When I say here inspirational images, I mean it much more literally this time – because the chosen piece is a film rather than a single still photograph.

Mark Lewis came to do a lecture at Brighton when I was at univeristy studying Photography and I have been interested in his work ever since.  I have previously touched on the fact that often video art leaves me a little cold.  I rarely see a piece where I feel the medium is being used in a manner that is befitting.  There are exceptions like Christian Marclay and in particular his amazing work The Clock.  But, more often than not, I am left wondering why the person is working in film and not something else.

So then, Mark Lewis was one of the first video artists whose work I really connected with.  No doubt this is partly because his work is essentially moving photographic scenes and so it holds a natural appeal with me.  I think this is an untapped resource of inspiration, because seeing small segments of the world, moving in their natural state is a wondrous thing.

The film Algonquin Park, Early March kind of sums this up for me.  I’m afraid there is no way I can embed the film here without abusing all manner of copyright law – but click on the still image below to be taken to see it on Mark Lewis’ own website.

MARK LEWIS - ALGONQUIN PARK, EARLY MARCH (2002)

This film is brilliantly atmospheric and the composition and chosen scene quite beautiful in their own right.  What I really love however, is the exploration of film that is also contained within the piece.  The simple act of choosing a view and re-composing it through the course of filming by tilting and zooming is disorientating and then endlessly rewarding.  A simple camera trick fools the eye and at the point of the ‘revelation’ gives me enormous satisfaction each time.

MARK LEWIS’ OTHER WORK

I hope you like the film and check out some of his other work, which is kindly shared in full on his website which you can find at: www.marklewisstudio.com/films.htm

Some of my other highlights are:

2001 – Windfarm & Algonquin Park, September

2002 – Children’s Games, Heygate Estate

2003 – Airport

2005 – Northumberland

2007 – Roundabout

Whilst I am very far from being religious and very far from holding any sort of faith at all, I am fascinated by religion and churches.  I think my lack of understanding and personal belief make the world of religions a curious place and churches a strange and alien world to enter.

In my photographic enterprises, I have done a few projects on religion and churches to try and understand peoples faith and beliefs better. I have never really nailed it, but continue to pop into churches wherever I see them and sometimes take a photo if the mood takes me.

Usually a Church is a church is a church and apart from the usual architectural appeal they do not really jump out as being something different.  However, when I came upon a very unlikely looking church in Tintern – I couldn’t believe what I saw.  I say Tintern, but technically I think it is in Brockweir just outside Tintern!

THE MORAVIAN CHURCH

SEAL OF THE MOVARIAN CHURCH

Greeted by a rather kitch picture of a lamb holding a flag – this was one church that had to be investigated further.  The lamb is the symbol of the Moravian Church, which I must confess to not having known anything about prior to stumbling across this strange little church.

With roots going back to the 1400′s the Moravian church is an evangelical protestant movement which focuses its practices on simple doctrine placing importance on unity and piety. Apparently with a worldwide congregation of 850,000 it is not a huge movement – but none the less one that seems to have a congregation in humble Brockweir and a splattering of churches in the UK

It seems to be a rather open church, happy to accept anyone of Christian faith to actively participate in its community.

I have done a bit of research trying to find out more about them, but there isn’t a great wealth of information as far as I have seen – however, they do focus their practises around  simple statement know as The Ground of Unity.  Here is an extract:

With the whole of Christendom we share faith in God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. We believe and confess that God has revealed Himself once and for all in His Son, Jesus Christ; that our Lord has redeemed us with the whole of humanity by His death and His resurrection; and that there is no salvation apart from Him. We believe that He is present with is in the Word and the Sacrament; that He directs and unites us through His Spirit and thus forms us into a Church. We hear Him summoning us to follow Him, and pray Him to use us in His service. He joins us together mutually, so that, knowing ourselves to be members of His body we become willing to serve each other.

Any clearer?  No, not sure I am either.  The church itself was a strange place – felt more like a cross between a scout hut, someones house and a country chapel

MORAVIAN CHURCH BROCKWEIR (2010)

The church was rather plain really, quite protestant in its decoration with nothing particularly fancy.

However, what was always there was the lamb staring at you from the centre of the wall above the altar.

It made a strange but perhaps slightly less oppressive sight than the usual Christ on the cross that is usually in its place.

MORAVIAN CHURCH BROCKWEIR, WALL DETAIL (2010)

It never fails to intreague me how very many different religions there are as well as how very many denominations and variations within that religion.  People’s thirst for spirituality is something that I suspect I will always be fascinated by but also utterly perplexed by.

I happened upon this old photograph yesterday and it’s summery glory made me long for loosing my Long Johns.

PICNIC BUGGY (2010)

I then happened upon this old photograph which made me more angry because the bastard weather doesn’t even have the decency of descending into the depths of proper and exciting snowy glory.

SNOW DIGGER (2011)

Anyway stop moaning it is only 5 days in, here is to a happy new year regardless!

Long live January and thank you for all your dedicated reading in 2011.

P.S – How British is this post, starting a new year moaning about the month, the weather and the dark!

So, let us rectify that with a brand new music mix for your delection!

This one came about because I got a new amp and speakers and a spare afternoon, decided to put a record on and, well, one thing lead to another!

Over 2 hours later I stopped.

A SHORT MEANDERING STROLL THROUGH MY RECORDS (2011)

So called a short meandering stroll through my records because that is exactly what it is!  A sort of cross section going from blues to 80′s pop to rock to soul & funk to a nice slice of Hip Hop (as requested some time back by The Brother) and off course a nice fat shot of reggae to round things off.

As ever, the winning Soundcloud has come to the rescue to host this marathon mix so you can listen online or download it from there…

Tracklist info is below…

MEANDERING STROLL TRACKLIST (2011)

Because I am endlessly giving – I have also put together a little zip package containing a better quality mp3 of the mix and the artwork for you to do what you will with.  I say small zip package, it is actually quite massive – so be warned and willing to download 160mb or so!  Click on this link to activate download.

Hope you enjoy!

PAGE FROM MY JOURNAL WHERE I WAS RECORDING VISITOR NUMBERS

A couple of Saturdays past, I spent the day in the belly of the overbearing mother.  Perhaps that is too abstract, rather I spent the day in the belly of a shipping container. Perhaps still too vague, I feel I should step backwards and address this from a place that bears a greater background!

I was lucky enough to meet one of the co-founders and curators of LIDO, a gallery space in St Leonards adjoining a set of artist studios.  From what might appear a modest establishment from the outside, LIDO has an impressively ambitious program of exhibitions, events and commissioned art works which puts pay to the ‘I’d never get the funding’ attitude of the rest of us.

The man in question was Dan Howard-Birt, a painter and curator who – as coincidence would have it, was born in the fair town of Aylesbury where I myself hail from (but we won’t dwell on that as I haven’t yet had a chance to bemoan the delights of the town with Dan himself).  The story of our meeting is also irrelevant, apart from to say I was surprised but delighted when I received a call from him asking if I would be able to invigilate part of a show he was involved in as part of Hastings annual Coastal Currents festival.

The project in question very much appealed to my sensibilities and so, without much further of a do, I found myself one Saturday morning in a rather blustery September, walking along the seafront of St Leonards to LIDO and was soon confronted by the structure that would be my home for the day.

The structure in question was the first outdoor sculptural commission by LIDO, created by artist Dylan Shipton and entitled ‘The Overbearing Mother’.  LIDO itself is so named because it fronts onto the site of the now grassed over outdoor swimming pool that once proudly boasted its way onto the seafront site.  At its conception the original Lido was massive – on a scale only matched by Blackpool’s and sadly, this grandeur was also it’s demise as the eyes of Hastings & St Leonards council were sadly much bigger than the belly of the public prepared to visited.

So now what was once an epic mass of water and bathers is now a large grassed area used mainly by dog walkers and Sunday Strollers.  Without the honor of a gallery space now named after it – it would to many, pass completely unnoticed.  What remains of the structure are two large concrete platforms, which rise up unannounced from their now inconspicuous surroundings. It is on one of these platforms that The Overbearing Mother sat through the lion share of September.

The sculpture consists of a beached shipping container that is encased in a Day-Glo protuberance on each side.  On the west face this forms a sort of veranda that appears as if it has something to announce or present.  To the East, a large advertising hoarding reaches up above the container shouting its message to the onlookers of Hastings and the sea beyond.  Shipton commissioned Ben Fitton to create the sign for the location, which in barely legible font reads: “The gap that has been left by the departure of / will soon enough make itself felt”.  Interestingly and I think intentionally, the banner was loosely fitted and so when a particularly aggressive gust of coastal breeze came along, the words came free of their tetherings and flew out to sea, perhaps to be one day to take on new meaning as they are found by a confused fisherman.

The sculpture is perhaps a comment on the changing use of space and surroundings.  The whole structure emerging from one of the few remaining aspects of the Lido to still exist and the advertising hoarding itself paying testament to considerations on how, as our landscape changes, and perhaps when things that were once important are removed or replaced, we only then become fully aware of their impact, resonance and relevance in our environment.

And so Shiptons Overbearing Mother takes on these metaphors – with its bright nu-rave coloured and complex shapes being spun out of a shipping container as if it had always been there but stood unnoticed.  How apt also that the sign that ties the piece together with its surroundings was eventually lost to the winds.

This work is very much a continuation of his previous incarnations – where his sculptural pieces seem to be a comment on the properties and limitations of space by constructing architectural shapes

THE OVERBEARING MOTHER 4 (2011)

and frames.  Whilst sometimes standalone, they often appear site specific and take inspiration and message from their surroundings.  Especially interesting are his tape works whereby large bodies of form, colour and shape are made entirely from an assortment of different tapes (see them online here).  Looking at previous works in context, it is almost as if Shipton is exploring and investigating the possibilities of a potential futuristic landscape with strange developments and structures emerging from their surroundings – both challenging and accepting the expected norms at the same time.

But, I know what is going on behind those slightly glazed eyes – your mind is questioning how I ended up spending a day inside the mother.  Very well (you are saying), we are interested in hearing about this sculpture (you continue), but your title drew us in and now you are leaving us dangling with curiosity (you finish).

Well, The Overbearing Mother had a double life and four weekends in a row, played host to a micro cinema, which nestled in its belly.  This part of the instillation was organised by Christine Gist at Interface and was a brilliant complement to the sculpture itself and the concept a stroke of genius.  The idea being that on each of the 8 days it was open, a different artist would be asked to curate a selection of films to be shown.

Stepping through the heavy blue doors of the container, the un-expecting visitor was confronted by a black curtain, which, upon opening revealed the secrets behind.  A large screen at the far end onto which a projector beamed at full capacity.  A set of wooden benches around the perimeter for film perusal and the usual ample selection of information and intrigue.

Over the different weekends, artists choose a huge array of different films – some showing just one long feature, others opting for numerous shorts.  The day I was asked to be ringmaster to this celluloid cinema, it was the turn of painter and co-founder of Lido, Jacqui Hallum to be the selector.  Jacqui selected three different films to show on rotation, all quite different from one another – but all equally brilliant.

THE OVERBEARING MOTHER 2 (2011)

As a quick and interesting (to me anyway) sideline – on quizzing Jacqui about her film selection, she told me that she had initially come across the films or their directors on Channel Four some years back.  It turned out that this inspiration had emerged off the back of Channel Four’s long time deceased late night short film seasons, which until this point I had completely forgotten about.  This sparked a string of memories for me of staying up to late obsessively watching the short films with my brother and being both amazed at how strange they were and wowed at the skill and variety of the film makers.  For a memory I had until then forgotten, it seemed to resonate as having been an important part of my creative education!

Unlike Jacqui, I wasn’t wise enough to commit the names of the directors I liked to paper and my ailing memory was never going to retain such information – but perhaps with a bit of cunning research, I can be reacquainted with some of my favourites from this period.

THE OVERBEARING MOTHER 3 (2011)

The day in question was a windy and slightly gloomy one, the sort of day where the seafront comes alive and everything feels more dramatic than it perhaps is.  So being in the trailer was no different, as the wind pounded the sides and flapped the curtain into a gentle sway, it sounded like there was a full blown gale outside the confines of the cosy cinema.  Of course, being in a metal crate it sounded far worse than it was, but this added to the experience of feeling somewhere unique in a refuge against the harsh world outside.

This also complemented Jacqui’s choice of films delightfully, as each one was slightly edgy and uncanny in its own right, whilst maintaining enough of a vein of dark humour to keep them from the dangerous precipice of severe paranoid viewing.

First up was Jan Svankmajer’s Food.  A brilliantly inventive film that uses stop motion animation using real actors and some cunning use of plasticine prosthetics.  The film is split into 3 parts – Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner and follows the stories of sets of diners eating their meal and often much of their surroundings (including their co-eaters!). Dark, surreal and amusing (in a Czech sort of a way!) and expertly filmed and put together.  I have seen some of his work before and would highly recommend checking it out. To get you started, here is part 1:

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Next was Andreas Samland with Tag 26 which follows the fortunes of two lone survivors of an undisclosed biological world wrecking super hazard! Without giving too much away, the film touches on raw aspects of humanity and how people would deal with such a situation but again in a rather surreal fashion.  Coming in at 18 minutes long – amazingly the film was put together for around 7000 Euro, which doesn’t show from the clever direction of Samland.

Last but not least on the triple bill was a film called Kitchen Sink by Alison Maclean.  This is a kind of urban nightmare scenario with some loose overtones of Frankenstein influence.  Essentially, a giant ball of hair and gunk from a woman’s kitchen sink gets transformed into a real life man!  Imagine that.  Well, watch the film and you don’t need to.  Funny enough, I thought this film was quite amusing, but a few of the watching visitors said it was the most disturbing to them.  Does that mean I am warped or they are wimps…who can say?  Shot in black and white and filmed with an interesting sense of mystery and suspense, it is no wonder the film went on to win 8 awards at Cannes. Watch the full 14 minute film on Vimeo below…

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All in all – a good day out was had by all and probably especially by me.  The cinema proved popular with those who visited it and was rather snug once inside.  The odd thing was how natural one felt sitting on a makeshift bench, in a shipping container, on a windy Saturday afternoon – watching strange films.  One kind visitor even bequested me with a clutch of apples (later transformed into an Apple & Cider cake as well as a fine crumble) for being the guardian of her bike for the duration of her stay.

If you are in the area, check the LIDO website for their current exhibitions and projects and pay them a visit. www.lidoprojects.com

THE OVERBEARING MOTHER 1 (2011)

Matchbox Gallery 'Street'

So as mentioned the other day, last Saturday saw me exhibiting at the 2011 Photomonth Photofair at Spitalfields market, in good old London Town.

First of all, I would like to say thank you to all those who came along.  It was a great day where I met loads of lovely people, had some very interesting conversations and learned a lot over the course of the day – and this of course goes out to the people who didn’t buy anything as well as those who did!  Doing fair’s and such like is a great way to get out there, get feedback and meet the public at large.

At the fair I was showing something new that I have been working on the past few weeks and so I would now like to unleash it on all of you – the all new Matchbox Gallery.

This went down brilliantly at the Photofair and so many people asked me if they could buy it online…well, due to popular demand, I felt I better make it so!

Therefore, I am happy to declare the newly revamped and now self-hosted OurWorldMyEye shop…OPEN.  I was going to get a big name celebrity to do the opening, but sadly – they were all busy.

However, I encourage you to check out the shop here (or by clicking the handy link at the top of the page) and having a look.  I will be updating it with various items over the next few weeks, so watch this space!

But, before I go, you know me and it isn’t all about trying to pedal my wares to you – so as a selfless act of giving, I thought I would also share with you my various musings from the day as recorded in my trust moleskin.  I often like to scribble down some musings when I am on  the move to pass the time.  Musements I like to call them (I have never called them that before, but will now!).

HASTINGS TO LONDON PHOTOFAIR…IT’S NOT SPITTING DISTANCE

1) EARLY

Sometimes I get those moments when I catch myself thinking ‘ what the shit are you doing’ and at 5.40am, slumped over an unappealing and very modest splash of a cornflake/muesli combination bowl – I had such an uttering.  Of course, when you initially agree or decide to do something, the practicalities are not the first thing that spring to mind.  With me, almost always the first thing is ‘yeah…it’ll be fine!’.
Now of course it will be fine, even fun.  YES, its true – I sad the F word. But, at some to 6am as my wooden healed, Jones the Bootmaker Desert Boots (in olive) clomped over Hastings streets – deserted all bar discarded chewing gum splats and a clutch of die hard explorers.  Dressed in too many layers and carrying too many bags whilst wheeling the largest and most undesirable shopper in the county – looking like a well to do tramp out on the daily routine of prospecting for nuggets of aluminium?  Yep, now the thoughts of doubt rained free in my generally optimistic mind.

2) SICKENED BY LOVE

Just witnessed a lady embark the train as her North Face clad South Faced partner barked last minute orders on how she should alight.  He watched, slightly to an uncomfortable atmosphere as she sat and bedded herself in for the journey.  His face peering through the window next to her seat – spliced in two by the frame that distinguishes the less than generous opening segment.  She adjusted her scarf arrangements and foraged in her bag.  QUICK…the train is pulling off.  Like a flash – she makes a heart shape from her hands and presses them against the glaze – chilled by the early morning air.  Here, she retains her position until the awaiting partner is out of sight.
Oh dear, does it relate badly on my that things like this make me wince and not coo?

3) SILVER LININGS

No doubt dawn was invented to make sure anyone up early enough to witness it, is rich in visual satisfaction.  It is the one thing I never fail to look forward to when I venture out at times in the morning, that as a child sounded like they never could exist.  What starts at regret is soon overcome and battled into submission by joy.  Some people protest at the daily worship with the suns first and last stretches – some people like my brother Dave.
Dave can be right, but never in such matters where we disagree and I am clearly correct (based on 100% fact and 100% intuition). Dave would argue that it happens every day, so whats the big deal? BANG WRONG I would often cry (in my head, to myself) as I sat glancing at the sunlight on that evenings carefully selected perch, with a young and always enthusiastic Gosling as my partner in visual crime.
Dave likes a sunset or rise, don’t get me wrong – he isn’t a yellow dwarf star Nazi or anything, but a silver lining to an early AM it would not be.
But as I sit here, my body starting to twitch to life sporadically as lashings of thick reviving caffeine penetrate my extremities – I am again basking in the delights of a new dawn.
Even on a grey day like today, the events are exciting.  It seems at first like nothing much will happen & the tones of the world will – shift from very dark blue to rather dark grey.  But sure enough, a deep hue begins to enrich everything under its throw.  The details of now defunct silhouettes start to shout, soon shadows to appear.
Then after busily looking around the first glimpse of sunlight is glimpsed.  Seeping over the horizon like a new spectacle and darting the richest and warmest pantones over the deep blue wash of the sky.  From here each second throws up a new light, colour or perspective…until…at some point you cannot quite pin down – normal daylight is achieved. No fuss is made – the epoch ancient ritual is again complete, never to be seen again, only aware to those who saw it and were given a unique experience. This is the dawns gift – it happens every day without fail, but like a game of chess, it can never be the same twice.
Of course, what Dave doesn’t know is on this morning, I choose my sunrise soundtrack to be a mix he did called Submerged.  It’s basically House & Techno lullabies (his words, not mine).  It seemed suitably appropriate for the circumstances and warmed my belly to know I was getting one over on him, from hundreds of miles away, while he sleeps and doesn’t even know it is taking place.  One over on him because I have forced him to provide the soundtrack to a little daily miracle that he can take or leave!

4) GRAFFITI

Funny daubings of Graf tags spotted on route so far:

Wino, Laterz, Bagz, Gosh, Asbo, Hoover, Freelord

Also saw one crossed out too – in the same paint.  So the writer must have been so miffed with his effort he scribbled it .  Ironic given how shit all of his other tags were anyway!

5) BE NICE

Smile and greet. Smile and greet. So goes the day at an art fair – full of optimism and full of trepidation – it is all about the first sale.  Until that point, the ongoing fear that you are a total looser weights heavy on the brow.
Breaking even on costs seems to be my usual lot at such events.  Coming away rich in interest and contacts, but not so rich in wealth!  this is fine however as I never enter the frey expecting more – and find the experience reward enough. BUT, the real bain in this case, is what if I sell none of the heavy stuff and have to get the trolley of doom back across the drink enriched streets & travel systems of the capital!

6) KIND

Random acts of kindness.  I think it is those unexpected acts by people which are all about supporting or doing something for another that really make the difference and stick with you, if you are the lucky receiver.
Today, I was the recipient of one of those acts.  My Dad, having read news of my exhibiting at Spitalfields on the blog, drove up and into London and made a complete surprise guest appearance at the stall to say hello and check out what I was doing.  It made my day.
However, the same chap (Dad to me) has trumped most for random acts of kindness.  When my graduation clashed with his holiday in Greece – he traveled back to Brighton overnight – by train, plain and automobile – stayed for the ceremony and dinner and then returned to Greece the same day by automobile, plain and train.
That is true kindness.

7) SMART

I should get me into this high falutin world of smart phones.  That is some clever shit & too many times recently I have known the value I would have received if only my phone were smart enough to get me out of a travel pickle or provide valuable info on the hop.
Yet my phone is, in reality about as intelligent as a massively stupid buffoon, perhaps even stupider than that – who knows?  All we can say for sure is that it is more a thick phone than smart phone.  Here is a chart:

HOW SMART IS A PHONE

I fear I have strayed from the topic here.  The reason for my tale was to express my distress for how much the modern man/woman is plugged into things.  On the train & tube all faces now stare down into the void of iPointlessness – cramming in every extra second of some naff game or one more nose into someone else’s Facebible.
When not a phone they are reviewing their still fresh memories on the back screen of their digital imaging device.  Perhaps they are watching or working via the curse of free wi-fi on a laptop.  Technology no doubt enriches us – I love it, but by becoming an iUser, does one have to stop looking at the non-iWorld around them?
What happened to window watching, playing cards with a travel companion, or simply enjoying the rare chance to sit for an hour, doing nothing, watching nothing & just being?
Just looked up from pen & pad and glanced at the scroll-board of destiny.  Still got 8 stops to go – Christ I’m bored.  If only I had a smart phone!!!

Chloe Brooks - Golden Gates & Floodlit Temples

Just a quickie to point you towards a piece of my musings else where on the web-machine.

I was asked to write a review of an art work by Chloe Brooks which is currently on show in Hastings as part of the Coastal Currents festival.

ArtSelector is an online contemporary art magazine and collective and the latest issue was put together by Oxford based collective Launch.

Read the full review of Chloe brooks – ‘Golden Gates & Floodlit Temples’ on ArtSelector here.

So given the new move to new terratories I thought it would be apt to break my visual silence with a couple of images from my first explorations of what Hastings has to offer.

INTERLUDE – visual silence?  Is that physically or metaphysically possible?  Can one have silence in relation to something that does not intrinsically pocess sound in the first place?  Perhaps my scentence should have read: visual blindness?

ROOF TOP VIEW FROM FUNICULAR RAILWAY (2011) - Is it sad that at the tended age of thirty something I find the prospect of a ride on the Funicular railway mind numbingly exciting? Well...I do - you get a great view of Hastings old town too!

Entering the heady realm of living in a new area is a bizare experience for me – as someone who generally sees the world as a series of photographs, I find that the more familiar I am with an area so the more micro the images become that I see around me.  Brighton is a firm example of this as I knew its streets and buildings rather well, after 10 years of enveloping myself in its dirty glory!  Instead of seeing new vista’s of interest, I would see a new stain on the floor, a interesting coloured brick in a wall or a comic item discarded amongst the pavement debris.

So starting to place foot onto virgin pavement in Hastings, I have suddenly found the visual stimulous has become more macro again as the whole environment and landscape is new and unfamiliar.  This is exciting. I am, you could argue, excited. So much so that I am contemplating embarking on yet another project (to sit nicely alongside the myriad of mounting projects I have started but yet to finish!), which is soley about my initial exoploration, inspirations and sightings in, around and of Hastings.

BE PREPARED FOR A HASTINGS RELATED PUN FEST

Perhaps, through this series of photographs, I could visually conquer Hastings (1) and battle (2) with a new set of influences and images. You could even argue that I am already finding new potential images are hurtling towards my eye like an arrow (3). The potential for visual exploration is boundless and, Will_I_Am  (4) excited.

Sorry.  No really, I am sorry.  I have brought shame upon myself – BUT in self defence, I felt the need to erradicate all Battle of Hastings related puns out of my system so they will never have to grace the pages again! I understand that it is no good apologising to you know, as, for you at least – it is too late.  You have already suffered at the hand of my obismal efforts at comic whit.  But, I hope you understand the mental need I had to get through it early on!  I particularly wish to express shame for pun 4 – which, even for me, was sub-standard!

DAY IN THE PARK (2011) - Arguably my first official Hastings Fun Day involved the annual park gathering. Bunting and deck chars festooning a park are the best way to spend a sunny weekend!

That is it …a small and pathetic relay of Hastings related images to wet your whistle before the onslaught begins!

As regular readers may know, I am rather interested in societies and cultures – particularly how they can be represented visually and then subverted.  I find it interesting what people choose to photograph or make art about when looking at representing their country or local area and how their chosen subjects are riddled with the visual language of that culture.

Sometimes these signs and messages are really obvious and it is impossible to miss their reference, but when it gets really interesting for me is when their references are subverted in someway or the history of a culture is used within an image to suggest all manner of message and meaning.

PERFECT ENGLISH SUMMER (2010)

CREAM TEAS & THE ENGLISH COUNTRY GARDEN

Behold example number 1 – a normal photograph of a normal holiday scene.  You know the situation – you are camping in the country and venture forth on a walk along the river.  You happen across a cafe selling  cake and it would be rude and impertinent not to enter the establishment and partake in the fine English tradition of afternoon tea.  To commemorate the occasion, you take a quick snap of the wares you are soon to enjoy.

Take this image outside of the personal context and display it to others, however, and meanings come forward to them too. The classic tea pot reflecting the fine summers sky, a plate of scones and Jam can mean but one thing – cream tea.  Behind the table is a hint of a traditional cottage garden.

The photograph screams of everything that we associate with an English summers day and it takes on the meaning of representing summertime as well as the traditions and history of our tea drinking heritage! Give this image to a critic and no doubt they could bring into it colonisation, slavery (thinking tea plantations here!), Indian rule, Gandhi, perhaps the potteries and so on. Of course, you are probably thinking I am being excessive – but these meanings are what you would get taught on an art degree! Whilst we may then be quick to dismiss such readings into a photograph or any piece of art – there is always a truth in these signifiers and always a value in at least acknowledging them.

THE PHONEBOX (2011)

DESIGN CLASSICS – THE RED TELEPHONE BOX

Now please cast your eyes onto example number two, which should be situated to my right >

A phone box – the humble red, classic phone box. Again an everyday sight – perhaps not so much these days since they have been replaced by more modern booths and generally superseded by the mass ownership of the mobile phone, but what greater sign of British design is there than the red phone box?

Alongside the London Bus or black cab, it is probably one of the first things many people around the world might identify as being British and is still a predominant sight in the capital. This in itself is interesting, the decision by the London councils to keep the traditional boxes because they have become something that visiting tourists might expect and look for.  Growing up in this country, no doubt we are desensitised to the image of the phone box because we have seen it so much – but go to London and you will see countless visitors photographing themselves in front of them.

Objects like the red phone box feature on many toursit souveniers and it is the branding of a place in this manner which can be really interesting to explore. The photogaph here can again be looked at in a different way.  The phone box is shabby and unclean – the door missing and the floor piled with litter. It looks dirty and tired and run down.

Presenting an image like this can then start to take on a wider meaning about the state of British society – broken Britain as illustrated through a shabby version of one of the iconic symbols of the country. You can tell the photo is taken in London from the stone work and hints of the architecture in the background and a phone box in poor condition sitting in the streets of London becomes a sign of the current economic and political climate.

READ MORE INTO THINGS!

Whilst these two examples are exaggerated and I have picked two photographs and run away with the potential meanings they might contain, it is an interesting illustration into how the visual symbols of a place can be used and then exploited to create a metaphor or illustration of another point.  Whilst I think analysis and critique of art can be taken to far – it is also this deep analysis of imagery and culture done by critics which is a valuable part of the art making process and enables us to reflect upon our surroundings in a more interesting and informed way.

Just a quick one – was walking down old London Road in sunny Brighton yesterday, when my eye was drawn to a hand drawn poster.

It is perhaps the greatest missing item poster I have ever seen and I felt deserved to be preserved in the history of the world wide web!

So behold below and enjoy as much as I do!  I have removed the authors phone number for their priovacy, but if you see this jumper – be sure to track them down!

I WANT YOU BACK (MISSING JUMPER POSTER)