I had hoped to finish today’s piece this morning before I went to the Arts Centre to commence but even though I had planned what I was doing in advance I had to go back at lunchtime to finish it off.
I will write a bit about the start of the install later but I need to get some food now!
It’s a lonely life being an artist with whom nobody wants to work, so it’s good sometimes to have a moment of social interaction by delivering today’s piece by hand to the Arts Centre. It also saves me the price of a stamp, which is increasingly important when I realise how much it is costing me to stage this affair!
I wrote a bit of stuff on the envelope today so I thought I had better show that too:
The interesting (if only to me) bit is how I am pretending to be casual and just repeating things but in fact am finding that the act of repetition (if that is what I am doing) engenders accidental and intentional actions that lead to new and involving ideas. And that is what all of my work is about really: how repetitive actions get disrupted and create something different. It makes me wonder if Nature gets bored with doing the same thing all the time (like I do with repetitive drawing) and adds a curlicue here and twirl there. How else can evolution occur?
Walking round to the Arts Centre I thought of a brilliant headline and how I would write this blog entry but it went totally out of mind when I realised that I had omitted an apostrophe from my message on the envelope: worse than that I realised that I had done the same yesterday but not seen it. Woe, woe and, thrice, woe!
I put off doing my #Letter365 for a while to go to the artist’s talk with Jill Kennington at the Arts Centre. Her show of photographs is on in the Allsop Gallery above my #Collage365 show Oh and we also had a nice lunch at Spice & Rice the street curry stall in the market. So I didn’t get to deliver my letter till much later and Dee has had enough of me taking her photo!
I really don’t know if I can just restrict this one to #Letter365 I wasnt to develop it as a theme and I think it needs space to breathe rather than being locked up in an envelope. We will see! Well you won’t – that’s the whole idea of the project.
I had to be back and forth to the Arts Centre today so it made sense to deliver by hand, which meant interrupting Jill’s lunch. Fortunately Jill’s sunny disposition made it OK. However the spring has unwound and I didn’t have the energy to go to the private view and theatre tonight, much as I would have liked to. So it was good that I got this done this morning after clearing up. I did go to the sea too. Good piece too!
Laura Cockett, the new Director of Bridport Arts Centre takes delivery of #Letter365 No252 at my #Collage365 Private View. It was a great evening with lots of people and some sales. #Letter365 is set to be even better.
That’s three days in a row that we have been to something at the Arts Centre and it’s not usually open on a Monday so my Film Society visit on Tuesday should count as 4 days in a row. This afternoon it was to see “Will and Testament” the new film about the life of Tony Benn with a Q&A beamed live. Spoiled for choice in sleepy old Dorset we are!
The artwork worked out better than I could have hoped. I usually have a really clear idea if what I intend or am empty and open to inspiration. Today I was empty and feeling rough again with this cold. I delved in my brain and got a vague idea I wanted to play with and it all turned out swell – though I suppose you would expect me to say that!
We went to see Kilter Theatre‘s “The Last Post” tonight, a sensational performance that takes place inside the Mobile Sorting Office, which was parked on Bridport Arts Centre‘s forecourt. We really enjoyed their piece and the guys from the cast agreed to take responsibility for the delivery of my #Letter365 artwork. I have given them a free hand to deliver it in whatever way they choose and they have a Mobile Sorting Office stamp which they will use on No212’s envelope. So pleased to be able to link with other artists working with a postal theme, though since the MSO handles a lot of undelivered and undeliverable mail, who knows what will happen!
As to today’s piece itself: I love it! It is also somehow quite fitting for the delivery mode too – not sure why but I feel it is.
I thought I would save the price of a stamp and deliver today’s piece by hand. I could have just wandered round to Bridport Arts Centre from the studio but since I was going to The Gravity Drive gig there this evening I thought I would deliver it then – except I left it at home and so had to go back at the end. Jonty was there but refused to pose because he was all sweaty from …from who knows what, so he suggested Ziggy take it, but since she didn’t have the key to the office had to deliver it to Jonty anyway!
The piece itself is quite an unusual one. I had a mind to play around with some particular materials – not specifically for #Letter365 – and remembered how I had used something previously and thought it would work just fine for today’s artwork.
And the story is that I was going to be at Bridport Arts Centre tonight for Story Cafe (to be followed tomorrow by a mini story festival tomorrow) and since the special #Letter365 box is broken at present Beki at the bar had to take delivery. I pondered for some time about how Beki spelt her name as I was certain it was not the ordinary way. I almost didn’t use her name because I didn’t want to get it wrong! But then of course as an artist it is good to use my eyes and read the name badge she is wearing in the photograph!!