Welcome to Simons Wood published

Welcome to Simons Wood is a photographic project from 2010-2011. As many of you will know it follows on from the previous years project Perambulation and attempts to explore the idea of creating a reality of a place through photography.

This year long project was subject to a number of blog posts and discussions. The idea of reflecting reality was one I explored first with Perambulation, however that while that project proved interesting I didn't feel it truly managed to find any kind of objective reality.

I continue to debate if a true and objective representation of a place is possible. However Welcome to Simons Wood I feel may have come as close as I can with photography alone. Narrow in focus, it shows the same view of the same place over the space of a year. This was controlled through a series of rules that can be found below.

Rules

 1. As from the previous project, there will be no post production editing of the photographs. With the exception of cropping and resizing for the internet.  

2. The camera will be set to scenery mode, and the only setting on it I can change will be the white balance to the appropriate weather conditions (either cloudy or sunny)  

3. I will go out when I should, no matter the weather at the time.  

4. I will go to the same place and take a photo of the same view  

5. I will go out weekly, Saturday at 12pm.  

6. I may change the day (but not the time) if life conspires to make Saturday impossible. The day should be as close to Saturday as I can make it and I should make every effort to do it on a Saturday.  

7. I will attempt to do this for a year.

After the projects completion I always intended to do something with it beyond a record of the images on Flickr. As I have previously discussed I always fancied doing a photobook.

So here I present Welcome to Simons Wood published!

It is paperback, full colour, 109 pages and 18 x 23cm. It has a large page count to allow each of the 53 images to stand entirely on their own. Plus it also does that flipbook thing so you can watch the year change at speed.

If thats enough to tempt you, you can purchase it here.

If not click on the image of the cover to learn more about the book.

I still fancy producing one on Perambulation I'm just unsure how I'm ever going to fit 366 images into a book that won't be huge, while doing justice to the imagery.

Exhibition update: Mis-InFormation

On Friday night I went to the Private View of this years Fringe Arts Bath the visual arts side of the Bath Fringe.

This year the Fringe has over 30 exhibitions, performances and open studios over 6-7 venues around the city.

I have 3 paintings in an exhibition in the Old Pet Shop at Pigeon Park called Mis-InFormation.
Curated by Diana Ali and featuring over 25 artists from around the globe. More information can be found here: http://www.fringeartsbath.co.uk/mis-information/

Taking the concept of hidden truths, misquotations, rumour and gossip, artists are now being selected to exhibit their work which investigates this avenue. Art works selected will give the audience the chance to be allured, intrigued, enticed and be flirtatious with its appearance and reality. Artworks will explore ideas of being out of the loop, lying, pseudoscience, factoids and conspiracy theories.

It was an interesting evening with many people enjoying the exhibition and other exhibitions within the building. The building itself was left much in the state it had been found in, which lent it an industrial and temporary air. A bold choice by the curator although a tricky space to take photographs. 

 The exhibition is on until the 10th June. 


I also saw a fabulous sunset on my way home.

Changes

It's been a month of changes for me, part time and freelance work has been replaced with an actual full time role. I've been working on a project and finding time to continue with my paintings for my upcoming solo show.

As well as that I have got into 2 new exhibitions and been busy getting paintings to places for them as well as those already booked in.

Currently I have work in Art at the Ark's Spring Open, Basingstoke
http://artintheark.wordpress.com/

and a month long exhibition at Woodley Library.

http://wokingham.gov.uk/libraries/libraries/art/

Which I am very pleased about.

Exhibition at Woodley Library

Next up I have three paintings in Mis-In-Formation an exhibition curated by Diana Ali as part of 2012 Fringe Arts Bath. Last time I was part of the Fringe Arts Bath was in 2008 where I showed a Bath location specific for the Locus exhibition. It's really nice to see the Bath Fringe Arts expand over the years and there is more going on this year than any previous year.

Taking the concept of hidden truths, misquotations, rumour and gossip, artists are now being selected to exhibit their work which investigates this avenue. Art works selected will give the audience the chance to be allured, intrigued, enticed and be flirtatious with its appearance and reality. Artworks will explore ideas of being out of the loop, lying, pseudoscience, factoids and conspiracy theories.

http://www.fringeartsbath.co.uk/mis-information/

Plus here's a sneak preview of one of the works going up in Wisbech in the summer.

I was also invited to show my painting “Welcome to Bracknell” at last weekend Bracknell Forest Mayors Civic Reception.

It was a nice event with many local organisations, including local arts groups, Bracknell Camera Club and Janet Curley Cannon (who has produced many works about Bracknell) from ReOrsa there. I was asked to be part of the South Hill Park stand as my work “Welcome to Bracknell” was recently exhibited at South Hill Park. 

Me and my painting at South Hill Park's stall at Mayors Civic reception

 

Finally I have grand plans for some online projects/versions of already completed work.

Oh and there is a book to be finished...............

Exhibition Update: Art in the Ark

Next Friday is the opening of my latest exhibition at the Ark Centre, Basingstoke. 

The Spring Open is the first of 4 seasonally themed exhibitions for 2012, celebrating the Ark's 10 year Anniversary.

 

The exhibition runs from 20th April to 1st June. Open Monday - Friday 7.30am - 7pm.
The PV is on the 20th from 6 - 8pm. 

Hope you can make it. 

More info:  http://artintheark.wordpress.com/

Postcards from beyond the edge

This work was partially inspired by an article I read about sending postcards from space. Soon after I got the brief for the next ReOrsa artists project, dealing with notions around boundaries and the breaking of them. The two seemed to coalesce instantly into the beginnings of this work.

Boundaries and Beyond flyer

Thinking about the nature of boundaries and what boundaries mean from a tourist or postcard perspective, I decided that not only did I want to send postcards from space, I also wanted it to seem perfectly normal. I had also recently re-watched a episode of Horizon called The Core which talked about the interior of the Earth and how it may be the last place we ever explore due to its phenomenally inhospitable conditions.

This sounded like a challenge to me so I decided to create a series of postcards that infer that the current limits of human exploration and some of the most inhospitable and remote areas of the world are perfectly normal holidaying destinations. Creating, photographing and using free to access images I have produced 60 postcards with images from all around the globe and beyond. Jungles, Deserts, Arctic regions, Space and under the earth are all represented as well a a few other areas.

Original test postcard

Additionally many of the images are not of the places they say they are. I wanted to take to the extreme the postcard tradition of showing places in the best possible light, often to the point that they no longer look like the place they depict. I won't spoil here which ones are fake, I will leave that for you to work out.

I've always been interested with perception and the power of suggestion to produce views and ideas that are not true. This is one of the reasons that postcards interest me so. The idea that one or a few perfect images of perfect places can represent a place really fascinates me. 

 

Intital mocked up postmark

To accentuate this power of suggestion, I took all 60 postcards and created a universe where these cards were sent from one person to another, arranged them into series of cards from individual holidays and gave them an entire timeline and false history. The cards were written in order according to my timeline and frequently contain references to previous holidays or past unknown events much as a 11 year association via postcards would do. I created a false publishing company and a QR code, that when scanned should take you to my website. Finally I created fake stamps that referenced the general locations of the cards and 60 individual postmarks.

Final work

From my 6 years working with postcards I seem to be mainly producing works that cannot be touched and are quite traditional from a fine art aspect; paintings, drawings and prints. For a medium that is first visual but also quite tactile this can be odd. I have recently started archiving my collection so I have had a lot more tactile relationship with them in recent months which may be impacting in the scope of my work.

I liked the idea of creating actual postcards and of forming this entire new world where a weekend in space is as normal as a weekend in the south of France. The idea of looking into a future where the infrastructure to allow postcards to be sent exists everywhere seems both utopian and disturbing. Being able to go anywhere that easily seems amazing but also the idea of every wild and natural place becoming as false and uniform as most other highly touristy place goes against everything I believe.

Example of one of the finished cards (text side)

At the end of the day there are not (quite yet) shuttles to hotels on the Moon, but I am interested to what level visitors believe what they are given. And I like that they have to rifle through the postcards. I'd want to see how many people feel the need to read from start to finish and how many pick up the first one they see. I had a great time making up this character writing the postcards, who is effectively me, but me writing from a position I could only imagine rather than experience.

As to the addressee, which I really agonised over, I decided that I would have to take inspiration from a fictional explorer. Hopefully before I said that most of you didn't work out which one immediately.

Example of a finished card (image side)

Often the ReOrsa space is only accessible by looking in through the windows. I was highly aware of this when I was planning the work so I wanted my work to be at least partially readable through the windows. So far every time I have gone past the Gallery@49 windows I have seen at least one person trying to read my work. Additionally it seems every time I have gone past more and more of the postcards have escaped from their box. As well as a few originally scattered on the plinth they have seemed to explode exponentially with masses on the plinth and many now sitting on the nearby window ledge. It seems the postcards themselves want to take their own journey.

Boundaries and Beyond is on from 15^th - 31^st March at Gallery@49 in Bracknell Town Centre. It will be open 12 – 4 on the 31^st March and I will be there from 2 – 4 pm. 

 Check out the news: http://www.bracknellnews.co.uk/news/bracknell/articles/2012/03/19/58017-taking-art-to-the-town/ 

Installed work at ReOrsa Gallery@49

Links:

Horizon: The Core - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0148vph

Postcards from space - http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/usa/china/2011-12/02/content_14199778.htm

Underwater post box - http://rainbowstampclub.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/underwater-post-office-at-bahamas.html

ReOrsa and Gallery@49 - http://www.reorsa.org/Activities/activity6.html

19th March 2009

Strange how spring and sunshine makes places look and feel different. Got the impression today on the train that these spaces I saw from the window were great arid bright and very flat. Something I seem to have missed through the winter months. I know this journey, it is one I have taken many a time. It has before seem so close and enclosed, homely and at times a little stifling.

Is this because spring seems to have so suddenly and so strongly arrived or is it some psychological after effect of going on location twice in a week and falling into that associated mindset. Will, after this period of almost summer weather makes way for more usual spring weather, it remain?

No postcards here nor any photos, I know this feeling is not one that can be captured through photography, certainly not from a train. Maybe I should have tried however.

Windsor - 15th March 2009

It's a funny thing but more often than not I haven't investigated places in my local area, instead going to places like London. Now while London is, as I have said before, a very important urban centre especially with regards to my work. I kinda feel however like I might have been missing a trick in not doing these places close by. I think the reason for this is because they are close by, I feel like I know them or at least think that I do. What I have realised is that actually I really have no clue and on top of this there is a particular mind set I feel I have to go through or get into, if that makes any sense.

So what is so special about Windsor? Well to answer that I shall quote a friend on msn I talked to the morning after the trip. Unfortunately I cannot quote it verbatim as I shut the window (I have the setting to save the conversation switched off, saving space ftw).
“Can't say I know much about Windsor other than:

1. The Castle

2. Legoland
3. Legoland has a scale model of the castle at point 1”

Apparently point 3 was made up, and after Internet based searching I can neither prove nor disprove it (would anyone like to pay for me to visit Legoland to find out :P).

What I am groping for here is the point that Windsor is very much based around the castle. 90% of the postcards I have found depicting Windsor are of the castle, however this is understandable for just how a dominant and important structure it is. (It is important to note as fully half of the postcards in Windsor do not actually depict the castle but instead are images of the royal family)

Wikipedia says:

Windsor Castle, in Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, is the largest inhabited castle in the world and, dating back to the time of William the Conqueror, is the oldest in continuous occupation

In fact I found the full wiki article very engaging and interesting and encourage you all to read it as I will be doing once I finish this first draft.

The castle was based of a motte and bailey type structure and has expanded over the years. Due to this and possibly a natural hill as well (It certainly seemed that way while in town but I couldn't find anything to quote and prove it so) the Castle overlooks the town of Windsor. In fact it is so dominant that I found it a hard task to not inadvertently photograph it. Add in that it is the favoured weekend retreat of Her Majesty and you have a tourist paradise.

However I don't think this dominance is a bad thing. It is a good looking building and around it has grown the town, so happily there are plenty of older buildings. Now I pride myself on being able to find interest and beauty in any place I visit but it is made much easier in places with a little history behind them. Maybe the buildings just have that little bit of individualism that sets them out from each other, maybe I just find them more aesthetically pleasing than masses of glass, steel and concrete. Possibly it is nothing more than while trying to act as a tourist to these places I get wrapped up in the atmosphere and advertising of these older places and my notions of holidays in Britain. Anyway I really struggle when faced with ,what I see as faceless, shopping malls and city centres and frequently find myself attracted to churches and occasionally pubs.

Actually I think that the major thing for me is that I want myself and by extension the people who look at my images to be able to say of yes that is London or wherever, without me having to put text on the image to that effect even though I generally will anyway. I realise that this is a little irrational and that I have many an examples of a postcard that is of some cottage in a tiny little village somewhere which would have made no sense to me if it wasn't for the text.

Anyway Windsor is in that regard a joy to photograph and of the almost 300 photographs I took I am sure that I will find many many potential paintings, drawings and images from them. And every one will stand a good chance of having the castle in them.

Seriously, go down to the river and turn around, there is the Castle.
Walk to Eton, the Castle peeks over the rooftops.
Wander the depths of the Great Park and there is the Castle on the horizon.

In fact I actually started my day in the Great Park and the further away I walked from town the more of the Castle I could see, mainly becuase I was going up a hill in the park. It reminded me of the time years and years ago (I think almost 20 but I can't be sure) when visiting Windsor with my father we parked in a nondescript multistory car park at what felt like miles from the castle. Even so we were able to see and photograph the castle with even my rubbishy compact camera which I found very exciting. Which proves that some things never really change. Unfortunately the photograph I took I seem to have since lost.

I did however find this unrelated and previously forgotten about photograph. It was taken about the same time as the Windsor ones on my first visit to Alton Towers.

I took it because (and I remember this very clearly unlike the rest of the trip) I liked the way the crazy dark sky looked so strange in contrast to the bright shiny sunlit Windmill.

Well wouldn't you know.

Thoughts on Blogging

You know there is a whole world of difference between thinking about writing something and actually sitting down to do it. I do not feel entirely comfortable writing (it is something I haven't really practised in the few years since finishing University) and I am aware that my turn of phrase can be fairly unique, maybe even over convoluted and needlessly verbose. I am also aware that I tend to ramble and that my use of punctuation less than perfect. Never the less I will endeavour and hope you all don't get too confused.

While walking around Windsor I started thinking about the nature of Blogs (and by extension Facebook and Twitter). From this came thoughts about writing as part of my practice. (Actually now as I write this I am not sure which came first. Each seems to feed the other). That the events and feelings I get when I visit a place to photograph would add interest to the images and paintings I finally create, a little insight into the creative process if you will. I also feel that this will extend, even if only slight, into times when I travel for other reasons as any kind of travel sparks this very individual and unique thought process in me.

However before I could get to deeper thoughts on my work or of Windsor this string of thought led, while wandering across a bridge of all places, to a discourse on my stance on these online diary entries. This is something I have thought about many a time but never felt the need to write about. And you know I'm not going to write about it now. I did write a long entry about how I see other peoples blogs but I fear that I am generalising and so these thoughts will remain unfinished. Maybe one day, but maybe that is a thought for a different kind of blog, one not devoted to my practice. I would say one that assails you all with my opinions but how would that differ from this one. ;)

As I said I plan to Blog about very specific events. I have always sucked at keeping any kind of diary or journal so I will write about times where I have gone to a place, travelled etc. (no, they are not the same thing) and not about everything else in my life. These are big events that I will be returning to many times over a period of days and weeks as I sift through and play with the imagery. Hopefully these events will work like an ongoing project diary. Don't expect it to be updated often. Weeks and or even months may pass in between events and then, in a gloriously sunny week like the previous few I might be going all over the country and bombard you with multiple entries. That being said if it takes me this long to write and refine the entries....

In fact I find it very hard to articulate these thoughts in writing. While in Windsor, when I was thinking about these things, I knew the shape and form of what I wanted to say and although it remains like an itch I cannot scratch while I write this and try to write the next entry about Windsor it just refuses to come out.

I worry now that all my thoughts about Windsor have become lost and fuzzy so I shall go now and battle with Windsor.