It is odd that, when I am now keener than ever to develop themes and work through ideas, I find myself feeling guilty when I do that in #Letter365. I have been here before, having to remind myself that its ok to do things that are similar. Many artists have done countless versions of the same thing or developed similar works along a theme.
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.
I have been preparing my studio for visitors, painting walls and putting up pictures, but I am now completely exhausted and run down and worried about tomorrow’s Private View at the Arts Centre. The Arts Centre list has not had an email sent about the Private View and there was nothing in the local paper last week and we missed Evolver, so I am not happy and concerned there may be a low turn out. With the investment of time, energy and cash I have put in to the show I needed to maximise footfall.
So with all that going on I don’t have it in me to write about how I could do a Star Wars thing with the envelopes, nor to tease about the content of the envelope. What I do know is that I must make #Letter365 my very first job tomorrow or it will get forgotten and I will be trying to do it late when I am tired and stressed or tired and high.
Well my #Collage365 show at Bridport Arts Centre opened this morning. We finished the labelling and soon after the first ones sold. So the show is off to a good start and is looking great.
I, on the other hand, have run out of energy and am completely run down. So I need to get to bed and get the batteries recharged.
Please note that I am ignoring the fact that this is another round number!
Well of course the answer is “a fine piece of art for today’s #Letter365” and that is what I did. I am absolutely cream-crackered now after working on getting my #Collage365 show up at Bridport Arts Centre and I still had a task to work on this evening so I can get it just right before it opens at 10am tomorrow. Yet I still managed to create a decent piece for the project. I had in mind what I wanted to do and the result was great – though I could have done with something that took less time! But what you can’t expect is anymore writing here.
When I say I am on a roll I am surprising myself: I am really quite excited about what I am doing at the moment and already have plans for tomorrow, but I am frustrated that I can’t at present develop the ideas into my general work. In fact I am not really able to do any other work at present as I have been prepping for my #Collage365 show at Bridport Arts Centre (hanging tomorrow) and am trying to get sorted at the studio so I can have some spin-off viewings there too. I am feeling a bit stressed and my black dog of depression has been poking its nose in for a few weeks. So, thankfully, I am on a roll with #Letter365 and, thankfully, I am just about holding it all together for the show and stuff but that is hardly “on a roll” and as for the rest, well I’m wading in mud in wellies again!
I don’t deny it and, in fact, I am quite proud and excited especially since it probably is one of the best pieces I have done in this project. Now you might say if it’s one of the best then it’s because it was someone else’s good idea that makes it good! To which I would ask which of the many versions by various artists did I copy? Or is it an amalgam (an interesting word to pop out considering the context of this piece!)? Is it a cop-out or is it very clever? It references 400 years of the history of art, plus the history of physics and of chemistry; touches into the realms of philosophy and religion; demonstrates my understanding of the traditional technologies of communication and my knowledge of art techniques. Could it be said that the earliest two versions I know of were in themselves a cop-out – one that I recognise myself liable to? Then, taking all of that into account, I delivered a finished piece that is technically pretty good and almost perfect against the needs of the idea – especially in the choice of materials – as well as being pretty good to look at!
All that is pretty good when you consider that when I returned to the studio this evening I was vacant of ideas and got pretty despondent that my first fiddlings about were leading nowhere. There is a whole magnificent history of stealing other people’s ideas throughout the history of all the arts to be discussed. I have made this piece my own partly because of the intellectual content behind why I did it, which opens up another discussion about what art really is. Sadly I have neither the time nor energy to think about it right now, let alone construct an argument about it. Another day maybe.
I have been really enjoying my last few pieces and I thought I would continue in a similar vein. Towards the end of the process I had a dip in confidence and felt it was ok but not special. That changed when I stuck it on the wall to have a fresh look, then my response was, “ooh, I should do this for a living!”
See what the full moon has made me do? All upside down and blowy and rainy too. The artwork inside is, however, svelte yet satisfyingly sumptuous.