I spent the day in London to check out the Works On Paper fair at the Science Museum so posted my piece at South Kensington. I subsequently visited the excellent Marlene Dumas exhibition that just opened today at Tate Modern all of which you can hear more about on my blog.
As it turned out I didn’t begin to make my piece today until I got on the train at Waterloo and although I was settled in well before the train set off, it was inevitable I couldn’t complete the task before we got going. So its creation spanned distance as well as time. That was actually important to the idea which related both to childhood train travel (most memorably in Scotland) and to the history of abstract art.
However I had forgotten to buy any stamps this morning so ended up delivering it by hand when i popped into Bridport to get a takeaway. This proved more complicated than I thought. First because the Thai restaurant I had chosen was closed for a couple of weeks! Then when I got to the Arts Centre there was a film in progress so I couldn’t get in and had to put it through the letterbox, quietly untaping it first where it had been secured to stop it flapping in the strong winds.
In London for a couple of days to go to various galleries. My piece went past the London Eye and the Houses of Parliament before I found a post box.
I have been to the big city today to go to the Kiefer at the RA and the Tuttle at the Whitechapel where I was allowed to use the reading room in which to work on today’s piece. I have to say my piece is batter than anything in the Tuttle show and better than the burger I had in the gallery café and actually the splendid and much misused post box is more interesting too.
As mentioned yesterday, I had a plan for today’s piece which worked out just great. Executed after seeing the Malevich and Matisse shows at Tate Modern I posted it in a double box just round the back.
Complete change of tack today for the piece but using this post box (first used yesterday) for the second time. Sometimes I take a gamble and it just works. Today’s did. Either that or it’s total rubbish – but I still would have it on my wall. The “rubbish” thing comes from my preparation for tomorrow. We are going to London to catch the Matisse Cut Outs before it finishes and so I have prepared an envelope – Oh bugger I forgot the stamp on today’s!!!
As I was saying, I have prepared an envelope, now with a stamp on it, and when I gathered together some materials I had an idea to try something tomorrow about which I am quite excited. Of course anticipation is always more delicious than hindsight so I lost confidence in today’s piece in the brilliant light of tomorrow’s as yet unstarted work. Of course, the idea might turn out to be a crock of shit when I actually bring it into being! It could end up in a waste bin at Tate Modern and I will have to start anew.