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Embroidery disguise
A quick-ish disguise for a 5p/dime-sized permanent pen stain on my shirt. Blends in a little bit more than before.
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The back of Brzeska
The back of a piece by Henri Gaudier-Brzeska at the Tate Liverpool as part of the DLA Piper Series: Constellations. Neat to see the backs of some major artists’ work. Remember: MUST BE STRAPPED.
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Claude Parent at the Tate Liverpool
Another favourite part of the 2014 Liverpool Biennial, Claude Parent’s La colline de l’art in the Wolfson Gallery on the ground floor at the Tate Liverpool.
Particularly enjoyed the way the light was diffused and altered for works with very reflective surfaces or cases.
I really enjoyed Liechtenstein’s Moonscape, a screenprint on iridescent blue plastic. It seemed smaller and more experimental than his more famous pieces, and more reserved. You walk up a long ramp in Parent’s space to reach the piece and end up viewing it on a raised platform, a dead-end and the highest point in the gallery. That’s where I took the iffy panorama above. The photo doesn’t do it justice, but hopefully it gives an impression of the extent of Parent’s architectural intervention within the space.
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2014 Bloomberg New Contemporaries
Katie Hayward
Pillars II, 2014
Plastic and industrial fans
Dimensions variable
Took the train to Liverpool recently for the Adrian Henry: Total Artist book launch (published by Occasional Papers, buy it here), and tried to cram in the entire Liverpool Biennial in that one day.
The piece above is part of the 2014 Bloomberg New Contemporaries exhibition in the World Museum and was probably one of my favourite works in the show. Details below the photo (taken on my phone, doesn’t do her piece justice). I don’t think the artist has a personal website just yet, but there’s a bit of information about her here and here.
There was a separate, very loud installation in this part of the exhibition that, IMO, was unfortunately presented. I don’t mind loud sound installations, but the positioning didn’t seem carefully considered in this instance. Sound travels far and fast in those cuboid, hard-surfaced rooms.
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XYT: Detroit Streets
Been away from the desk for a while, and thus the blog has been on hiatus. With good reason, though: I was on holiday in the states at long last! Got to participate in two friends’ lovely wedding outside Boston, and then we visited family in Nashville, the south coast of Lake Michigan, and Chicago.
Sam was a lucky duck and got to spend a day exploring on his own in the windy city. He saw a ton, including XYT: Detroit Streets, an installation by Zago Architecture at The Art Institute of Chicago. He filmed a little sample of it on his phone. Wish I could have seen it in person.
Watch clip (YouTube)
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Beer Patches
Quite like this person’s archive of patches from armed forces around the world that are based on beer labels. There must be so many out there.
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The Mac Photographic Archive
The Mac Photographic Archive was started by GSA graduate Lizzie Malcolm and Daniel Powers following the fire that consumed much of the Macintosh Building at the Glasgow School of Art. Anyone who has ever visited the building can upload photos in an effort to digitally preserve the history of the iconic building. The archive is growing, but they’re still lacking photos of some areas (particularly the studios). If you have something to share, contribute.
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Self portrait recording
A self portrait recording from spring 2011. I wrote a set of rules and then plotted events and traits along a timeline of sorts. The timeline was used as sheet music. Not 100% happy with it, there are many issues that aren’t resolved (including the ending).
At any rate, I’d like to revisit the concept. The more long-term idea was to work with other people’s lives and help them record their own self portraits, but the whole effort sort of paused after working on this first one.
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Note Note Tote by Sally and Peter Nencini
Design for an embroidered tote bag by Peter and Sally Nencini (image source)
Posting this design by Peter Nencini for reference as I finish my Note Note Tote. I learned so very much from Sally and Peter at the stitching workshop yesterday at the Tetley, looking forward to finishing the tote. However, must be wary of embroidering while fatigued. I’ve got a few new holes in my index finger.
Update: Embroidery thread colours for reference below (brand is Anchor, about 70p per skein online)
- Purple 111
- Yellow 291
- Orange 330
- Green 228
- Pink 57
- White 1
- Black 403
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“Manifest Destiny” by Jason Griffiths
I was reminded of Jason Griffiths’ Manifest Destiny: A Guide to the Essential Indifference of American Suburban Housing during a conversation yesterday at Peter & Sally Nencini’s lovely stitching workshop at The Tetley.