Alicia Bock: prints for Japan.

 

There are some beautiful beautiful limited edition prints by Alicia Bock. Proceeds will be donated to Red Cross relief efforts in Japan.

Undressing the book: the old bindings.

Perfect stitching, fascinating markings!

A trace of 1968.

Traces. The Truth of Blacksmith Ignotas

Some of the books have been damaged and I had to remove them from their bases. I was amazed to find those beautiful traces of the books absorbed into the white earthenware: some ash fused into a glaze,  markings of iron (?) in the ink. Mesmerizing.

Time out. Drawing.

On a bad day, I can fill a sketchbook: I can draw myself out of a problem and into a problem. I use drawing to think, when linear thinking - brainstorming and list-making - does not help. Thinking with the right side of the brain? It is a very relaxed and fluid process - similar to automatic writing.

I had one of those days today, that resulted in excessive drawing.

Coincidentally, I ended up at Clayton Merrell's  lecture in the evening. I had it my diary, but when I got there, I could not remember what it was going to be. Well - it was about... drawing. Bingo! It was an hour an a half of names and slides of artist who draw. He divided the area into 6 bonkers groups reflecting the diversity within the category:
messed-up neo-realist mannerism
freak folk
cartographic remixes
dirty abstraction
labour-intensive conceptualism
complex generato-techno structuralism.
Each category was illustrated by about a gazillion of artists. A continuous flow of drawings.

Just what the doctor ordered.

Time out. Thinking.

I have decided to not go to the workshops for a few days, to gather my thoughts and to decide on the next step. My fired books are all looking great and and I seem to have developed the skill to build the bases just fine. But what is next? A few people have asked if i am going to scale it up. Should I? I have got one large book in line for firing, but I am not sure if changing the scale can be called  "developing". I have got a black base made, to try "black" burning. I have got some ideas for casting and painting. Or should I get back to my porcelain and develop a new line of thought?

Cornelia Parker: continued again.

One more of her thoughts:

 I want the work to reflect what the viewer is as a person. So if you are a cynic, you'll think they're all fake and you'll spend the time thinking about that. If you're quite happy to accept them at face value, then you're off on another planet somewhere else. (C.P.)

Cornelia Parker, compulsive hoarding: continued.

 

I have just had a bust pipe in the basement, which caused substantial flooding. As a result, I had to get rid of bags and bags of damp rubbish. So much of my compulsive hoarding!

After the last post, I picked up my Cornelia Parker books and I found that bit where she talks about hoarding:

I had filled my house up with junk and the gutter was the next available space left to make work in. I used home as a studio for along time so any space is potential space for making work. On the ceilings, underneath the carpet. That is why I did a lot of things suspended from ceilings because that was the only available space. That, and the gutter outside.

With my basement half empty now, I will not be needing a gutter soon :-)

Compulsive hoarding and letting my artwork go.

I do not let things go easily. I am a hoarder. Our loft and basement are full to the brim. I am running out of space in my studio room too.  I remember reading somewhere an interview with Cornelia Parker. She said she started going suspended sculpture, because that was the only clear space in her house. She is hoarder as well. Susan Hiller is a hoarder too. Not a bad company - see!

Anyway - I do not let things go easily - and that includes my work*. Therefore, it was highly therapeutic for me to spend the private view talking to all those people of very very different arts/non-arts backgrounds, who were interested in my work. It almost felt that the work did not belong to me anymore. It had a life of it's own. And - wow - it was fascinating to watch that life! Many were intrigued/mortified by the fact that I burn books; but they were simultaneously drawn by the beauty of the result. Some were curious about the history and the background of my work. Some were asking about the techniques. Some were taken by the fragility. Many asked about the title. Some thought it was good example of how open-minded book arts are. Some asked about my course, assuming I was a good representation of it (I am not).

I have a few more of those 1968 pieces. Some are damaged, some went wrong. Why do I keep them?

 Here is an article about Song Dong installation and compulsive hoarding.





*Not the certain work from about a year ago, that I passionately want to burn (and keep the ashes of course!)

"1968. Un-titled." is out

Yesterday a took my fired book to the LCC gallery. Everything looked so professional in the big white gallery space! Including my work. It was just standing there. Quietly standing. Just quietly being itself.