Paper Gallery - WIP

I have been approached by Manchester-based Paper Gallery to be part of the forthcoming show, Performing Paper, which will take place in June.
They had seen my Morphplinth work and the Fanny Magnets I've been making, so I am going to use it as a chance to explore some of the issues raised with those works.

Watch this space

 Porn Shopping

Hop, Skip, Jump! - Engagement Activities

The premise of my trainer wing kits is to encourage people from the local community to tweet/ e-mail/ post their 'personal best' to the team working on a new sculpture for the center, these will be displayed on LED banners on the sculpture. 

We arrived at Putlands at about 2:15pm expecting to be met with a community group, however it became apparent that the commissioning group hadn't really organised anything as they were working on another commission. After discussing the foot-fall and client demographic, and having sat for an hour with only about 6 people milling about/entering the gym, we decided it would probably be best to relocate to the leisure center's sister-center which was closer to Tunbridge Wells town center.

We stayed at Putlands until 5pm, after I had convinced two small girls to part with their personal bests in exchange for a kit each. 

Tunbridge Wells Leisure Center was a larger establishment with a swimming pool so we were hopeful to have more people to give kits to. 

It was difficult to get anyone to speak to us, at points I felt a little bit like a charity mugger. Despite this, I did manage to convince a few kids to take kits and give their personal bests; mainly by my pose-striking, showing off my totally super-mondo-awesome boot wings.

The next day, we managed to get a table to set up our stall on, and this gave us more success. There weren't many children around, but after explaining the project to mothers and grandparents, there was great interest and uptake of kits. 

In all I think we managed to give out about half of the kits I made up, I was disappointed that more didn't go but I don't think that they will be wasted as there will be an opening for the sculpture, and they should be given out then. 

Had the commissioning group organised a couple of community groups for us to work with, I think the project would have gone much better; I had taken down with me loads of things to decorate the wings with, and we didn't get to use any of it. I suppose you live and learn. 

I'm really pleased with the kits, as were everyone else who saw them - that was my task for the commission, so from my perspective it has gone well. However, I don't know how many personal bests will come from the kits due to the disjointed nature of our engagement; I hope it was in some way successful.

 

set up in Putlands, ready for a craft group that never was

 

 too cool for school

 Trainers collected to be recycled into the main sculpture

 Chris demonstrating a kit

 how could you not want something from this?

Hop, Skip, Jump!

I was approached by Ultimate Holding Company to help with their current commission based in Tunbridge Wells "Hop Skip Jump"
Putlands Leisure centre in Tunbridge Wells will be the home of a new temporary sculptural installation made from recycled trainers, donated by the community. The sculpture will take the form of a chandelier-like hop plant, in reference to Kent's hop growing heritage.
Personal bests will be collected from the community via twitter, e-mail and postcard and these are to be displayed on LED message boards incorporated in the chandelier....

and that's where I come in.

I was asked provide a community engagement project to encourage the users of Putlands Leisure center and the local area. The brief was to create a kit based on the theme "Elevate Your Sole" with which the user could make a pair of wings that would lace onto their trainer.
Having brought me on board after seeing my cross stitch kits, the team thought it would be a nice idea to have sewing kit which would result in a kind of quilted fabric wing to lace onto the shoe. However, after putting together a prototype I expressed my concerns about the complexity of this kind of kit when used by children.
The kit needed to be as simple as possible to complete, with little or no cutting out.
After much stressing over how to make the design work, I settled on the idea of using craft foam and took it to the team who thought this was a good compromise. It also meant I could have the wing shapes laser cut so SAVED MY HANDS.
I was informed that we had ended up with 100+ sets of wings (we had estimated 80 pairs) and so, after designing the packaging and directions, I was tasked with putting the packs together.

LONG TIME TASK. - cut out paper insert, cut and fold instructions, add these and wings to pack, add sachet of glue, place sequins in a small bag before adding to pack, add selection of foam pieces, seal. REPEAT X 108

I am pretty pleased with how they've turned out though, I will bring news of the workshops when they have happened.

 

prelim sketches

f

finalised design

prototype 1 & front/ reverse view

prototype 2

 

prototype 3 & broken down view 

 

directions sheet

 

Packaging insert design

complete pack, front & reverse

Workshops will be running April 24th 3:00-8:00 pm and April 25th 10:00 am-12:00pm

Putlands Sports & Leisure Centre 

Mascalls Court Road 

Paddock Wood 

TN12 6NZ

Morphplinth does London

 Morphlinth at Tate Modern, finally giving me a chance to exhibit in the Turbine Hall

Not my original proposal, which was to fill the place with custard, but just as much of an honor

Morphplinth at the Whitechapel gallery, exhibiting itself amongst some phallic images

Down on the farm and entertaining some dolls at Pollock's Toy museum

Morphlinth wears nothing under his kilt at the Fleming Collection

Morph plinth at Attic, Cardiff

I took Morph plinth to Cardiff and left it alone in Attic for FIVE MINUTES

More information about Morph Plinth

More information about Attic

Pack of Wolves - Once Upon Again

--> I travelled down to Cardiff to see the current Pack of Wolves exhibition at Milkwood Gallery in Cardiff
An exhibition of fairy tale inspired work by the Pack of Wolves art collective
It was a nice exhibition but I feel a bit like my work didn't quite fit with the other pieces as they were all very much based on traditional fairy tales whereas mine was based on one of Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories; and was, to be fair, a little less dark.
They looked good installed though and it was brilliant to see some of Layla Holzer's creepy puppets in real, I don't think I will be sleeping soundly for many weeks to come...
The show finishes on the 9^th March, but hopefully will be going down to London in the Summer.
Watch this space!

My reinterpretation of Rudyard Kipling's How the Leopard got its Spots is in THIS blog post, and it's a right laugh

 Hipster Skin Rug

 Businessman Skin Rug

 One of Layla's puppets

 Rapunzel by Layla Holzer and Spike Dennis

Marie-Louise Plum

Pack of Wolves Feature

The Pack of Wolves exhibition, Once upon Again , has been featured in March 2013's issue of Forum, a free magazine available in Cardiff town center. 

My collage has been used on the contents page, and on the two double-page spreads they gave the exhibition. (pg 25)

Which is nice... 

Forum

 

  

The exibition features works by the Pack of Wolves

Layla Holzer has curated

You can see it until 9th March 2013 at Milkwood Gallery

41 Lochaber Street

Roath,

Cardiff CF24 3LS

Changing Night Spots - Text to accompany Pack of Wolves work

Changing Night Spots

In the mornings when it was time for work, Best Beloved, the Businessman went on his way to the City of London. 'Member it wasn't Southwark, or Islington, or Knightsbridge but the 'sclusively professional, stylish, shiny Square Mile, where there was much money and posh cars and 'sclusive bars. The Trader and the Banker and the Cityboy worked there too; and they were 'sclusively dressed like they had money and posh cars and could get into all of the 'sclusive bars, but the Businessman was the best dressed of any of the people in the financial district, and he fit in best of all in the flashy bars, with his flashy car sat outside. This was very bad for the Trader and the Cityboy; for he would lie in wait in a 'sclusive flashy bar with an expensive drink and his platinum card, and when the Cityboy or the Trader or the Banker came by with a nice looking lady-friend he would cock block them right out of their one night stands. He would indeed!

After a long time – men live for ever so long when they have access to botox and hair-transplants – they learned to avoid anything that looked like a well-dressed, monied Businessman; and bit by bit – the Cityboy began first because he was a bit more of a geezer – they went away from the Square Mile. They searched for weeks and weeks, pub crawls in all of the London districts till they came to Camden Town, 'sclusively full of cheap restaurants and market stalls selling 'handmade' crafts and neon sunglasses and ironic t-shirts and vinyl records; there they found live music bars and dim-looking pubs, in these they hid; and after another long time, what with hanging out in dim-looking pubs and listening to live music and buying vinyl records to impress the middle-class, skinny-jeans-clad ladies in their new locals, the Cityboy grew a shaggy beard, and the Banker grew anti-capitalist political ideals and the Trader began a fairtrade, organic baby-grow enterprise. They wore non-prescription thick-rimmed glasses and skinny jeans, and had their hair cut with a bowl, and began shunning their usual personal grooming regimes; and so, though you could hear them talking about their new fixed-gear push bike and smell their greasy hair, you could very seldom work out which one they were amongst the throngs of alternative 'individuals' at the bar. They had a beautiful time in the dark, sweaty basement bars of Camden Town chatting up girls with art degrees and trust-funds, while the Businessman drove around outside trying to find a place to park his BMW that would be safe from groups protesting the use of fossil fuels, wondering why he couldn't get a chance to make a move on one of these girls with famously low levels of self esteem. At last,he was so desperate that he ordered call girls from numbers he found in telephone boxes, the Businessman, and then he had to visit the GUM clinic. When he was in the waiting room, he read a Vice magazine – 'the Definitive Guide to Enlightening Information', which was quite the most excellent source of news about all of the bands he had never heard of.

Thought the Businessman to himself whilst reading Vice magazine,

“How can I get a girl who wears high-waisted skinny jeans and brogues to speak to me?”

And Vice magazine's Do's and Dont's section fluttered open, it knew.

Then the Businessman began to read this part of the magazine, it said,

“Mate, get a grip, the financial district is no place these hipster chicks want to be hearing about, seriously what are you trying to compensate for with -that- car? These girls don't want to know what your chin looks like and you dress like her dad, sort it out”

So the Businessman left his BMW at home one evening in order to explore Camden Town, taking the tube there instead, which took ever so many days; eventually he saw the piss-stinking tube station and emerged onto the street which was full of head shops and piercing shops and market stalls selling faux leather, all 'sclusively inhabited by punks and mods and androgynous people wearing their grandmother's jumpers and skinny jeans and ironic t-shirts. (Say that quickly aloud, and you will see how very alternative Camden Town must have been.)

The Businessman went into a pub and sat down at the bar, there he tried to find a young lady to buy a drink for.

“What is this,” said the Businessman to himself, “that is so 'sclusively dark and so incredibly sweaty smelling, why would anyone wish to drink here?'

Before he could finish his thought, a girl with a blunt fringe and thick-rimmed glasses took a seat beside him.

“Hello,” said the Businessman, reaching for his platinum card, “ I have lots of money, let me buy you a drink”

The girl ignored the Businessman and, turning herself away from him, ordered her own drink (she was a feminist, you see). The Businessman was shocked and surprised, never before had his advances been so 'sclusively rebutted. Shortly afterwards, another girl – this time one wearing her dead grandmother's 1950's summer dress (or at least one that H&M had made to look like that) and brown brogues, sat down near the Businessman; this time he approached with great caution.

“Hello, can I buy you a drink? Maybe I could take you shopping for some new clothes too, the ones you are wearing appear to be very dated”

The girl looked at him and, with perfect annunciation (which belied her many years of speech and drama training), “Piss off, you corporate wanker.”

The Businessman had never been so confused in all his life, normally offers of new clothes and the chance to spend on a platinum card had ladies falling at his feet, he thought that leaving the BMW at home would have been enough to bag a girl in one of these dive bars until he saw the Cityboy approaching, all shaggy bearded and looking as though he had been dipped in glue and kicked through Oxfam. The Cityboy alighted upon the barstool next to the girl dressed so 'sclusively in her vintage clothes and began to woo her with talk of independent label bands and radical politics; the girl was wooed almost instantly and began to run her fingers through his enormous ginger beard.

The Businessman remembered the Cityboy from past encounters in swanky bars of the Square Mile, where he had been clean shaven, dressed sharply and would throw his cash about like a drunk juggler; the Businessman also remembered the innumerable times when he had taken great pleasure in cock blocking the Cityboy, exactly as the Cityboy had done him just this instant.

“Well,” thought the Businessman to himself “isn't this a fine situation, beaten at my own game. This simply won't do... I am going to take Vice magazine's advice, I must hide my chin beneath an unkempt beard and dress like I have found my clothes in a bin; only then will I be able to get my own back on the Cityboy and the Trader!”

(The Trader, incidentally, had copped off with a girl wearing thick-rimmed glasses and her hair in a blunt fringe, who may or may not have been the girl of the Businessman's earlier failed flirtation attempt, he couldn't tell as they all looked alike)

The next day, which was a Saturday and his day off, the Businessman took himself to Shoreditch for an explore and to buy some truly horrible clothes then, over the next few months, he cultivated a rather impressive (to girls trying to upset their fathers) beard. From then on, he would visit Camden Town on a Friday night, after going home from work to drop off his BMW and to change into one of his many new outfits (bought 'sclusively from charity shops), to woo many a girl with tales of rare vinyl record finds and how he discovered his gluten allergy and by showing them the moustache tattoo he had on the inside of his index fingers (which he meticulously re-applied with marker pen each Friday evening before leaving the house).

And so he lived happily ever afterward, Best Beloved, always sure to go back to their place after last orders of course, lest they discover his BMW. That is all. 

This work was inspired by one of Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories, “How the Leopard got his Spots”.

Once Upon Again

As a member of the Pack of Wolves collective I'm proud to announce our next exhibition

 

Curated by Layla Holzer, Once Upon Again is an exhibition in which

The Pack of Wolves artists show work inspired by existing fairy and folk stories. 

Fairy and folk tales reinterpreted with a contemporary eye, showing that the themes and values they contain can be used now, Once Upon Again.

The exhibition runs - 27 February – 9 March 2013
at the Milkwood Gallery,
41 Lochaber Street, 

Roath,

Cardiff 

CF24 3LS

on Saturday 2 March there will be an evening of enchanting fairy tales, puppet shows and performances at the gallery

Work, slowly in progress.

Paul Wood and his cohorts have been keeping me very busy, so I haven't had much time to get up to mischief...

But, occasionally the devil makes work...

 

Technology

Morph Plinth 1

Having been un-boxed, Morph Plinth was left in my hotel room whilst I went to schmooze at the London Art Fair
I got home about 11, ready for bed only to find Morph Plinth had friends round...

Progression and Morph Plinth

I have been working on my third year Open University art history course nearly flat out since last October so I'm afraid my making output has dropped off significantly.

WORRY NOT though, as I don't need to sleep really so work -is- being done, just... very slowly.

NEWS

I have been selected by the judges of Morph Plinth to be keeper of the plinth, on the strength of my.... proposal...

"I think #MorphPlinth should meet me, serendipity and my huge stack of pornography." 

When in London the other day, I met up with Mark Scott-Wood, the previous keeper of Morph Plinth and he gave me back a box of skulls and

THE PLINTH