Thursday Thoughts...

“I love reading the dictionary”. 

Ann Hamilton

It's always fun when you can use a quote in a couple of ways.  Today' pondering is on Books; but Ann Hamilton is a marvellous artist.

But, protocol, and so I'll stick with books; and folk can go see Ann's work here and elsewhere.

Reading the dictionary is one way (along with reading an Atlas) that I used to put myself to sleep as a child/young person.  Mostly if I was worried or stressed or unable to focus. There was always something soothing in looking at single words and reading about them briefly and moving on to the next one, never really worried about having to comprehend in detail and/or link the narrative and recall earlier things.

As an adult I like reading the dictionary in random moments to discover new words.  I have found my vocabulary is fairly stuck - I use words I know and the most easily recalled ones at that. I turn to the Thesaurus on a regular basis as well to try and expand my language skills.

I wish my vocabulary was larger and that I could find the best and most beautiful way to describe things - but I do what I do. Life is full.

Doing my bibliomancy has been a good way to read things I normally wouldn't and come across words I am not sure of; and the dictionary has been getting quite a go during those session, so hopefully I am building new words, new descriptors and new ways of seeing the world.

Word of the day from dictionary.com (it's actually Thursday 12 March  here but still Wednesday 11 there...) And I love this one!  Now to get it into a sentence.

Labelling

Now that everything is pretty much moved into the new studio space, I have ben trying hard to complete the job - that is, to label everything in sight so that anybody in the studio can find anything they need.  Plan A.

So I went through the drawers and wrote down pretty much everything I could find to describe what lay within.

Went and got myself a whizz bang label printer (which I must admit I have really enjoyed playing with), and set up some labels and started printing.

Action shots.

And on reflection, I found this one to be highly entertaining. I had tried here to differentiate between artists' books (by others) and artists' books by me (F).

Perhaps I should have sequenced that differently.

I also got a lot of joy from this one - it captures everything in that drawer perfectly!

Lots of fun was had sticking them on and a deal of satisfaction felt as the whole place looked rather unified and tidy.

That bottom right box contains this gorgeous old stuff...

And as I was photographing at my desk, I realised this mouse mat (well worn) was perfect for International Women's Day last Sunday.

An oldie but a goodie - from 2001 when I in worked in Canberra.

Almost done with labelling - type drawers are numbered and now just need names, but that is a pretty big task - about 90 more labels and I'm done. Small yay for now.

And so to print!

As Barry mentioned, we spent a day in the studio together last week beginning a small collaborative project - a rainbow of kindness.


You can guess from this that I got orange!

We have come up with 7 quotes, one for each colour of the rainbow and Barry began with red and I have followed up with orange.

It was fun to sit in the new studio and test out a bunch of things - and I have to say they worked, even the tidying up and putting things back in their place bit!

So I set the type, then proofed it.

Here is proof 1 where I was worried about how tight "FEEL" felt. I am no typographer or designer, but as a calligrapher I knew it needed some space.

By Proof 7, after having played with a multiplicity of spacing options, I felt good to go.

So off I went.

This is a series of mini-posters.  They are about 17.5cm (h) x 12.5cm (w).

I really liked these two proofs, where I re-printed after changing the position slightly.  As ever, you learn from your mistakes and I realised there could be something great in this idea somewhere down the track!

And here they are at the end of our first ever printing day - next to each other, drying.

Thursday Thoughts...

"Education is what people do to you, learning is what you do to yourself.” 

Joi Ito 

I like this one and the way it differentiates between education - which seems to have a set of rules to get through; goals to achieve; and some deadlines in which to achieve them -  and learning which is active and ongoing and self-directed.

I think I get it.

I am sure loads of people have thought about this and worked it out long ago; however, I haven't often pondered the difference and I really like the notion of being an ongoing, life-long learner.

One of my favourite quotes of all time is Michelangelo's "Ancora Imparo - I am still learning"

Yes I have been educated; and yes I am still learning.  Perhaps Mr Ito is a little harsh in terms of saying education is what other people do to you, but I guess in many ways that is probably right.  You receive an education. It is provided/given to you - or perhaps purchased by you.  It seems very much to be from the outside in - directed towards you. It also seems to be about completing elements of a curriculum - learning the same things as others.

For me, the life of an artist is a never-ending learning curve as I explore ways to push boundaries, discover new techniques; use different ways to express my thoughts and open up my general understanding of what works and doesn't work.

It is a delightful learning life and I am grateful for it!

My first ever exhibition in Maleny - A COMA one - way back in 2007.  My little piece is a book attached to a canvas - fourth from the left, top row.

I have come a long way, but I am still learning.

We Are Sorry and the Libris Awards

As I have tidied up around the studio of late - in preparation for the BIG move - I did a quick check on We Are Sorry, a book that Barry and I produced together last year for the exhibition Compassion.

The pages were put together after we had printed onto all sorts of papers, and in particular, we had included a light tracing paper.  Originally I had used a spray adhesive to attach it, but after being handled and possibly the humidity (also possible it was just not brilliantly executed to start with) I noticed the the page was wrinkling, crinkling and lifting and did not look great.

So I went back to our leftover prints and worked out a few more pages I could use and went about removing the offending original.

It took no time at all, so that was good on the one hand, not so good on the other had I really wanted it to stay in the book!

The offender once removed.

A little bit too much curling and crinkling.

And so to replacement options - the blank page.

Any number of leftovers.

A selection was made and in it went.  Some layered Japanese tengucho paper - repeating we are, we are sorry.

The opposite page is a layered, soft as tengucho - 4gsm - and I love its repetition.

The closing pages - Goyu paper this time.

We are hoping to submit this book the Libris Awards.

The words that support it include:

We are Sorry has layers and layers of sorry. As a nation, we have made three National Apologies and this book has many more apologies in it – to asylum seekers detained in inhumane conditions; to future generations for our refusal to act on climate change; to people with disabilities in institutional care; and to returned veterans with PTSD, for starters. We are sorry.

Getting there slowly

Well, each day we progress the studio space.

It is nice to not have had to do it all in two days say; time has allowed us to work out where things might go, what we might need and to build a solid, useful space before we get stuck in and make it messy!

It has proven an interesting challenge, as we discover the options and possibilities of the place; to consider how to bring together the notions of studio working space, display space, workshop space and possible gallery-type space.  Pretty much in keeping with the way we roll, we are kind of sort of making it up as we go along, and really enjoying the ride so far!

I think we are probably 98% there.  Only a box or two to work out where to put things; and then I think the recording of where everything is and the labelling of storage containers.

For the first time in my life, I think the studio is a place where everything has its place and will (Plan A) be put away. Laugh. I can dream...

The book shelves are in and are filling up.

Barry created the rails where the rollers can hang either side of one of the presses.  The other side has paintbrushes and trowels in their wee hanging buckets.

The rulers are all hanging happily along the side of the bookcase. Because we are leasing I am at tad paranoid about putting things in/on the walls, so we are being creative.

There are still a few things still to find a home

Some new cabinets and display areas for our work, alongside the type cabinets.

A less than glamorous kitchenette area; but it works.

This is near the front door. We are keeping that left hand side wall free and will probably put a hanging system there.  The cabinet in front displays some of Barry's work, and we will probably put a hanging system above it as well.  As mentioned, we are making it up a bit as we go along.

Some of my works displayed in a few nooks.

 Friday night the sky was splendid.

The studio was indeed purple and pink. Today we put blinds on those two front windows but both of us forgot to photograph them.

 And my Dad started popping cymbidium orchids in the garden along the side.

And we all fell in love with this plant which I am yet to truly discover its name.

It feels like a pretty nice space to spend some time...

When I think we can say - yep it's done, I'll try to do a video walk thru as well.
Another Plan A... I have so many!

Thursday Thoughts...

“Stop thinking about art works as objects, and start thinking about them as triggers for experiences. (Roy Ascott’s phrase.) That solves a lot of problems: we don’t have to argue whether photographs are art, or whether performances are art, or whether Carl Andre’s bricks or Andrew Serranos’s piss or Little Richard’s ‘Long Tall Sally’ are art, because we say, ‘Art is something that happens, a process, not a quality, and all sorts of things can make it happen.’ … what makes a work of art ‘good’ for you is not something that is already ‘inside’ it, but something that happens inside you — so the value of the work lies in the degree to which it can help you have the kind of experience that you call art.” 

Brian Eno 

OK I accidentally seem to have gone way philosophical by choosing this one, but bear with me!

I oftentimes enjoy somebody who takes a bit of pressure off a difficult or tricky subject.  By suggesting that you stop thinking about art as a something, but rather think about art as an action and a response you get all kind of wonderful things into the box called art.

Each and every one of us responds to an art object in wildly different ways.  Sometimes I am stopped in my tracks, my breath taken away by something, whilst those around me murmur, look at their phone, and waffle on by.

In that sort of moment, its clearly not the thing itself - it is in fact the reaction inside me, which creates the experience I call art. It seems to me this kind of approach can incorporate things like coming across a series of sticks in the ground;  the sun streaming in on dying roses; a white page delicately pierced; peeling painted walls; monks chanting and oh so many more moments of art.

He also summarises it aptly with his closing words "the value of the work lies in the degree to which it can help you have the kind fo experience that you call art."

Here's to making moments like that for others as well...

Time for Change 2015.

Bibliomancy

I was recently privileged to attend a worksop with Ruth Hadlow, called Poetics of Place.

It landed in my inbox when I was in Scotland last and it utterly drew me in with it synchronicity - I have been yearning to investigate and understand how these two places call me; how I feel like they are both home; and their beauty speaks to me so eloquently, even tho they are so vastly different...

Its not possible to describe the magic of the days I attended; but I did want to share one notion which has stayed with me since and which has become part of my weekly practice.

Ruth referred to the notion of Bibliomancy. One definition of which is

"divination by means of a book, especially the Bible, opened at random to some verse or passage, which is then interpreted".

Now, that's not how I do it however.  I define my own bibliomancy as simply reading things at random, and finding interesting things, and sometimes connections.

Here I am on Wednesday last week. I have some varying and different books in my bag - What Days Are For by Robert Dessaix, re+home+ing by Irene Briant and My Katherine Mansfield Project by Kirsty Dunn for starters.  These are diverse, off to- the-side-idea books and I have loved dipping into them and finding a bit of this and a bit of that which I like or which resonates.

Each week I select one, dip into it, find myself entranced or drifting away and make some notes. No real rules - read a bit, think a bit, put it away and get another one, or keep going and going deeper.

The cover of Kirsty Gunn's book made me catch my breath. It says it all about how I am feeling about home here and there.

But really, what I do is sit and make my way slowly through a cup coffee and jot down notes and quotes and thoughts and make connections.

I have read some academic papers and I am keeping list of words I'd like to truly understand and get the proper definition of along the side.

Every now and again I realise the connections between the vastly different readings...

Each week I write in a different coloured pen so I can more easily find things when I reflect back.

In Irene's book, she ponders having moved to a new home.  Some of her pages are exquisite and I have sat and thought long and hard about the question she poses "How long does it take to feel at home?"

Initially she describes quite prosaic things like being able to find the light switch in the dark, but then she turns to eloquent and poetic indicators that run more deeply. Like When you feel the sun is coming through the right windows; when you feel that all you have gained equals all you have lost.

These are poignant and perfect descriptors of feeling at home.

I have been feeling tired/exhausted by all the moving shenanigans and so have given myself permission the past two weeks to simply read the fabulous print magazine out of the UK Pressing Matters.  I am a couple of issues behind in my reading, so that felt right - a chance to indulge in nice pictures and nice stories about printmaking. I did so without thinking I would analyse, contrast, compare or the other things I do more deeply with other readings.

But in the end I got lots out of it - ideas, connections, opportunities...

I figure I would go to the barricades to safeguard this one hour a week!