Pre-Degree show 2011

So we had our pre degree show like a month ago, but its never to late to show the photos. Overall I thought the opening night was a success. Limousine bull turned out to be just the right size for our collective work. And despite being a little further from the city centre the turnout was good.

Huge kudos to Stu for the show reel, as it turned out really nice,especially on that wee window bit.

This is the work I exhibited. These large prints were originally Polaroids. I used the negative part (which I bleached to create after developing time) and scanned them through to get the best results and options for exposure, colour etc in a rather tight timescale. Hopefully I can work with these in the darkroom in the new year.

My Anus, Your Mouth, Her Pussy.

This second piece is Originally a Guerrilla Girls broadband piece, to find out more about it and also why I used it in the show visit their site here 

Heads of state.

From their site:

When the Office of Curating and Theory at Zurich University of the Arts invited us to contribute to a show of downloadable posters, we came up with Heads of State, inspired by recent events. The Poster comes as a set of 16 easy-to-print pages that can be downloaded, assembled and prominently pinned up. Upon seeing the GGBB offering, the Zurich curators excluded it from the show without explanation. When asked was our work too shocking we were told; “No one is shocked by penises these days” – so we invite you to test this theory: download here and assemble.

Here is some other work from the show:

The performance that Naomi and I did  was also a success. I felt really great and so right for the time and moment, both for the show and also just  for the stage I'm at.

I will upload the footage of that once I've got it all together.

Gfest Novemeber 2011

So I never did get round to updating my blog with all my goings on, so (in short) here is what happened.

We (Steph and I) went to London and it was all kinds of awesome. Firstly it was nice going to London with actually money. Every other time we've gone down its been a 1p budget. We're no richie rich's but we actually managed to save a wee bit so we didn't look like the Aberdonian tattiebags we normally look like. Spending money in Camden was a rare treat, but just being there is enough for us.

Anyway, being invited down to show our work with other artists from all over, was scary but wonderful. The collective work was really great and the opening night was... it was actually very much like other opening so I didn't know why I was so scared about it. Our friend's Rachel and Jamesy came and so did Steph's totally awesome Uncle Ian and his Partner Malcolm. It was so so nice to see thme and have support and just actually hsare the moment. I think they were more excited than us.

Here is some photos I took on the night:

My favourite piece was by The trope Troupe and called Departures 3.02. 

Description: This screen-based 'travel information system', seems like a twisted admonition to 'behave' ourselves on holiday, but is, in reality, a shocking reminder that, around the world, so many gay people's sexuality is still criminalised.

About the artist: The Trope Troupe, using found objects, adapted technology, appropriated cultural artefacts and processed digital media, creates montage, collage and bricolage and has exhibited at Kinetica Art Fair, Duckie in London and Shout in Birmingham.

Everything about this piece reminds me why its important to make art, why I want to make art and why I do. I'm still in complete awe at the use of technology and also how the simplicity of the text is so hard hitting. Work like this needs to be made, it needs to public and reach people who just don't understand the issues LGBT individuals still face around the world.

All in all the experience of my first London exhibition was fantastic and I only wish I could've stayed for the whole festival.

Here is a wee video that was made of the events:

For more information on Gfest look here!

Amnesiac

Three weeks and counting I've lost to flu's and viruses. One seem to be calming down and then I catch another.  Needless to say I'm not a huge fan of my immune system at the moment. Saying that - with my latest diagnosis,  my whole body seems to be failing me. Even though it came as no shock, knowing that I have arthritis makes me really sad. I'm trying not to let it get my down, as the newer medication can reduce symptoms and fingers crossed stop it from getting any worse, but it is hard.

Normally when my physical being is failing me, I get a bit head strong, I've kinda always been great with that. Things seem to be going a little differently just now. It could just be winter, it might just be the extra pressures right now. Either way I'm not feeling at all myself. and I kinda miss her.