Creatures Great and Small , Kinetica Museum @ Rove gallery

The new trend in contemporary F.art has got to be Kinetic Sculpture. Saw the Kinetic show @ the kinetic museum, there was an amazing piece by American artist Jack Pavlik whom constrcuts harmonious sliding steel bands; which slide and propel forward in a uniformed sequence.

"In sculpture you can have an idea, an exact idea but the final result will come from experimentation and the limits of the material. In this mutual give and take, a transformative process takes place; where there is an evolution of both form and idea. In my work I have been combining flexible and rigid materials, materials that merge a biomorphic, surreal pattern of black shapes and lines, with geometric metal frames and structures that work at the same time to move, and contain the active forms of the piece, creating what I hope is a humorous, surreal form of sculpture." - Jack Pavlik

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8w3mkmLn7XA

Frieze Art Fair 2008

Attended Frieze art fair this week, as I am sure so did half of London. It was exactly what I expected having been two years ago, the steel faced curators and collectors swanning around. However it was great to see pieces up close by some of my favorite artists; Grayson Perry, Ed Ruscha, Wolfgang Tillmans and Cindy Sherman.
One of the highlights (apart from eaves dropping on how much some of the pieces sell for) was the icelandic art collective; 'Kling og Bang'. They re-created a small run-down shack Sirkus located in the middle of Rejakavik, I enjoy being completely envelpoed in site installations and how they can transport you from a ceratin space into a different dimension alot Like Christopher Bruchels installations.
Sirkus was also a favorite watering hole for many of the creative people in Rejkavik, it was cramped, smelly, your shoes sticked to the floor but I loved it.

Clara Clark in discussion with Rebecca Geldard @ The Standpoint Gallery

Having worked with Tanner prize winner Clara Clark over the summer, it was hard for me to critique her work or view it as a spectator. Which is why I attended her discussion about the sculpture on show at The Standpoint gallery.

Art Rock

Went to Rosa Tyhursts' Dj night, which is an eclectic mix of world pop, punk and electro. It also involved an art competition to introduce the first years to Kingston University. It also featured music from Christina Sanders and Pete Georgallou.

New work

Bought a toy killer whale today; named him Rhys. Rosa and I are hoping to make a porcelain cast of him and another trout toy I have and involve them in our next collaboration maybe involving this track by Mr Scruff; http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=QSpfZ9I1Qok

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=DGZx3xn5pco

New Saatchi Gallery; From Mao to Now (Private View)

Just got back from the opening of the new Saatchi gallery in Chelsea (it is the only completely free contemporary art museum of its size in the world).
Charles Saatchi the famed britart instigator opened the doors to his new gallery featuring a show devoted to the latest from China.
I was overall dis-heartened by what was on show, I felt as though there was no point of reference to the work apart from all the artists being Chinese, it all had a dark side, maybe yet again informing us of the restrictions that they have inforced upon them and their art by the Chinese government. But all this seems to be doing is pushing up the prices of their work making nearly almost all of the artists shown multi-millionaires.

Donkey by Zhang Huan

The way the Western art collectors are snapping up any sensational Chinese art makes me see this saatchi show in a trite light. Artist Zhang Huan's studio in Beijing is big enough to rival both Koons and Hirst 'factory line' studios put together, as much as I accept that the art world is run by mainly by business men; dealers and collectors as is always obvious at Frieze Art Fair. I felt this show was too polished and had none of the Saatchi charm of sensations or The Triumph of Painting shows.
However the Old Folks Home installation on the lower floor did bring a smile to my face, it featured mannequins resembling some of the worlds most powerful leaders whizzing around on motorized wheelchairs, greying and senile nearly crashing into each other;
http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1529569286/bclid1364231013/bctid1840646528

Some of my photos of the show/ gallery will be posted soon.

Concrete and Glass @ Shoreditch Town Hall

Throughout October every Friday and Saturday I will be working at the Heart Of Glass exhibiton in the basement of Shoreditch Town hall it is a music/ arts festival curated by up and coming curator; Flora Fairbairn. It has a lot of great, great sculpture featuring 25 established and emerging artists who have made site specific work for the space.

Some photos will be up soon.

Susan Collis @ The Seventeen Gallery

I Recently went to a show that my fellow collaber Rosa Tyhurst is working at entitled; 'Sweat' by Susan Collis. The space is converted into a factory line of helpers colouring in long squares with coloured pens. Mimicking the sweat shop/ factory line and churning out hand coloured/ made laundry bags, the type you would find in thrift shops. With delicate precision the patterned biro coloured paper is folded to create these life-like delicate bags. I enjoyed the way in which she addresses the intimate factory element; with the finished product on show whilst you stand un -easy watching the worker bees go about this arduous task.

Some work from her previous show was also there; 'Don't Get Your Hopes Up', whereby she made small interventions within the space such as delibrately placing wall plugs made of gold and gem stones in the wall, but my favourite has to be the paint drips which lead from the entrance to the back of the galley, but on closer inspection are actually mother of pearl. I think this sums up Collis's work quite well as subtle interventions which first hand seem frivilous and can be easily ignored but upon closer inspection is a rewarded discovery. Maybe telling us to always look twice when making assumptions about art.

Unmonumental: The object in the 21st Century

Bought a really good contemporary sculpture book; 'Unmonumental'. It was based upon an exhibition, exploring the reinvention of sculptural assemblage. Using found, fragmented, and discarded materials, the works of the artists on view make a case for modesty, informality and improvisation. It's a shame I couldn't have caught the show which was at The New Museum, 235 Bowery, New York. It included more than one hundred objects by thirty artists. Some of my favourite featiured artists/ works are;

John Bock

Claire Fontaine

Isa Genzken

Eva Rothschild

Jessica Stockholder

Clara Clark Re-Creation at The Standpoint Gallery

Mark Tanner Sculpture Award Winner 2007-8

Cloud Machine

Clara Clark is the youngest ever recipient of The Mark Tanner Sculpture prize, throughout the summer I was her assistant in her Hackney studios. Which resulted in a solo show at The Standpoint Gallery, 45 Coronet Street, Hoxton. Clara Clark makes kinetic constructions on an ambitious, impressive scale. She interlocks subtle wit and illusion with macho constructions and mechanics which culminate in an interaction between illusion and materiality. She focuses on what we all look at; clouds, rollin hills, romantic vistas and creates it anew: we are suddenly given a view through a viewing point which creates a narrative of being 'elsewhere'.

Mechanical Sea

Her concern is to repeatedly pull us back to the basic tenets of perception: “In my work the sculptural form is an extravagant tool for producing a live, three-dimensional image. Mechanics and practical elements are left visible in order to preserve the idea that the experience has been constructed; the scene is no more than the materials it is made from, but simple triggers work on the imagination and cause unexpected physical sensations relating to scale and position in space. I’m interested in determining how far removed a representation can be from its source and still be believed in.”

I assisted in creating much of the works that are in the show which is on until the 18th of October, go along!