i have a poster of a magritte painting that a dutch friend gave me over 35 years ago....found it in the studio....and here it is....
the title of the painting escapes me....its nocturnal....a house in a tree.....in this shot over a fireplace......it is an image that has been hidden from my consious view... title "time transfixed".............this idea has appeared in some form in the stone raft mural.....i have just thought of where i placed the print ....over the fireplace.....just like the rene magritte painting of ...the train....it was pure chance.....surrealism
some years ago i did some small watercolour studies at no 7 in the yard at night....problem......how do you see the colours you are using...you need light...but that distorts what you are looking at......choose paint blind...no light....choose colours as you think fit...from memory of the layout of the colours in the trays.......its a fascinating problem to solve....one of my favourite paintings is the empire of light by magritte...which i have usewd in the saramago novel mural ....the stone raft.......here are a series of photos of no 7... my house...at night...im am intrigued by being outside and looking in....what is the story.....what is going on.........it is a theatre....a theatre of dreams....nocturnal visions........at night everyone is esconced in their home....curtains close off the outside world....some people however leave their curtains open.....giving us a glimpse of their private space....this is not voyeuristic in any way......the darkness is a quiet...almost private environment...most people will walk along the street...not really looking....the light from the windows illuminates the pathway...even if you look in...its brief....fractions of a second....
no 7..the residence....nightime theatre... the story......the house stands in an area of darkness...punctuated by light eminating from the windows...the darkness envelopes the light...heightening the drama..the windows are focal points....there are glimpses of the interior....these glimpses are the identity of the occupants....a private world....we can imagine....ws can summiise....we can wonder....
what is the function of this room..........its the dining room....there are no clues...theres a fireplace...if yoiu look carefully therea clothes horse hanging from the ceilling...you cant help thinking...who lives there...what is going on......will someone come into the room...........it is a drama ...sometimes devoid of people....but people live in the house....the light is on....someone appears and disappears in an instant....perhaps with a cup of coffee....or in a dressing gown....click.....lights out....bed.......end of act 1....
do the contents of the room...the house....give a clue as to the occupants.........as we have sbeen sitting in this room we have watched people over the past 30 years look in at us the goldfish...this room has brightr green walls...a bright blue ceiling...with 3 chinese paper kites on the wall...........we know from comments that peolple are intrigued by the objects on view...we didnt put them there for others to see...nevertheless they have been seen....people build an image stroke picture of the occupants...we are all guilty of this fantasy...we make presumptions.....
hil and i spent a few days in lisbon....to see the work of blu and osgemeos,, the twins at ccb belem......to wander the streets and soak up the atmosphere and generally keep our eyes open ...for more street art......and quirky things.......we arrived in lisbon around lunchtime and headed for downtown sul where we always stay its right next to the theatre in rossio......then straight into the brazilian buffet around the corner for picanha and black beans.....first stop the faille temple.......absolutely gobsmacked....what appears to be an ancient temple standing in the avenida.....it is amazing...a mixture of ancient greek...roman....pop art....elgin marbles and more have a look @ the photos and our little video..
.then we went upto marquis de pombal to find the blu paintings.....here are a couple of stills.
since i have been looking at street art ....grafitti ....etc i have become interested in the cities themselves....does the environment that we live effect our behaviour?...does it influence how we react to our surroundings....why do grafitti artists do what they do? you never see grafitti in middle class suburbia....always in inner cities...decaying places...both socially and economically....in lisbon chiado area is covered in street vandalism....why......i listened to a radio 4 programme about hulme...the architects had great aspirations....but look what happened...it turned in to a guetto...a no go area for even the police....watch the video...high rise
A film about people, preconceptions and 1960’s concrete.
Hi High Rise is the first short film by photographic
partnership TAPE and is shot entirely on a digital SLR.
This documentary aims to challenge the preconceptions associated with tower block living in the UK and celebrates the successful community of Hornchurch Court, a high rise on the edge of Manchester city centre.
i love manchester by simon owen...one persons view of the landmarks,,,,,before the bombing in manchester the arndale didnt exist...the city is always changing for the better??????
One of Manchester’s most distinctive buildings - the 107 metre tall City Tower in Piccadilly Gardens - became a huge, open canvas from Friday 12 – Sunday 14 December (4pm – 11pm)2008, when passers-by where invited to leave giant handprints on the side of its imposing tower.....i like the idea of interventions however big or small that take place in the city,,,,,,,,,,
august nine 2010....stoat fishing trip....gear all sorted out....the weather doesnt look good but hey we have umbrellas......pack the car and off....excitement in the air ....anticipation of what we might catch or not catch......3 minutes and we are there...pay fred and choose a swim......we tackle up ....i cant believe it sams in with a 4 lb mirror mirror carp in less than 3 minutes...whilst i still getting sorted out.......the rain ...very fine you know the kind that you wet in.....its fine under the brollies...the sound of the raindrops on the pond is gentle......then we start getting plenty of bites....mostly small roach....the conversation goes something like this....you just missed a bite....can i have some meat...are you on sweetcorn....what depth are you fishing....all intellectual stuff....sam lands another...mirror again around 4 lbs...jammy or what.....not quite like the 40 pounder in toulouse recently....later in the day he managed to land a mirror the size of the palm of his hand...elation...the smallest one that he has ever caught...meanwhile im hauling in lots of roach and decent skimmer....byron and basti arrive around about lunchtime....basti is using a small pole ...he puts on the bait...what seems like minutes later...hes got a bite and a big fish.......a reel expert ..........the day goes buy...much the same conservation...about bites...bait...and other mind boggling observations.......watch the gripping epic adventure for a true reflection of the day...a film about the excitement to be had sitting by a pond......sometimes in the rain.....
a long overdue visit to my old not so old friend and mentor from art college days in printmaking in william street with john hawley..chub harrison and mike north...like a pair or 3 including patsy...mrs giggs...last of the summer winers.......careering around memory lane for several hours only stopping to take breath......i arrived in loughboro or as i and my wife refer to it as loobrush......through kegworth...met dave manley ex dean of derby the other day @ oldham art gallery....on past the dewdrop pub and into loobrush.....up paget street onto radmoor rd and bingo york street...rat a tat tat....mr gibbs in the flesh....they have the same green carpet as we have in croston...a tardis of a house...the years peeled away..was it so long ago...time had stood still....or had it always been standing still....there was dave just looking like dave........cups of tea...patsy had to go out and left us too it...upto the studio to see the newly made book.....a limited edition of 12..... 2 volumes in a box everything done by yes ....mr gibbs...beautifully printed and put together.......texts and poems from spanish all translated by yes.......then a look in the plans chest....then a blue box complete with piano hinge...full of stuff from the 60s...a treasure trove of images...moonwalking juxtaposed with indian imagery......each one a treat......patsy then showed me her paintings...mostly fantastic renditions of past masters including an amazing tanka painting....the house is full of buddhist stuff.....and things....niks and a few naks.....more t then lunch ...dave home made bread and an italianate soup which had been buubling in nthe background.....the conversation flowed like printers ink.......one memory led to another.....then off out for wander around town...through the park past the merillion ...took afew shots of the town ...dave outside boots where i first arranged to meet hilary all those years ago...been married 39 years....the chinese...lunch for 3 and 6.....the saracens head where we played darts and back to york street for an early dinner talking all the while...at the end of the meal dave said he was off upstairs and i said we didnt want to know he returned with a..........he put it down in front of me.......a book.........i was lost for words........thankyou...and a print from patsy for hilary....what an amazing day.......a mixture of nostalgia and looking forward to new projects....we wont wait another 20 odd years for the next meeting our meeting was inevitable....nearly the title of one of the books.......
is busy working on a new series of works callled " metroplex" based on imagery from fly posted walls....urban grafitti.....and street life in general.....quirky corners of cities in particular manchester
