has been replaced with mountains of gold

slight delay in me talking about the little trip to glossop but ever mind here i am.
we arrived and ate egg (or bacon) rolls to build up energy for the imminent kite flying. after a short walk up the hill it was time to fly our kites! my very small kite did fly but it wasn't exactly how i wanted it to look. i was hoping to string up loads of little bags with wire in the top to look like a school of fish. however,  i had this particular idea at about 12 the night before after i'd pretty much finished another kite. oh dear! however, my very small school of fish semed to work well enough.
when we came off the hill we went into glossop to a local pub to watch some perfromances. after a few technological difficulties we were off. there was a few videos pieces and then a fine art student (i think she was) sang a million songs. when she stopped playing we all trundled off home. the end.
it was a fun day, nice to have a day away from the studio doing something a bit different.

i'm now home. trying to get some work done ready for this presentation/exhibition when i start back at uni. not entirely sure what to exhibit yet but i'm sure i'll think of something!

and the spies hide out in every corner

so, i've been umming and ahhing recently about whether to go home during the easter holidays and for how long. last night i was, again, pondering on the subject and i've decided to go home for longer than i first thought. this then led in my train of thought onto what i could do and i figured it would be nice to do a bit of walking in london, see places i never usually see. i thought it would be a nice idea to walk along tube lines especially the northern line seeing as i live at the end of it and near the station. after a little google i stumbled across this

http://www.londonphotoproject.co.uk/blog/

this person has walked every single tube line in london. now i'm not that ambitious for an easter project but it is very helpful because there are maps and average distance times for walking which is good for me =)
tonight i'm also going to look at other walks that i could do around the city, maybe taking in specific tourist sights. it'll also give me chance to take some photos for my 'background people' project (designing wanted posters to find the people in the background of photos). my main inspiration for  my walking project is richard long who took walks and made a note of certain things he saw or heard during the walk. i'm going to decide on different themes, maybe per walk or one for the whole time. i haven't decided whether just to focus on the visual and have colour or object themes or branch out and make a note of sounds i hear as well through my journeys.

last week an ex-interactive arts student came in who now works as an animator and one of the things he's started in keeping a sketch book and recording randon moments he's sees. i used to do this when i was at college and it's inspired me to start it again.

today i had my group tutorial. generally positive feedback but a few things i need to work on are the development and research in my projects. i have lots of ideas i just need to record and develop them sufficiently not just go with my first idea.

that seems to be all for the day, now my kite needs making =)

and all we've been through

had a fairly cultural saturday yesterday. went to see a few a couple of the smaller art galleries around manchester with a friend from my course.

first off was untitled gallery which currently has a show by marc provins, a photographer based in manchester. first off the gallery space, it is quite hidden away but i loved the magic of going to find the gallery, reminded me of the smaller galleries i went to see back home in london. i did really like the photography by provins, the work is looking at the unexpected and seeing the unexpected. the photos are small moments of life that people usually walk by, anything from a sun pattern on a car to a squashed hedgehog on the road!

http://www.untitledgallerymanchester.com/
http://www.marcprovins.co.uk/

secondly we went to see an exhibiton in kraak gallery in the northern quarter by a group of fine art manchester met students. again i loved the space but the work was not quite there. just small things like paintings not hanging quite straight or parts of work that have been cut out not quite straight. there also seemed to be a large gap between the artist statements we read and the work that we saw. i was impressed though with work by sean liddle and bianca lemus. sean liddle's work seemed the most confident and i liked the style and subject choice by bianca lemus.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&gid=187652369622

we then went to the chinese arts centre where there is an exhibition called human error by household and dario uteras. re-makes of household appliances we take for granted such as printers and scanners have been made on a large scale so we have to work them. it was a fun exhibition to see and even better that you could interact with it. only bad part of this exhibtion is getting my finger caught in the 'scanner'!

in other news......my essay is done! i'm so happy =)
now back to my 'normal' practical work instead of panicing about the essay.

as it's coming up to the end of the academic year i've found that i've had lots of good ideas but i've not been very good at putting these ideas onto paper. i'm going to use the easter break to actually get some physical work done and not jus think lots about my ideas i need to do something with them!

children of the revolution

been doing a few little pieces to keep me sane whilst i plod through this essay.

i've enjoyed just doing these simple pieces of art and getting back to the basics of my practice.

a few days ago darren, ryan and myself went to see the space in salford shopping centre. it's quite a nice space (apart from bring painted cream!) and is right in the middle of the shopping centre. a good space for a first exhibition i think.

how come you dance so good?

today i had a little mosey around the cube gallery. upstairs there is an exhibition by OSA looking at rearranging objects from around manchester based on works by kurt schwitters. i liked the way that the pieces blended into the existing space in gallery and really took over the place.
downstairs there is an ongoing piece of work by jason minsky and william titley. they are looking into the development and growth of manchester especially one particular event where a village was destroyed to make way for the growth of a lake in the lake district so manchester could have enough water. they have been researching the lost village or mardale green and have made a model village out of kendal mint cake which they plan to flood with water from the lake.

http://www.cube.org.uk/

in other news i have bought a plant in a can. it looks like an odd shaped coke can and you peel  off the top, add water everydy and ta-da a plant in a can. ive bought lavender and pansies. i thought it would be nice to make my room a bit more summery. on a side note from this i love it when it starts to get sunny in england. none of us know how long the sun will last so we make the most of it today. i went out to the park at lunch and it was full of people all sunbathing in shorts and skirts and even some with flip-flops. one day of sun and we go crazy. no wonder the rest of the world think we're weird!

war, children, it's just a shot away. it's just a shot away.

so, i'm currently working mostly on my essay.  i have been working on other practical work but i know if i start anything concrete now then i won't do my essasy!
however, i have been doing a few little doodles and experiments in the studio just to see what happens. working with no idea in my mind just doing whatever pops up in there. i also have an interview this week to work for a new manchester arts and music magazine that is starting up so i've been doing a few illustration-y pieces for this to show the editor. they seem to be going ok but i haven't worked in this style for a while so it's hard to get back into it.

the 'working title' that i'm in with a few other people from my class now has the official title of MISC. we have a gallery in salford that is interested in showing our work so after my essay i'm going to get cracking on doing a piece for that. i want to work on the people in the background in photos. doing like a 'wanted poster' type thing and searching for these people that happen to be in my photos. i have looked up the legality of this and it is fine. the only concrete rules are about getting up in someones face when taking photos or documenting someones every move (aka stalking) but hey the paparazzi do that so yeah these laws do get broken regulary! i haven't decided whether to use existing photos i have or go about manchester taking photos.

i've also been to see the anish kapoor exhibition at the manchester art gallery. i did like the powdered colour and wax pieces but i particualry like his pieces using plain really dark colours. this work is all about the experience of it and in the informational video that is in the exhibition it says that kapoor creates 4-d work he uses time as well as the 3 dimensions. i like the pieces because they have a 'deepness' to them and you feel you can got lost in them.

sun in the sky you know how i feel

progress is slow. basically. continuing to make the bar scene, now made the actual bar and the shelves at the back of the bar.
a few of us in my class are getting together so we can do exhibitions together...kind of a collective but there is no links between our work and practice. i think i'm going to start a project for this to get some kind of idea of what i want to do for our first exhbition. this has come at a good time, i'm starting to lost steam with my animation project and it'll give me a chance to step back from my animation and come back at it soon with more enthusiasm! haven't quite decided what i want to do for this project but i have a few ideas circling around my head that i would like to exapand on.

i've recently found an artist called mariel clayton who has been making scenes of killer barbies. i like the pieces becuase although they are funny whilst being slightly disgusting! the sets have also been really well made. i've found i've enjoyed making the sets for my project a lot (i thibk more thatn i'll enjoy animating) . I would like to try this idea of making a set and photographing it. making a set scene.
http://www.thephotographymarielclayton.com/

i also like the work of designer Rita Botelho. i particularly like the simplicity in the designs. for example the 'ring for another' glass design. this is a cocktail glass design with a bell in the bottom, looking at how wealthy people could just ring for their servants to get them another drink.
i also really like the 'hanging' earring series. this is a series of silver wire earrings with small figures of people on them who like they are climbing of leaning against the wire. again i love the simplicity of this and also the turning of something everyday like an eariing into a work of art.
http://www.ritabotelho.com/

right that'll do for now
=)