75 year old Crack head

Just chillin

Its damp this morning?

Its a little dam in the air, will be goig to work shortly and taking camera with me as the forest that I cycle through is quite enchanting this time of day!!!!

MUG

Well today I had a inner argument about taking this picture, I was going to wait till I got home. But the nights are drawing in and I thought it might be dark by the time I got home...

27th Sept 2011

Well it did rain, so much for the indian summer more like monsoon...

Its very quite outside with the odd car door banging. I'm in a state of panic so mush going on at the moment.

Playing with the words They shall not pass anagram the nasty nash poll. I quite like this but realize nash is not a word lol...

Hung like a Horse

 This is a new piece of work that is inspired by the current show at studio1.1 'Rear View Mirror' on till the 4th Oct
 This Piece will also be shown at the new art fair http://www.sluiceartfair.com/ where I will be shown by studio1.1. I'm also doing this as a piece for the Fabelists blog.

 I will be in the studio tomorrow.

Indian Summer

Well as expected not really any change. Guess this bit is like watching paint dry! but the weather for-cast is for an indian Summer. Although it looks overcast I think the sun will break through latter.
Going to the gallery lots of sewing in store, Think I will also do some sketching of the 'Rear View Mirror.

I'm also going to visit Frances Bowman @ her studio so looking forward to that...

Barbican -Junya Ishigami: Architecture as Air

Barbican -Junya Ishigami: Architecture as Air

'Rear View Mirror' studio1.1 till 4th Oct

 Imprint a stamp or a mark, a scar or a re-occurring image.

I visited the present show on at studio1.1 ‘Rear View Mirror’ the 75^th anniversary of the battle of Cable St, when local people united in solidarity barred and resisted the march of fascism.

Spending time in the gallery, Mon and Tue and talking to people, it is clear that there is an undercurrent of unease in the air. A recession predicted to get worse with no clear outcome.

The recent riots were in part thuggery in part a frustration of a misguided generation, who’s behavior is like that of a child lashing out not because it’s a monster needing to be excluded from school the community etc… but because its not being given the right sort of attention teaching them right from wrong guiding them into rounded and honorable adults who care about others. Closing down youth clubs and stopping funding for sports only add to their frustration. It’s the very poorest and vulnerable people that seem to be overlooked and labeled as ‘sick’ by this government. The very people that should be setting an example, the very same people who behave in a similar manner to the ‘sick’ minority groups that they describe. Stealing from the taxpayer by claiming for their second homes and the decorating of their duck houses. They are no better than the ‘Sick’ Minority that they continue to ignore and chastise. The only difference is they are educated and wear smart clothes they look unthreading to the naked eye

I recently visited ‘The Holocaust Exhibition’ at the Imperial War Museum’ Before world war two German People turned to the right because they to were frustrated and felt an overwhelming need for change. A hard recession, a depression not dissimilar to our present time. An exclusion and punishment set by the world  community that allowed a whole country to feel imprisoned and beaten. One lady gives her account of the Nazis domination and recalls that although they were aware of minor incidents they never really thought Hitler would stay in power for long. They had no idea of the suffering and anguish of so many. Most of these people where decent and honest, yet they supported and cheered on the Nazis. They were unaware of the horrors that Hitler and the Nazis were inflicting on The Jews and Gypsies. Poles, Soviet prisoners of war the disabled, Jehovah’s Witnesses and homosexuals. One image of a pile of naked starved and decaying bodies being bulldozed is etched in my mind. Why did these people not rebel and why did so many people turn a blind eye to the appalling conditions people were subjected to?

‘As time goes on and experiences pile up, we make a greater and greater investment in our systems of labels. So a conservative bias is built in. it gives us confidence. At any time we may have to modify our structure of assumptions to accommodate new experience, but the more consistant experience is with the past, the more confidence we can have in our assumptions. Uncomfortable facts which refuse to be fitted in, we find ourselves ignoring or distorting so that they do not disturb these established assumptions. Anthropologist, Mary Douglas in ‘Purity and Danger’ New York reprinted Routledge 2008’

A tutor and friend of my partner Barbara Phillips has crit my work and questioned the content as irrelevant and out of date Barbra says that the ideas and content were issues that her counter parts were dealing with in the seventies and Eighties. I am an openly gay man who enjoys the freedom that others like Oscar Wilde and Noel Coward and Quentin Crisp had to fight against the prejudice and humiliation that ‘normal’ people inflicted on them, that’s not to mention the unforgotten hero’s who were persecuted for being different.

I don’t claim to be a political artist for me the wanking phallus allows the work to be interpreted in a relaxed and humors manner. It represents a inner peace and a acceptance of being a gay man. Yet I still feel unease when I see images of openly gay prejudice and here on the news that homophobia is on the rise. My partner of fourteen years and I share a concern of a civil partnership with documentation saying that we are indeed gay and where we live etc… We would like to celebrate or being together and maybe on the surface our concerns are unfound but the only certain thing in the world is the uncertainty.

The negative response I have received when showing work. All be it a minority who react in this way. It is the overwhelming response that always interests me. Recently I showed work at Supernormal at Brazier Park an experimental platform for artist and musicians to meet, discus and enjoy work that pushes boundaries. Yet on the Sunday one of my wanking puppets had been ripped apart my partner (Dave) described it as ‘Wanton Vandalism”. Of course it could be high spirits induced by drugs and drink but it was the deliberate way the eyes had been ripped out and a leg ripped apart that suggested a more aggressive attack.

Its easy to sit back and suggest that these things would never happen to day that we are a civilised and intelligent people who know better. But I suggest that it’s the individuals who continue to be ignored and go unchallenged that pose the biggest threat Its no good talking over them and giving them criminal records or a four month prison sentence for stealing a bag of rice. They need to be educated and listened to. Having a feeling of being a part of something rather than alienated.

There are several ways of treating anomalies. Negatively, we can ignore, just not perceive them, or perceiving we can condemn. Positively, we can deliberately confront the anomaly and try to create a new pattern of reality in which it has a place. It is not impossible for an individual to revise his own personal scheme of classifications. But no individual lives in isolation and his scheme will have been partly received from others. Mary Douglas in ‘Purity and Danger’ New York reprinted Routledge 2008’

As scars and the stories of horror fade from a world that moves forward as survivors and people at the forefront of change die and people become complacent and the scars fade. It’s important that we revisit the cable street riots  (Rear view Mirror, studio 1.1) or at least the Mural go and experience the holocaust Exhibition and I will continue to make work that pushes my own boundaries and that of others.

Clusterfuck Aesthetics

 I have returned to my sketch book doodling and weaving the text messages, gay erotic and inspiration from other artists.

 I love pattern and the physical response I have to it ! These doodles/sketches play with pushing ideas and input from everyday life.

 

CLUSTERFUCK ESTHETICS

                                by Jerry Saltz

'A manic depressive, panic attack in response to information overload'

To-Let

 I have just cleaned up my Dinning room/ studio and these toilets have been knocking around for a year, so decided they have to go. I have put this part out side and intend to photograph it on a daily basis. First photo taken 24th September 2011.

25th September and as suspected very little change. A beautiful day though! I'm a little concerned as I now have a job and start on Wed. Think it will be interesting and looking forward to the money.

The Fabelist: Imprint By Joshua Raffell

The Fabelist: Imprint By Joshua Raffell: Imprint a stamp or a mark, a scar or a re-occurring image. I visited the present show on at studio1.1 ‘Rear View Mirror...

Really busy in gallery (studio1.1) this week being London Design week and london Fashion week.

Gave out loads of cards and met a lot of interesting people like Gayathri llangairatnam. Who back ground is in Mechanical Engineering, also some one who will be interested in a collaboration in the future.

 But one of the most exciting things for me has to be the present show on @ studio1.1. 'Rear View Mirror' on till October 4th. Dave and I went to the private view and I was instantly drawn the show is about a mural on cable st and the riots that took place there 75 years ago. But its also about the trials and tribulations of a art work that completely changed from its original design that was targeted by vandals and struggled to be completed due to funding cuts....

 I was looking forward to spending some more time in the gallery and looking/reading about the work. I had started a new piece of work for a art exhibition called 'Sluice Art Fair' where studio1.1 will be having a stall and showing three Artists that include myself.

I was inspired by the horse sketches and decided that was indeed where the main insperation was going to come from. I am also in the process of working on a written piece for the fabelists to accompany this work.

Manifesto

To explore and question the

complex layers of the self,

 without

expecting an answer.

By pushing the boundaries

of the Self.

I question the tolerance

Of Others.

To make work that is open

and Honest,

while remaining secretive

and contradictory.

To make work that is

bright and fun,

whilst working with the

dark, and complex.

To find beauty in the

grotesque.

I've had an interesting couple of weeks and been busy thinking about Imprint for the fabelists. I'm getting close to saying what I want to say!!! I went to Northampton market and worked with Fran and Mathew. Had a good day and really had to push my self to be spontaneous....
I am in talks about a collaboration with Fran which is going well and think we can produce something interesting. I have been keeping the emails and mulling things over.
Went to see "Sexy Beast" @ the natural history museum Very disappointed not really sure a great deal of thought had gone into the project. We did however stumble upon

Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2011 
Designed by Peter Zumthor 
1 July – 16 October 2011

Really amazing space. Well worth a stumble...

Dave and I also went to the show 'Sloppy Women' @ the Sauna Gallery. The work was ok but not inspiring? I met Rosey one of the artists while looking for 'Print club' along Hoxton street. I gave her a card and she recognized my work fron studio1.1 and Supernormal.

Then we went to studio1.1 'Rear View Mirror' The work looks at the Cable Street Mural. This show is well worth a look and so inspiring not only does this Mural show the history and marks the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Cable street but it also shows the murals own history from vandalism a  running out of money,  to the story of the people who painted the Mural.  

Just a quick one...

Started a new work for an art Fair in october. Also going to Northampton to work on the arts market with fellow fabelist Fran. so getting ready for that.

Tue @ studio1.1

Well after getting all the way to Bethnal Green Relised I had forgot Gallery keys and had to rush home.
Email from Fran see looking for gallery. while i'm at home picking up keys Whaaa!!!! Rushed back sweating like a P.I.G met Fran and had a lovely chat about the fabelists and her ideas really nice person. With loads of energy and charm. Get a really good feeling about this movement and it feels like a positive use of the web. Its always hard as an artist to get out there and meet people. Where as the fabelist's are (will be) a community around the world.

Excited about 'Rugby'

Been a while. Went to the Imperial War Museum at the week end. Not somewhere I would naturally choice to go! The Holocaust rooms left the strongest impression on me, the horror of what these people went through. How we can treat each other with such hate and disregard.
My first thought is that this should not be glorified by showing the concentration camp or Hitler himself, but the exhibition actually does make it about the people and the accounts of survivors telling their stories. I feel I really want to write something in more detail.