KARLA BLACK: SCULPTURES with paintings by Bet Low (1924-2007) Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh Inverleith House
This was the first show we went to see by Karla Black. I quite liked the huge mound of earth which was in the first room which had be dusted with patches of coloured powder. The soil's heavinness was quite a contrast to some of the other pieces which seemed very fragile, made from paper or sometimes a thin coating of coloured chalk powder. They somehow seemed to avoid any classification which consequently, but not wholly, didn't really evoke any reaction to these pieces.
I did whowever like the piece Acceptance Changes Nothing (below) which conjured up thoughts of glacial mountains which had been deprived of their peak - the top looked like it had been broken off and dusted with pink powder.
This show at the Fruitmarket Gallery covered a wide range of methods and themes and reminded me how important it is to use drawing as a learning process when you are exploring ideas for your work.
Ever noticed the after-effect of sound rustling through a cityscape? What happens when images recede to the backdrop and sound takes on the leading role? Luke Fowler – in collaboration with Eric La Casa, Lee Patterson and Toshiya Tsunoda – creates field recordings to posit questions on how to develop new dialogues between looking and listening. (Read More...)
On the return journey from visiting the site in the Barras we decided to drop by the Modern Institute to see the current show by Glasgow based film/sound artists Luke Fowler.
It was a well and truly revelatory experience where you find yourself becoming completely emersed in the sounds which accomany the documentary-style footage. The use of focus is used to great effect here - particuallry effective in a scene which really brings out the depth through reeds on the edge of a pond.
There seems to be no immediate connection between the image and the sound which creates a sometimes quite haunting atmosphere. The use of contact mics in many of these pieces reveal the always present, otherwise inaudible sounds, travelling through objects which provides a whole new perspecive of our surrounding environments where the sounds transform the otherwise mundane everyday events into something quite extraordinary.
His four new short films Anna, Helen, David and Lester will be aired in Channel 4's Three-Minute Wonder slot from April 20. They're set in the West End close Fowler has just moved on from.
Each film is an elusive visual portrait of an individual tenement dweller, but instead of conventional documentary the films light on the tiny textural details of tenement life: light moving across a room, dust on a sill. Outside are the serried ranks of red sandstone, inside a hidden domestic world glimpsed obliquely. "It's about these very uniform outsides and what's going on inside: the layers of time in the flats, in all the furniture and the fittings. When I made the films I was fascinated by how completely different every flat was, yet it's the same light that goes through all the windows, the same street noise." (Read more...)
I find some of these works to be very reminiscent of John Smith's Leading light (1975) shot in a room over a period of a dayand also Worst Case Scenario (2001-3) a series of photographs depicting daily life on a Viennese street corner.
Just thinking about forms of communication, sending signals down cables and along wires, I was reminded of a video I had seen where african pigmys swing accross a vast distance to create the basis for a bridge between the opposite sides of a river.
Along with a few friends, we thought it would be nice to have a regualr evening of poetry. Amongst the usual T.S. Elliot, one of the most notable poems was read out by a friend studying English Literature at Glasgow University by Alice Notley.
Alice Notley - '101'
It's possible that I still live there Apartment that is path-narrow I don't want to be there in this poem if Anyone else is, from the past, I want it to be empty A lot of dust I let fall It gets smaller See mobiles from when, a flasher Whose penis had broken off That other mobile I Made it's talismanic objects A bottlecap a rose a centaur a cactus a coin
Several handmade afghans always and many filthy blankets Shawls on whatever chair a Mexican shawl a cotton cloth from Africa What about all of the plants they would get very scrubby Cunty conches rock collections art everywhere collages and fans But the apartment's a hallway and odah orange and purple curtains at one window Held up by a rope and hanging clothes tacked up dividing successive tiny rooms
Other artists which we touched upon included Frank O Hara & Harry Mathews with his rather sexually explicit collection of 'Singular Pleasures'. Here is a sample:
While the Aeolian String Quartet performs the final variation of Haydn's "Emperor" Quartet in the smaller of Managua's two concert halls, a man of three score and four summers sits masturbating in the last row of the orchestra, a coat on his lap. Thirty-three years before, after relieving himself during the intermission of another concert, he had returned to his seat with his fly unbuttoned. Unconscious of his appearance, he had become erect during a scintillating performance of the Schubert Octet and actually ejaculated during the final chords. The house lights had come up to reveal his disarray; he had fled; ever since, he has been laboring steadfastly to recreate that momentary bliss.
We were given a project last year where we were asked to go and explore the Mackintosh Building in order to inform our work and choose a site to create a piece of work. I found this to be quite an exciting venture as on close scrutiny, you notice many things which you pass by on a daily basis: such as the ventilation ducts which means that you can hear lectures going on in the Mackintosh lecture theatre outside studio 31.
This is something which I decided to do now that we had moved in to a new building so as to familarise myself with my surroundings, which I had settles into however not fully exlored yet.
One thing which drew my attention when outide the back of the building by Jim Lamberts' studio, was the sheer abundance of pipes and ventialtion grills throgh which the building effectively breaths, transporting water, heat and exhaling replenishing stagnant air. This started my thinking about alternative entrance points into the Barnes building in order to bring sound for example into the building, exploring the idea of internal/external - what is intended to stay inside the building and what is dispersed into the atmosphere.
I went on a cycle ride down to the Barras area today to go in search of a gem of a hardware store which Sarah Lownes had mentioned in a presentation she had made during the festival of DIY culture.
Sitting down outside Bill's tool store I wondered what the building next to it, with 1887 enscribed at the top, had been used for and if it was still in use today as it looked quite run down.
I entered the shop on the ground floor, selling discount nursery furniture, and asked the woman playing with her son whether anyone lived upstairs. She seemed quite suspicious at first until I explained that I was looking for potential sites to put on an exhibition. She then asked her husband, who makes all the furniture to show me around the building. He took me up to the top floor which was astonishing in both it's view and open space.
He told me that the building used to be a clay pipe factory and that his wife had inherited it. The other two similar buildings had been converted into £70,000 flats and they had been approached by the council and estate agents on various occassions. However, he seemed to be quite open to the idea of turning the space into an place for exhibiting artwork. I was even more impressed by the floor below the attic space which still contained some of the gambling machines from it's brief time as snooker hall.
Returning to the ground floor, the shop keeper also seemed pleased that my interest in the space wasn't going to be financially orientated and we exchanged numbers to discuss matters further. Had I not have done the mapping shop the week prior to this where we were asked to go and have an unfamilar lunch in a new location and carry out an action, I'm not sure whether I would have considered going to talk to the shopkeeper. Having done so however, I have found how relatively little effort can lead to what could potentially be a very exciting project which many people could be involved with.
'Glasgow Festival of DIY Culture is the result of conversations between members of a creative community that exist here in Glasgow.'
A few friends decided to organise a festival to highlight the variety of DIY activites that occur in Glasgow on a weekly basis and included activities such as: Music Performances,exhibtions, urban
This show at the Fruitmarket Gallery covered a wide range of methods and themes and reminded me how important it is to use drawing as a learning process when you are exploring ideas for your work.
