technique and form.

Whilst this is certainly true the introduction fails to make any mention of Moore's evocative drawings, which range from abstract sketches of form to his dark renderings of life underground in coal mines and wartime air raid shelters. Miners at Work on the Coal face, 1942 (above) certainly removes any notion of romance that might be associated with the working man at his labours. Dark, damp, hot and cramped - these are the realities of working underground that Moore so eloquently captures in his underground series.

Stringed Form, 1938, Bronze and string, was my favourite piece from the exhibition. The fluid curves of the outer form are in complete contrast to the taut, geometric, lines of the strings that seem to attempt to define and confine ambiguous spaces within the outer form.

Cultex: Textile as a cross-cultural language

2010-02-02T20:10:00.019Z

Cultex is being shown at The Hub, Sleaford, until 18th April. Having seen the exhibition in the setting for which the work was designed I was intrigued to see how it would translate in this very different setting.
The answer is generally very well, the large exhibition hall has been sub-divided to create a series of 'room' spaces that flow in a similar way to the rooms at Gallerie F15.

I was particularly delighted to see Anniken Amundsen's 'Mutant Clusters' and 'Shuffled Nature' occupying the same space (above left & right), the graphic qualities of one complimenting the organic qualities of the other.

Yuka Kawai's elegant explorations of space, internal and external, invite the viewer to walk around them and contemplate them from all possible angles. Seeing some of the pieces back-lit, courtesy of the single window, added to the visible depth of the work without destroying the mystery and wonder.

Eva Schjolberg's extremely long piece of sculptural pleating had not travelled from the Norwegian venue but we are treated instead to an installation of nine, shorter, arcs. Referencing the crystals in snow and ice these pieces respond well to being crisply lit in a room with substantially darker walls than the rest.

Gabriella Goransson's primordial forms are laid out in a different format here, but that is one of the beauties of working in smaller modules which offer almost infinite variation of display combinations. Their natural earthy colour and texture offer an excellent contrast to the white nylon of Kiyonori Shimada's all enveloping walls of waves. One thing that the two share is the importance of shadows within the work. It was noticeable, as the day wore on, how the soft winter sunlight produced a slight yellow cast on the white fabric and the shadows within the undulations became almost ghostly. As in Norway I was very taken with the multiple shadows that had been created within Gabriella's work (above).

My only real disappointment was with Machiko Agano and Anniken Amundsen's Greenhouse installation. As stands it is a very nice piece but it is not as stunning as it was in Norway. This was always likely to be the case as it's previous location had allowed for a taller greenhouse where Machico's sculptural pieces had more room to twist and turn and in so doing reflect the light and surrounding gardens in their mirrored surfaces. This is a small price to pay for bringing such a wonderful exhibition to a much wider audience. I look forward to seeing it again in Rugby (22nd June to 22nd August).

Decode: Digital Design Sensations

2010-01-30T14:51:00.006Z

Decode: Digital Design Sensations at the V&A is a visually stunning feast of frequently interactive delights. Some of the exhibits exist in a state of perpetual evolution, triggered by external factors such as the wind or sales figures on the Stock Exchange whilst others are directly influenced by the action/interaction of the audience.
Body Paint by Mehmet Akten is a large scale interactive installation in which the movements of the audience are translated into colour washes or explosions on the digital screen. Whilst the audience doesn't appear to have any control over the colours they rapidly discover the effects produced by a range of gestures, from subtle flicks of the fingers to expansive sweeps of the arm. Dandelion by YOKE is another responsive piece where the audience uses a hairdryer (which houses a hidden infrared beam) to blow away the seeds from a Dandelion head. Almost ethereal in its beauty this piece belies the complexity of the programming required to produce such graceful motion.
Stockspace by Marius Watz is also driven by external influences but this time it is the Stock Market. The animations are shown in real time with the colours and shapes that are formed being in response to fluctuations in economic trading. I was particularly taken with this rendering which reminded me of files, and papers, in a rotary filing stack that has exploded. Great fun to watch but I would love to have seen a link to the reality of the stock market trading floors.

Earth: Art of a changing world

2010-01-29T20:31:00.007Z

Earth: Art of a changing world at the Royal Academy of Arts is an interesting mix of established and emerging artists.
Chris Jordan's 'Paper Bags' was my favourite piece in the show. Jordan is a digital artist who draws heavily on statistics to inform his work. This piece references the 1.14 million paper bags used in American supermarkets every hour. From a distance there is the impression of looking through the branchless trunks of a forest of silver birch trees. Closer inspection reveals layer upon layer of stacked paper resembling an ever increasing archival stack that holds untold secrets.
Cornelia Parker's 'Heart of Darkness' is formed from the charred remains of a Florida forest fire. This piece benefited from being given plenty of time for contemplation. The work is a very delicate balance of small twigs and weightier limbs that interact to produce a subtly kinetic whole. The tiny movements elicited by the buildings air conditioning are a gentle reminder of the way in which our perception of events is mediated by the passage of time.
Sophie Calle's 'North Pole' is a poignant tribute to her late mother. Among her mother's three unfulfilled wishes was a visit to the North Pole. Calle used a research trip to Cape Farewell to take some of her mothers treasured possessions and bury them on the edge of the glacier. This process is documented in a series of photographs and three sandblasted porcelain plaques in the shape of the port holes through which she first observed the glacier.

New York 2010 - Final thoughts

2010-01-24T21:48:00.008Z

I'm not really a city girl - a week is plenty for me but this visit has been fascinating I just wish it was closer so that I could visit more often.

The people were very friendly and helpful, the midtown area was very clean and had lots of 'formal' art but the cheaper areas such as Soho were more individual and perhaps more interesting.
One thing that did fascinate us was the American advertising; on television a company can attack its competitors by name.
We were amazed to see a giant hoarding showing the image of the plane that came down in the Hudson River being used in advertising. The event must have been horrific for those involved and this commercialisation of it seems quite demeaning.

On another corner of Times Square was a hoarding showing President Obama at the Great Wall of China wearing a particular brand of Jacket. There was quite a to-do going on in the press about the use of the President's image to promote a company but the advert was still there when we left.
On a lighter note, we were highly amused by the way that British car show Top Gear was being promoted to the American viewing audience as 'the funniest car show ever', true as it might be I suspect it's not quite how the presenters would like it to be promoted - especially not on the side of a bus!

New York 2010 - Fashion Institute of Technology

2010-01-23T14:41:00.020Z

The New York Fashion Institute of Technology holds an excellent collection of fashion artifacts.

They are currently showing two exhibitions; 'Night and Day' and 'American Beauty' .
'Night and Day' looks at the changing attitudes to dress over the last 250 years. The exhibition reveals the evolution of the rules that govern fashion for particular times of day, including eras when strictly observed etiquette was the norm and other times when more flexible guidelines prevailed. Both of the dresses in the picture are by Dior, on the left is an afternoon dress in silk taffeta and on the right an evening dress in silk satin (1950's).
'American Beauty' is dedicated to the work of American designers.
In the embellishment section it was Rodarte (sisters Kate and Laura Lulleavy) who really stood out.
Their style includes gothic and distressed designs, and layered gowns with fabrics dyed by Edwina Pellikka.
On the left of the picture is a marbelised grey leather dress from their fall 2009 collection. On the right is an evening dress in steam dyed silk and mohair yarn that has overtones of gothic in the black with blood red streaks.
For me the star of the Geometries section was Yeohlee Teng. In 'Infanta' and unitard the is skirt formed from two layers of circles allowing the rear of the upper layer to be raised over the shoulders as a wrap (see upper mannequin). The label said Black Silk Gazar which didn't mean a lot to me but the fabric draped beautifully. Simple in principle, stunning in practice.

In the Constructed section Anna was very taken with the work of Rick Owen as demonstrated by the three fur jackets in the exhibition. These include the use of mink, fox and goat embellished with horsehair finishing details.
FIT is in the Fashion District where there are plaques in the sidewalk marking the contributions of Americans who have made a significant impact on the fashion world, such as Halston.
His red dress called American Beauty Rose (right) gives the exhibition its name.

Roy Halston Frowick began his fashion career as a milliner - he designed the hat Jacqueline Kennedy wore to 1961's Presidential Inauguration. His move into womens wear was marked by an easy elegance that was adopted by the jet set.

Also in this area is this wonderful, larger than life, statue dedicated to the normally forgotten garment workers of the area

New York 2010 - Cooper Hewitt

2010-01-23T14:18:00.013Z

Warmed up a bit on Tuesday, only -5c. Took a leisurely wander up Madison and Park Avenues so that Anna could make notes on current men's fashion trends in the up-market shops. Turned out not to be such a good ideas as by the time we got there the Guggenheim was heaving - decided to give it a miss and moved on to the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum which was delightfully quiet.

Unfortunately they had only one gallery open but this housed a retrospective of the Design Awards so was well worth visiting.

Tod Williams & Billie Tsien Architects experimented with molten bronze on metal mesh to form the facade of the American Folk Art Museum. Described on their website as; an idiosyncratic home for idiosyncratic art. The metallic facade catches the glow of the rising and setting sun and offers subtle shifts of colour as the weather changes through the day.

This is another stunning building that takes you by surprise among the standard glass box skyscrapers.

Ned Khan's Wind Silos project won the Landscape Design award in 2005. I though that the information from his website was fascinating: Wind Silos - International Trade Center, Charlotte, North Carolina. 2006. An 80’ tall by 450’ long facade of a parking structure was covered with a series of undulating metal screens evocative of grain silos. The corrugated and perforated stainless steel screens that form the silo structures were designed to allow ventilation of the parking structure while creating a visual screen.
A 16’ tall band, composed of thousands of wind-activated, 6-inch diameter stainless steel disks, runs the entire length of the facade, rising and falling with the contours of the silos. The polished surfaces of the disks capture the colors of the sky and sunlight.

Another group that caught my eye were Lewis.Tsurumaki.Lewis Architects. LTL have produced a number of superb interiors including Tides Restaurant in New York.
I was particularly taken with the use of bamboo skewers to create the sculptural ceiling

Later in the day we took a trip down to Union Square so that I could see the 'Big Bang' sculpture. At the very top is a hand, symbolising the hand of God, below this is the explosion on sun and shock waves of the 'big bang'. At the bottom is a chunk of rock that symbolises the Earth, the long line stands for the passage of time.

New York 2010 - Happy Birthday

2010-01-23T13:58:00.012Z

Monday was Anna's birthday and once again cold (only -8c) but dry. Began the day at the Ugg store to buy her birthday present(s).

Whilst in the area we looked in at a shop that sells hand made shoes (more my style than Anna's). At the back was this lovely hexagonal weave basketwork lampshade which was casting wonderful shadows.

In the same area were some of the most beautiful fire escapes

We then took a ride on the Staten Island Ferry which gives good views of the Statue of Liberty and the classic New York skyline. I think that the old ferry terminal is much nicer than the new one but I'm only admiring the architecture not trying to get through it at rush hour!

During the day there are only two ferries operating but this at least double at peak periods .

The afternoon was spent looking at architecture and in shop windows. We came across the 'Love' sculpture by Robert Indiana which had originally been designed as a Christmas card for MOMA and has since also appeared on an American postage stamp.

It was on this walk that Anna spotted the relief on the Diesel store front which was to finalise her decision on where her masters project is going - relief work, in fur, on men's shoes (should be interesting!)

Rounded the day off with dinner at 'Robert', the new restaurant on the 9th floor of the Museum of Arts and Design - an excellent choice.

New York 2010 - New Museum of Contemporary Art

2010-01-23T13:48:00.013Z

The New Museum of Contemporary Art is a beautiful contemporary building that houses thought provoking exhibitions.
Currently on display is a multi floor exhibition by Urs Fischer entitled 'Marguerite de Ponty' which we were advised to view from the top downwards.

The fourth floor is taken over by five gigantic aluminium forms. These began life as small pieces of clay, squeezed and moulded by the artist and them cast at 50 times their original size. Each one is named after a pseudonym used by French poet Stephane Mallarme. Questioning reality, perception and time these pieces set the tone for the whole exhibition.

The third floor appears almost empty, at first it seems to only contain a lilac rendering of a collapsing Grand Piano and a suspended croissant with a butterfly on it.
On much closer inspection Fischers sense of humour is revealed. The ceiling is covered with a printed replica ceiling showing false beam, wiring and light fittings.
This theme continues around the walls where every fixture from light switches through vents and Exit signs has a printed replica displayed slightly offset from the original. Hence in the photograph the upper vent is real and the lower one a printed replica. The red 'smudge' on the wall below the Exit sign is an image of the sign viewed end-on.

The second floor houses an installation of fifty mirrored chrome steel boxes of varying sizes. Each has been screen printed with enlarged photographs of a single object from different views. Although laid out like city blocks the mirrored surfaces and distorted scales produce a disorienting effect that is compounded by the reflections of reflections.

New York 2010 - Empire State Building

2010-01-23T13:33:00.009Z

Sunday was our coldest day at -11c.

The fountain at Bryant Park was even more beautiful with its extra layer of icicles.
From here we made our way to the Empire State Building. Fortunately we had decided to arrive as soon as it opened, having seen the length of the area roped off for potential queueing we probably wouldn't have bothered going up if we had arrived later! Interestingly the security here was almost as tight as at the airports leaving America.
As expected the views from the top were excellent on such a clear day.

To the north west the view was enhanced by the shadow of the building itself.

The view north takes in Central Park

Looking north east revealed the Chrysler Building glistening in the bright sunshine

Turning towards the south west Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty are revealed

New York 2010 - Slash: Paper under the Knife

2010-01-23T13:18:00.010Z

'Slash: Paper under the knife' is another superb exhibition in the Museum of Arts and Design series that makes an examination of current trends in traditional techniques. I had seen work from a few of the artists before but most were new to me.

Adam Fowler's untitled 74 layers graphite on paper begins life as a series of overlapping lines drawn on paper at a certain density. Each sheet is then cut away (by hand) to leave only the pencil marks. These sheets are then layered to complete the work. Apparently the darker lines tend to be of a slightly broader width. The labour invested in Adam's work is immense and the skill level incredibly accurate. The true depth of this piece can not be seen in a photograph, the subtle honeycomb of voids is only revealed on really close inspection. Dylan Graham (first seen in Brugges at Kantlijnen), On first encountering this piece (across the room) I was surprised by the use of bright red paper, however it soon became apparent that this piece was deeply engaged with China. The emergent Year of the Tiger is represented alongside other signs of the Chinese zodiac and balanced by the rotations of the planets. The traditional pair of dragons represent the old ways but China is one of the great emergent powers and is fighting hard to balance the old and the new. Communism, Colonialism and Capitalism are all fighting for their place in China's New Order.

Ariana Boussard-Reifel's cut and altered book 'Between the Lines' appears quite innocuous to the casual viewer but hides a deeper meaning. The book has every word removed and these are presented in a heap beside it, interestingly one of the words at the top of the pile was 'question'. At first glance the book appears to be a cheap paperback but she refers to it as a 'white supremacists bible' and is questioning the way in which words can be twisted to hide sinister meanings.

Noriko Ambe's 'Flat File Globe' 3A is not identical to the one shown here but works on the same principle. In the displayed version the top six drawers open as a single unit and it is possible to look down through the deep contours of the cut paper as if taking an aerial view of some vast canyon that has carved its way through the accumulated papers of someones life. This piece has truly archival resonances as well as being highly appealing visually.

Olafur Eliasson's 'Your House' has 454 pages hand bound to form a book. Worked at a scale of 85:1 it is a negative version of an architectural model. Shown above the book is a stop motion video of the pages turning and taking the viewer on a tour through the house.

New York 2010 - Museum of Arts and Design

2010-01-23T12:58:00.019Z

The highlight of my trip to New York was the Museum of Arts and Design. Not only does it have an excellent permanent collection but at present is showing 'Slash - Paper under the Knife' which includes much work that I consider to be lace.

Of the pieces from the permanent collection that are currently on display I particularly liked:- 'Cylinder Form' a plaited basket, in English calfskin, by Ken Carlson. It not only interests me technically but has a natural beauty as it spirals unevenly around.

Close by is this stoneware plate by Robert Sperry. 'Plate # 754' is described as; stoneware, slip, glaze, jiggered. I think with this piece it's the juxtaposition between the strong geometric elements and the naturalism of the sweeping stroke that crosses the centre of the form.

Jin-Sook So's untitled wall hanging is quite mesmerising to behold. Formed from steel mesh and enhanced with goldleaf the visible surface of the pleats changes from silver to gold as the units twist sinuously from one section to another. This is further accentuated by the way that the piece forms a trough in the centre, rising to peaks at the four points surrounding it.

I could stand a look at Sakiyama Takayuki's stoneware form 'Choto: Listening to the Waves' for hours. The gentle rhythmic swirl is so evocative of the soft sound of tiny waves subtly shifting the minute grains of white sand around the edge of a rock at low tide - just wonderful.
The numerous vessels that form Tony Marsh's 'Still Life' (Perforated Vessel Series) form a cohesive whole and yet are individually complete. These white, perforated, earthenware vessels would throw wonderful shadows but the are not lit to do so, I would also love to see them lit from within. What the viewer is being asked to consider is the form of each piece and its relationship to those around it.

On the subject of ceramics - Anna's favourite piece was this superb sculpture by Marilyn Levine, 'Anne's Jacket' which only reveals itself to be ceramic, not leather, if you read the information label.

In the stairwell was an installation by Mary Temple. 'First Week' is part of her 'Light Installations' series that began in 2002. The light and shadows from the windows seems to be raking the walls - it's an illusion, there are no trees on this side of the building. The hand painted trompe l'oeil image asks the viewer to question what they are seeing. The image is taken from Central Park in the first week that the trees began to bud. A frame of time specific to that place and day has been transposed from exterior to interior in this incredibly subtle piece.

New York 2010 - Rockefeller Centre

2010-01-23T10:07:00.013Z

Snow was forecast for this morning, fortunately only a light dusting arrived.
We thought that this would be a good day to take a look at the art works in and around the Rockefeller Centre. Having decided to go up the Empire State Building we chose not to go up to the centre's observation deck. However we did take a look at Joie - Crystal Waterfall, a Swarovski installation, in the stairwell. I'm not generally keen on 'sparkly' things but I do like these large hanging installations, especially when viewed from below.
This superb glass wall is at the end of the underground shopping mall. Normally the area behind it would be the sunken garden and outdoor cafe but in the winter it becomes the ice rink.
The highlight of the sunken garden/ice rink is the golden statue of Prometheus by American sculptor Paul Manship. On either side of the steps leading down to this are male and female companion pieces in bronze.
Above Prometheus is the main entrance to the Rockefeller Centre and 'Wisdom' the famous relief by Lee Laurie. The inscription reads; Wisdom and Knowledge shall be the Stability of thy Times, which is a wonderful thought.
The atrium to the International building houses a ten panel sculpture by Michio Ihara of goldplated leaves on vertical stainless steel cables which shimmer in their bottom lit recesses. This vast work creates a magnificent entrance.

The entrance way to another building houses the mosaic
'Intelligence Awakening Mankind' by Barry Faulkner, created from over a million hand-cut glass tiles. The central area (shown above) shows Thought and his messengers Written Words and Spoken Words sending out wisdom to the people. At either end of the piece Ignorance and Poverty can be seen falling into the flames of hell.

The shop Anthropologie had themed its window decorations on snow scenes which had been created in white paper. My favourite was this one with the back-lit window, although I was also very taken with one that had deep layers of 'snow' - layers of paper being very relevant to my current research on archives.

New York 2010 - United Nations Sculptures

2010-01-20T19:54:00.013Z

Cold but dry (-5c).
Good day for walking and taking in the sights.
First stop Bryant Park, icicles on the fountain and skating on the rink, perhaps more importantly for Anna - free wi-fi!
Christmas tree and street decorations still up and whole area looks lovely

Next stop Grand Central Station. Considered coming back to the Oyster Bar for lunch as the menu was so good. Found the 'Whispering Arches' - like St Paul's whispering Gallery but below ground level. The painting of the constellation on the ceiling of the main atrium (above) was beautiful although I'm told it's back to front.
Amazing mixture of architecture including lots of relief work and detailing on the facades.
Walked on across the city until we came to the United Nations. Great to see the actual Hepworth sculpture as I've seen it marked out on her studio floor where it looked vast.
Also at the UN is 'Sphere within a Sphere by Italian artist Arnaldo Pomodoro which was unveiled in 1996.

And 'Knotted Gun' by Swedish artist Carl Fredrik which was given to the UN by the Luxembourg government in 1988

From here we walked up to Saks on Fifth Avenue and on to Tiffany's for Anna to get some retail therapy buying a birthday present with money from her grandmother.
Shoes are really not my thing but as Anna is doing a Masters degree in Fashion Footwear at London College of Fashion she spotted this piece of street sculpture from a long way off.
We found a fountain stacked with these giant red baubles that was a great landmark. Breakfast at a local cafe on one side and the turning for our hotel on the other.

New York 2010

2010-01-20T19:30:00.006Z

While the rest of Britain did battle with the snow my daughter, Anna, and I were in New York.
Fortunately we had seen the forecast and booked into a hotel at Heathrow on Tuesday evening as we would not have got out of the drive on Wednesday morning! Extra security at the boarding gate meant we were 45 minutes late taking off but better safe than sorry.
Beautiful view of the Welsh coast as we flew over it.

Getting through passport control at JFK took over an hour including all ten finger prints and a retinal scan. Even with the 5 hour time change it was still dark as we arrived in New York, lovely way to see it for the first time with all of the bridges and main buildings lit up.
Good hotel, just far enough away from the crowds but near enough to Times Square to have a good view of it from our room (right).

Dark Monarch

2009-12-31T17:52:00.021Z

Dark Monarch, at Tate St Ives, takes its title from the 1962 book by Sven Berlin. Subtitled 'Magic and Modernity in British Art' it explores the influence of folklore, mysticism, mythology and the occult in British art. The works include aspects of Modernism, Surrealism, Neo-Romanticism and contemporary art practice.
Damien Hirst's The Child's Dream (2008) uses the universal Unicorn of myths and fairy tales to challenge perceptions of beauty and the grotesque. The case can also be viewed as a coffin, especially here where it stands beside the stained glass window of the Heron Mall.

Eva Rothschild's Disappear (2004) comprises incense sticks that are burnt, probably on a weekly basis. There is mounting evidence, on the floor below the work, of the changing nature of the work.

She also has two other superb pieces in the exhibition; Stairway (2005) and Highlife (2004). Highlife is a trio of 'head' forms of black and red leather interwoven strips which turn into 'tears' that trial down to form a small pool on the floor beneath. Stairway is a series of triangular frames suspended from the ceiling and walls so that they interlock at their points. Painted black, with red inners, they are held in place (quite literally) by small black hands.
Simon Periton Il Cornuto appears on the stairwell (left) and as a 5 colour screen print (below) the latest of the Limited Edition Prints to be sold by Tate St Ives.
Combining natural forms from traditional fairy tales with images of industrial decay these pieces are at once enchanting and eerie. This is especially true of the stairwell where the work seems to be invading the building and creeping insidiously down the walls.

Best known for his contemporary paper cuts Periton also has one of his latest works on glass in Gallery 4, hung above the doorway through which visitors enter it is easily missed, which is a shame.
Sven Berlin's Owl in Flight (1988) blurs the boundaries between nature, landscape, man and magic. Referencing the ancient standing stones of the area this haunting sculpture evokes the haunting calls and silent flight of the owl and the mythology associated with the bird.

Peter Lanyon Construction for 'Lost Mine' (1959). Glass is an interesting medium for this piece, Mining is thought of as a though, strong, process. In reality the state if the Cornish miming industry in the 50's was very fragile, foreign competition, lack of investment and ever more difficult access to poorer quality ore seams made this an industry that could collapse at any time.
John Latham Great Uncle Estate (1960).I had previously come across his work in the online archive and at the Flat Time House website. There is a sinister side to the work shown here, defaced and partially burnt books are never easy viewing. Latham considered books to be repositories of knowledge but this knowledge could be 'faulty' and much of his work from the 1960's questioned the truth and value of books as carriers of ideas and information.

Adam Chodzko has installed a number of Secretors around the building. These glass vessels, filled with a mysterious red liquid he calls 'manifestation juice', are easily missed and this somehow adds to their air of disquiet. Placed where wall and ceiling meet they give a sense that the life-blood of the building is oozing from minute fissures in its fabric.

Gillian Carnegie's Black Square (2008) is a study of dark woodlands and the tales of loss and enchantment emanating from such places. The glossy black surface of the oil paint is a wonderful carrier of texture that calls out to be touched and investigated more fully. A truly moving piece that rewards time taken to study it in detail.

Bryan Wynter's Path Through the Wood (1950) is a good contrast to Carnegie's work. This subtle monoprint draws the viewer ever further into the woods, enticement and entrapment, Hansel and Gretel spring to mind as do a number of other ancient folk tales.

Paul Nash's Mansions of the Dead (1932) has a particular resonance for me with the shelving recalling archives waiting to be filled with the artifacts/memories of the departed.

John Russell's vast, back-lit Untitled (2009) is a stunning example of what I would refer to as 'second-life' art. Surreal yet enchanting it overwhelms the final gallery space becoming omnipresent drawing the viewer into its central portal as if a moth drawn to a flame. Quite outstanding. The image also shows three Adam Chodzko Secretors at ceiling level in the top left hand corner of the picture.

John Keys

2009-12-30T14:46:00.008Z

Having seen John Keys collaborative piece at the Exchange Gallery, Penzance, I looked up his website and found some excellent pictures of his work for Tidal 28. The picture, above, shows part of the ramp wall lit at night - quite different to the daylight impression.
Tidal Cliff (right) and Tidal Sandbar (below) are two of his drawings that chart the tideline from a specific point. It is vertical sections from these drawings that have been enlarged to make the panels for Tidal 28. Described on the website as 'Acetates' each drawing has several layers, to form a composite whole.

The drawings are accompanied by a set of photographs of the beach/sandbar/cliffs around which the sea swirled in its twice daily tidal dance.

Double Vision

2009-12-29T17:17:00.013Z

Double Vision is the title of the current exhibition at the Exchange Gallery, Penzance. It is the result of nine collaborations that have been developed by NSA (Newlyn Society of Artists) members with other professional artists and non-artists alike. The artists have risen to the challenge to expand their current practice in a year long collaborative process with musicians, surfers, academics, Touchgloves kick boxing club and Cornwall Libraries' Art Collection.
John Keys and composer Graham Fitkin's have produced an audio visual installation that turns the ramp into an all encompassing passage of sound and light. Tidal 28 (above) is based on the tidal rhythms and sounds of a shifting sand bar. Audio samples from the sandbar and notation of aural data produced a 28 minute musical work that compliments the sequential drawings of the tideline made on 28 days. Both artists are concerned with notions of passing time and the significance of boundaries which are eloquently voiced in the work presented.
Bren Unwin and anthropologist Dr Helen Cornish used their collaboration to explore the role of arts practice within an academic framework. Their contribution to the exhibition is in the form of both video and print. Chiasm: Miners' Cage 2nd State (above) is a triptych of superbly textured etchings that took on a film reel-like quality hung next to the accompanying video projections. Cage/Metal evokes the blur of rock wall and track lighting that would have been seen from a speedily descending/ascending miners cage and would have been quite disorienting on a larger scale. Cage/Water was beautiful but would have been more powerful in an enclosed, darkened, space where the rushing, bubbling, water could have echoed and become all encompassing.
The Operators by Alessandra Ausenda and musician Ruth Wall was, for me, the highlight of the show. I was lucky enough to encounter this piece alone in a silent gallery, as the initial ethereal beauty of the dress slowly revealed itself to have a deeper, darker, content so the soundtrack started, quietly at first but building to an almost menacing climax. The work explores the exploitative working conditions within the fashion industry and violence that is often associated with it. On closer inspection the golden 'swags' around the hem turn out to be knives and the 'floral' decorations composed of hand-guns not petals. Almost hidden within the cage that supports the skirt are three industrial sewing machines referencing the cramped conditions often prevailing in the unregulated sweat-shops that supply the fashion industry. The entire soundtrack is composed from the sounds of sewing machines, from the soft rhythmic clicking of a single needle slowly piercing fabric through to the insistent menace of multiple machine motors running at full speed, it is an unexpectedly subtle piece.

3 by 1 Symposium

2009-12-12T20:51:00.011Z

This symposium was held in association with the 3 by 1 exhibition at the Crafts Study Centre, Farnham.
Left: Lettering by David Howell

Sandra Alfoldy, of Nova Scotia University, spoke of the current DIY Crafters movement that is gathering momentum in North America. Led by young, predominantly female, craft makers for whom their craft is a livelihood rather than a lifestyle choice the movements work is becoming collectible. It will be interesting to follow the progress of this modern, more aggressive, dynamic of the craft arena to see if it can escape the hobby-craft tag and lift itself into the true economically viability that it seems to be seeking (rather than parity with 'art').

Right: Hand woven Jacket by Ethel Maraite

Alison Britton, potter and curator, spoke of the enormity of the task she faced in choosing the pieces to be displayed in 3 b1 from the vast collections of the Crafts Study Centre, The British Council Collection and the Crafts Council Collection. Usually such exhibitions have a very specific set of criteria for selection but Alison was invited to make a personal selection - objects that communicate with her. Ceramics, textiles, works on paper and wood from a wide variety of periods and makers were carefully selected for the way they would interact and enhance each others essential qualities. Alison explained some of the alternative sub-groupings that she considered including colour.

Mark Bills from the Watts Gallery gave a fascinating insight into the Gallery, which came second in the 2006 BBC series Restoration Village, and the work of G.F. Watts. Unfortunately the Gallery will remain closed until late 2010 whilst restoration work is in progress. Watts most famous work is 'Hope in Despair' (left) which has been seen as an 'evocation of the human condition; the ability of people, at their lowest point to sense and feel a strand, a single string of hope that keeps them going, when all around is failing'. When the gallery reopens I shall certainly visit the church which has the most amazing range of ornamentation including painting, sculpture and ceramics.

Mark also spoke about the memorial wall of ceramic plaques created by Watts and added to after his death by his wife Mary. Now known as Postman's Park it was photographs of these plaques that were used by Susan Hiller for her installation 'Monument' . Watts originally worked with the De Morgan pottery to make the plaques and the possibility of the DeMorgan centre becoming a part of the Watts Gallery is currently under discussion.

In his summary Glen Adamson, of the V&A, spoke of the techniques and materiality of the crafts. His summary that in the crafts it take so long to master the basic techniques that the development of a creative language is a biographical commitment to a lifetime of knowledge was especially meaningful to those of us who work in especially slow crafts such as lacemaking. He commented that the slowness of craft allows the nuances and diversity of lifelong learning to be shown in a single squiggle such as those of Michael Cardew in his slipware bowls (left).

British Library Training Day

2009-12-07T19:48:00.003Z

The Art & Design Postgraduate Training Day at the British Library featured specially tailored talks, workshops and networking opportunities. The delegate information pack included an excellent visual guide to Library's Electronic Resources and advanced use of the Integrated Catalogue.

The Introduction and Overview of Library Collections were followed by the opportunity to take part in two workshops led by Curators. My first choice was Book Arts/Artists' Books led by Stephen Bury, Head of European & American Collections. This proved to be a fascinating experience - not least being taken into the main Library (past my favourite seat/artwork) and through a maze of inner rooms to where we were to be shown some of the collections highlights. Stephen had chosen a wide selection; books by artists, books about artists, catalogues of artists exhibition and artist made books. One of the great delights for me was the tiny 'Auras - Homage to Marcel Duchamp / Levitations - Homage to Yves Klein' by Susan Hiller (2008). A dual aspect book of images appropriated from the Internet this is one of her 'archival' projects that was previously unknown to me - I'd love to buy a copy but suspect they are few and far between.

An interesting point that came up in discussion was how the Library handles limited edition books. The Library appears to take the view that if the edition is small enough then it is not really a book in the public realm and therefore there is no legal obligation to provide them with a copy. If they are given a single edition artists book it would be placed in Manuscripts rather than with the books.

My second workshop was Sound by Artists, led by Stephen Cleary of the Sound Archive. This was a wide ranging workshop covering music, film and performance soundtracks, sound installations and the spoken word as performance, oral history and artist interviews. The archive also includes wildlife and soundscape recordings. The holding is vast with over 40,000 items, 23,000 of which are available to the general public. For me the most immediate useful area will be the 1,000 hours of recordings made at the ICA between 1981 and 1994. Speakers include Quentin Crisp, Alexi Sayle, John Berger and Fay Weldon.

Catherine Hyde

2009-11-13T18:25:00.007Z

My first encounter with Catherine Hyde's work was a print of of ‘Between Earth and air’
The hare is a female symbol in fertility and the stag, which also makes frequent appearances in Catherine’s work, is her male counterpart.

I recently heard Catherine speaking about her work at a Telling Tales study day at the V&A . It was particularly interesting to hear about her illustrations for The Princess Blankets by Carol Ann Duffy. The Oceans Blanket is shown above.

She currently has an exhibition at the Lighthouse Gallery in Penzance. Much of the work is based on The Nine Powers by Robert Graves. My favourite piece from the exhibition is ‘Soft Night Descending’ a fabulous barn owl coming in to land or catching prey, depending on your sensibilities.
‘The Barley River’ (right) is one of many paintings that focus on tension points where things such as land and water meet. The moon represents time, fullness and the female.
Another creature that often features in Catherine’s paintings is the crow which has a duality representing both ill omen and knowledge

The Nine Powers

Not of father nor of mother

Was my blood, was my body.

I was spell bound by Gwydion,

Prime enchanter of the Britons,

When he formed me from nine blossoms,

Nine buds of various kind:

From primrose of the mountain,

Broom, meadowsweet and cockle,

Together intertwined,

From the bean in its shade bearing

A white spectral army

Of earth, of earthly kind,

From blossoms of the nettle,

Oak, thorn and bashful chestnut

Nine powers of nine flowers,

Nine powers in me combined,

Nine buds of plant and tree.

Long and white are my fingers

As the ninth wave of the sea
By Robert Graves

Clare Knox

2009-11-01T16:57:00.004Z

Secret Second Life: new work by Clare Knox has taken the idea of using normal, throwaway, materials and turning them into something precious - necklaces, earrings, brooches etc. These vibrantly coloured 'scribbles' in EVA have a graphic quality to them that is at once innocent and playful yet also has a slightly uncanny side as the necklaces respond to body heat and mould themselves to the wearers form.

Clare's large drawings have been created especially for the window spaces at The Hub. Again produced with extruded EVA these drawings act as contemporary lace curtains for the stairwell. Ranging from skulls and octopuses to caricatures these pieces have huge commercial potential for those who are looking for something unique to keep prying eyes at bay.

Home Sweet Home

2009-11-01T15:44:00.010Z

Home Sweet Home: an exploration into the subversive elements of the domestic is this years title of The Hub's annual exhibition of work by UK Graduates in Craft & Design.

For me the highlight of the show was Rebecca Fairman's ceramic quilt; Cold Comfort. Usually associated with warmth and comfort this quilt of cold, hard, unglazed ceramic segments was at once beautiful yet disturbing. The absence of the body in conjunction with the unyielding nature of the materials requires the audience to fill in the blanks and correct the misinformation from their own experiences.
As a lacemaker I was naturally drawn to the patterns of lace that had been impressed into the surface which had often left accurate enough images to identify the construction method of the piece.
Charlotte Agius uses discarded objects to evoke emotional responses, her source material are rooted in domestic culture. I had been drawn to the mop made from real hair in the Hub's newsletter but in reality it was it's counterpart brush that I was more attracted to.

Yuvinia Yuhadi's Not-so-ubiquitous Knitted Chairs amused me; cardigans for garden chairs and keeping Granny out of mischief were the thoughts that came to mind rather than the uncanny. However having recently become aware of the skull under the Princess Chair, by Tord Boontje, I would have dearly liked to unbutton the front of this chair to see if had any interesting secrets hidden beneath its innocent exterior. I was also amused by her blog.

Although for me Megan Randall's installation of tiny porcelain vessels didn't work in this setting I could see that, as suggested, placed on cliffs or in abandoned factories they would be fascinating and quite uncanny. Her website is still under construction but what is currently there gives a good insight into her work.
Beatrice Baumgartner is showing an animation and the miniature house in which it was filmed. La Maison Oubliée is a delightful film, inspired by Gothic fairy tales, that peeps into the world of decay that takes over the house as it gradually returns to nature. Normally I don't like to hear the soundtrack of a film while I'm looking at other pieces of work but the tinkling jewel box and occasional soft clanking that accompanied this piece were not intrusive but conversely invited the audience to consider looking again at either the film or its accompanying house.

The Nature of the Beast

2009-11-01T14:38:00.004Z

The Nature of the Beast is the title of Goshka Macuga's exhibition for the Bloomberg Commission at the Whitechapel Gallery. April 2009 - April 2010.

Macuga began her research for this exhibition in the Gallery's archives. Here she found details of the showing of Picasso's Guernica at the Gallery in 1939 and the political debate that was held around it. Ever the political creature Macuga was fired into action and the exhibition revolves around the tapestry version that usually hangs outside the United Nations Security Council chamber. As this area is currently closed for refurbishment the gallery has been able to borrow the tapestry for the duration of the exhibition.
Universally adopted as an anti-war symbol the tapestry is once again used as a backdrop for debate as the centrally placed 'round table' is available for the public to hold meetings and debates.
The blue curtain behind the tapestry references the blue curtain that was used to cover the tapestry when US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, gave his now infamous press conference effectively calling for war against Iraq. Ostensibly the plain blue was to allow better television coverage but it was widely seen as an admission that he could not be seen to be calling for war in front of such a symbolic icon of the horrors of war. Colin Powell is represented in a bronze statue that pays homage to the Cubist style of many of Picasso's sculptures.

Across the room from Colin Powell a series of films are shown, rotating on a monthly basis, each of which has some form of anti-war message. This also has a connection with Guernica; when the original painting was shown in the Spanish Pavilion at the 1937 International Exhibition in Paris it was accompanied by a series of anti-war films.

This exhibition is a highly charged piece of politically driven art that questions man's inability to learn from past mistakes.

Venice Biennale

2009-11-01T11:16:00.021Z

This was my first visit to a Biennale in Venice, although I had visited the city several times before. There were four artists work that I particularly wanted to see and thereafter I was happy to browse and see what I chanced upon.

I have been looking at the work of Goshka Macuga at the whitechapel Gallery and so wated to see the piece that she has in Venice. Plus Ultra is a classic piece Macuga's of politically driven work. Depicting the members of the G20 smiling down on the rest of the world it takes the form of a gigantic banner wrapping itself around the pillars of the Arsenale as if they were the Pillars of Hercules and it is about to bring the whole world crashing down around itself. Very powerful, moving, piece. Tteia I,C by Lygia Pape represents her ambitious work on three-dimensionality. These square forms of carefully lit gold thread are said to represent cosmic immateriality. Certainly as you move around this huge piece the visible areas change, with some sections appearing to hover unattached in mid-air. Delicate yet powerful this was perhaps the piece that I most wanted to see and I was not disappointed.
Tomas Saraceno was another artist who's work I wanted to see, again it is three dimensional lace by any other name and again I was not disappointed. Galaxies Forming along Filaments, like Droplets along the Strands of a Spider's Web may not have been the most succinct title in the Biennale but it was certainly descriptive of the work. One of the highlights of this piece was the way that people were interacting with it, it was possible to walk around the edge of it to the next room but most people chose to work their way through the piece, occasionally catching the elastic cords and causing a ripple of movement through the work.
An unexpected delight for me came when examining my photos and discovering that the black covered cord was in some way reflective. I rarely use the flash on my camera, and often find other people's flashes distracting, but before leaving this gallery I had taken a few photos using flash and found that it had bounced off the cord giving a totally different impression of the piece - almost eerie.
I looked at the work of Tim Noble and Sue Webster at the start of my MA and this was the first chance that I'd had to see their work in the flesh. The incoherent pile of pieces of scrap metal on the floor of this semi-derelict building gave absolutely no clue as to what they would reveal when correctly lit. Fornicating Rats seemed oddly appropriate to the state of the building which must surely have seen its fair share of uninvited small furry inhabitants.
In the same building I was delighted to come across the work of Jamie Shovlin. Notorious for his ficticious archives; Naomi V Jelish, Shovlin is again working with ideas linked to archives. The framed pictures on the walls appear to be press cuttings of various world leaders.
Closer inspection reveals them to be pencil studies of press cuttings that show the quality of his traditional artistic skills as well as the playfulness of his manipulation of his audiences perceptions. A detail of 40th Incumbent is shown right.
Amongst the other works that I was particularly taken with were Library by Woojung Chung.

Moon Dust (Apollo 17) by Spencer Finch at the Arsenale.

In Ethics in Dust Jorge Otero-Pailos has used latex to clean one of the walls of the Doge's Palace. In doing so it becomes a repository of the pollutions and degradation that has affected the exterior of the building over the centuries.

The reverse of the work shows how detailed this information can be.
Kukulkan by Guatemalan Dario Escobar, also at the Arsenale.
Although Maria Grazia Rosin's work is primarily about her glass I was fascinated by the video projection, Buco d'aqua, that was part of her installation.

I found Pascale Marthine Tayou's installation rather hard going, due to being somewhat under the weather, but thought the video projections onto a disgorged out-falling of rubbish were absolutely stunning

Lace in Translation

2009-11-01T10:36:00.008Z

Lace in Translation is showing until April 3rd at The Design Centre, Philadelphia University. Three contemporary art/design studios have drawn inspiration from the Quaker Lace Company collection, held at the Design Centre.

Demakersvan, the Dutch design studio have created a lace fence for the drive at the Centre. It is one of their classical lace designs that owes much to the floral tradition of European bobbin lace, most notably Brussels and Chantilly. Seen here against a backdrop of trees the flowing nature of the pattern stands out particularly well.

Cal Lane is an internationally know sculptor who uses her welding torch to challenge the traditional male/female conventions. Here she uses it to cut lace patterns from oil tanks, contrasting the femininity of the lace with the masculinity of the industrial, metal, containers.

She has also employed her welding torch to burn doilies into the grass. Reminiscent of the lace doilies spray painted onto the grass for Kantlijnen in Brugges Lane's burning takes the process one stage further with the removal of sections of the turf to provide a strong positive/negative contrast.

Tord Boontje has returned to the traditional methods of lacemakeing for some of his pieces, taking a traditional pattern and reinterpreting it on a larger scale and in unusual materials - grass and raffia. This hair piece, in grass, is part of an ensemble that can be seen in a video of a girl walking in the woods.

Raffia has been used to create this curtain for one of the windows in the Centre. Like much traditional lace it has been fabricated in section by different people and then assembled to create a larger whole. I was lucky enough to hear Tord Boontje talking about the work for this exhibition and see the video at a talk accompanying the Telling Tales exhibition at the V&A.
The piece from this exhibition that I would most like to see is his Lace Sofa, a wondrous web indeed. My interest in this piece is partially due to my desire to work in fully three dimensional bobbin lace and partially my love for truly 'Wild lace'.

Telling Tales

2009-11-01T08:25:00.009Z

Telling Tales: Fantasy and Fear in Contemporary Design at the V&A looks at how fairy tales have influenced designers. The exhibition is divided into three sections; The Forest Glade, The Enchanted Castle and Heaven and Hell.

In The Forest Glade are several pieces by Tord Boontje including his fabulous Fig Leaf Wardrobe. Wardrobes have been used in fairy tales as the gateway to other worlds and the camouflage that this one would in a forest adds to its sense of danger. Each enamelled leaf has been hand cast and decorated and has its own specific place on the skeletal canopy that forms the frame. Priced at £350,000 it's a real luxury piece that would have fitted equally well in The Enchanted Castle.

On the opposite side of the Forest Glade sit three of Boontje's chairs including the Princess Chair. This beautiful white chair with its flowing skirt of white tulle is not as innocent as it at first appears for on the underside of the seat swab is hidden an image of a skull embroidered in red silk. As with so much in the forests of fairy tales there is a darker side that is hidden.

Moving into the Enchanted Castle the focus becomes opulence and a sense of 'over the top' prevails. To the right the walls and floor are mirrored giving a sense of mad glitter and glamour (see above).

Heatwave radiator by Joris Laarman is based on scaled up Rococo scrolls which provide a large surface area for the convection of heat. In its setting here it is almost lost amongst the reflected madness but in a normal home would be a major statement piece.

Also in this setting are a series of furniture pieces in black and gold by Studio Job. Designed for the Robber Barons; based on ruthless 19th century American industrialists who amassed vast fortunes these pieces are designed to appeal to today's power-hungry leaders. The use of cast bronze in these pieces references not only the heavy industry in which so many made their money but also the great tradition of patronage of the arts, especially European sculpture. Robber Baron Table is a particular favourite of mine.

Moving into Heaven and Hell the story turns to the awareness of, and anxiety about, death. Works look at life and death, heaven and hell judgement and salvation, some are beautiful others designed to invoke fear or loathing. Damned .MGX by Luc Merx is a modern chandelier that takes its inspiration from Peter Paul Rubens's the Fall of the Damned at the moment of the Last Judgement.
Storm Chair by Stephen Richards looks as if it is an explosion that has been frozen in time and motion. Formed from a variety of different timbers it references the violence that so often accompanies death and the splintering and fragmenting of families and communities that accompanies natural disasters in which so many lives are lost.

September at the V&A

2009-10-31T16:53:00.012Z

I've made several visits to the V&A in September and each time have come across something new beyond the exhibition that I had gone to see.

The Chair Arch in the courtyard garden was based on arches that were made to commemorate special occasions in Victorian Britain, usually made from local materials they also celebrated local industry. This arch is made from Ercol chairs. It was interesting to see how the public interacted with the arches, the children especially loved racing in and out of the structure. My favourite images of it are the close-ups where the arch is lost but the skeletal structure remains.
Rock Fusion Table and Rock Skin Rug by Arik Levy are on the ground floor of the Sackler Centre. I thought this was such a clever combination of the decorative with the functional. It's always worth taking a walk through the Sackler centre and looking to see what's going on in the education space.
Wasted was briefly installed in the tunnel entrance to the V&A. A collaboration between architect Ian Douglas-Jones and designer Ben Rousseau, it is a seating area based on the foil lined paper sacks in which tea leaves are transported to Britain and which are unrecycleable. Turning the ordinary into the extraordinary, waste into beauty. The smell was tantalising and the contrast between the brashness of the foil walls and the compressed bags as used for seating could hardly have been greater.
This piece of 'coffin lace' (below) was a real surprise to me. I've searched for the term on the Internet on a number of occasions but only ever come up with rather dull strips of false upholstery pins in single or double rows. This piece is fabulous, given by Julian Litten, museum number M.233-1984. Now that the V&A have digitised much of their collection I must do some browsing to see what else they have hidden away that is of interest to me.

In Praise of Shadows

2009-10-31T16:10:00.014Z

In Praise of Shadows was shown as part of the London Design Festival at the V&A. Showcasing the work of 21 European designers it highlights the EU directive to phase out low-efficiency light bulbs from September 2009, the new efficient bulbs are often regarded as being harsh and unsympathetic but these designers prove that energy efficient light can also be beautiful.
Having been involved with the creation of the first incarnation of Sonumbra it was a real delight to see Sonumbra II by Loop.ph in full working glory in a darkened setting where the moving patterns of its display could be fully appreciated. The electroluminescent wire emits a cool blue light that races and chases according to the chosen computer programme, the effect is mesmerising. A real triumph of 21st century technology combined with traditional lacemaking techniques.

Lucid Dream by Eric Klarenbeek (Netherlands) plays on the ability of glass to transmit light by using it to spread the light from the source LEDs through the entire surface of the bubbles.

Fragile Future by Drift (Netherlands) combines an electrical system and LEDs with that most ethereal of natures creations - dandelion heads, to create a sculptural piece that spreads across the wall. The light here is soft and subtle but the overall effect is one of warmth and comfort.
Medusa by Mikko Paakkanen (Finland) is inspired by the movement of jellyfish. Constructed from fibre optic rods a micro-processor controlled motor slowly moves the rods so that the piece expands and contracts hypnotically. Fortunately the motor can be stopped at any desired point so it can be held in a chosen form.

Handbuilt

2009-10-31T15:33:00.008Z

Handbuilt, Presented by the Crafts Council at the Sackler Centre in the V&A. This small exhibition showcases the work of five UK based makers including Gary Breeze: Lettercutter and Ptolemy Mann: Woven Textiles.

Charlie Whinney (formerly sixixis) produced this superb sculpture of sinuously twisting wood. Their website is well worth a visit to see the range of work that they produce including lampshades and furniture.
I've seen a lot of beautiful glass recently so I was surprised by how taken I was with these pieces by Eleanor Long. Perhaps it was the way in which the echoed the curves of the works around them or possibly it was the subtlety of the light that hinted at the possibilities of what lay beyond. Small but beautifully formed these pieces could fit into any home but when the glass lines are used at full scale in architecture they are stunning (see her website).

Walter Jack Studio were also showing very sinuous work but this time in solid concrete. Designed as a retaining wall in to be built in sections the scale is given by the model figure in front of the right hand section of the image above, you need to look carefully! The actual blocks of concrete just cried out to be touched, not the normal response to this impersonal material.

What's It For?

2009-10-31T15:08:00.007Z

What's it For? New work by Oxfordshire Basketmakers at Vale & Downland Museum, Wantage.

Product of an Iron Pour by Alison Berman gives a clue to the diverse range of mediums in which this group works, the moulds made of newspaper are almost as desirable as the finished product, I was especially taken with the way that Alison had left the pouring funnel to become the stand.

Jo Gilmour's Contraptions for colonising cubes are a continuing theme within Jo's work. Constructed from fine lengths of Phormium leaf, and attached to stout hazel rods, these tumbling clusters give wonderful shadows and a great sense of movement.

Grass Nest by Judith Ferns, made from decorative grasses this delicate little basket evokes the soft whispering of summer breezes.
In complete contrast are the Gourds by Alison Urwick, hard and solid yet whimsical and intricately decorated. Alison says she treats all problems as opportunities viewed from the wrong end, however you view them these pieces are a joy to behold.

Radical Nature

2009-09-11T20:11:00.009+01:00

Radical Nature: Art and Architecture for a Changing Planet 1969 - 2009.

The Barbican Art Gallery brings together some of the key artists and architects from four decades in this exhibition to look at how they have responded to the increasingly poor state of the planet. Flying Gardens by Tomas Saraceno is a suspended structure of cells that plays host to Tillandsia plants which derive all of their sustenance from the air. For me it has really lace-like qualities that I would love to emulate.
R&Sie(n) are a group of architects who have presented a vision of a termite-shaped building - Symbiosishood - which has been computer modelled and is shown as visualisations and an SLS model. It is designed to be covered by an invasive plant that will colonise its surface and make it blend almost seamlessly into the landscape.

Mark Dion's

'Mobile

Wilderness Unit - Wolf', 2006 is part of his series of units which criticise the contemporary practice of turning nature into a commodity. Based on an updated version of the traditional travelling circus it also references museum displays.

Anya Gallaccio explores natural cycles in organic materials focusing on the irreversible processes of death and decay. Having sourced a Birch tree that was due to be felled Gallaccio had it cut into metre lengths, transported to the Gallery and reassembled with steel bolts and tension wires. Casting elusive shadows onto the gallery wall the slowly withering leaves are a reminder of the impermanence of life.

Upsett by Basketry Plus

2009-09-11T19:05:00.011+01:00

Upsett is the title of an exhibition, by newly formed group Basketry Plus, in the Foyer of the Library at the Barbican.

Bloom by Stella Harding is, for me, the highlight of this small but stimulating exhibition with its wonderful sense of flowing movement.

Entwined 1 is also by Stella Harding

Lorraine Gilmore is showing a series of pieces, of growing complexity, using contemporary material to create beautiful linear forms. The piece shown left is called Restrained and has been well lit enhancing its three dimensional qualities.

Sherry Doyal looks to the natural materials in her surroundings to inform the shapes and textures of her sculptural pieces. Shown above is Dulwich 1.

Andrea Gregson - Garden Museum

2009-09-11T18:06:00.006+01:00

Last Night For Ever is the title of the installation at the Garden Museum by Andrea Gregson. The title is taken from the final event at Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens (1661-1859) and it was research into the archives surrounding the gardens that was the inspiration for the piece.

Nearly 6 metres long, with viewing holes at eye-level, the mausoleum like structure fits in well with its surroundings in the church with its modern blond wooden insertions.

Hidden within the structure are layers of imagery from several centuries referencing the original Vauxhall Gardens and the buildings that currently stand on or near the site. These locations merge to form hybrid locations that are quite surreal blending 'ancient' grottoes with modern building rubble and formal gardens with wild overgrowth - a parallel world in miniature where things are not quite right.