MORE
Monday, March 30, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
IMAGINE A DANCING ARMY
Formats available: MPEG4 Video (.mp4)
A while ago I threw an idea into cyberspace to see if it would take root. So far it hasn't but some seeds stay in the ground a long time before they germinate and some ideas which at present look naive, childish, impossible, impractical and even objectionable could in future, perhaps, become reality.
Below is the paragraph I've now followed up with a video. I borrowed the movie clips and am grateful to all these wonderful dancing people for inspiring me and, I hope, you too.
An army of dancers, amateurs and professionals, wave after wave of them, every style of dancing from anywhere in the world, accompanied by their musicians, moving in disciplined formation like a very long carnival parade. But not a carnival.
A massive non-violent dancing protest, confronting tanks and trucks and armed soldiers intent on their power mission, obeying their power orders. On both sides of the divide, the dancing army confronts the violence and advances inexorably, rhythmically. The fighters in their tanks and behind their rockets are flabbergasted, the music and dancing are so contagious......
Monday, March 23, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
TIGERS OF INFINITY
A friend asked if I could paint something inspired by those words. They didn't immediately suggest a still image so I tried instead to make a video collage. Oddly enough, I wasn't previously aware that the mathematical symbol for infinity is the Moebius strip.
Formats available: MPEG4 Video (.mp4)
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
RECYCLED FASHION
I was flattered and honoured to be one of the judges at the Recycled Fashion Show held in St. Christopher's School in Letchworth on February 28th. The show is organised annually by Emma Semple, who heads the art department. My fellow blogger Dick Jones, whose Patteran Pages many of you frequent, is Emma's husband and was the drama teacher at St. Chris for many years. The spontaneous, supportive, creative atmosphere of the school was palpable and I must admit I felt a bit envious in retrospect - my own schooldays were nothing like this!
I was stunned by the kids' inventiveness and skill and wanted to film the whole show but while the catwalk was in progress, we judges had to take notes and then adjourn to a quiet room to decide who should win the prizes. It was a real struggle because all the costumes had been interesting and quite a few were exceptional but in the end, we managed to agree. During the final parade and prize-giving I was able to bring out my camcorder and kept it running for about half an hour. Unfortunately, there's a ten minute limit on videos posted to YouTube so I've had to edit drastically and jumpily. But at least you can have a glimpse of the event and some of the amazing designs created by children and teenagers from throw-away materials: eat your heart out Armani, Gucci, Miyake, Prada, Versace and all - the fashion future belongs to creative kids and recycled junk.
The interviewer is Michael Wright, author, artist and lecturer, who was also one of the judges.
The video is on my YouTube page:
Monday, March 02, 2009
NEARLY THERE
Apart from some minor tweaking (tweaking takes time) it's done. Then I have to watch the paint dry. Then order a frame. Then deliver to the National Portrait Gallery on the last day of the deadline, 19 March. After that, it's in the lap of the gods - or rather, the jury.Behind the mirror on the right hand side, I have included a tiny version of part of my construction, The Lesson, which actually sits on that bookshelf. It's sort of a message to myself. Here's a close-up of the original piece, which you may already have seen in a video I made a while back.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
I'VE GOT EYES!
Face improved. Working on mirror illusion and space behind mirror illusion. Illusion is very hard work.
P.S. None of these photos give an accurate version of the actual colours of the painting. I don't know why it is impossible to upload anything which shows the true colours of any original. Maybe it's my camera, maybe it's Photoshop, maybe it's Dreamweaver, maybe it's the web, maybe it's the weather.
CLOSER TO TRAPPING THE SELF
Here is the latest, unfinished version and the mirror I stare into. I decided to incorporate part of the mirror itself into the painting and also include a thin slice of the room behind it on the right-hand side of the canvas.
I like the idea of trying to represent four levels of reality/unreality simultaneously: the mirror, the image reflected in it, the painting, the person looking in the mirror (but is it really me?) It's far from finished but I'm not going to scrape this one out. I'm worried that there's so much paint on this canvas it will never be dry by the deadline for delivering the work (14 March).
MORE
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
THE ELUSIVE SELF
The portrait has not been going well. For the benefit of anyone interested in the process, I'm posting some of the states below. I'm now on the fourth scrape-it-all-out-and-start-again: the "Better but still no good" painting, which was the latest, is no more. Kaputt.Some of what I'm struggling with is:
1. The sad grey winter light and the shortness of days.
2. Indecisiveness about what approach I want to take.
3. Tendency to overdo and thus lose something that was going well.
4. Having become used to the speed and ease of digital painting and its marvellous "UNDO" option, unfortunately unavailable in real-life oil painting.
5. The infuriating, seductive, non-user-friendly character of oil paint.
6. An angry nostalgia for bygone years when I was able to toss off a really quite good portrait in a few hours.
7. Bad mood due to all the above plus some extra stuff not worth mentioning.
Okay, I know: Fail again. Fail better.
I'll keep going. A desire to please is the enemy. Must keep that in mind.
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
SNOWFALL, North London, 2 February 2009
Nothing happens in this movie except for snow gently falling and a couple of birds in the trees.
MORE
That something so soft, so fragile, so gentle, so playful can transform the world in an hour or less is surely an example to reflect upon. Suddenly the noise and chaos are hushed. People walk down the street laughing. Even the ugliest object wears a sparkling mantle of loveliness, nothing is left out.
MORE
Formats available: MPEG4 Video (.mp4)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)