Go Robson Go!

Robson Cezar, who I worked with for the Eat, Use, Destroy ;) exhibition, has just appeared on the front page of the Internationl Herald Tribune.

The image shows Robson holding one of his bottle-top pieces, featuring the word 'strike'. He was at the time curating an outdoor exhibition in support of the Occupy London protests, despite previous insistence that his work itself is not politically concerned. The open air show was entitled 'everyone is an artist', in homage to Joseph Beuys. Participation meant that you had to hold or wear your artwork. During the event Robson also spent time creating bottle top pictures with participants.

In terms of Cezar's practice, this front page is a gift - an artwork engaging with the strikes has been absorbed into the main medium through which the strikes are perceived, the media. Is it opportunistic however, a jump onto the Occupy bandwagon? I'm under the impression that some see polite protest as an affront to 'real' protest - the angry protest that gets things changed in truly dire situations. I think Cezar's project was earnest, and characteristicly playful, touched as ever with his Brazilian identity. I'd like to think there's a place for polite, as well as more radical, protest.



http://www.gorobsongo.com/

http://londonist.com/2011/11/everyone-is-an-artist-at-finsbury-square.php

Factory Factory

Factory Factory is a solo exhibition by artist Daniel Curtis, comprising of site-specific sculpture made in response to the Utrophia project space.

I saw Daniel Curtis' show Factory Factory this summer in London. It featured his usual raw material constructions, assembled with a level of care that redirects the possible conclusion that they're just junk. Some of the work has an industrial edge (see the piece made from huge sheets of sandpaper, centre) which I assume references the venue's previous existence as a factory. Other pieces (see top) seem ordered like a city or organism. The piece which seems to have involved the most process, in terms of actually fixing different materials together, is a large plastic sheet on a timber frame (bottom). This hint of potential function (it could be a shelter, a wall or a wing) has an element of excitement to it.

http://www.utrophia.net/events/FactoryFactory

Chelsea College Degree Show

I went to the opening of this year's degree show at Chelsea College. Here are a few of my favourite artists/works:

Natalie Bays recreated a lettings agency - 'Hello Homes' - in the college. This existed both as an actual office space and as a performance in which she was the agent. The premise was that parts of the college site, in its prime central London location, could be let. This would raise money to deal with the cuts made to art funding. I like the piece as a proposition for alternative uses of educational spaces, although the use of a typical estate agency is probably not geared towards that conclusion. Similar in some ways to my recent project with Archipelago collective in which we created a 'consulate' for the Cornerhouse.

http://www.becomingasomeone.blogspot.com/




James White. Two cars chained together, remotely operated to pull against each other in a tug of war. I think there is theory behind it, but I just like the spectacle and simplicity of it.

http://www.jamespaulwhite.co.uk/

Kelly Jackson. Her text works are pretty bleak, to say the least. I don't think I share the kind of world view that would probably lie behind these (e.g 'life is meaningless'). But if you can't suggest any substantial truth or meaning to life, which I would attempt via Christianity, then I respect the intellectual integrity that accepts the implications of that.



http://www.kellyjacksonart.co.uk/

Izabel Engelbrecht presented some formally concerned pieces. A heavy looking cylinder of unknown material and a zig-zag piece of aluminium appear industrial in origin. They are actually painstaking constructed; the cylinder has been formed from waste fibres from a workshop in a process which involved the artist crushing the material with her feet. The aluminium has been poured into a hand built mould. There is therefore a strong personal connection between work and artist which I didn't immediately detect. This links this work to Engelbrechts other, unpresented, work which involves her own image (see below).



http://izabelengelbrecht.com/

Debate

This is an account of an art project entitled 'Debate' which I was involved in at Speakers' Corner, London, on Sunday 21st November.

The event was organised by London based artist group The Dogfood Idea. It involved a group of artists going to Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park and conducting an 'exhibition' by engaging in the etiquette/process/traditions of Speakers' Corner. My contribution was to conduct a questionnaire, which I filled in as a I asked members of the public questions. 

Questions included 'So what are you doing here today?', 'What is most important to you, or what do you love most?' and 'Would you like to ask me any questions?'. The questions essentially were aimed to open up conversation. At the end of the questionnaire I would offer it to the subject to keep. Most people were quite willing to talk to me, and most kept the questionnaire. The event was mainly focused over a one hour period, so I didn't speak to a huge number of people. 

The questionnaire also included some images of my photographic artworks, so I came away with some interesting comments on them. Some people were pretty indifferent to them, one guy criticised an image's ISO (I explained it was taken with a camera phone). Because of the atmosphere at Speakers' Corner, other people would gather round and sometimes join the discussion while I was talking to someone, which was good, and wouldn't have happened somewhere else.

I think my key interests were speaking to strangers, (more exoteric?) public responses to my (photographic) artwork, the questionnaire as an art form and exploring personal versus institutional validations of my artwork (i.e. what did I get out of the project, and what did anyone get out of my artistic contribution?). It was good to go outside, practice 'art', and to discuss with strangers. It was sometimes like an art college crit or tutorial. I think this owed to the Speakers' Corner tradition. The questionnaire format seemed like a good platform to exhibit my work. I often feel like the explanations I give when I'm discussing my work is actually part of the work, I like the idea of personal encounters as artworks.

The event curators/organisers commented that Speakers' Corner is currently dominated by (Male) Christian and Muslim orators and assumed that the artists' participation would make for some alternative contributions. I think that an interesting element of my involvement in the project then, is the fact that I am a Christian, although I didn't discuss this with the curators. I included the following references in my project proposal for Debate:

• I am currently working as part of a collective called Archipelago, which has received a commission from Cornerhouse, Manchester as part of their projects program. The project is due to go ahead in January/February 2011. Part of my contribution involves a questionnaire.
• Medical questionnaires (I am currently training to become a healthcare professional, and use questionnaires with patients).
• Evangelism. The artist who brought this project to my attention once told me that my approach to art was 'evangelical'.

The 'evangelism' inspiration really spanned two ideas. Firstly the idea of wanting to take art to everybody, and secondly the phenomenon of approaching strangers on the street, which also happens within Christian evangelism. 

http://www.thedogfoodidea.com/ (information, pictures etc under 'newsblog')