Me and Mr Essay

I don't think we are going to get along,

Instead of writing you i will sing a little song,

I like to draw, print and paint,

but the idea of writing an essay makes me feel quite faint,

You see Mr Essay we cant be friends,
because of instead of writing i draw with your pens, 

when I'm supposed to be creating a structure i will be playing in dens. 

Sorry Mr Essay, Its just the way it is going to be, 

Now I'm going to put you off another hour while I have a pot of Tea. 

Im currently with my fellow comrades in occupation of University of Lincoln. Not only am I here because I believe education is a right not a privilege, Education should be free and available to everyone. Also because as an Art Student im really worried about the 30% cuts that art funding will be hit with. It is already really hard to live off being an artist and to also make it as an artist, and these savage cuts and rises in tuition fees will make it harder for artists, art students and people whose dream is to be an artist like mine always has been. Art and culture is such a massive party of our society, why is it right that in our lives we wont be able to do what we really really want to do,  but instead work in a job that we don’t really want to be in paying of debt for all our working lives. We need to fight, for our future and the next generation.

Hinterland

The Hinterland projects are a series of site specific projects along the River Trent in Nottingham. Working with many different artists, curator Jennie Syson led the project since 2006. 

I'm really interested in Site Specific work and am fascinated by temporary art pieces, the idea that a piece could only be viewed for that exact amount of time then all that's left is documentation and the memory that it happened. This is shown in one of my favourite pieces from the Hinterland projects, Jonathan Willett who created a project called Freeze In September 2006, Willett produced an ice sculpture in the form of an arrow from one of the diagrams, as the basis for navigating connections between movement and experience.

The ice sculpture was floated into the river near Trent Bridge and eventually melted away into the current, a reminder that the modern, frenetic way of life is sustained by the cyclical time of nature. This work was a pointer to a possible place in the future, where there may be little option but to slow down a little, in order to overcome the environmental problems which are caused, the artist believes, by an excess of activity. Freeze was intended to remind the audience that the idea of doing less is not only a possibility but perhaps a necessity if we are to create a sustainable way of life.

Hinterland between 2006-9 comprised artist’s talks, presentations and seminars; a series of 3 bespoke publications documenting past and present projects including commissioned texts on the arts and ecology, site-specific art works and the local history of the Hinterland site.

http://www.hinterlandprojects.com/

John Pilger

I recently saw John Pilger speak at the university, where his new website was launched. They only showed parts of some videos that can be viewed on the website and just from seeing a brief look of the films I wanted to see more. This is the first film 'The Quiet Mutiny' 1970. In his iconic documentary debut, Pilger reports from the front line in Vietnam where he finds disillusioned American troops in open rebellion against the war. 

http://vimeo.com/16387154

Sketchbook Love

For me one of the most important things about a piece of work is the sketchbook, seeing the development, ideas, mistakes, doodles and the project coming together. I love to work in old books, or books with some character. If I dont like the book im working on I will tend to neglect the project. Maybe thats a bit picky but I cant help it.


One of my sketchbooks will be in‘The Moment of Privacy Has Passed’ an exhibition of sketchbooks curated by John Plowman at The Usher Gallery, Lincoln,
11 December 2010 – 6 March 2011.

 

A spread from Italian artist Blu's sketchbook

The art of the Protest

'Personal and most deeply felt feelings about people and society. I am concerned with both the joys and sorrows, injustices and ironies of life as I see it'

                   - Max Ginsurg

'Growing up in the shadow of World War II and the Holocaust, I cannot understand how the world is tolerating genocide in Darfur and nuclear weponry proliferation. These are the subjects I am painting in order to share my loss, confusion and sence of hopelessness and despair'

- Leonard Meiselman