Compton Road

Sunshine on windscreens in the street,
populated by the semiotics of property.
'The big season kick-off preview',
tribalised by black and gold,
united by carling and vodkaredbull violence.

new works, thoughts on degree show, PhD.

some things I'm working on:

- I'm planning to make a film using the nightvision button on the camcorder. I plan to head over to West Park once it gets dark, sometime next week, and shoot some stuff, either walking around the park (as you cant go in at night) or shots with a static camera. I'll either leave it without sound, or maybe add walking sounds, or the sound of lots of people, whatever seems to fit.

- Drawings made by walking. I've recently discovered the artist Tim Knowles, who creates contraptions that produce drawings (www.timknowles.co.uk). I want to do something similar, but for walking. I want to make something that will record the action of walking. I figure I can do thing with a box, lined with paper, either with a pen on a spring that would make marks as you walk, or a tin of paint with a small hole in the bottom that would make lines as you walked. I'm a little concerned as its not a very original idea, but I think it'll produce some interesting drawings so i'm going to do it anyway.

- I'm also writing poem-type things. Inspired by particular places. Dunno what they are or what they're doing yet.

- Found Abstracts. Pretty self-explanatory - photographing abstract things found on the streets whilst walking about (lampposts are a rich mine of these).


For the degree show that is looming, I'm planning an installation. A series of slides (some general city shots, some found abstracts, some monument shots) set to a soundtrack. I want the soundtrack to be quite long, with various different types of sound recorded in different places.

As for my PhD funding applications, the AHRC have decided whether or not to give me some money, but I have to wait till the get round to sending me the letter. Wolves uni are also offering 5 PhD studentships, so I'm going to have a go at that too. I reckon I should be in with a shout as my proposal has already been accepted.

A Poem (of sorts)

Staffordshire House, Fold Street

5.30, waiting.
An alienated pedestrian,
please see reception.

as drivers follow
one way systems between interiors
lone motorists ignore lone pedestrians

Attention: delivery drivers visiting this
site must reverse under supervision.

Everyone is liable for prosecution

Degree Show Plans

following the meeting yesterday, I now have, provisionally, two projection booth type spaces in which display some work. As I've written in previous posts, the work I'm planning to exhibit is a kind of srtipped down montage: images and sound, but from two different sources. In one of the booths I'm planning to display a projection work/film about a Russian war memorial in Riga that I photographed. For the soundtrack I was planning on writing something (a history of the occupation of Latvia, a poem etc), or using a section from a text, then getting my grandma, who speaks fluent Latvian, to translate it into Latvian. I would then read it out and record it.

As for the other booth I'd like to do something with Matt. We've collaborated previously and share common ground when it comes to practice, so I think it'd be a good way to finish our MA's if we were to collaborate on something. What I'd like to do is again along the lines of images and sound, something about urban experiences. I'd like Matt to make a soundtrack and me to put images to it. Something along those lines

I'm also working on a series of photographs - found abstracts. I'd like to, if there's space, display some of these in the show.