apart from being delayed by silly printers not wanting to play ball today went pretty well. i didn’t manage to get up to margaret street until after lunch, but really all i had to do was add last few cubes and double check i was happy with the order. after the disaster of the plaster yesterday i spent the evening creating a few more versions, one being the unplanned old book pages. this resulted in there now being 29 possibilities, which i didn’t realise until i put them all out at margaret street. now i’m a sucker for symmetry, and as i had planned to only have 28, simply as a realistic target, no alterior motive or great meaning, this completely threw me, and so i spent a good deal of time simply sitting in the studio being indecisive. i asked for opinions but they all said leave it at 29, but eventually i took out the bent rod one and i instantly felt better. up until that point i was unable to even leave the room, but all of a sudden, once the gap had been filled by shuffling all the others along, i felt a sense of resolve and was soon able to leave all my bits and go home. the bent rod one has not even been included as a version on this blog as the quality of it is too poor, which is one of the reasons for the exclusion. but it also had no connection, the method used was unique, the effect did not connect to any of the other materials, and the overall look made it stick out. yes it could be argued that by having one that was so strongly different to the others it meant that their group qualities were highlighted, but to me it seemed to just detract from the others not enhance them. so it’s been left out. it almost nullified their strength as a cohesive piece of work, and so that is why it was excluded.

final order

granite>copper sheet>solid wood>hahnemule paper>tracing paper>wire mesh>old pages>sponge>cardboard>cork>straws>mountcard>aluminium sheet>acetate>MDF>glass sheet>skewers>pipe cleaners>perspex>chipboard>veneer>silk>picture frame>knitted>ceramic>leather>crochet>beeswax

the very simple and only reason for this is it goes from ease to make to difficulty to make.

p.s. i love the way they seem to carry on and seemingly disappear out of the door; endless possibilities

later on in the day i was joined by the work of mel moore as she decided her work was too cramped, and i have to agree it definitely works better not tucked up into a corner. i know mel’s work quite well but really feel there is a connection just simply by the fact that hers is also square/cube based due to the ordnance survey map grid system referred to. by having our work within the same space improves the feel overall, and i wonder how people would see the connections between them as i think they are quite favourable for both of us.

I was up quite late tweaking away at little bits so my plan to get up super early and get to the glass shop before going into margaret street didn’t quite happen! however, I decided to just get the more fragile ones in as I knew this was going to be equally stressful due to having to use public transport and having to walk through the streets of brUm without squashing them or being bumped by a stranger.

I made it with only the tracing paper one a little squished but this was easily popped back into shape although it then has little creases in which is a shame. I laid out all the new ones onto the roll of paper and then began the task of putting them in the order I have already decided in my sketchbook, which is based on which was the easiest to make up to which was the hardest. however, as I was doing this I changed my mind. I had made that list over a week ago before all the cubes were finished so it shows my naivety if nothing else. eventually the order was resolved, although there are still a couple more to add which I couldn’t fit into the bag so it may need to be tweaked again tomorrow.

[original order copper sheet>hahnemule>tracing paper>acetate>wire mesh>bent rod>skewers>straws>sponge>pipe cleaners>candle sheet>MDF>aluminium sheet>veneer>leather>silk>crochet>knitted>perspex>glass sheet>ceramic]

{new order granite>copper sheet>solid wood>hahnemule>tracing paper>wire mesh>bent rod>straws>sponge>cardboard>cork>mountcard>aluminium sheet>MDF>skewers>pipe cleaners>perspex>chipboard>veneer>silk>picture frame>knitted>ceramic>leather>crochet>candle sheet}

as a group they are really coming together; I love the way they line up all prim and proper. the roll of paper was just a whim originally to try to keep the cubes clean but has come into it’s own now and works particularly with the end all rolled up as this implies that there is more cubes to come.

by complete chance someone had propped the door open to take their work out of the studio to another space to set up, and I really like this feeling that the cubes could just carry on going and going.

I pulled the roll of paper away from the wall more as when I set up yesterday I was conscious that people may walk into them and so had this quite far back, but it works better just that bit further out. the cubes are evenly spaced as I want them to be regarded equally with no one in particular standing out.

with the deadline now in 4 days for this module we finally had the chance to go in to margaret street and set up. bearing in mind that its just been the easter wknd, and the week prior to that the studios were closed, and the week before that the workshops closed, plus the full time students have to hand in their research this week too, it didm;t get off to a great start. us part timers are in the full timers studios, whilst they are setting up all over margaret street in what should be more of an exhibition style approach. therefore we have to wait for them to clear out. i know they’ve had weeks of notice for this date, and have even had conversations with them about how it was going to work, they still had not even begun to clear out. the studios are working studios so there is stuff everywhere naturally, but it still go on my nerves. we’re part time in the main part because we have jobs, so imagine if this was our only day to set up? what would have happened then? it did annoy me, and i wasn’t surprised, but still ggggrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!

this then set the day off for being a frustrating one, and the final tweaks i wanted to make have all turned into a bit of a disaster, so i now need still more making time, when really i would rather have stopped by now. yes i cannot blame that on other people as it is only me that is responsible for my work, but none the less, today was a very, very frustrating day, and i would rather not be writing my critical evaluation whilst i’m in this frame of mind, but time ticks on, and waits for no (woman artist)man.

i was reminded of these…..

i’ve been a worshipper of le corbusier for years and when we went on holiday with our german friends to france to meet our french friends for a week away they offered to take me to see ronchamp, which was utterly amazing; once in a lifetime memories as far as i’m concerned. anyway what with all these cubes it reminded me of the little windows that run along the one side. with the depth of the walls the recesses make a cube almost, plus combined with the serenity of the space inside (going back to how this all started) and how in a tutorial we discussed referring back to the scale of a room in proportionally sized cubes inside they seems a few cross threads that should be explored.

these are my photos from 2009