I’m not really one for New Year resolutions – but a change in work ethic is definitely the aim for the month. With mounting pressure I am (at last) become more productive. For my TS Eliot project – a desire has grown to develop glass golf balls to form an element of a new installation for an indoor gallery-type exhibition space. Needing to find an exhibition space to have an end of residency exhibition is also growing large in my mind – I want to keep costs down but the aesthetics have to fit, and a commercial space doesn’t feel right for my work currently.s,
But, I digress a little – back to the golf balls – in the meantime, due to not having ordered that book on glass casting yet (and not knowing what material to make the mould out of, or if my little kiln is up to that sort of thing) I decided ice would be a suitable substitute.
This has quickly turned into one of those little asides that takes forever – on account of moulding with ice being slightly more complex than my vinyl mould was up to (problems including not holding water, casting in halves that then had no intention of joining e.t.c.) Fortunately a little you-tube research, and a new silicon one piece mould and it actually holds water. Now just to head back to Kirkcudbright and check on the results.
The hassle is all in mind of a small video piece that has stuck in my head. Video is normally a medium I steer will clear of, it’s often boring and un-engaging and lacks the human, tangible, tactile elements that I so desire. A possible side effect influence was my trip to the Liverpool Biennial a couple of months back – and Kader Attia’s Oil and Sugar #2 piece, displayed at the Tate. This has pretty much all of those elements embedded within the work. There was also a couscous piece which I loved (the smell!), as a miniature town made from moulded couscous shapes.
Here are a couple of links for the curious: an interview with the independant, and he has worked on the design team for a rambert dance company production! (I mention this purely because I have Rambert Dance tickets from my birthday – really, very excited.)
Anyways… onwards and upwards!
Katie Anderson 
What about using a forest as your exhibition space? Or woodland, to be more precise? Or else, are there lots of empty buildings around like in Ireland? We saw an incredible one on the way to Mallow – probably an old car-sales building, all glass and high spaces and completely empty…. We thought of turning it into an indoor farm, with hydroponics and lettuces….. Bxx
Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2013 10:25:09 +0000 To: benastutchbury@hotmail.com
What I possibly love most about your comments is your ability to read into my ramblings and scribbles and make all the right conclusions about my work… Would you believe I am in the middle of writing a proposal for a woodland-type exhibition space (just need to find the right one) and another for an empty space! Practicalities are in the way currently but I’m working around and through them – hopefully more news to follow on this in the near-ish future! Love to you both x
Ps hydroponics and lettuces – brilliant!