Monday 10 October 2011

Pandoras Box?

It always amazes me the diametrically opposed feelings and emotions that can be stirred from a single picture. This one is taken outside a house near me. On the one hand, I want to ignore the bell and let myself in regardless, as I'm nervously intreagued whats behind. On the other, I want to heed the blood red letters, ring it, and wait to see whats behind from a safe distance.
But the real mystery, is the reaction of the photographed. People photography is a tricky thing. What you or I may consider to be a good photo, can extract the most malevolent of responses from the subject. A fraction of a second later, possibly the very next frame, and all is well again. But a fraction of a second is all it takes these days to copy and paste, click and send, and the box is truly opened. Whose to blame then, the photographer, who's rescinded their image or the re-publisher?

Friday 7 October 2011

Snow and clouds. Nearly, but not quite.

Well it finally feels seasonal! Cold enough for snow? I forgot how windy it gets down at the Albert dock, maybee I should have worn a bowler hat to keep my shaved head warm, as I was at the Tate tonight for a members talk about Magritte. The exhibition closes in a week, I don't make nearly enough of the membership....and I do love Magritte. Talk done, and everyone was racing downstairs for a talk from Jon Snow, Tate Trustee, when I spotted him checking out this painted mask. It's what I call a nearly not quite shot. I knew where I wanted to be to take it, but as I moved there, the moment passed. Then I got told off for taking pictures, I'm so confused with the Tate photography policy! And anyway,  it was Duckie Flesheaters that told me off! Check out her work! I didn't want any of my limbs used in her next piece, so I fled downstairs as quick as possible where I got got 3 or 4 pics of him I'm really happy with. So I'd say I got a result overall. Theres supposed to be a flash-mob happening next week down at the dock, everyone's going to be in bowler hats to raise awareness for the end of the exhibition, and if I'm off I may go. I'll check the weather forecast first.

Thursday 6 October 2011

vision gone

Its looking a bit battered now, but this is the original painting from 2008, after I first visited the 'new' Liverpool 1. I said at the time, 'The liverbird embraces under protest, and delivers us the new original sin....the apple of consumerism.'
After wandering round for a few hours, the one single thing that captured my attention was the apple shop. Without signage, the gold and silver apple above the doorway stood as a symbol of universal recognition. And peering high above the new development, watching the the latest change to it's waterline, was the ever present Liverbird itself. I combined these two symbols as you see it. The plan was to go into the apple shop, and put my picture on every single screen in the place. iphones, itouches, laptops.....I don't know if the ipad was around then....I don't think so, and document it with photographs. But apple said I couldn't do it without the proper authorisation. Seven emails later to find the right person, I gave up, and stuck it on my ipod. Its still there today.
It's a sad day, and the world is a less bright place now that Steve Jobs is no longer with us. It takes a genius mind to inspire the business, technological, creative and consumer world, and we've all been touched by his vision.

Tuesday 4 October 2011

Lines in the sand

This was the first piece I had the courage to show, and I called it 'About the Artist'. It went into an exhibition as part of  the Threshold Festival, at the Contemporary Urban Centre in Liverpool, back in Feb 2011. I made my perfectly lifesize paperclip from scraps of my past, emphera that had previously sat around at the bottom of drawers, in boxes, tea-chests in the loft, and other nooks and crannys. Stuff I'd clung to from my past, unwilling to discard, but unforgotten and hidden away. I decided last year that I wanted to make some life changes, and this piece provided release to things I'd held on to for years, but needed to let go of. To the casual observer it's just a collage. But to me it's far more personal. It stands on a plinth, supported by 4 rolls of undeveloped rolls of b&w film from the 80's, and contains Manhattan taxi receipts, ex-girfriend rants, old school reports, concert stubs, passports & visas, and handwritten personal communications of all forms. The remembered and the forgotten, brought together as one. About the Artist allowed me to mark a line in the sand, and gave me a chance to organise and express my cluttered past. The blog lays down another, and I'm looking forward to documenting the journey.

Monday 3 October 2011

muzak and labels

So I'm in B&Q today shopping for the day job. Its a shop I hate going, as there's always an issue with something. I'm standing with a trolley load of plasterboard, listening to a muzak version of Diana Ross's 'I'm coming out', patiently waiting behind a pensioner with a trolley load of discounted plants, wondering how you work in an environment, where the only sensory relief is piped music. I finally pay after what seemed like an eternity, load the van, and set off. When I get back the job, I realise I've forgotten a fitting. Back I go, and finally find what I need on Aisle 14 as some random Bert Bacarach played in the background. I'm cursing the night staff for not organising the shelves better, when I finally found what I needed. Striding towards the counter, I guess the loop came back on itself, and on comes 'I'm coming out' again. I felt like I'd already spent half the day in the shop, when lo-and-behold, I'd picked out a soil pipe socket that had no label. I  returned to the aisle muttering and cursing, and as it was the last one, scribbled down the number. After standing behind another pensioner with 2 lightbulbs and lots of questions, clock ticking, I finally get what I want and go, muzak ringing in my ears. Now you know why I hate typical B&Q experiences.
I've been doing a lot of thinking recently, mostly about my art, and I came across an interesting definition yesterday on some random rubber stamping website following a 'Google'. I'm not a fan of labels, but sometimes, as today proved, it helps to have one. What caught my eye about this non-dictionary definition is the last line, a person who needs to make art in order to be fulfilled. THAT, is me! I'm glad I started this blog, and I'm glad I had to go back to B&Q today, because it was on aisle 14 I had a eureka moment, and the songs been in my head all day. In fact I'm singing it now!

♫  ♪ ♫  ♪....coming out, I want the world to know, gonna let it show... .♫  ♪  ♫  ♪  




Sunday 2 October 2011

My quiet space

Social networking can be far too noisy, so I'm making a little home, in a quiet corner where I can block out the din. We all want to participate in the 'look at me, I'm doing this' element, else we wouldn't participate, but my self doubter keeps asking a question. Where should I draw the line? I don't think I want everybody on my friends list seeing what I'm commenting on constantly. Insecure liking, in the hopes of reciprocation, vain tagging, and  the sheeple like mentality of joining groups the cool crowds in, has become all too apparent with this horrible new interface. I admit I've been sucked into certain elements of this in the past. 
But I'm taking a sidestep. I need a place to share my thoughts without the need to ram it down peoples throats who have no interest.
So I'm here now, in a quiet place that provides a haven which nullifies others interpretations, and allows me to express myself directly.
Time to get the kettle on!