blue a new work for evora....some associated thoughts

  blu utopia an exhibition in evora......on the theme....yep.....blue.......some time ago i made a peice of work based on the colour yellow for a show in almancil....this is a continuation of the idea using text in the form of quotes about blue......... a kind of poem........

corinne bailey rae @ the manchester academy...........

now this was a concert that i have been really looking forward too.....i booked the ticket months ago....yes just the one........the big day...im of to manchester late afternoon.....park by the whitworth gallery and had a wander around the uni end of town.....calling at a few old haunts....the cornerhouse....the sandbar.....royal northern college of music....had a show there many years ago.........then back to rusholme and food......as usual spoilt for choice....i looked in lots of windows and for some reason chose... "al safa".......

usually i am put off photos of plates of food...the placewas buzzin....so in i went...i ordered a kebab  with salad a nd chilli sauce served on an enormous nan.......the meal for one could have fed 3....and it was just over a fiver.....one of the best meals ive had for ages....talk about tasty....yum yum pigs bum.......feeling good it was off to the gig at the uni....joined the q......there were a few ticket touts about....at last the doors opened...as i entered i was ushered to the left....most people went to the right...?????.....then ...into the hall...only 10 people....wow...choose a space...bang in the middle at the front....this is going to be ace......there was a great atmosphere.....people chatting...

night time....capturing an image.....the empire of light....no 7.....magritte

 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.....

zefa

  Zefa Centro Arte Contemporanea

 Exposição

                                          

Zefa-Centro de Arte Contemporânea   Saturday, 25 September 2010 17:00

   foam party....page 3.......calendar girls....take your pick.......
and at 05.30 minutes in RTP1 broadcast...

http://ww1.rtp.pt/multimedia/progVideo.php?tvprog=19455&idpod=45198&partes=1

lisbon...the temple....the twins and grafitti boys

 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.

BLU and OSGEMEOS in LISBOA

about manchester....urban palimpcests....the untitled gallery.......

joy division...........

manchester videos

 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

http://vimeo.com/12986261

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??????

http://vimeo.com/9755039    by simon owen

From rock to rubble: how Manchester lost its music

this is a thought provoking peice

 http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/video/2010/mar/31/manchester-music-owen-hatherley       by owen hatherley

 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,,,,,,,,,,


http://vimeo.com/12932359..handprint...your hand on a building