Lampshade dress draft

 - it will be flowery, it will be neater...I have 3 days....

Studio Crit

I hung these postcards thinking in relation to a museum type format- imagining information banners. On  all but one I used invisible thread - not sure if this was ideal or not and it wasn't really commented on in the studio crit- other than to say the cards seemed to be 'floating' like they were on their way! 

Interestingly, several of the cards are adressed to the same person - Egger - presumably the correspondents have passed away, as the cards are quite old, and found in a brockiland Zurich. 

There age was mentioned - perhaps I could look into taking photos from these places as they are today, or research the change over the years. Particularly considering piccadilly circus, these brands no longer exist - the place is constantly changing. They are also taken from strange angles - not actually how a tourist would see the city from some kind of birds-eye view. This is not real England. 

Someone suggested contacting or researching the photographers, or photography studios directly, and beginning a correspondence. 

The postcard of Newport is cropped strangely- it's actually not picturesque? 

The thing that people were mainly interested in was actually the backside of the cards - so its good I displayed them in this manner. We discussed a narrative between the recieved and sendee, who are they? What do they do - should I look on google earth for these addresses? Can I come up with some kind of fiction about them? Or find out more?

The language they are written in is also interesting - some very colloquial, some very serious - and German - we are being permitted to read it, but unless we understand German cannot fully comprehend. The issue of sensoring also cropped up. 

That's all I can remember for now!  

Becoming a lampshade!

Currently enrolled in a costume making workshop with Galia, enjoying it a lot! Decided I'd very much like to become a lampshade- now just making it happen!
The bottom left hand drawing it what I hope to achieve  Bought some ceratine hoops in ebay last week, the petticoat with them in has arrived , much to the amusement of my flatmates as I tried it on.... more on this later!

The Old Police Station Proposal!

Having discussed with Toni at great depth, and tried to filter our ideas together, here is our final proposal - which has now been accepted :) woo! Now just to fine tune!

The Park Bench Project

Description of work

An alternative walking route around Deptford taking into account public benches. An adaption of Sean Patterson’s “District 45- Travel back in time to London’s Deptford 100 years ago” walking route (See email correspondence). We will create documentation about the benches and the performative walk, ideally a book, outlining the route. The route will be interjected with short performances discussing public spaces, and their relevance to the local area, alongside more general thoughts and critical viewpoints on the notion of public space. These performances will be located at specifically selected sites with public benches, for our audience’s comfort. The booklet will assume more significance as a piece in it’s own right after the opening performance. 

Site

The book(s) will be located in the bar/communal area. We will advertise the performative walk in the entrance hallway and the toilets (If possible alongside other works).

The performative walk will begin and end at the Old Police Station, however the majority of the route will be around the local area (within 1 mile).

Equipment

Materials for book and advertisement. 

Possibility of spot lights/ torches to aid performance.

Reasoning/ rational of the work proposed

We are particularly concerned with the local area and public spaces. Thinking critically about these, and the manner in which people respond to them- especially in light of the decreasing number of such spaces in London. We’d like to assess this through completing a walk similar to that a tourist might take, as we did, considered from a more conceptual angle- using public benches as our point of interest. 

We intend to reflect on these benches both within the performance, and before. In a similar method to the colour coding implemented by Charles Booth (as cited in Sean Patterson’s walk) in relation to housing, we intend to rate the benches through Deptford from our own experience. Following the walk these opinions will be open to discussion.

Research and influences

Completed Sean Patterson’s walk around Deptford, and spoken to local people. The information provided with this walk was of great local historical interest.

Emailed Sean Patterson requesting a meeting.

London Orbital - Iain Sinclair

City of Quartz - Mike Davis

Dan Graham

Ed Ruscha

Installation and timetable

Revisitation of the area and planning of route- in particular choosing benches. 

Preparation of performance script, book and ‘advertisements’. 

Testing of any lighting equipment if used.

Promote the opening of the exhibition to the general public.

Limitations

Weather

Enthusiasm and ability of audience to participate in walk.

Timings

Other information

Highlight Potential Health and safety issues whilst on the performative walk. These such as watch for traffic when crossing roads and to look after personal valuables.

Sean Patterson’s “District 45- Travel back in time to London’s Deptford 100 years ago”

Previously sited Bench spots on our first visit 29.1.13

(included were some photographs that I cant get hold of now...)

Homesickness and postcards!

So, while away I got far more homesick than I ever would have thought!! Just ask anyone I was with how mental I went....
You couldn't shut me up about England, and, in a particularly mad moment in Brockiland I decided to buy all the postcards from the UK in the old (sent and not sent) postcards boxes.

This moment of hoarding madness has really been my inspiration, or starting point for this terms project!

The most striking and interesting point about the postcards is actual how little "Englishness" they really portray!
Most are of London, or "quintessentially English" scenes...some Beefeaters and a town crier are included! Megaaa! As the swiss would say...

So yeah, looking at these, I got an insight into the stereotype that perhaps foreigners want to believe of England. Wierd.
And the fact that I bought these as a reminder of home, yet they don't really remind me of home adds to the intrigue.

As I write said postcards are up in studio, so I can't attached any photos. Will post later...

So, after a chat with Pil, he told me to research around this notion of Postcards, and the stigmas attached etc... considering in particular the work of :

MARTIN PARR (boring postcards)
IAIN SINCLAIR

and further to read:

Langdon WInner
" Do artefacts have politics "
(look around us, embedded within objects are political ideas from the people who designed them
- giving the example of Moses who designed bridges on Long Island which couldn't be passed underneath by a bus ( the mode of transport the black community of Long Island used ) preventing certain people from passing into Manhattan.

Engles
"Urban planning of Manchester"

Lucy Lippard
Curator of conceptual art, writer
"On the beaten track"

Archigram - collages of cities - future

Laura Oldfield ford - trying to understand public space through drawing...

Usability...

LET ME USE YOU

CONCEPT

Collect unused/ unwanted/ free objects for a period of time around Zurich.

It could be interesting to put in place a set of rules on how we collect said objects to leave something to chance- we don’t know what we’ll accumulate.

For example: asking strangers in the street / friends/ shopkeepers to give us one object they have with them but really don’t need. This also furthers the collaborative notion of the project - allowing the public to become our artists. 

The idea is to then use these objects in a final installation, perhaps presented in an organised museum format. 

BACKGROUND

We began thinking about the usability of objects, the way you can reuse something and it take on a completely new meaning or purpose- albeit anticipated or by chance. 

Living in Switzerland for a short period and observing our new surroundings, led to the realisation that items such as newspapers, and boxes can unintentionally form spontaneous artworks - for us at least!- even if not presented in an artistic setting- such as a gallery or studio. We discovered well-known road signs being used as artwork/decoration. The use of the signs in this way; a different context, gives a new connotation. 

We saw ‘No entry’ and ‘Dead End” road signs used in works, anonymously - is the meaning of these signs just coincidental - what was the artist’s desired effect? And in fact who is the artist? Are they an artist? 

So, the function of an object is intriguing to us. 

Can we give highly recognisable objects new functions? And therefore challenge their mundane perceptions.

INFLUENCES

In our research we have come across several artists:

• Kiara Liden (Installation Serpentine Gallery, London. October- November 2010)
• Annette Messager
• Lisa Milroy (drawings, paintings series about collecting e.g. Lightbulbs.1988)
• Atelier Deshaus - architectural association
• also see HOARDERS (youtube) - be prepared, it’s gross. 

PROCESS

The concept, although collaborative in the sense of making the public our artists, was also relatively personal. As foreigners here, the one to one interaction with the public was very enlightening for us, it was also a very intense method.

As a personal aspect we spent time in areas where we have been living, walking and working. A street close to Sarah’s flat, Ankerstrasse, Hauptbahnhof and Langstrasse were our key collection positions. In all we set out clear guidelines as to where and who we would ask- every passer by and every shopkeeper - albeit a chain or independent store.

We explained to the strangers, our concept, including our artistic motives(sometimes changing the reaction). The reaction to these enquiries was mixed, some very interested, others very confused. But in response we gained an array of items. The donated objects have been catalogued, and given an individual number. The object’s labels directly correspond to the wall mounted catalogue.

MEDIA / INSTALLATION DESCRIPTION

The final installation consists of an assortment of objects arranged (labels visible) on a metal shelf, with the accompanying labels, ‘item footnotes’ on a nearby wall.

Moving, people rushing HAUPTBAHNHOF

Drawing a few commuters in Zurich Hauptbahnhof, got a few looks... even some German compliments...