messing around,

The Event....

I am so glad its over.. I am also glad it was a success for every one involved..

Was it a success for my protest??????????? i am not sure, its was a laugh to say the least..

Although I tried to think outside the box and protested the event, towards the latter stages of the unit, I began to feel isolated. And my whole aurgment that collaboration kills creativity showed flaws. For me a peer support group is paramount in my studio practice, As people started to get in to the spirit of their events I had to take a back seat even though I did contribute to group meeting etc, I had kind of cut myself off. If I was to do the whole thing again, having others with the same beliefs may have help and eliminated  that lone working that I had created for myself 

.

honestly

• Today's the big day.
• Mood is rock bottom.
• Extra diazepam taken.(i hate take them)

This is were my grand out side the box thinking fails.... the idea of standing outside protesting unnerves me today.  Were as if i had collaborated with my fellow students some of this pressure would be lifted.. You have to laugh this is my second post advocating collaborative working. were as i should be setting examples that it doesn't work.

Two Plinths and Out

Tried to book two plinths out today. aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh... all booked up till after the end of the 3rd yrs final show.. however bright side booked the daylight room for Tuesday afternoon, so i can shot at least some descent pictures, not exactly my ideal but its a move forward guess.

Uni's been extra quiet as everyone is busy with unit x exhibitions, this is were my theory  that collaborations kills creativity fails i guess, having peers around to bounce ideas off and motivation is positively importantly to me, and i struggling now... oh well only a couple more days to go...

R two heads better than one?

Well its been an odd few days. i was full of self doubt about this whole project. Had tutorial and feel a bit better, its difficult to differentiate whether its genuine doubts or creepy anxiety, either way i feel i am trying my hardest to force a smile on my face lately, i know it will pass and life will be lovely again so, its just not at the morment.  

• Mentioned my plan to submit a piece under a pseudo name.i thinking submitting my baby heads to Mollys exhibition Madame Mosey's Cabinet of Curiosities
• discussed different waxes and techniques to using wax. and to make notes on the process as i move a long.
• Everyone Exhibitions are  starting to come together and one has even had their opening night. 
• It is my intentions to attend a few of these to show my support.

observation

i have noticed that the people who struggled working under their own stream in the last few units are now thriving doing unit x..... go figure,,,

Fly posting and head hunting,,,

productive morning..

posted poster of the up and coming event... ( come on i have to assist in some way, i feel bad on the few who are trying..) poster designed by Laura,...














Also pulled my lasted wax head out of its cast and craved out the eyes and other details...

















My tutor suggested i look up Joseph Hillier.

 Joseph Hillier was born in Cornwall, England and studied in Newcastle Upon Tyne and New Orleans. After working in London for two years Hillier returned to Newcastle where he continues to work on commissions and exhibitions in the UK and internationally.

She also recommended i look at Castle Fine Arts Foundry Ltd, and arrange a site visit.. 




  









Head Office
Castle Fine Arts Foundry Ltd
Tanat Foundry
Llanrhaeadr ym Mochnant
Nr Oswestry
Powys
SY10 0AA

T: 01691 780 261
F: 01691 780 011
info@bronzefoundry.co.uk


Stroud Workshop
Inchbrook Trading Estate
Units N6B & N7
Woodchester
Stroud
Gloucs
GL5 5EY


Liverpool Workshop
48-60 Bridgewater St.
Liverpool
L1 0AY

London Office
5 Great James Street
WC1N 3DB

more whining and bitching, cos i am that way inclinde today

Facebook.... joined at least 3 different groups on facebook for unit x... its been one big kinder garden slanging match after another, i was going to post screen prints of ppl auguring about various things at all times of the day but it is un fair to reveal names, but it sure does prove my point that collaboration does not always work, esp forced 

Monday moaning....

Today spent the the morning casting more heads out of wax, this time different layers of colours, green and red primarily ,Tomorrow i will bend and shape in and melt it out of shape...

  I also donated a few plaster heads  under a false name.. to allow me to continue my protest of the collaboration    

     

Mounted my placards, My tutor kindly pointed out my huge spelling error.. so marker pen to correct, it might make it more hardcore....

Moods plummeting the last two days, hoping( praying it will not effect me for the protest in two weeks)

picking scabs the solo way

been asking around fella students to see if they want to join my protest... Everyone loves the idea but they always seem wary of the consequences. so it looks like i am going solo, which makes sense that i saying collaboration  doesn't work.
.

Used the huge printer today i printed A1 size posters.they look amazing. thanks to the tech guy for the guidance he supplied,

Spoke with group again... expressed that this was not against them, that it was more a ironic joke. agreed i would summit i noticed for the exhibition.

BBC News - Maria Miller: Arts must make economic case

 Analysis Will Gompertz Arts editor

If you strip out the pleasantries in Maria Miller's speech you are left with some frank opinions, expressed either directly or implicitly.

The arts budget will be cut come the next spending review; the Culture Secretary will not be pleading for special treatment. The sector as a whole has not made its case regarding the economic benefits it delivers to the country convincingly enough to the Treasury. Nor has the DCMS.

She talked enthusiastically about the success of the arts sector in helping drive the economy forward by supporting - and being part of - the creative industries, and by providing a valuable magnet for tourism.

I spoke to some attendees who wondered why, if she truly believed this to be the case, would she not argue for increased, not decreased investment in the sector in order to fully realise its potential?

 Full article..

BBC News - Maria Miller: Arts must make economic case

A bit of background research

Obtained from .gov.uk website and a huge clue to my plan for the unit x exhibition

Protests and marches: letting the police know

Not what you're looking for? ↓

By law you must tell the police in writing 6 days before a public march if you’re the organiser.

Tell the police the:

• date and time of the march
• route
• the names and addresses of the organisers

The police have the power to:

• limit or change the route of your march
• set any other condition of your march

If you arrange a march at short notice, you must still tell the police as soon as you can.

The police can also:

• change the location
• limit how long a rally lasts
• limit the amount of people who attend
• stop a sit-down protest if it blocks road traffic or public walkways

If there’s no march involved

If there’s no march organised as part of your protest, you don’t have to tell the police.

Does Repeat Collaboration Kill Creativity?

Andrew O'Connell wrote:

I'd be curious to hear what you think. It's a puzzling thing. Very soon after they started collaborating, John Lennon and Paul McCartney became a well-oiled innovation machine. "Every time we went to sit down — and it was normally about a three-hour writing session — we never came out without a finished song," McCartney said in a Reader's Digest interview. "So that was like 200 days that we sat down to do that. And never had a dry moment."
But here come the professors: "There's a growing body of evidence," say Paul F. Skilton and Kevin J. Dooley of Arizona State, that keeping creative teams together on multiple projects is a good way to get lousy results (I'm paraphrasing that last part). In fact, a single prior collaboration is enough to limit a group's creative results the next time out, they say in "The Effects of Repeat Collaboration on Creative Abrasion" in a recent issue of the Academy of Management Review. That's because roles and rules get established quickly when people work together, and friction and surprise — crucial for creativity — fade away.

full article here ..Does Repeat Collaboration Really Kill Creativity?

Started spreading the would of my idea today with a few select few, All like my plan but a few wary of the consequences 

I designed a couple of posters for my plan.

 

I also spent the morning in the chemical room, with my head mould and wax... although it went well i feel the wax was not the right type, its not all lost, the wax has cleaned the moulds and its also been a learning experience 

Thursdays personnel care day.

took a personnel care day.. I have not slept properly for 4 nights i am becoming increasing manic.
However the plus side, i have finished my PE unit and my CE unit. I have also been in contact with my team via email discussing and ironing out teething problems... came across a interesting website that explains teamwork and solutions to common problems. @ practicalmanliness

Uncooperative

Competition is good, but too much competition within a team will destroy its ability to work as a unit.
For example, teammates in the workplace who are competing for a promotion or raise may be tempted to try to look better than their teammates. This action will spread distrust, and the team will not be able to accomplish nearly as much as it could have in a trusting environment.

Solution: Collaboration

Collaboration will exponentially increase your team’s effectiveness. When team members end the internal contentions, the team will be prepared to successfully compete with other teams.
If you, as the leader, see your team is failing to cooperate, call a team meeting and discuss the problem. Recognizing the problem is the first step to the solution.
If possible, set a difficult, short-term goal that will involve the expertise of all the members. This will force your team to work together and will hopefully show them the advantage of collaboration.

but i have a huge feeling that Collaboration kills creative   It’s true, there is no “I” in team, but there are two “I’s” in creativity

Sometimes in creative industries, you’re given the privacy to come up with an idea. But once the idea is conceived, it’s passed around like a case of chicken pox, subject to everyone’s red pens. And that can remove the whole original idea

With this logic i have a plan of the final project..


Anyway I am kind of in lock down and taking extra medication to calm me down. although its not working yet

melting wednesday

Busy day yesterday.. spent the day in the work shop, making the first half of my rubber mould... its coming together pretty well... I hope that was its finished i can cast my head in wax, and i may place this in the exhibitions. Speaking of which Carly went viewing gallery spaces and has three suitable spaces, so things are moving along nicely ..

UNIT X

Today we met with two other groups covering the Northern quarter, we all decided we would approach a number of galleries in the area and try and arrange a group exhibition...

this is great news for me.. At first there were too many ideas flying around so i am glad its pinned down to one...

the questions now are:

1.  Do i show the video
2. .Do i continue my piece i doing separately and show it when its finished
3. make new video.
4. take and mount some photos.. 

Northern Quarters lithium

Experimental video, I did around the Northern quarter

Current projects.

I have just release a cast of a model head. I am now hoping to cast it in rubber so i can experiment in wax.... bending and general pulling and pushing in to a different form...

I have also booked a camera and intend to walk round the Northern Quarter and film today. unsure how this will go but should be interesting as i want to capture the seedy side as well... 

KITES

OK I am going to try and explain things a bit... first of all, attended a talk today n the history of kites. The history of kite flying is a long tale stretching back over 3000 years, many believe they were invented by the Malaysians or Indonesians who first made kites from leaves. We saw many example f different kites.. I found it pretty interesting.. OK explanation time.

KITE MAKING....

• I am 40 yrs old with a lengthy history of youth work under my belt, with in this role involved lots of team building exercises.

•  My current unit x group have jointly decided they they wish to do their own work and collaborate at the end of the unit with a exhibitions or pop up show. 

So with this facts i have decided that i am going to pass up the opportunity to kite build and continue my own work.  and hpefully film some of the Northern quarter

Northern Quarter

Sums up the Northern Quarter






Tony Wilson. = Factory Records

Joy Division 

Cool As fuck,cow

Photo taken from a group of paving stones that represent Manchester.. this one is from the Cool as Fuck logo cow from the in spiral carpets..  

BBC News - Children should be allowed to get bored, expert says

BBC News - Children should be allowed to get bored, expert says

no reason....

SHELTER WORKSHOP

Cut, sew, bend, stitch. We had one day to construct a shelter exploring different possibilities of our given materials and their presence in the surrounding space.

 Laura Mansfield, designer - Constance Laisné, and artist-in-residence at the Chinese Arts Centre - Antonia Low.












This was a great opportunity to experience the processes of collaboration and experimentation in a short time frame.














It was a funny atmosphere today.. only half the group turned up, so it failed in it task of team building, sorry but i do feel negative towards this activity,..  







However we formed a group and worked well together making our shelter

Liam Curtin Tour Of The Nortern Quarter

 

 Great wee walk around the Northern Quarter, and an insightful tour by Liam Curtin, who seemed to there and the  uprising of the area.

This atmospheric neighbourhood is adjacent to the mainstream delights of Market Street and the city centre, yet its mix of vintage, vinyl and curry houses sets it apart. It remains pretty much chain-free, although that is due in part to the narrow streets and tiny shop fronts that characterise this area – part of the distinctive architecture that lends the Northern Quarter much of its appeal. It’s a pleasure to get lost among its winding redbrick alleys and grand warehouses dating from the Cottonopolis era. While some have been restored others have fared less well. But if any place suits a little urban dilapidation, it’s this one.

 http://www.creativetourist.com/manchester/northern-quarter/

From the run-down 1970's were the artist moved in for the cheap rents, to Tony Wilson's venture with a bar to today bustling little creative community. Not to mention the bands and musicians that gather in the quarter

Chara Lewis,

Interesting Lecture, From Chara Lewis,(should be noted Chara often provides me with tutorials.) Chara again like other lectures the last week or so, have focused on Collaboration. Chara also pointed out that the people she works with are based at different points of the UK, Leeds, Manchester and Glasgow. She also pointed out the main enjoyment of this Collaboration was that it was fun.



The above picture was from Tatton Park Biennial bring together this interest in flight and their research into digital self-replication.
7m long inflatable head

  Loved this Shadow piece. haunting, yet magical. 3D objects in acrylic polymer, polypropylene, table and light source in black box environmen

Northern Quarter

Tomorrow I'm going on a tour of the Northern Quarter

The "Northern Quarter" as such did not exist as a distinct area until the mid 1990's when a number of interested parties got together and defined a boundary, came up with the name and branded the area as such, this has proved extremely successful since most people are un aware this ever occurred or did so extremely recently.

The area is also known as a home to the creative industries, and in particular fashion design, with various designers, agencies, and clothing wholesalers populating its back streets. There are also a number of commercial art galleries in the area.

When Collaboration Kills Creativity

video aren’t great but the ideas are.

Lucky PDF

Interesting talk by Lucky PDF. a collaboration of young artist made up of the artists James Early, John Hill, Ollie Hogan and Yuri Pattison primarily, with an extended network.

  Most of their work they showed was video art, performance art, digital art or new media art with many other artists from  their generation.

LuckyPDF x Grouphabit x Fred from LuckyPDF on Vimeo.

Artist Talk John Plowman...

John Plowman is an artist whose expanded practice encompasses both studio and curatorial activity, each of which informs the other. Beacon, the curatorial project he established in 2004 with Nicola Streeten...

Johns main focus was on location.  An interesting and thought provoking talk.

UNIT X

OK slightly apprehensive  about this particular unit... But it starts here:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Unit X provides an opportunity to explore collaborative and interdisciplinary art and design practice by undertaking work in parallel with students from other art and design programmes within the Faculty. This will take you on a journey beyond the confines of university into the professional world that you will occupy in the future with lectures by practicing artists, site visits and tours within the city as well as the opportunity to work in a studio hub based in the Northern Quarter.

Interesting pics

Collection of some recent work