Sleep-drunk I dance

I’ve started a new blog on a-n Magazine’s website, trying to widen my audience, to find ways of engaging more and deeper with other artists and art-professionals. Have yet to work out if/how I’ll combine this blog with Sleep-drunk I dance, just know that I'm in need of connection and communication, even if that means my art-making has to go on the back-burner for a bit. So very tired, but: new adventures...

Now open

How near I had forgot
Materials: Crocheted from artificial hair

Dimensions: 16 cm x 12 cm

Collectible

curated by Rosalind Davis and Annabel Tilley
Small works by high profile and promising Collectible artists
from £50-£500

Artists:
Guy Allott, Paul Benjamins, George Bolster, Kate Bowen, Andrew Bracey, Tom Butler, Ben Coode-Adams, Emma Cousin, Graham Crowley, Rosalind Davis, David Dipre, Sarah Douglas, Freya Douglas Morris, Annabel Dover, Charlie Dutton, Karl England, Alyson Helyer, Andrew Hewish, Jack Hutchinson, Peter Jones, Nick Kaplony, Sharon Leahy-Clark, Simon Leahy-Clark, Cathy Lomax, Wayne Lucas, Fiona MacDonald, EJ Major, Amy McKenny, Nadege Meriau, Marion Michell, Clare Mitten, Amy Moffat, Kate Murdoch, Elizabeth Murton, Michaela Nettell, Charlotte Norwood, Wieland Payer, Alex Pearl, Edd Pearman, Gaia Persico, Kate Pickering, Chantelle Purcell, Freddie Robins, Alli Sharma, Gordon Shrigley, Lisa Snook, Corinna Spencer, Emily Speed, Melanie Stidolph, Giulia Ricci, Annabel Tilley, Virginia Verran, Mark Scott-Wood, Boa Swindler, Rich White, Andy Wicks, Jenny Wiener, Rachel Wilberforce, Chiara Williams, Sarah Williams, Jo Wilmot, James Wright, Peter Wylie.

Private View Tuesday 17 April, 6-8.30pm
18 - 28 April (Thursday-Saturday, 1-5pm)
Open for SLAM Last Fridays 6-8.30pm
Artists & Curators Dialogue - Saturday 28 April, 4-5 pm

at
Bond House Gallery
ASC Bond House
Goodwood Rd
New Cross
London SE14 6BL

The stuff of life

A while ago I aired my frustration about not being able to stay for the first (or even try to attend the second) Creative Practice Seminar organized by Zeitgeist Art Projects. Actually I had to leave when Jack Hutchinson began his introduction to digital networking, something I thought I should be interested in. Ideally I just want to make work, but that’s not enough if I want it seen, and given that due to M.E. I am mostly housebound and rarely go to private views, seminars, or workshops I need to find other ways of communicating. So no more agonizing about missing all those opportunities for networking with other artists, gallerists, curators, and how that affects if and how my work makes it into the world – time to try myself out in new ways.
I went home with Jack’s handout, which I dug out last week, intent on understanding what Twitter is about. Yeah, I’ve not tweeted before, felt skeptical about it, wondering if it has anything to do with my very slow, not-much-on-the-move life, but I’m making tentative moves now, as it’s short and to the point and ideally won’t drain my energies too much. Don’t want to use it though to spurt more nothings into the world - would like to find a way of making it meaningful. Torn between doubts about self-promotion and the realization that no-one will do it for me.
Some of my friends wonder why I put so much of myself and my meagre energies into making art, but I think it’s what’s keeping me going. Through the process of making art we connect, explore, question, understand, change and challenge – the stuff of life. And it’s not just a personal matter. In an article by said JH (once you’ve heard a name you find it everywhere, don’t you) in April’s a-n Magazine, Do Artists Have a Duty to Campaign?, Elizabeth Murton says: "I want 'artist' to be recognised as a valid career option and creativity as a valid thinking method. More importantly, I think art should be considered not in isolation, but with other specialisms. It is an enhancement to all ways of thinking and being, and not just a lifestyle choice. It is a tool for enhancing life." We need it. The world needs it.

PS. Tried to link twitter button to blog, but gadget seems broke. Until it works again, this is my twitter id: @marjojo2004. Now I just need to learn how to tweet...

Hairself

How near I had forgot
Materials: Crocheted from artificial hair

Dimensions: 16 cm x 12 cm

How gratifying to have finished a piece of work! I’ve made this for Collectible, the first exhibition curated by Rosalind Davis and Annabel Tilley as part of their ingenious, thriving brainchild Zeitgeist Arts Projects. The artists were asked to contribute a piece of up to A4-size, within a price range of £ 50,- to 500,- So nice to be invited to take part – it is proof of the fruitful relationship arising from working on Extra-Ordinary at Core Gallery (curated by Rosalind Davis and Jane Boyer) which still serves as a measuring stick for any show I’m involved in.
This is not the only piece I’ve been working on, there’s a larger project which is taking rather longer, as, when fatigue is at its worst, I have ragdoll arms, but the wait will be worth it, if I say so myself.

Private View Tuesday 17 April, 6-8.30pm
18 - 28 April (Thursday-Saturday, 1-5pm)
Open for SLAM Last Fridays 6-8.30pm
Artists & Curators Dialogue - Saturday 28 April, 4-5 pm

at Zeitgeist Project Space, ASC Bond House. Goodwood Rd, London SE14 6BL