Christmas and New Year are always busy times and the last couple of months have been no exception. I enter 2013 feeling like I’ve been a bit ‘out if it’ in terms of creativity but with one or two possibilities bubbling away on back burners, which I hope to start bring out for taste-tests over the coming weeks!
The main creative activity that I’ve been engaged with since my last update has been centred on CRITgroup (the artists’ networking group that I manage in Manchester). We recently decided to celebrate our first ‘birthday’ by starting off a series of
collaborative projects, the first of which is titled ‘Creative Whispers’. The simple concept is that each of us produced a ‘starting point’ in December which was randomly assigned to a new member. Our task through January has been to respond to that starting point in some way. This new outcome or intervention will be brought along to the next meeting on the 23rd. These will then be ‘rotated’ until each member has had some input. We’ll then review the outcomes and use them to help us investigate and discuss the differences (and similarities) between our respective practices.
I was really pleased with the initial take up; 8 contributions, which was almost our most highly attended meeting. I’ve also been enjoying thinking about and producing work in a slightly different vein to my ‘normal’ practice as I have found it refreshing to allow myself a bit of space to step away from what has become established about my work. I won’t pre-publicise what I have been working on as that would rather undermine the collaborative nature of it I feel, however I will share my starting point.
The main creative activity that I’ve been engaged with since my last update has been centred on CRITgroup (the artists’ networking group that I manage in Manchester). We recently decided to celebrate our first ‘birthday’ by starting off a series of
collaborative projects, the first of which is titled ‘Creative Whispers’. The simple concept is that each of us produced a ‘starting point’ in December which was randomly assigned to a new member. Our task through January has been to respond to that starting point in some way. This new outcome or intervention will be brought along to the next meeting on the 23rd. These will then be ‘rotated’ until each member has had some input. We’ll then review the outcomes and use them to help us investigate and discuss the differences (and similarities) between our respective practices.
I was really pleased with the initial take up; 8 contributions, which was almost our most highly attended meeting. I’ve also been enjoying thinking about and producing work in a slightly different vein to my ‘normal’ practice as I have found it refreshing to allow myself a bit of space to step away from what has become established about my work. I won’t pre-publicise what I have been working on as that would rather undermine the collaborative nature of it I feel, however I will share my starting point.
This was donated by Irena Siwiak Atamewan, a photographer who also studied at MMU. At first glance, the quote seemed so obviously related to my own existing work it seemed impossible to think of how I would produce anything truly new, however when she spoke of her own interpretation of it, in terms of domestic spaces, I began to think about it slightly differently. This has shaped my responses, and I have directed my interest to the contrast and in some cases the transitions between public and private spaces. There will be more to report after our next meeting on January the 23rd.
It’s not really been the season for too many outdoor workshops but I can share that following the success of the SketchCrawl at Nexus Art Café, two new dates have been confirmed. There will be a session with the This Place Is project on Saturday April the 6th and a new Placemaking Board workshop on Sunday 5th of May (Bank Holiday weekend). I’ll be publicising more details of those nearer the time but worth putting in the diary if you are interested, it'll be upon us soon enough!
I have of course also still been busy with my on-going Astronomy studies... That is still soaking up quite a bit of energy and brain power which is slowing up the development of some other projects but it is all in the interests of developing my creative practice too in the long run. I have some potential ideas brewing for bringing the exploration of the city and astronomy together into a project but these are just gestating for now while I do the course. Though to be fair, I have had to draw a star chart for my second assessment...
Visual Communication at its most fundamental!
That’s all for now. Some more updates hopefully in the near future before too much of 2013 escapes from me!
Visual Communication at its most fundamental!
That’s all for now. Some more updates hopefully in the near future before too much of 2013 escapes from me!
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