manual/mechanical

Objects in Orbit

'Objects in Orbit'.
An exhibition by Andrew Rae and Chrissie Macdonald.
Detroit Gallery, Stockholm.
2 – 4 September 2011

And what will all of this become if not you?

Recently worked on a piece for Detroit's Summer Show.

The embroidery is a mixture of translating snippets of reference images straight from sketchbooks as well as using thread in a more loose, mark making way. I became kind of caught between these two ways of thinking and in the end the whole thing became a bit too tight and more visual/illustrative,- half way through the process I just wanted to stick the needle in and out in a more unthoughtful manner.


There is something about stitch and fabric in reality that I really enjoy; seeing the back thread on the underside,how the fabric behaves when it's slightly pulled, but with this piece at the back of my mind I had the concern that I wanted it to reproduce well as an image.
So, I will go back to the idea of using stitch more like drawing and see what happens.

inspiration overdose

Recently visited the Ethnographic Museum in Kraków.

Community Futures

Some new illustrations for the ever-inspiring Viewpoint magazine.

investigations into repeat patterns

Choosing and laying out small, non-descript objects, playing with them as repeatable motifs in 2 and 3 dimensions. I produced an edition of double sided posters for Book on the Fritz#2. I was interested in the idea of a repeat pattern itself being an editioned piece of work, as the original elements are reproduced within the image, and ultimately, will be repeated infinitely. Editions of editions. Available for sale if you would like one.

elements

Book on the Fritz #02

I've been invited to be part of this in a couple of weeks....thinking about self publishing and editioned work.
And Time vs Process. Time = Process. Need to play and produce within the limitations of both. I've got just over a week. And some plasticine.

Book on the Fritz
“The very idea of collecting, exhibiting and distributing self-published work really makes us happy! Book on the Fritz is an exhibition format dealing with self-publishing in all different shapes and variations. We started the project because we wanted to create an output for self-published projects coming from people whose work we find interesting.

Considering the event itself to be a kind of periodical, one of our aims is to organize it as many times as we can with as many different participants as achievable. In the end Book on the Fritz is a social gathering where we can all meet up.”

Participants: Siri Ahmed Backström, Burning Hell, Byggstudio, Lisa Carlsson, Medium Rare, Eller med a, Alexandra Falagara, Åsa Frölander, Maja Hammarén, Lars Hedelin, Kim Hiorthøy, Conny Karlsson, Sonja Nilsson, Samuel Nyholm, Marie O’Connor, Jeff Olsson, Pol Perez, Plaquette, PWR PAPER, Jalmar Staaf, Anders Stockman & Robert Ågren (Varv), Kajsa Sundin & Matilda Roos, Nille Svensson, Toey Toeytoey

April 29 – May 1, 2011
Gallery Steinsland Berliner, Stockholm

Northern Skies

Was asked to create some artwork for an album by Natalie Gardiner recently.
Spent some time playing around like this. More of which to come later.


Final design. Northern Skies, 2-colour screen print, limited edition. Loved a day in the print room. Need to go back there soon.

MAKE_SHAPE

I created this interactive installation for the event Does it fit? at Norrköpings Konstmuseum in Sweden.
With Make_Shape I wanted to encourage the public to test and try these objects on their body; some shapes were more obvious in how they could be applied than others.

It was interesting to see how people reacted to the idea and also how, in many cases, they approached something made in wood or papier-mâché as they might a dress or a necklace - did it suit them/their personality etc. There was a definite desire to create 'a look'.

I was much more into how these shapes could abstract, confine or manipulate the body and limbs. To overtake and dictate some kind of stance or posture. Boys seemed to like to become make shift superheroes.





I also like the idea of documenting the permutations of any given combination. And creating some sort of object/sculpture/background/foreground/body/clothing combo.

The installation itself was ever changing with shapes being worn and then placed in new positions constantly.
Will re-visit all of this again soon.

sculpture / dance

The Bloomberg Commission: Claire Barclay: Shadow Spans

saturday 26th march

more to follow

the new niave

That's me alright. A little feature in Viewpoint #27.

triadic ballet

I'm working on an interactive installation to be part of a show at the end of the month at Norrköpings Konstmuseum.
Inspiration, as ever from these

tests

Some studies for fabric applique ideas

Zimmermann & de Perrot

I went to see this last night

The Constructed Body: Part 2

In the second session at the Hockney Gallery, Royal College of Art, we began playing on a bigger scale.
The reference for this was costume for theatre; Bauhaus, Dada, Leger etc and Ballet Russes.


To kick off, I asked the pupils to select some paper at random that we had worked with in the previous session. They then had to quickly form some kind of body using only these papers. 'Where is the head?' 'Are there legs?' etc. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, this was something I thought about doing at the last minute, but they really enjoyed the limitations of the task.

We then made some drawings of patterns directed by instructions given by me. It was really interesting to see their interpretation of what was being asked. 'Draw lines', 'draw stripes'. 'A line is a rectangle'. 'A spot is a circle'. We created lots of patterned papers to play around with. These weren't utilised in the way I had predicted but it was a nice exercise in itself.


The final exercise involved creating surprising body shapes and working into these silhouettes with their pre-drawn papers and various mixed media.


Ideally at some stage I wanted to build on the body, but time was an issue as well as being conscious of not switching ideas too much. I decided to let them get on with the large scale drawings which made for a cracking exhibition. The little ones were so clever and cute and talented and receptive in equal measure. The whole thing was an absolute treat to be part of.

Paper, Scissors, Draw was shown at the Hockney Gallery, formed by the results of my workshop and those led by the brilliant Sarah Bridgland and Silas Money.