Utopias, Heterotopias and Objects

A long gap between this post and the last one and much to report.

Naomi Siderfin bravely took up the role of mentor and we have had some productive meetings in my studio, in London and at Firstsite where we will be staging the concluding event for this project.

Our discussions have necessarily covered where I am now, in terms of work, projects and life in relation to my practice. More intensely it is focussing on studio work (new pieces under development) and bringing the many projects I am working on together through identifying common threads. This latter action is helpful and not only removes the 'headless chicken' approach but strengthens and underpins ideas across all areas of my work. I am beginning to see how I can create a more rigorous methodology to making; work is feeding off itself and carefully targeted research is applicable across all projects.

My current reading seems to evidence this - Ruskin's Ethics of the Dust, Baudrillard's System of Objects, Foucault's essay on Heteroptopias and finally Thomas More's Utopia. New work includes drawings and the text monoprints illustrated here (I intend to try out combining these with drawings as a step towards exploring the uncanny) and a series of objects which have been altered in some way. In addition I am growing my own collection - anything related to or representative of pyramid or triangle shapes; the collection includes a jigsaw, a fridge magnet, a group of crystals, a story book "Frank in the Mountains", a triplet of badges sporting crampons and more.

The final event planning has begun in earnest and will take shape over the next few weeks. It is likely to be a discussion and conversation with performance integrated with the process of gilding.

I have had a burst of creative energy in the studio. The establishment of my own Utopia, sounds impressive... small beginnings anyway.

If I reflect on this event when it happens, I can find little connection that might offer insight into the reasons for these sudden periods of intense making. Reading may bring something to bear, a collision of several thoughts coalescing into one clear direction might be another catalyst. In this case, it seems to be the coincidence of curator visits, more reading and drawing links with current ideas and past works that has borne fruit.

Naomi Siderfin came to Wysing yesterday. It was cold outside but we braved the wind to walk the site chatting about live art as a term, the work that Beaconsfield does and my practice. Useful to get one's work in order in one mind by talking it through with another person and hearing their responses and questions.

I have leant that Caterina is moving to New Zealand to be the new director of Artspace NZ - great for her, I am really pleased and not a bit surprised as she is very good. She doesn't go till June so luckily there is time to meet up once more.

Today was the day for a visit to the studio by Caterina Riva, curator at Form Content.

We met at Cambridge station and travelled to Wysing by car. The morning was spent looking at my work and generally exploring common ground, areas where I might develop my ideas and where Caterina might have an interest and be able to support me.

It was not an easy path to describe what is an all over the place oeuvre. In the end I decided to plump for the 'most recent work first' pattern and work backwards – why is it that one's most recent work seems the most engaging? That is, of course, until time and tide decide otherwise. I was able to make some useful decisions from our conversations - further development of the drawings in the Unburied Dead series, a strategy to approach the possible Latitude commission and the need to archive and organize the documentation of my work, the latter being much overdue.

new developments.. new people

On Ben's recommendation, I have just met with Kathy Noble, curator of interdisciplinary projects at Tate Modern. We had a good discussion and in only an hour or so managed to cover much of my practice and the structure of Open Space. This, coupled with getting to know each other will hopefully give enough insight to see if working together is a possibility for both of us.

In the next month I will be meeting with Naomi Siderfin from Beaconsfield and Caterina Riva from Form Content also to investigate potential for their involvement on the project instead of Ben. I am actually quite enjoying this process - it is clarifying to my current ideas and puts a marker down as to where I am now in my practice.

New drawings are progressing - not enough to be illustrated here just yet, so instead I am including a still from the video entitled Secrets and Lies II - initially made for a show at the Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery and eventually not shown but has since become significant in the development of ideas around a utopia and related society. Probably influenced just a little by my current reading of Thomas More's work of the same name and some work with artist Hayley Lock for the publication Beyond.