Sp:ke Dennis

Goodbye Blogger Hello Wordpress

2010-02-18T14:48:00.002Z

I've recently migrated my blog to Wordpress so if you would like to follow my updates please visit: http://spikedennis.wordpress.com/.

All the posts from this blog have been exported over onto the new site and once I get my act together and stop faffing with the design of the blog there should be plenty of inane ramblings for you to read in coming weeks!

Of course if you want to get in touch with me to discuss my work or just to have a jolly ol' chinwag please feel free to email me.

Custom Plushie

2010-02-14T23:28:00.002Z

This is a custom plushie that I finished for a friend last week. It was inspired by some customs by 12punt3 that they'd seen although adapted somewhat to fit some of the templates I had already. I'm quite happy with the outcome and hope my friend is too!

Snowman Zvook

2010-02-14T23:20:00.003Z

I had an order via Spikeworld last week for one of my mini ninja Zvooks but the lovely young folk asked if I could provide them in white. Fortunately I had some lush soft white fleece left over from some Christmas bits that I made recently and so I was able to whip up this little badboy pictured above. He's more a snowman Zvook than a mini-ninja though. I might have to make some more of these up soon!

Cut-Click Mail Art

2010-01-13T17:26:00.004Z

The Cut-Click mail art exhibition opens next week in Grimsby featuring a little doodled envelope by yours truly. If you happen to be in the north east you should most definitely swing by and take a look as there are some contributions from some fabulous arty folk! You can take a sneak peek of some of the artwork on the Cut-Click Blog.

Peter Carey

2010-01-05T12:39:00.001Z

'The world is merely a dream dreamt by god who is waking after a long sleep. When he is properly awake the world will disappear completely. When the world disappears we will disappear with it and be happy.'

Peter Carey

Do you Love Me? (Collected Stories)

Doodles

2010-01-03T19:52:00.003Z

This is one of my doodles, an original not a digital rendition, that I framed up for a Christmas present this year. Hopefully, I should have more of these available on Spikeworld soon!

Digital Doodle

2010-01-03T19:47:00.003Z

I've recently been doing quite a lot of drawing as I try to work out ideas for new artworks. You can see these pen and ink drawings on my main website in the galleries. I scanned a couple of these images in though and had a tinker with them in Illustrator and Photoshop. I was quite pleased with how the image above was looking and so had it giclee printed on A3 paper. This made quite a nice Christmas present this year. I'm tempted to get some printed as a limited edition run to sell via Spikeworld as I've had some great feedback about the image. I eventually had the one above finished with a blue/grey mount rather than the off-the-shelf ivory that it's pictured with above.

Christmas Card 2010

2010-01-03T19:42:00.004Z

I didn't really do Christmas cards this year as I didn't have to make them and I don't like using shop bought cards though. I did put together this paper cut card for a special Christmas treat for someone though. I was quite pleased with how it turned out!

Nick Cave

2009-12-15T09:26:00.004Z

How frickin' awesome are these pieces by Nick Cave? I haven't been so excited by someone elses work since I discovered David Altmejd or saw the Viktor and Rolf exhibition at the Barbican. These sound suits by Nick Cave have quite a lot in common with the Viktor and Rolf collections that were shown as a part of that show as they marry up the visual impact of clothing with sound. There's a much more primitive kind of quality to Cave's pieces. This is particularly apparent when you see the suits in action such as in this video clip. The movements of the occupants of the suit along with the bright colours seems to suggest something more akin to African cultures rather than 'Western' Culture.

It's funy that the likes of this work by Cave and that of Altmejd should get me so excited given that my work is as far from figurative as could be really. That said it has been in my mind for some time to try and create some sculptures of people or creatures. I have been wary however, of creating something that is just an amalgamation of the work of those artists I like and also of creating something that is nothing more than a giant doll. I have quite a few pieces in progress at the moment so it won't be happening for quite some time if at all.

Dreaming

2009-12-13T19:26:00.001Z

Yesterday I dreamt that I was staring into the eternal void. It was beautiful.

The Art & Craft Debate Revisited

2009-12-13T19:04:00.002Z

Following recent events in my peroxide addled world I have found myself looking back to the Art & Craft debate as I examine ways in which to push my practice forward. For those of you unaware, the Art & Craft debate arose at the beginning of the twentieth century as the Fine Arts moved away from figuration and started to enter deeper realms of abstraction and conceptual ideas within the arts grew in popularity - well that's it very very briefly. There has been a lot written about it so if you want to know about the more subtle nuances of the debate I suggest you go and do some research.

Now back to the crafts and my own practice! I have found myself getting involved in numerous 'craft' type activities over the last year or so which all came to a head last week. I have enjoyed making and creating various objects as a part of these projects but I have been put in a position where I am now reflecting upon these actions and with hindsight I can not see any intellectual value in these pursuits. Of course there are skill-sets involved, but I have learned nothing that I did not know previously as I had quite a 'creative' upbringing with plenty of opportunities to make and do; perhaps I was spoiled in this respect; and although I have gained plenty of personal satisfaction from these projects, it has been something of a quick fix. Such work is in stark contrast to my arts practice. There is no intellectual or emotional engagement in such projects and so the satisfaction gained from such work is short lived especially in comparison to my Fine Art work.

As such I have taken the decision to cease engagement with such projects as I feel that they have become something of a distraction from my Fine Art practice. I have removed the craft galleries from my website as I do not want such work to distract from and dilute my portfolio. It has been a period of flux for me since finishing my studies and now is the time to sharpen my focus and push forward with that which means the most to me.

Betsy Walton

2009-12-09T09:52:00.002Z

I just discovered these paintings by Betsy Walton. They're a little bit twee but I really like the mood of them. I'm particulary fond of the use of form and line in them too although personally I think I'd prefer them without the figures in them.

Georges Braque

2009-12-04T17:55:00.001Z

'Art is made to disturb.
Science reassures.
There is only one valuable thing in art:
the thing you cannot explain.'

Georges Braque

Cracking Art Group

2009-12-04T14:04:00.002Z

I stumbled across this work by the Cracking Art Group based in Italy today. I really like the simplicity and effectiveness of their ideas. The fuscia snail above, for example, is one of ten apparently dotted about Milan at the moment. The idea behind them is that they will encourage frantic Christams shoppers and city workers to slow down a bit. It's a nice idea. Of course, the bright pink fuscia appeals to my kitsch side too although I understand the colour was selected to remind people that they need to be playful when going about their daily routine. I'm becoming quite fond of these large scale installation type pieces of late though.

Yellena James

2009-11-30T12:44:00.002Z

I've just discovered these totally lush drawings by Yellena James. There isn't really an awful lot of information about the artist or her work on her website beyond the superficial which is a shame because I'd love to know a bit more about them. There's clearly an organic element at the heart of these pieces despite their general abstract appearance. Well whether I have some more info or not I still love them and they've inspired me to make some drawings of my own. You can see my attempt on my Flickr page. I think there's some clear homage to the work of Yellena James in my doodles but I hope they don't come across as a total rip off!

Polluted Minds Exhibition

2009-11-06T14:49:00.006Z

Here you go kids; a little exhibition by some of our Illustration students for you all to go see! I've had a sneak peek of some of the work and it looks awesome! If you're in and around Cardiff at the end of the month you should definately pop in for a butchers:

Press Release:

'Polluted Minds' is the debut exhibition by the art collective Co4Project. Members of the BA Illustration programme at Cardiff School of Art & Design, Adam Travers, Bill Giles, Dave Hazelgrove and Richie Lee have come together to produce a series of pieces collaboratively blending a variety of styles and ideas to create some truly thought provoking pieces.

The concept of 'Polluted Minds', is executed with the topic of pollution in mind. Although pollution is a very popular issue at the minute, the Co4Project exhibition aims to touch upon the more subtle forms of pollution, not so much oil slicks and deforestation.

Please visit the website for more information: www.co4project.co.uk. It is constantly being updated so keep watching this space for news.

We hope to see as many of you there as possible. I know it's probably quite a long commute for many of you, but if you can make the journey, pop in and say hi to any of us and we'd be happy to show you around.The opening night is on Saturday 28th of November 2009 and the exhibition

Imagination vs. Information

2009-09-29T11:03:00.001+01:00

There are some interesting that observations that I have made since I took down the MA show. As I stated earlier I really enjoyed listening to the wide arrange of emotions and connections that 'Blossom' stirred in visitors. I have always been an advocate of the less is more attitude when it comes to presenting information about art works. In fact I believe that it was Kandinsky in 'Concerning the Spititual in Art' who suggested that it is a symptom of the materialistic age in which we live that spectators, and even so called 'conisseurs', of art, expect to be told everything they need to know about a piece of work rather than work to establish a meaning for themselves.

Interestingly I got chatting to young man called Tom who I studied with during my days as an Art & Design Foundation student. Not realising that I was actually exhibiting in the show He chatted quite candidly about what he felt were the problems with the exhibition, in particular about the lack of 'information' that was made available to vistors which is something I discussed earlier. I think his comment about my own work was along the lines of:

'Where's the supporting material? If it was a work by Louise Beorgeois I could understand because we all know what her work is about.'

It was interesting to discover that he is currently involved in some kind of education/outreach work now at the Glynn Vivian gallery in Swansea as his attitude seemed wholly symptomatic of regional arts at present. This idea that we can engage the general public in art more wholly is absurd. The approach of such outreach work is to present the public with more supporting work or sometimes to try and get them involved in the work through some form of participation. I believe that they are fighting a losing battle on the whole. The general public's view of art is based upon their general education which revolves around craft based practices and, certainly from my experience, does not engage with any kind of real critical thinking; without a certain level of ability to engage with critical thinking in the way that the arts does they will simply not understand.

This approach to trying to educate the masses will not work because art regularly conveys ambiguous messages and it something they cannot get their head around. We live in a technological, scientifically developed world where truths it is truths that are praised. I don't believe that art shoudl offer truths like this. In a visual world this is the job of design. Design conveys one message to its viewers; if it doesn't convey this one message then it has failed as a piece of design. Art on the other hand should inspire the spectator, it should invigourate their imagination and although then to find their own meaning in the work.

To this end I enjoyed listening to the observations of the viewers of 'Blossom'. Spectators talked of virus', landscapes, insects, molecules and sounds amongst other things. To this end I considered the work to be a success. Such a wide range of responses indicated that the work stirred the imagination of the spectators.

Blossom: A Reflection

2009-09-29T11:01:00.001+01:00

I feel that 'Blossom: The Space Between Us' exhibited as a part of the MA Fine Art exhibition at Cardiff school of Art & Design was a success.

So what was it all about? There was a little information available on the exhibition website but nothing substantial. I always find it difficult writing about my work as, more often than not, the process of making the work is more important to me than the end result. Of course, in an exhibition situation the process has finished. I suppose I could have exhibited the video of the making of the work instead of, or alongside, the final sculpture. The process, however, is a personal thing and such documentation would only provide spectators with a view of the process - there would still be no engagement with it. Ultimately I wanted to exhibit a work which gave some display of the work that had gone into it. I believe that in this respect 'Blossom' was succesful. I saw a sense of awe develop in spectators as they began to realise that each piece of the sculpture was individual.

What suprised me was the lack of interest spectators showed in the title of the work and trying to understand the work with regard to the title. Of course I gave some consideration to the title as it should provide some kind of key for the viewer to access the work. I think that 'Blossom' should speak for itself with regard to what I said above about the process and the growth of the work. 'The Space Bewteen Us', however, was selected to give a deeper insight to some of my thinking. Those who know me well know that I have a general aversion to society, to the way in which it's headed and that I yearn for a more primitive way of life. I saw 'Blossom' as being a comment on society and the way in which the spaces between us are expanding through the development of technology; through mobile phones, social networking etc.; how the links between us are so fragile. In this respect it was important that the whole work was handmade and that had a real, physical presence. The fact that the physical form of the work could be read as looking somewhat 'viral' was also important in this reflection upon society and the idea that society itself can be seen as a virus upon the planet.

As I said I often have difficulty articulating my thought processes clearly. I shall be back later to expand upon and clarify these thoughts.

MA Visitor Information

2009-09-29T10:53:00.003+01:00

Now as I've previously stated I don't really believe that the MA exhibition was a particularly great success. Part of this was down to what I believe was a somewhat suprisingly low standard of work. However, another issue was that of the information made available to visitors. I received a number of comments from people who said that they didn't know what any of the work was about. These comments weren't just from family and friends but from colleagues who work in the arts. There was actually one instance when a colleague actually called me in order to find out which work was mine as he couldn't find the information.

The drive for such a limited amount of information being made available was headed up by a couple of particularly opinionated individuals who felt that they wanted to align themselves with contemporary arts spaces rather than follow the lead of bigger institutions and museums who would perhaps adopt the practice of labelling everything in the show. Generally I leant more towards the practice of labelling the work and making information available for this show but at the end of the day I didn't think that it mattered to my work hugely. There were however, some rather heated debates between one or two artists who had numerous works in the show and felt that the titles of the work were important, and those who wanted to align themselves with contemporary art spaces. In this instance I had to side with those in favour of labelling for, what seem to me to be, very logical reasons.

Ultimately I believe the amount of, and the way in which information was made available to visitors failed because visitors felt that they were coming to see an exhibition in an 'institution' not a contemporary art space. I also think those that championed this presentation of information failed to consider that the show ran alongside the MA Ceramics exhibition. As a result of this visitors had already passed through one exhibition space in which they were presented in a particular way. With hindsight the Fine Art and Ceramics departments should have collaborated to present a cohesive set of shows for visitors to enjoy.

All this said though, I think the lack of information actually worked in my favour in terms of the feedback recieved. I actually received comments from people about my work without them realising it was mine. I'm sure you can understand that I was sporting a particularly smug grin when a number of visitors indicated to me that 'Blossom' was one of their favourite pieces without realising I was the artist.

I also really enjoyed listening to the wide variety of feedback and emotions that 'Blossom' stirred in people but this is something I will expand upon later.

Dreaming

2009-09-22T17:13:00.001+01:00

I dreamt that I was stood atop a bridge between two worlds looking down.

MA Exhibition Reflection

2009-09-21T14:29:00.004+01:00

Well the MA Exhibition came down this weekend. 'Blossom' is now packed away in hibernation for the time being. I must admit I was a little disappointed with the show as a whole. I really felt that the space had, for the most part, not been used particularly well. Visitors were greeted with a huge vacuous space as they walked in and as they approached the rear of the gallery the space was cluttered up by Jen Lewis' installation. This installation would have been better suited to a larger, brighter space, such as the entrance where it would have benefitted from the large amounts of natural light. It was also a very cluttered piece and smaller works such as the video and the drawings could perhaps have been exhibited elsewhere in the gallery.

There was a drive from a number of the old dears on the course to try and emulate the feel of an exhibition as it would be seen in a contemporary art space rather than an institution. This fell flat on it's face as the exhibitor's were far to disparate in their practice's and some demanded a certain level of information being available to their viewers. I have spoken to a number of people who made comments about the lack of information that was available. One visitor, a very respected artist both internationally and at home, even stating that she didn't really like the work that was laid out like a studio full of clutter. I had to point out to her tha this was a room filled with support material from all the artists'. The fact that she thought this room was to be considered a work of art backed up up a concern that I already had about the standard of work on show. I didn't really feel that the strength of the work on show was as it should have been for an MA exhibition. Obviously I'm discounting my own work from this as I'm biased and it was awesome! Joking aside I feel that the artist's involved really didn't explore their ideas in a real depth.

Morag Colquhoun's shed (pictured above) for example had been converted into a solar powered dark room; now I don't know all the theory behind it in any real kind of detail but I do now that Morag is very intersted in 'green' issues' and ideas surrounding sustainability. However, although the dark room is solar powered, the art of photography in itself is not 'green' at all. This is compounded by the series of photographs displayed on the walls around the shed showing some of the prints created and some of the series of test prints that were created as the processing of the images was fine tuned. This waste of paper in conjunction with the various chemicals required to use a dark room seems to negate the comment on sustainability being made by the artist. harsh as might no doubt sound I personally felt that the shed made a good school science project but did not stand very well as a work of art. The theory supporting it as a work of art did not stand up well and left me feeling that it was little more than a practical experiment in the use of solr energy.

There were a coule of video work on display at the final exhibition including a work by Rabab Ghazoul and Mandy Pritchard's piece pictured at the top of this post. Mandy's work made for interesting viewing although due to the nature of the way that the exhibition had been organised there was very little information to explain the background to the work: what there was seemed flimsy. In the exhibition literature the artist explained that each interviewee 'is shown full-length in an outdoor setting to eliminate differences and generalise their environment'. Unfortunately all these outdoor settings are different and vary quite dramatically and so this generalisation of the environment is not achieved at all as can be seen in the picture at the top; te man to the left is stood next to a brick wall whilst the man next to him has a view across rolling green fields behind him. The artist also states that those people being interviewed are from a closely defined area in South Wales. However, I am very much aware that at least one of those people featured in the video is not from Suth Wales at all. I quite enjoyed dropping in on the work to hear some soundbytes but due to the way that the people's answers were cut and pasted, and the lack of information about the questions they were actually asked, they were nothing more than nice soundbytes too me.

It sounds like I'm grumbling quite a bit but there were also a number of positive aspects to the show as well and I'll highlight some of those in another post shortly. Unfortunately I'm feeling somewhat defalted after the whole experience but I'm sure that will pass as I hve more time to reflect on it.

Exhibition: Caroline Twidle

2009-09-01T23:28:00.004+01:00

If you're in the North East, or happen to be passing through, go and see 'Vacant Situations' by Caroline Twidle. By all accounts the opening last night was tres uber succesful. I haven't seen it myself so I can't really pass comment yet but from what I do know of Caroline's work it should be an excellent show. she is also responsible for the awesome Cut-Click zine.

MA Preparations

2009-08-21T09:12:00.002+01:00

Well my preparations for the MA Fine Art exhibition are coming along. I've been holed up at Howard Gardens putting in a couple of 14 hour days here and there as I crack on with my work, designing some invitations and a website for the show. It's absolutely shattering but lots of fun. Anyhow I thought I'd post a couple of pictures of the studio/exhibition space. These are a couple of pictures I took after moving in. The row of Gorilla Filler cans is slowly expanding as the days go by! I'll post a few sneek peeks of the work in progress shortly. I'm really looking forward to watching the whole gallery space evolve as everyone else starts to move in and install their work.

Albert Einstein

2009-08-19T16:21:00.000+01:00

'Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.'

Albert Einstein

Giorgio de Chirico

2009-08-08T11:07:00.001+01:00

To become truly immortal, a work of art must escape all human limits: logic and common sense will only interfere. But once these barriers are broken, it will enter the realms of childhood visions and dreams.

Giorgio de Chirico

DOMA Collective

2009-07-24T10:18:00.002+01:00

It's not often I blog about other artists' work. maybe I should do it a little more. To be honest it's not all that often I get 'really' excited my other folks practice. The DOMA Collective however really did tickle my fancy. I love the playful nature of their work. I haven't been able to find out a huge amount about them and who they are but you can see a load of fantastic pictures of their work on their Flickr Photostream. I'm particularly fond of these hugely oversized plush-esque sculptures that they have placed in public spaces.

Dreaming

2009-07-23T01:17:00.000+01:00

This evening I dreamt that I belonged to this land.

MA Exhibition Invite

2009-07-20T20:32:00.003+01:00

Right well I think this is going to be the design I'm going to run with for the MA show invites. It's been a frustrating couple f weeks now that the organisation of the MA exhibition has swung into action. I have to say that trying to get ten fine artists to organise a show amongst themselves is like pulling teeth. None of them have any idea as to the priority that should be given the various tasks that are required to really get the show off with a bang. As the saying goes; 'if you want something doing properly, do it yourself.' I'm going to be whipping up 50 of these hand drawn invites (on nice paper/card rather than my phone bill of course) to send to theose key bods in the biz that I want to come to see my work at the show. The invite reflects the work that I will be exhibiting and so hopefully will be totally idetifiable with my exhibit. All of them will be numbered, signed and where possible hand delivered. I'm just working out the appropriate text layout for the reverse and then I'll be ready to rock!

If any of you are interested the MA Fine Art exhibition at Cardiff School of Art & Design will take place from 11 - 18 September 2009 at their Howard Gardens Campus.

Radical Nature

2009-07-14T09:32:00.004+01:00

Whilst I was in London last week I went to check out the Radical Nature exhibition at the Barbican. It was an exhibition of work by international artists that related to themes such as climate change, environmentalism and the general degradation of the natural world. It featured artists' old and new; from Robert Smithson's Spiral Jetty Video to Heather and Ivan Morrison and Simon Starling.

I approached the exhibition with trepidation as I am always wary of such shows that are so overtly themed around such political themes. I was pleasantly surprised by a number of the works on show. A12's utopia in a box (I forget the title o the work) was particularly interesting. It wasa wooden box that the viewer was invited to step into. The interior walls were lined with mirrors and grass was laid on the floor. A small tree or shrub was 'planted' on the patch of grass and the whole scene was lit from above. The mirrored walls reflected the grass and the foilage leaving the viewer stood in what would appear to be a large green expanse. The experience was more akin to being stood in an 18th century garde than in a wild wood as a result of the symmetry created by the reflections. That said, the work did it's job and I felt ensconsed from the real orld outside, albeit for a very brief few moments.

The Barbican had tried to create an overiding sense of sustainability through using recycled posters to provide signage for the show. Exhibition leaflets explained that they had been printed in small batches and that the seating throughout the exhibition space had been created from debris from previous shows. Unfortunately this attempt at presenting a nice Green public front for the show came across as just another facet of the big corporate machine that is the art 'institution'. This overbeaing coroprate identity unfortunately deflected any real message that Radical Nature was trying to convey which is a real shame because I think overall it was an extremely interesting and thought provoking show. Perhaps it was the sort of exhibition that needed to be displayed outside of our big institutions however in order to fully realise it's potential.

Playtime

2009-07-14T09:16:00.000+01:00

'A person's maturity consists in having found again the seriousness one had as a child, at play.'

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

Richard Long

2009-07-12T01:21:00.002+01:00

Well I went to check out the Richard Long retrospective at the Tate Britain in London this week. I was full of excitement and anticipation at seeing the show as Long appeared to me to start at a similar point to myself when creating an artwork. However, I must say that I don't think that there has ever been a show I've seen that has left me so cold. I must admit that I was not really aware of his textworks prior to this show, and they dominated the galleries at the Tate. I think that part of the problem is Long's use of walking as an actual material as it were. Walking for me, in the way that Long tackles it, is a very personal matter and I found that almost nothing in this exhibition managed to stoke the imagination. One of those visiting the show with me commented that she liked the text works because she could imagine the walks for herself. I felt nothing of that. Long's text works highllighted a handful of key things that clearly were memorable elemnets of the walk for himself; the longest of these text works was probably no more than 100 words. If I was recounating one of my walks with words I woud need several thousand of them to evoke even the smallest idea of what it was like to walk that route.

I think my anticipation for the show was heightened by the excitement with which I had heard Philippa Lawrence and Simon Pope talk about Long's work. Knowing their work quite well I can understand their excitement at Long's work. I understand that Long is considered something of a pioneer being one of the first artists to tackle Land Art and also through his attempts to turn walking into an art form in its own right. having now seen the show I can't help but think their affinity, along with many others, for his work is the result completeing their arts education at a specific time. I appreciate that Long is something of a pioneer in his field but I can't help feeling that his work now seems quite contrived in the context of the arts today. Also, bearing in mind that this exhibition was a retrospective of a career that spans a good 40 odd years it came to my attention that his work has not changed, not evolved at all. Simon commented that it was great to see how the artist had found his niche and mad ethe most of it. In a world that changes so fast one could argue that is good to see someone sticking with their practice. However, I find it difficult to accept that his practice has changed so little. To really have an impact his work must surely evolve with time to reflect changes in the world. The 'retrospective' that I saw at the Tate however, smacked of complacency

Academic Art

2009-07-05T03:00:00.003+01:00

Well my MA is drawing to a close. I handed my dissertation in last week and there's now only the final exhibition left which opens on the 11 September 2009. However, I did recieve some feedback and grades last week for the recently completed modules. It all leaves me a bit frustrated though. It's a similar feeling to that which I had at the end of my BA. That is that academia and 'real' art are just not meant to sit together. Trying to teach art as an academic subject is like trying to bang round pegs into square holes. Now don't get me wrong, I have really enjoyed undertaking the MA programme; it's helped me focus my practice and sharpen my thinking, but whenever we get grades and feedback returned to us I get a little wound up. My grades are ok, I think I'm in line for a Merit at the moment for all it's worth. But the feedback is so vague and bears little resemblence to discussions had in my vivas. I think that it is made all the more infuriating by the fact that the lecturers guide the vivas through their line of questioning and so to then raise issues, that were not covered in our discussion, in the feedback sheets, winds me up! Anyhow, brief rant over. Due to my position at work within a HE institution there has been talk with colleagues and friends around the possibity of me undertaking a PhD at some point in the future. To be honest I can't really see it happening. The round peg - square holes issue would be too much across such a lengthy period of study and from everything I've seen of practice based research it would seem inevitable that my practice would be stifled! Who knows though. do seem to remember saying enough is enough at the end of my BA!!

Cut-Click Exhibition Images

2009-07-05T02:51:00.003+01:00

Here are few images from the exhibtion at the Abbey Walk Gallery thanks to Caroline and Baker2D. So far the feedback I've recieved has been imense so I've been flying round in a whirl of excitement this week. More images can be seen on the Cut-Click blog and the exhibition will be open until the 25 July 2009.

Cut-Click Anniversary Exhibition

2009-06-28T19:15:00.004+01:00

Well the Cut-Click Anniversary Exhibition opens tomorrow night, 29 June 2009, at the Abbey Walk Gallery, Grimsby, featuring work by yours truly. Be sure to pop in and have a gander if you're passing. I've pasted the press release below (originally posted on the Cut-Click Blog.)

Celebrating their first anniversary of ‘Cut Click’ an innovative on line magazine for Art and Design, editors Caroline Twidle and Daniel Baker co curate a collaborative Exhibition at Abbey Walk Gallery, of work from 29 national and international artists selected from contributors to their publication .

This interesting and diverse Exhibition gives the viewer a unique opportunity to see a shared dialogue concerning the nature of global, contemporary art and design. Artists in the Exhibition have backgrounds that range from as far afield as London , Spain , France New York and Brazil .

This is a varied Exhibition containing a vast selection of works that plunder and echo the cacophony of colour, graphics, materials and sounds that are associated with the artists own culture and background.

The artists in the exhibition include:

Venezuelan artist Luz Valenci who creates pieces of work through painting, drawing and mixed media techniques that recreate dreamlike scenarios with abstract elements that shapes into forms and imaginary landscapes. “In most pieces I include forms of text in circular shapes that start and end at the same point. Repetitive words and intricate messages are placed in the pieces as a way of hiding messages or codes.” All of his ideas originate from a thought process that involves personal experiences, dreams, imagined scenarios and characters that are constantly evolving from shapes and forms of colour. “Growing up in Venezuela has shaped the way I visualize colours through light and shades and it has given me the understanding of the use of primary colours and how they function in South American cultures.” His work focus’s on the importance of colour and its power over identity.

Norwich based, nationally exhibiting artist Jemma Watts centres her work on an abiding interest in structures of power between individuals and within institutions. “I use drawing and etching to tell fragments of stories about total institutions and hierarchies, often including objectified or corrupted bodies. “ Her images leave an uncomfortable tension between the image as pretence of reality and as a contrived series of lines and tone.

London artist Sharon Whyte’s practice has for the past three years focused around her interest in the history of unusual types of performance and involves periods of research, searching archives and integrating theatre, magic and other ephemera directly into the work. “I like to work on paper and use screen-printing, drawing, watercolour, gouache and collage to create images from source material and my own sketchbooks.” Drawing is a vital part of her practice regardless of the medium she may be using to make a body of work.

Spike Dennis creates sculptures often primitive and nostalgic in presentation that respond to his fascination with our relationship with that which we call the natural world “I endeavour to recapture pixelated memories distorted by time and attempt to give physical form to that which pours forth from the point where my imagination and memory collide.”

Other artists include American photographic artist Chris Baddeley, Brazilian artist Denis de Oliveira and Ukrainian artist Oleksandr Hnatenko.

The artists included in the Cut Click Exhibition represent neither a single generation nor location, but there are affinities and links between their chosen methodologies, which range across media to include sculpture, installation, painting, drawing and video.

Photomarathon 2009

2009-06-22T19:26:00.004+01:00

Photomarathon 2009 from Ashley Dukes on Vimeo.

I've been a bit quiet on the old blog front for the last few weeks mainly as a result of having to hand my MA dissertation in on Wednesday this week. I submitted it for book binding last Thursday so that was a great weight of my shoulders. So with this new found freedom I spent 12 hours on Saturday whizzing around cardiff taking 12 photographs as a part of the Photomarathon. I think this tasty little video catches some of the essence of what it was all about although yours truly was making the most of Cardiff's public transport rather than driving around. The twelve topics this year were:

Your Number/Colourful
Contained
Roll With It
Chip
Age
Crunch
Black & White
Social Network
Spillage
Missing
Dress to Impress
Winner

Personally I think I came up with some awesome ideas. I'm not sure the quality of my pictures will be good enough to win anything though as it's a long while since I used a reall 35mm film camera. Fingers crossed though. The exhibition of the photographs opens on 245 July 2009 at Cardiff's Old Library. Watch this space of course for some of the images when I get them back.

Georges Bataille: Eroticism

2009-05-31T16:46:00.002+01:00

'We are the door to everything that can be, we are the expectation that no material response can satisfy, no trick with words decieve. We seek the heights. Each one of us can ignore this search if he has a mind to, but mankind as a whole aspires to these heights; they are the only definitionn of his nature, his only justification and significance.'

...

'The supreme moment is indeed a silent one, and in the silence our conciouness fails us.'

Exhibition: Abbey Walk Gallery

2009-05-28T21:50:00.003+01:00

Well yours truly has been selected to exhibit at the Cut-Click exhibition at the Abbey Walk Gallery in Grimsby. I'm oing to have to get a mad dash on to get my Releases exhibtion ready. The opportunity to install Second Release at Howard Gardens the other week now suddenly seems invaluable. I'm really excited about showing the two pieces together . Feel free to swing by if you're in the area.

Viva Voce

2009-05-25T23:02:00.002+01:00

Well I had my viva for the MA last week. It seemed to go pretty well. It certainly flew by admist much yapping with the tutors. The general consus seemed to be much the same as the feedback following my installation a week earlier. That is that I need to upscale massively. I really do like the idea of producing a wave of my 'spores' to confront the viewer. If I'm to continue insisting on hand making everything this is gonna be a hell of a mission. The tutors in my viva suggested that they might be able to get me use of one of the sculpture studios over the summer though which would be awesome. My studio is awesome but having use of a properly lit, large space would be a lot better. Bigger is always better!

Dreaming

2009-05-14T23:49:00.000+01:00

Today I dreamt that I was on one hell of a journey through the mountain tops.

Second Release: Installation

2009-05-14T23:31:00.002+01:00

I had the opportunity to install one of my recent pieces, Second Release: Shine Brightly (pictured) at Howard Gardens yesterday. It was extremely beneficial. It answered a lot of questions as well as throwing up a fiar few new ones. For example, it became apparently clear that the piece needs to be grounded one way or other directly on the floor. The plinth, which is particularly crap anyway, just doesn't work with the ideas of growth and the organic. The plinth completely kills off all those aspects of the work by objectifying the piece. Some how it sterilses it.

I was slightly concerned at how the piece would look in the lurid lights of a bright white gallery space since my work is created by faery light. I was quite chuffed to find that the piece held up just fine. It did highlight a few points that need 'finishing' but other than that it was all hunky dory.

I was treated to some feedback from peers in attendance which was really useful. I think the key thing for me was that the piece plays it quite safe in tems of size, scale, etc. Given that I have already decided upon the aim for the Third Release I think this is something that I can address. I neeed to find that tipping point at which the piece feels like it might... fall over, attack, collapse... etc.

The Time Travellers wife

2009-05-11T23:10:00.002+01:00

The sky is cloudless and pink in the east, and there are more cars out now, early commuters. As we wait for the spotlight at Ohio street I hear seagulls squawking. The streets are dark with salt and water. The city is soft, white, obscurred by snow. Everything is beautiful. I am detached, I am a movie. We are seemingly unscathed, but sooner or later there will be hell to pay.

The Time Travellers Wife, Audrey Niffenberger

Inverse Badass Plushie

2009-04-27T15:19:00.003+01:00

I made this bad boy last night from some scarps of lining material that I had been using to protect my table whilst spraying some bits and pieces black. I quite like the black mottled look! It's like a Freijan Plushie! In it's white and blue it's almost the inverse of the black and pink badass plushies I made earlier! I quite like the blue across the face too: it makes him look like a super hero!

Photoshop Experiments

2009-04-27T14:07:00.003+01:00

I recently discovered Smashing Magazine online and their masses of useful tutorials for Photoshop and Illustrator. I've spent the best part of the weekend experimenting with some of these as I'll be the first to acknowledge that I'm not the worlds foremost Photoshop user. I've been quite chuffed so here are the results so far:

Badass Plushies

2009-04-16T19:28:00.003+01:00

I've been pushing my plushie making skills lately and making some more interesting creatures. I'm still making the nice bright uglydoll-esque plushies for my Secret Mission but I've started making one off creatures like the one above. It's based on my template for Ghomp and made from an old black on black paisley shirt I had lying around along with other scraps. I've managed to create 5 or 6 plushies out of that shirt but this is my most favouritist!

Installation vs Sculpture

2009-04-15T14:58:00.002+01:00

I have spent the last week or two pondering where to take my work next. The piece I've been working on recently, above (Spore), has opened up the question of extending my work in to the realm of installation. I've come to the conclusion that this is not a path I want to explore. By creating installational works I feel that I'll be inviting the viewer too far into my world. As sculptures the work remain individual objects, that is the viewer can navigate their way around them and view them from different angles but ultimately there remains a barrier between the work and the viewer. An installation would invite the viewer to enter directly into the space of the work and maybe even into the work itself. By creating sculptures I can create work that is self contained and so understood as one body, one organism.

Goya's Monsters

2009-04-13T14:16:00.001+01:00

'The sleep of reason produces monsters.'

Goya.

Front Pages

2009-04-03T00:58:00.005+01:00

I've been drafted in recently to put together the weekly front page graphics for the online ezine No-Ink. I thought I'd post a few of these here for you to ooh and ahh at. I'm tempted to turn a couple of these into desktop wallpapers a la my Maya backdrop. I've been quite chuffed with how they've turned out. It's a shame about the rest of the No-Ink website! Although in all fairness I understand that it's being redeveloped (and redesigned?) at the moment. (You should be able to click on the images below if you'd like to see them full size).

99

2009-03-29T00:50:00.003Z

In celebration of my reaching 99 posts on this here little blog I thought I'd treat you to a list of 99 things I like! Ooh you lucky things! And so we begin, in no particular order...

Cake
Audrey Hepburn
Shiny Things
Red Wine
The Smell of Oil Paints
Angel Delight
David Lynch Films
Reason 4
NES
Plush Toys
Tromso
Camping
David Altmejd
Eva Hesse
Skull Candy
Driving
DVS
The Sound of the Sea
Redpoint
Rainclouds
The Word 'Maelstrom'
Glengettie
Turquoise
Bananas
Audrey Kitching
Electro East
Snow Days
Mirrors
The Mash Up
Calibre
Silver
Fireworks
Sub-Bass
Glow Sticks
Baconost
Porthgain
Dark Skies
Mr Norrel and Jonathan Strange
The Shipping Forecast
Newsbiscuit
Thunder & Lightning
Single Malt Whiskey
Syncopated City
Violent Elegance
The End of Mr Y
Nightwatch
Twighlight
Moon Light
Microbes
Painting
5 Live
Trapeze
Kings of Convenience
Mountain Climbing
Cooking
B-Blonde
Aberyswyth Mon Amour
Cycling
Cheese & Onion Pie
Doodling
DJing
Wound
V05 Extra Firm Hold
King Arthur
Scrabble
Frisbee
Manchester United
Making
Freq Nasty
Bleach
The Illusionist
Shreddies
Drums
Lobster Pots
Piercings
The Smell of Freshly Cut Grass
Pink
Twitter
The Grotesque
Boats
Giving
Tim Burton Films
Wagamamas
Photography
Fresh Bed Linen
Neon
Bananas
Dreaming
Windchimes
A. K. Dolven
Hospital Records
Halflight
Glitter
Incense
Nitin Sawhney
The Time Traveller's Wife
Thinking
Performance Poetry
The Wilderness

New Work

2009-03-29T00:44:00.002Z

This is my latest master piece. I finished work on it the other day. I'm quite happy with it although I think that I need to try and find a space to create an installation based on these 'Totems'. I also need to come up with some decent titles for the work!! I submitted this image along with a couple of others for Artists & Illustrators this week following a call for work from UWICs marketing officer. Fingers crossed I'll be published!

Drifting

2009-03-29T00:29:00.002Z

I was sat in the studio today making... things... when I started to wonder what the hell I'm doing. Does any of my fine art practice has any value? I don't tackle any 'issues' as it were in my work and have no interest in producing a visual social commentary. My work is self centred, I'm aware of that. In fact I'd probably go so far as to say it's narcissistic. Can such a self centred, introspective practice have any worth in a public realm? Although I don't openly admit it I do seek approval from others. It seems that it is just another one of those dualities?... oppositions?... contradictions that my life seems to be filled with.

I think I need to give real consideration to the articulation of the ideas which I'm trying to explore through my work. I should really start attending more artist talks and paying attention to the way in which they talk about their work. If I can find a way to clearly articulate the thinking behind my work myabe... just maybe I can convince myself that what I'm doing has a little worth.

Podge

2009-03-29T00:23:00.003Z

This made me chuckle. Lady Catherine sent me a picture of her plushie in his new home which seems awfully well coordinated! I particularly like the photo-shopped lips! It's kinda made me think I should find a way to transfer lips on to the plushies. She also re-named him Podge. I'm not sure I'm very happy with that. Just think about the identity issues this poor plushie will have when he's older.

Dreaming

2009-03-29T00:20:00.000Z

Today I dreamt that I knew what I was doing.

CSAD Website

2009-03-22T12:12:00.002Z

It looks like I'm going to be famous! Whoop Whoop. Having already appeared in the CSAD prospectus 2008/2009 my cheeky chops are now appearing on the new look website! I think this could be the start of a very illustrious modelling career! aha!

Ania Bas

2009-03-21T21:20:00.003Z

Well I had the pleasure of attending a presentation by the artists Ania Bas on Wednesday last week. Now her work and her approach couldn't be further removed from my own. In fact everything about her practice is exactly the sort of thing that I hate in the arts today. Having said that it was actually quite interesting. What was of most interest to me was the way in which she referred to herself as a Creative Consultant. She only used this term once but I thought it was very poignant. It seems to me to be a much better description of her role than the term 'artist'. Her practice as she put it to us is one of those terribly trendy 'socially engaged' practices. That is, that rather than make much in the way of 'art' herself she facilitates the making, creating and sharing of ideas by others. Now I understand that she started off as a photographer and she has a decent grounding in the arts but it is clear that she has moved on. To call her an artist now is like insisting on calling a butterfly a caterpillar because that's what it was to start with. I really think it's about time that we distinguished between so called creative consultants and artists. I'm not saying that there can't be any overlap between the two but the public already find it difficult to accept what is and is not art. Surely we could help this and improve the opinion of the arts in the eye of the public by distinguishing between certain fields? Mais oui?

Dreaming

2009-03-16T18:59:00.001Z

Today I dreamt that I'd escaped this life.

Plush Heart

2009-03-10T20:58:00.002Z

I created this plush necklace as a Valentine's treat for a lucky lady the other week. I was actually really chuffed with how it turned out. It's inspired by the plushies of spike's Secret Mission fame but I wasn't totally sure it would work. I was pleased tobe able put on my 'Smug Face' when I finished it though. I thought the little key was a nice touch. I'm tempted to whip up a few more and sell them on ebay now what with the demand for kitsch jewellery here there and everywhere at the moment.

MA Practice Tutorial

2009-03-04T12:36:00.002Z

Apparently I missed a tutorial for the practice element of my MA this morning! I honestly don't even remember receiving a date for this that I could have even forgotten. I seem to have had so many dates for presentations, tutorials, meetings and the like thrust at me lately that I don't know whether I'm coming or going!

Well Rona grabbed me for a brief two minute chat at the end of this mornings seminar. It seems, that following my submission of a 'research proposal' for this module, that I need to focus; particularly upon the relevance of nature to my work. Apparently the articulation of the importance of nature in my work is too broad. She only gave us 100 words in which to explain our current practice so it's no sup rise that my description was somewhat vague as there was not room to expand upon my concerns.

My initial response to this is that it is my own particular relationship with nature that is of importance. Many, many artists today seem to use their practice to criticise facets of society. Although I can sympathise with these artists I have a different approach. Regardless of these criticisms society will carry on regardless. If enough of us voice our concerns then yes, although I believe it highly unlikely, maybe we will be able to suppress some of these issues and effect some small change within society but it is inevitable that these issues that we object to will simply be replaced with others. My approach is to try and find an escape from society altogether. I yearn for a more primitive life looking back to the past in a similar way to the Romantics. I suppose I am searching for my own utopia. Of course this introspective approach makes it difficult to articulate these concerns clearly through my practice. My relationship with nature manifests itself through the making of the work and through form and colour. Although I make sketches when out and about they tend to focus on small elements, forms and shapes within the landscape as opposed to a broad look at the landscape as a whole,

Well that's the gist of it. I will have to refine this over coming weeks of course.

Yearning

2009-03-03T00:04:00.003Z

My recent trip to Tromso has completely skewed my view of life here a grey Great British city. I've always been a keen follower of the Campaign for Dark Skies but have never really been that pro-active about it. I feel like I want to get more involved now; make a difference. I can't help thinking though that the UK is screwed already. There are just too many people in too small a space.

The skies were clear last night and I looked up as I often do in amazement at the stars. They never fail to mesmerise me. But having experienced the clear skies in Tromso last week I felt somewhat deflated last night as I looked up. There were the handful of stars that I've been used to but having seen the skies sparkle the way they did in Norway I felt short changed. I now know that there are so many more stars up there than I'll ever be able to see from here.

As time goes by and I have more and more time to reflect on my little adventure last week the more I start to think it was as bad for me as it was good! The longer I'm back the more I yearn to live somewhere beautiful like that, to escape this grey life smothered by society and all its trappings...

Tromso

2009-02-26T18:15:00.002Z

Well I've just got back from my first ever adventure inside the Arctic Circle. I thought I'd share my top ten memories from my little jolly with you, so here they are, in no particular order:

Snowmobiling in Lyngenfjord
A K Dolven at the Nordnorsk Kunstmuseum
Ice Fishing
Tuesday's Snowfall
Eating Reindeer Stew in a Sami Tent
The Northern Lights
The Polarium
Norwegians
Dog Sledging at the Villmarkssenter
Tromso's Architecture

Peter Pan

2009-02-17T22:44:00.002Z

So come with me where dreams are born and time is never planned.
Just think happy things and your heart will fly on wings forever
in Never-Never Land

New Forms

2009-02-13T20:13:00.002Z

I've been a bit lame at blogging lately due to struggling to find the time to get to the studio what with the funky ass weather, my MA and not having a car at the moment. I managed to sneak up there for a little bit last night though. I was working on my mini totem for the Welsh Artist of the Year 2009. I was thinking about the totems and the onion bags and I really like all that they represent. I think I need to start experimenting with more media in this tall freestanding format. I'm working on one at the moment which I expect to be silver when it's finished. But what I'm really thinking about is using expanding foam sealant and plaster of paris. To create a totem as a whole rather than creating it from constituent parts. I'm not totally sure what implications this will have yet but in my mind it's quite exciting.

The onion bags also work for me as a representation of 'harvesting' memories, dreams and and the like. I have one filled with painted pom poms but I'm going to start looking at making small creaft-based objects of different sorts to fill tese with. Anyway they're just a couple of thoughts that I'm having at the moment. I'll get back into the groove soon enough kids! Don't you worry.

Memories

2009-01-29T22:58:00.002Z

Memory of her crossing the lawn toward the house in the early morning in a thin rose gown that clung to her breasts. He thought that each memory recalled must do some violence to it's origins, As in a party game. Say the word and pass it on. so be sparing. What you alter in the remembering has yet a reality, known or not.

Cormac McCarthy
The Road
p139

Totem

2009-01-29T22:41:00.004Z

Well here it is: A good picture of my first 'structure' proper. This image belies its size. It stands at nearly 8ft tall. It's been created from oil paint on canvas in the traditions of fine art painting. In actual fact well over 10 metres of canvas was used to create this piece. I like that fact. Imagine if it was flat on the wall as a 'normal' painting would be then it would be enormous. In this state it has been condensed into this 8ft column, or totem as I have found myself referring to it. IThis piece forces a physical engagement that is not common to painting. No matter where one stands the 'whole' cannot be seen and so one must navigate their way around it to take it all in. I like the way in which all this energy has been pulled into this central point. Each piece of canvas is in some ways a representation of one of my memories or dreams as the long laborious process involved in making these had become a meditative process. It can also be read in a Romantic or even post-modern way: all the fragments of canvas being drawn to this central point which would be me of course. I really do feel that this piece is bristling with energy and that I'm at a very exciting point in my practice.

Who The F**K Are You?

2009-01-26T15:49:00.003Z

Well I had this idea to create a completely customised Guess Who? set for Sister Spike's 21st birthday. However, I got a little impatient and was itching to try it out and see exactly how dapper I could get it looking. It was Pinkstan's birthday last week and so I thought I'd use the opportunity to make one for her instead. I did document the making of it all the way through from start to finish but I'll just post a few key pictures here.

How chuffing awesome is that. It took a little stalking on Facebook to find pictures of everyone but I got there in the end. It seems like quite a fitting end to this chapter of Monsieur Spike's little ol' life. Like a giant pink and black full stop.

Dreaming

2009-01-04T16:11:00.000Z

Today I've been dreaming about being free.

Anomie

2009-01-04T13:45:00.002Z

A state of social disorganization and demoralization in society which is largely the result of disharmony between cultural goals and the means for attaining them. This may be reflected in the behaviour of the individual in many ways - non-conformity, social withdrawal, deviant behaviour, etc.

Source

Baaa-Humbug

2008-12-31T01:21:00.004Z

Check out this badboy! I didn't really 'do' Christmas cards this year. This is one of my usual slightly offbeat cards that did come out of Christmas 2008 though.

Painting Construction 1

2008-12-31T01:16:00.005Z

Well here it is folks: My first painting/structure. It's the one part painted green. It measures 7'7" I think so it's not small! I'm chuffed to bits with it so far! I've had a couple of problems with it standing upright but it's mounted on a 2'x2' slice of 18mm MDF now. I think I might need to attach fishing twine supports in the style of the St Hilary mast though to secure it.

Blue Screen

2008-12-26T23:03:00.003Z

I have just had a totally genius idea over the last couple of days most likely fuelled by excessive consumption of tatsy alcoholic beverages and too much turkey! It's kind of inspired by the Viktor & Rolf show that I saw at the Barbican earlier this year.

I'm kinda starting to think towards my MA exhibition. I am a child of the digital age and this is something that has not really been reflected in my work so far. However, I've started to think that the use of video and projecions in combination with my painting and craft is the way to go. It makes sense since everything else in my life is a pick 'n' mix jumble of all that I like. My initial thought was to hang an exhibtion of my paintings prior to the actual show and then present a projection of that show at the MA exhibition. My work is about dreams, memories, liminal spaces and quantum universes. One step further than projections of a previously unseen show would be to inocorporate blue screen technology.

I've been thinking about the use of canvases painted blue or possibly even structures like my canvas jelly fish made from blue fabric. The use of this technology will enable me to create works which are visible but not physical. That is that the actual finished piece of work will only exist in a digitally disembodied state despite the fact that the viewer would be able to interact with it.

Structures

2008-12-19T00:56:00.001Z

I completed my first painting structure proper this week. It was quite a satisfying end! Although it's n ow got me thinking about what's next. I have thoughts of tree imps and david altmejds work floating around my head. I'm wondering how I might be able to manipulate the canvas. I'm thinking maybe dipped in plaster and wrapped around wooden or plastic structures. The images in my head have figurative qualities to them although they are not figurative in themselves. Their form is similar to the tree imps that I mentioned.

I saw a Christmas tree in Topshop today completely constructed from neon tubing. I thought that was a genius idea. it was poorly realised but still genius. It's got me wondering about how I can do something similar with my work: especially with the form my work seems to be evolving in to. Watch this space...

Shopping List

2008-12-17T15:31:00.002Z

Spike's shopping list for Wednesday 17 December 2008:

2000Kw Electric Fan Heater
40 Vol 12% Cream Peroxide
2 Corned Beef Pasties
Small Gift Box
5m, 2oz Wadding
2m Calico
Art World Magazine
'Crafts' Magazine
V05 Extra Firm Hold Hairspray
Gold Ribbon

Dreaming

2008-12-16T21:26:00.000Z

Today I dreamt I was back by your side again.

Art & Society

2008-12-16T15:24:00.003Z

I'm getting a bit sick and tired of the constant discussions about art and society. It seems that every discussion in my MA seminar sessions revolves around this topic. What is our responsibility to society? What is our relationship with society? How do we fit in? These are pretty much the same questions that get recycled every week in one form or another. Of particular interest to folk there at present seems to be issues surrounding art at the time of this so called 'credit crunch'. This wasn't helped by our seminar the week before last being dedicated to a visit by Melanie Gilligan following the release of her video Crisis in the Credit System. I don't see how these topics can be the focus of so much attention of a group of MA fine artists. After all whether we end up in a full blown recession or not I'll still be sticking, gluing, painting and colouring although it may well be on a somewhat less grand scale than at present.

I don't require society's approval for what I produce artistically. Why should I? My approach to my work may be somewhat narcissistic and self indulgent but I will make no apologies for this. Our lives have no 'real' purpose and art has provided me with a distraction from this truth. Society itself is nothing more than a distraction from 'real life'. It is like a new religion. There are rules and etiquette to which must adhere to be accepted and there are those who preach to us about our social responsibilty. Society is nothing more than another temporary construct through which we try to justify a purpose for our meaningless existence. Bleak it may seem, but I have found my escape and I am happy there for now.

Christmas Card

2008-12-16T14:17:00.001Z

I've been knocking out a Christmas card or two this week. Here's one I made earlier! I'll post a couple more when I have a moment.

Dreaming

2008-12-07T22:35:00.002Z

Today I was dreaming that I was a Post-Modern Knight; an Urban Pirate.

Secret Mission

2008-12-05T14:13:00.004Z

My collection of plushies seems to have grown over the last couple of weeks. I seem to end up making them when I've a spare half an hour waiting for my paint to dry. I've decide that I am going to embark on a secret mission of the coming month or two. Well semi-secret at least because if you're reading this then you know exactly what I'm up to! I've designed some tags to tie around the plushies on which I'm going to right a message along the lines of 'I'm lost. Please take me home'. Then I'm going to start leaving the plushies around town to brighten up peoples days! How nice am I!? I think I need to name the plushies though. I'm thinking Gompa and Zerbert at the moment!

10 Things...

2008-12-02T12:03:00.003Z

that I've enjoyed listening to in the studio recently:

Stateless: Bloodstream
606
Burial: Etched Headplate
Commix: How You Gonna Feel
The Driveby
The Shipping Forecast
5 Live Sport
Richard Bacon
Kings of Convenience: I'd Rather Dance with You
Royksopp: Eple

Speed of Thought

2008-11-28T20:49:00.002Z

I had another useful conversation with Andrea today. She mentioned that she was astounded by the rate at which I make my way through new ideas. I had never given it much thought really but when she mentioned it I realised that this maybe the cause of me not having produced any real finished objects. By the time I have started creating a piece of work my mind has more often flitted on to the next idea.

This is something that I need to address. If I let it continue as is I won't have any work to show for my efforts. I think I neeed to try and find some more direct methods of realising my ideas. Maybe I should sketch more? At least by sketching out my ideas I would have arecord of them to work from.

Exhibition: David Altmejd

2008-11-28T13:15:00.002Z

I went to see the David Altmejd exhibition at the Stuart Shave gallery in London the other week. What a chufing genius. It's not often that I see someone elses work that I like let alone wish I'd created first. It was absolutely fucking amazing; werewolves, angels, sex, mirrors and plaster. I swear he's nicked all my best moves. I must say that seeing them in the flesh after admiring his work from afar for sometime was incredible.

It opened my eyes to world of possibilities with regard to materials and their application. There was taxidermy, jewellery, plaster, mirrors, crystals... the list is enless. I'm quite mindful of copying his style though. It seems to me that he only really employs heavy/hard materials as opposed to the soft materials that have been finding their way in to my work of late.

I've not really come across an awful lot of writing about Altmejd's work but I get the impression that he might share a few similar interests to me. This could be themes relating to liminal spaces, quantum realities, mythology and beauty on the grotesque. Given the work I'm undertaking for my MA thesis at the moment I'd be keen to find out how he sees his work in relation to Romaticism as well. I can't help but think that he is something of a romantic artist.

Childe Harold's Pilgrimage

2008-11-26T17:26:00.003Z

Apart he stalked in joyless reverie...
With pleasure drugged, he almost longed for woe,
And e'en for change of scene would seek the shades below.

Childe Harold's Pilgimage by George Byron, Canton 1.6

Dreaming

2008-11-25T13:37:00.001Z

Today I dreamt that I was ninja skulking in the shadows.

Fire

2008-11-18T00:13:00.003Z

Well that was quite a shock. I came back fom the studio yesterday to find a fire engine parked at the end of my road. Of cours ethe typical "what if that was my place" kinda thoughts raced through my head and I thought nothing much more of it. I got home to find a crowd of people out the back of my flat and the garage burnt to a cinder. Apparently there was some homeless guy living there. They belive his cigarette/candle caused his mattress to ctach fire. The garage was full of old furniture that the landlord obviously dumped which meant that the garage was like a giant tinderbox. The fireman said that I was lucky: had the fire not been called in when it was then it could've taken the building down. Phew!! Some of the charred remains look beautiful though. I can see some of that creeping into my work in the not so distant future.

Crochet

2008-11-18T00:09:00.002Z

I joined in a crochet workshop on Saturday afternoon. It was a lot more fun than I anticipated. This is the outcome of the workshop. I'm quite proud even it is a bit girly. I'm looking forward to crochet-ing with some wire, twine and anything else I can manipulate.

Road Trip

2008-11-06T14:32:00.004Z

I was driving back from a DJ gig in Bristol this weekend and it reminded me just how much I love late night road trips. There is something strangely beautiful, ethereal almost, about the deserted roads dimly lit by the lurid orange streetlamps. It's ages since I've had a good night drive.

It was bonfire night last night too. It was awesome walking down to the studio. The whole area was bathed in a thin mist that can only have been from, the no doubt ridiculous number of, bonfires and fireworks being set off in the student village. The streetlamps were casting their radioactive orange beams through this haze to stunning effect. It was like being in a fairy tale or on a film set. It reminded me of the closing scenes from In Bruges.

Dreaming

2008-11-03T09:59:00.001Z

Today I dreamt about running away from it all.

Contextual Presentation

2008-10-25T14:36:00.007+01:00

I had to make a presentation this week in which I was asked to contextualise my own work in relation to three contemporary artists. As you can see below I selected work by Brendan Burns, David Altmejd and Tara Donovan to talk about. I won't bore you with the details of my presentation but I think the fact that I elected to only discuss one painter reflects my current moves away from the traditional canvas support.

David Altmejd

Tara Donovan

Brendan Burns

Tutorial

2008-10-25T12:37:00.002+01:00

I had a pretty good tutorial with the Rona lady on Wednesday. It was group tutorial with Mr Christian, which in all honesty was a waste of time since his knowledge of painting is as limited as my knowledge of photography! That said, the discussion about my practice with Rona was really helpful. We identified that I am far too involved in my work to talk about the 'inspiration' behind it. As a result we agreed that I needed to identify themes and areas of interest within my work that the audience could associate with. These included issues surrounding the materials used and themes such as kitsch, beauty and the debate between art and craft.

It was nice to hear her identify the kitsch within my work without it coming across as a put down. She had a much more objective approach than the subjective combative approach that I had to put up with from Madame Louise last year. It made me realise that my work really is a reflection or extension of myself and in some ways is a lot more expressive than I previously realised. I'm now going to have to spend some time considering the ways in which my work is percieved. It's something that I have avoided in the past; mainly due to my own stubborness!

I also discussed my feelings that I needed to break free from the wooden/canvas support. It was good to have some encouraging discussions about it. The Rona lady suggested that I should undertake some experiments over the next month or two to explore these possibilities and that there was nothing wrong with not actually creating a finshed piece in this time. This relieves some of the pressure of having to finish work. All that I have to do now is get stuck in!

Watch this space!

Mobiles

2008-10-20T12:56:00.003+01:00

I already had it in mind that I wanted to break away from the traditional canvas supports that I've been using and create something more mobile. It was something of a happy coincidence that the RA are currently exhibiting some of Calder's mobiles. I started doing some doodles when I got home as I tried to work out what I'd want from such a piece. Somehow they ended up looking very Tim Burton-esque as you can see above.

Sunrise

2008-10-20T12:54:00.001+01:00

I travelled to London on Saturday on a rather early train. The sunrise was beautiful. It's a shame the driver wouldn't stop to let me take a proper picture. There was a fiery orange glow on the horizon and a thin mist, like dry ice, across the fields. It looked like the world was going up in flames

Dreaming

2008-10-16T16:55:00.002+01:00

Last night I was dreaming of a world that was totally unpopulated. It was beautiful.

Plushie

2008-10-16T14:14:00.003+01:00

On a slightly lighter note here's a little pink plushie I created up at the studio last week!

MA Research Proposal

2008-10-16T13:41:00.005+01:00

Well the MA Fine Art studies have now recommenced for the second and final year. Things have started slowly with a few introductory sessions. We have been asked to submit a research proposal to outline our intentions with regard to our studio practice and so I thought I'd share mine with the world. Of course, as per usual, this is something that we were asked to do with no real guidance. There are whole books dedicated to the art of writing research proposals yet all we were given was a few fluffy guidlines. With hindsight there are things that I would, and probably will, change. For example, I haven't really established a timescale for this work and there is a lack of focus in some areas. Anyhow, without further a-do here it is:

MA Reasearch Proposal

Over the coming weeks I will endeavour to research in to areas of my work that are of key interest to me. The main focus of my work at the present time is within the field of painting. The physical boundaries that define a painting as such have become of particular interest to me. Can my work still be considered as painting outside of the traditional canvas/support format. This is an area that I am keen to explore.

I believe that the first task will be to define that which I consider to be the key constituents that make up a painting. Is the use of paint alone enough for my work to be considered as painting? Are there othere key elements such as the use of canvas, board, etc. that will be required to ground the work in this discipline. Will deviations from those areas that are seen as traditions within painting automatically draw comparisons from other areas of practice? At what point are my paintings no longer paintings.

These are some of the physical aspects of the painting process that I wish to explore whilst continuing my exploration of themes within my painting such as solitude, isolation and my relationship with nature. My fascination with nature is longstanding and has been something of a constant within my practice from the beginning. However, I have recently noticed influences from my day to day existence creeping into my work. I am keen to identify such influences and find ways in which I can focus the influence that they have upon my work to my advantage.

In particular there are some strong influences that have become apparent in my work recent work that appear to have grow out of my experiences at work. As well as developing such areas I hope to be able to analyse my work over the coming weeks and identify other aspects of my day to day existence that are having a bearing upon my work.

Through studio based research I hope to be able to find ways in which the themes that I have identified are communicated clearly through my paintings. I feel that this is something which I have yet to satisfactorily achieve. The creation of my paintings is something of a playful experience. I hope to be able to find ways in which this is conveyed through the outcomes of my studio practice without losing my focus. The methods which I have been employing in the construction of my work have proved to be somewhat labourious. I believe that I will need to reconsider my methods of production and investigate possible alternatives in order to help loosen my practice as current, time consuming methods, are causing my work to stagnate.

Dreaming

2008-09-29T22:41:00.001+01:00

Today I was dreaming of a world that's not all make belive. I'm tired of this game.

The Persistence of Memory

2008-09-29T22:32:00.005+01:00

I've just realised I've not blogger for a good month or so now. I'm just starting to wind up ready for the re-commencement of my MA studies again for my second and final year. I don't know why but I'm really not looking forward to it that much. I think I'm at a really good place in the studio at the moment. I suppose I'm concerned that all the arty farty pseudo-philosophical wafflings that will prevail over the next academic year will throw me off track!

As I have been preparing to spend the next 12 months talking art-shit I have been thinking about the importance of memory. It really irritates me that memories persist. Why do they matter? We can not change what has already happened yet we let them affect us in often dramatic ways. I want to disassociate from memories within my work but I'm not sure that it's possible. I do not what the work to be seen as emotional reminiscing about past experiences etc. yadda yadda. They are about now. They are of their time. Postmodern. Self indulgent.

How do I break this link? Memories are far too damn persistent.

Formless

2008-08-26T17:22:00.003+01:00

I tried creating a 'busy' green background for a painting yesterday by collaging various scraps of material on a canvas. Having left it overnight to dry etc. I've come back today to find that it's poop. I think these Mindspace paintings that I am aspiring to need to be busy with a lot of different materials textures and hues. I've yet to manage to break away from letting one particular form/material dominate my paintings. I think I need to pick a ground and get to work. What is it that keeps holding me back? Why do I continue to return to en-masse coverings of the canvases?

I think I've been too pre-occupied with the composition of the paintings. By insisting to myself that the composition of a canvas relates somewhere/something that I've experienced I think I've been pinning myself into the corner. In addition to this I was too ready to dismiss my first attempts at breakings away from this. Formlessness is a good think. After all some believe that in the beginning there was chaos. Choas is what I need to find!

Spirals

2008-08-23T18:29:00.004+01:00

It's funny how things come around again. I spent the best part of two years as an undergraduate working with spirals as a result of studying the golden section and nature. I was walking in West Wales this week and it struck me that the view along a line of perspective in the forest is perhaps an ideal point to start working on my 'Mindspace' paintings. This is a little sketch I laid down to remind me of these views along the footpath. I should have a few photo's once I upload them from my camera too.

Mother Nature

2008-08-23T17:42:00.004+01:00

Someone pointed out to me how beautiful nature is the other day. Not that I really needed it pointing out since I'm a massive fan of the natural world. However, it struck me that the chances of me ever creating something that is as beautiful as that which nature produces is ridiculously slim. How depressing!

Sketch

2008-08-13T17:43:00.004+01:00

Well here we go. This is one of my first Mindspace sketches from my snazzy new digital sketchbook. It's kind rough; I might have to find a couple of add-ons for painter to get what i want out of it!

Bloom

2008-08-13T17:23:00.004+01:00

Just got back from the Bloom Festival in Cheltenham. It was possibly the most badly organised festival of the century but we still had an ace time! Kraak and Smaak were awesome! Anyhow I'm off work more the rest of this month so I've had myself a midweek studio day. It's been slow going but with all this time off hopefully I can get a few things finished. I'm got an idea in my head that my paintigs should be of my mindspace/troposhere. I think I've mentioned that here before but I'm convinced now that that is the way foward.

I've ditched my sketchbooks in favour of Corel Painter now so my sketchbook is completely digital. I've been making a few sketches of my mindspace today. I think I'm going to have to discover some new materials though if I'm going to realise these paintings. I'll upload some of these sketches for you over the next few days.

Mum's Birthday

2008-08-06T13:40:00.004+01:00

I came across this on my computer the other day. It's a little alternative birthday card that I put together for my Mum back in 2007. That's my folks in the big picture and there are smaller pictures of my brother, my sister and I slipped in amongst the thumbnails around the image. I did another one after this for my Mum's friends 50th birthday as she was so impressed with this one. I'll have to dig that one out.