Four Worlds
Proposal For an Installation
2015
The installation consists of four tables and upon them four clay mountains will be made. These tables would be positioned under an area of roof that is known to leak*. During the course of the exhibition the work will undergo a process of transformation...one of potential erosion.
Four worlds will be a new work and of a scale previously not imagined (1).
Logistics. The aim would be to have the four tables made out of steel. These will be simple in both aesthetic appearance and construction.
The mountains will be sculptured in situ and will remain unfired. In order to create a snow like finish (particularly on the summits) I will
use both white powder paint and matt white spray paint, this will define the mountain form and affords it an altered appearance as
it transforms from wet to dry clay.
*Having previously visited a site where this possible occurrence
could happen, the source of the water for the erosion would
ideally be from an existing gap in the ceiling. The unpredictability
is such, that during the course of the event it may neither rain at
all nor rain sufficiently to cause any significant change in the
appearance of the work. Is dramatic change important? I think not however it may be important to show the potential. There is a further solution, I wonder if it is possible to rig up (above the
Installation) a series of hosepipes that are connected to the water
mains. Taps are fitted (connected by some lengths of copper piping).
The taps are turned on and adjusted accordingly so that continual
drops of water drip upon each mountain…affording slow and regular
water torture.
Clay and ceramics have been a part of my artistic materials
vocabulary for over twenty-five years. When using clay it is
seldom that I choose to have the clay fired. I will frequently
present work that has been biscuit fired, decorated and glazed
but which does not make use of ceramic glazing methods. I use
inappropriate materials (2) such as car body filler, dust, household
gloss paint and inkjet transfers.
I am interested in the clay material as a malleable substance, which can change and be altered. In four worlds I am drawn to the idea of the nature of erosion. There is poetic reasoning behind the work, in one sense one traverses the slowness of natures natural gradualness...of geological time, where the forces of the elements erode the mountains...and where continents become flattened.
I am interested in how a work can relate to the experience of place, the history and material. This is very much an installation rooted to the room where it is fashioned, created and exhibited (3).
The notion of a flat Earth survives in a wide range of contexts. Indirect references to the theory include the widely used idiom, ‘the four corners of the earth’. The term "flat-Earther" is often used in a derogatory sense to mean anyone who holds ridiculously antiquated views.
The idea of the flat Earther is something I am also interested in as it explores not only the notion of holding antiquated views but also defending a position which one may not personally hold. What interests me is (for all intent and purpose and given time) the earth may well become flat. It is not so much as a question of when but more about the possibility of this happening. To this extent I am drawn to the idea of the earth being propped up, held aloft, not necessarily upon the backs of turtles (which go all the way down) but on some reasoned structure...these are the tables in which the mountains rest upon.
Making mountains...to which this work refers is about difficulties...and the ‘idea’ as being an unreasonable challenge. By definition peripeteia (reversal of circumstances) could be attributed to the challenges of climbing mountains (both real and imaginary ones). As one is making an ascent one is also plotting a descent…an action as defined by Aristotle is, ‘a change by which actions veers round to its opposite’…it is most effective when it comes to drama and more specifically tragedy.
The idea of constructing a mountain could equally be a fable such as creating the Tower of Babel or the creation of super high-rise building (4). As land becomes increasingly contested the only way to build is skywards (creating utopian visions). On the subject of climate change in writings as early as 1883 (and through to the end of his life) Charles Taze Russell (5) repeatedly expressed the view that the world's climate would gradually but significantly change as a prelude to the re-establishment of Eden-like conditions. These changes, he said, would include the gradual melting of the Greenland ice sheet, the Arctic and Antarctic polar ice caps, and the general warming of the earth. Natures flattening earth is a different proposition to that of the flat earth. Equally man is munching away at mountains with explosives and machines, mining in an industrial scale, whilst at the same time creating mountains of their own design, gypsum, coal and rubbish mountains.
Notes
1) Artistic hubris, a desire to sculpt the world.
2) I came to know a playground.
3) A place of utopian landscapes, models for unrealised projects.
4) Confusion of tongues / Babel Towers
5) Charles Taze Russell. 1852 – 1916, (USA) Restorationist Minister, founder of the Bible Student Movement. Three worlds or plan of redemption, ‘the world that was, the World that now is and The World to come.’
Proposal For an Installation
2015
The installation consists of four tables and upon them four clay mountains will be made. These tables would be positioned under an area of roof that is known to leak*. During the course of the exhibition the work will undergo a process of transformation...one of potential erosion.
Four worlds will be a new work and of a scale previously not imagined (1).
Logistics. The aim would be to have the four tables made out of steel. These will be simple in both aesthetic appearance and construction.
The mountains will be sculptured in situ and will remain unfired. In order to create a snow like finish (particularly on the summits) I will
use both white powder paint and matt white spray paint, this will define the mountain form and affords it an altered appearance as
it transforms from wet to dry clay.
*Having previously visited a site where this possible occurrence
could happen, the source of the water for the erosion would
ideally be from an existing gap in the ceiling. The unpredictability
is such, that during the course of the event it may neither rain at
all nor rain sufficiently to cause any significant change in the
appearance of the work. Is dramatic change important? I think not however it may be important to show the potential. There is a further solution, I wonder if it is possible to rig up (above the
Installation) a series of hosepipes that are connected to the water
mains. Taps are fitted (connected by some lengths of copper piping).
The taps are turned on and adjusted accordingly so that continual
drops of water drip upon each mountain…affording slow and regular
water torture.
Clay and ceramics have been a part of my artistic materials
vocabulary for over twenty-five years. When using clay it is
seldom that I choose to have the clay fired. I will frequently
present work that has been biscuit fired, decorated and glazed
but which does not make use of ceramic glazing methods. I use
inappropriate materials (2) such as car body filler, dust, household
gloss paint and inkjet transfers.
I am interested in the clay material as a malleable substance, which can change and be altered. In four worlds I am drawn to the idea of the nature of erosion. There is poetic reasoning behind the work, in one sense one traverses the slowness of natures natural gradualness...of geological time, where the forces of the elements erode the mountains...and where continents become flattened.
I am interested in how a work can relate to the experience of place, the history and material. This is very much an installation rooted to the room where it is fashioned, created and exhibited (3).
The notion of a flat Earth survives in a wide range of contexts. Indirect references to the theory include the widely used idiom, ‘the four corners of the earth’. The term "flat-Earther" is often used in a derogatory sense to mean anyone who holds ridiculously antiquated views.
The idea of the flat Earther is something I am also interested in as it explores not only the notion of holding antiquated views but also defending a position which one may not personally hold. What interests me is (for all intent and purpose and given time) the earth may well become flat. It is not so much as a question of when but more about the possibility of this happening. To this extent I am drawn to the idea of the earth being propped up, held aloft, not necessarily upon the backs of turtles (which go all the way down) but on some reasoned structure...these are the tables in which the mountains rest upon.
Making mountains...to which this work refers is about difficulties...and the ‘idea’ as being an unreasonable challenge. By definition peripeteia (reversal of circumstances) could be attributed to the challenges of climbing mountains (both real and imaginary ones). As one is making an ascent one is also plotting a descent…an action as defined by Aristotle is, ‘a change by which actions veers round to its opposite’…it is most effective when it comes to drama and more specifically tragedy.
The idea of constructing a mountain could equally be a fable such as creating the Tower of Babel or the creation of super high-rise building (4). As land becomes increasingly contested the only way to build is skywards (creating utopian visions). On the subject of climate change in writings as early as 1883 (and through to the end of his life) Charles Taze Russell (5) repeatedly expressed the view that the world's climate would gradually but significantly change as a prelude to the re-establishment of Eden-like conditions. These changes, he said, would include the gradual melting of the Greenland ice sheet, the Arctic and Antarctic polar ice caps, and the general warming of the earth. Natures flattening earth is a different proposition to that of the flat earth. Equally man is munching away at mountains with explosives and machines, mining in an industrial scale, whilst at the same time creating mountains of their own design, gypsum, coal and rubbish mountains.
Notes
1) Artistic hubris, a desire to sculpt the world.
2) I came to know a playground.
3) A place of utopian landscapes, models for unrealised projects.
4) Confusion of tongues / Babel Towers
5) Charles Taze Russell. 1852 – 1916, (USA) Restorationist Minister, founder of the Bible Student Movement. Three worlds or plan of redemption, ‘the world that was, the World that now is and The World to come.’
What Did You Do In The Cold War Daddy?
In Mid October 2008 I invited members of an Internet forum to suggest Cold War songs based upon the information I supplied to them. Over 1000 members looked at the posting and over 90 contributed to the topic...I produced a 'Blank' CD with 21 songs. The CD is not to be considered 'definitive', 'authoritative' or complete...we all have our favourites...this is part of the dialogue. A series of 4 posters were produced, one of their number (Gary Powers) was hung up in the record shop Selectadisc, Nottingham (see image below). Exhibited as part of the Oldknows Studio Group show 'Cold War' December 2008 - February 2009 Actual Wall 'Quarterly Review' |
Can I come Out Now?
'Can I come Out Now?' is a low-tech installation for voice and conduit. Talking into an old cassette tape. (I take the tape apart and make a tape loop and bind the two ends of the sound tape together with a slither of clear adhesive tape. I reassembled the cassette and recorded my voice...I ask, 'Can I come out yet?' The work is a response to the theme Cold War and to the immediate environment surrounding the Actual Wall space...it was a work made specifically for the 'Cold War' event. December 2008 - February 2009 |
Memeplexes - ‘Just before he died, he was sure that he could smell the sweetness of life…it was the scent of fresh marzipan.’
Hand Painted Globe (2010) Produced for the Cruiser exhibition, 'I Can See Your House From Here' February 2010 In the poem, ‘Dreamland’ Edgar Allan Poe describes a wild weird place, a veiled sublime land that is out of space and out of time…I believe that I am seeking such a place in the second work, ‘Memeplexes’- ‘Just before he died, he was sure that he could smell the sweetness of life…it was the scent of fresh marzipan.’ A hand painted globe, (about the size of Planet Earth)…and upon blue oceans, self-contained landmasses, there are no recognisable continents. This reincarnated world is made up of places connected to utopian visions, fables of wonderland and lost legendary islands…Spartel Bank, Locus Amoenus, Ultima Thule, Atollk and Lemuria, the inventory reads like a nomenclature of desired lands…With one exception, the land of ‘UT’, a continent in the making, created by the artist. Memplexes is play-acting and re-shaping the world, akin to the ‘King-Maker’, one is scribbling over a map of his territory…creating new lands and new cities…the unleashing of a new aesthetic, the world as a total work of art. 'Memeplexes' and 'UT' (Graphic work) were exhibited as part of , 'We are Here' a young curators exhibition held at the Wallner Gallery, Lakeside Arts Centre, Nottingham. 29th May - 27th June 2010.
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