ARTISTS TALKING

Currently studying BA Hons Fine Art and Illustration at the University of Lincoln.

One of only a few Universities that offer joint honours courses, I combine skills I learn as an illustrator with fine art practice and vice versa. We have a beautifully located studio at the top of Steep Hill where The Red Arrows fly past the window!

 

"The imaginary was the alibi of the real, in a world dominated by the reality principle. And, paradoxically, it is the real that has become our true utopia - but a utopia that is no longer in the realm of the possible, that can only be dreamt of as one would dream of a lost object."

- Jean Baudrillard Simulacra and Simulations 

Following from previous animation work, in a similar vein to Candice Breitz's Re-animations,this work reconstructs and continues a comic book narrative based around A-ha's 1986 music video Take On Me, in which the fictional realm of the iconic 1980s music video is conflated with events that are contemporary to 2008.

Recent images of the band are being redrawn in the same style of drawing as Michael Patterson's animation, as part of an installation that explores the series of coincidences that make an A-ha fan’s world part of a virtual and real collaboration with the band themselves, a relationship that transcends the boundaries of celebrity idolatry.

 

 

I wanted to know what other people thought of these images, whether it comes across as some kind of Pop Art (Warhol) or some obsessive fan, because that is not what this work is about. I didn't receive enough feedback to gauge whether anyone was receiving erroneous "screaming teenage fan" ideas from it, because I am aware how it could be construed that way; this artist was too young to have posters of any one band all over the wall. Sorry to dispel that misinterpretation, but I've never been any good at obsessions. Reference: http://www.eyestorm.com/artists/profile/Vic_Reeves... I was merely playing around with the images, doodling, and as I was doodling images of Morten Harket I was simultaneously doodling whatever thoughts were in my head. Considering I was writing my dissertation simultaneously, the theories I am researching are foremost in my mind. I wasn't planning on continuing along the Take On Me/ A-ha direction; I was using it as a vehicle to develop further ideas from, however, when I thought about it and discussed it in relation to Baudrillard, I started to receive positive feedback that dispelled any concerns I had that it would end up looking like some kind of obsession.  

I was writing in my dissertation a reference to the window, or "mirror" in Take On Me" where the girl has already gone into the comic book realm, but still appears as real....

in the precession of the simulacrum, she represents the viewer, who is also drawn into that world... this was with reference to Velazquez' Las Meninas, that the painting is viewed from the perspective of the subjects, the king and queen, who appear as reflections in a mirror. I was thinking of the frame in the Take On Me video that they dance in front of as being like that mirror.... so I had this idea of building that frame in my studio, so that whoever enters the space immediately becomes involved in the video; the unreal becomes real. I also came across a drawing of the view outside the studio window, that I did and never used. I think that would be excellent juxtaposed with the other work, because in that image the real world outside the studio becomes part of this comic book world.

 

For taking part in Magne Furuholmen's Scrabble exhibition (also known as "Mange Magne") May - Autumn 2007 the artist has been bestowed with a personally signed letter from Mags in gratitude for the contribution, and also a limited edition CD of the sound part of the installation. The artist reserves the right to play the CD to subdue boring conversations at will.

Magne Furuholmen is a successful practising artist and member of the Norwegian band A-ha.

He invited his myspace friends to collaborate with him to create a series of dolls of him for an exhibition at Sørlandets Kunstmuseum in Kristiansand, Norway.

I made two dolls for this exhibition which have been uploaded onto his website. 

http://www.a-ha.com/cparticle7840-417.html http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=26829 

http://www.magnef.net/dolls/'

Collaborations with Magne are ongoing.

The Cabinet of Curiosities

I am taking part in curating an exhibition with a group of talented artists at the Greestone Gallery. This includes a retrospective piece: Perfectus Pupae et Hominis Cicatricosus (Latin: Perfect Dolls and Scarred Human Beings) 2005

Opening is 2.00p.m. on Wednesday 13th February at Greestone Gallery, refreshments will be served. Continuing from 10.00 to 4.00p.m. daily until 25 March Monday to Friday.

The Cupboard Project is a platform for artists to exhibit work in a cupboard.

The Cabinet of Curiosities is a joint exhibition to showcase the work of those of us artists/curators who have initiated this venture to launch The Cupboard Project.

The Cupboard  Project continues after its inception for other artists to use to exhibit their own work.

 

Yesterday I dreamed myself alive again..... typical.

 Many images are being appropriated to re-create a comic book narrative in this way. Recent images of the band members of A-ha are made to look as if part of the original comic book imagery within the video.

I have conducted a mini curatorial project to see how my final show will work. It's not easy considering that I have a lot of work to do for my comic book and I'm still not getting enough time to spend actually making it...

Half my time is spent doing Illustration work, which is continuing the doll aspect of my practice, but it means that if I have to do these curatorial projects then I'm not making the comic, and the comic is the main part of the work. The comic book will become an artist's book of sorts.

In order to accommodate the comic within the installation, I made a frame to display it on, as I'm hoping to print copies for people to take away. I made a mock-up of the two pages I had created at that stage, to form a very rudimentary version.

The glass frame was one I found. I have yet to build a larger scale frame, but health and safety concerns probably mean it won't be a glass one in any case.

I've also been making a proposal for the space  for my degree show.

The space I have in mind needs to have internet connection, as I'm planning to have a live webcast of the creation of the show.

 

 

 

This is the working front cover for the comic book.

 

An opportunity has arisen for a potential exhibition as a separate body of work, so I've been busy making a proposal for the interest of Magne Furuholmen and Paul Stolper gallery.

I have also submitted some Illustration work for D&AD. 

Several pages for the comic book have been created, but are in the process of being adjusted to fit an evolving storyboard. I will upload images when they've been converted to jpegs, but because they're still in the process of editing, they remain as photoshop files which I'm working on. It means that I can't really upload any images of the work in progress. Also, the last tutorial I had has made everything feel completely futile for me right now. I'm on my Easter break. I'm getting work ready for Art Practice And Professional Context submission - more faffing about instead of doing actual work. I got more useful advice speaking to an illustration tutor about the way the comic book will look; currently it looks a lot like a graphic novel. I wouldn't mind, but it needs to look like a comic, so I need to source some appropriate paper to print onto.

I've been keeping a blog on other sites since last semester, which is why I've been able to copy the best bits across on here. There's a lot I obviously haven't included, including a trip to New York to visit the studio of the artist Luca Buvoli, so I hope this new blog makes sense...

I've spent the past couple of days creating a book cover design for a competition on the Stuart site; I was surprised at the low quality of entries on there, and decided to make my own Tracey Emin / Superstudio / Richard Linklater version for this book about a women only book club.

Obviously this counts as Illustration work. If I posted all of my Illustration work on here it would be confusing.... 

 

Today the spaces we have been allocated for the degree show have been announced on the noticeboard. I haven't succeeded in securing the space I ideally wanted, and have spent some time today trying to figure out how I can set up my installation in a room that will require a lot more work.... hmph!

I've collected my sketchbook so I can carry on with my comic book work, and I've been trying to figure out the best option for my webcast, and it's all very slow, and not only that, I had to go to the local gallery to go and watch some performance art by some colleagues, which was all very interesting, but I'd rather hide away and get on with work. I'm avoiding University tomorrow for this reason, that every time I go there, there is some distraction, however I'll have to go out in the afternoon to avoid the disturbances of the gas man.

I went to see my son play in the school band this evening. I rather enjoyed it actually, made a nice change, as I generally don't have a social life anymore....! 

I'm getting really stressed out about the space for my installation, as I had tried to plan it so it would be straightforward, but the disappointment of having not secured the space I ideally had in mind is causing far more potential problems than I had hoped for.

I've been thinking about how to print my comic book and have decided that screen printing it is going to be too much kerfuffle and it'll be easier to just print it on newsprint through the printer in the faculty of Illustration.

I've been working hard to get my Illustration work finished so that I can concentrate on setting up my Fine Art show. Being a joint honours student has its benefits and its drawbacks.

But most of my drawbacks last week were caused by my boiler packing in.

I wasted so much time waiting for the gas man to come and fix it, plus the stress of not having heating or hot water for myself and my children for a whole week, that I haven't even begun to think about the logistics of building a room for my installation, so the repercussions of that are manifold.

 

I've finally started to set up my space now, although this was hindered slightly by the fact that Channel Four were filming an advert for the University in the gallery for a while, and the place was awash with media people and equipment!

Now that I don't seem to have any other unnecessary distractions I feel quite excited at the prospect of my show - positive comments from people have helped!

I wasted a day attempting to print my comic onto newsprint through a laserjet printer and have since considered other options, but at least my comic is finished ready for printing, so that's satisfying!

Yesterday I foolishly thought that helping to self publish the Illustration catalogue would only take up a small amount of time.... but I have finished my dolls (whoops - shouldn't mention illustration work here!!) and am addicted to photoshopping a storyboard for a potential Brothers Quay style animation.

The dolls I have been making are to illustrate Black Jack Davey, a folk rock song by Steeleye Span... that's another story, but once I've set up my Fine Art show, I will also be exhibiting my Illustration work a week later!!

As a joint honours student I had the choice to exhibit at one show or the other, or both; the other joint students are doing both shows as well, so we're in it together. I know how Clark Kent feels now......! 

The bad news is that A-ha themselves will not be able to attend my Degree Show, as they will be busy preparing for a gig at the Royal Albert Hall - I sent an invite to Morten's management via Facebook, but they declined. I'm sure they would've accepted if it wasn't for such bad timing ;-)

I have finally printed the actual comic! I'm so happy to have that finished! I was going to print several copies, but now time is running out I'm just glad to have one finished comic to go in the installation to make it complete!

Everything else is back on track, but I still have a lot to do and today I had to clear out my Illustration studio. It feels sad to know I'll be leaving soon, but at the same time I'm getting quite excited and will be glad to graduate. 

After spending most of last week setting up and preparing my Illustration Degree Show ready for assessment yesterday, last night was the preview of my Fine Art Degree Show, The Unreal God And Aspects of His Non-Existent Universe, as part of the University of Lincoln Degree Show thisisit08, as detailed on the shows page.

I made a comic style comments book to go in it, and left to get ready and pick my children up from school, and as such I was running slightly late to meet the curator. But nevertheless, she had some positive comments to make about my installation, especially how it worked juxtaposed next to my colleagues' installation in the adjacent room.

I received positive comments from people who actually went in and "read" the comic itself, and all my worries that people wouldn't be able to see it the way I intended have been allayed by the response I've received so far!

So I will share some pictures here, and then I will share my Illustration Show as well - I have pictures of how it is currently, awaiting assessment.

So, what have I been doing with myself? 

I've been busy at the faculty of Illustration, helping to prepare for the Preview Night last Friday for the Illustration Degree Show.

So I've had twice as much stress (but twice the fun!) exhibiting in two shows :-)

The Unreal God And Aspects Of His Non-Existent Universe is now closed, and I have to go and restore the space back to normal by the end of tomorrow. As it's half term, I've had to book my son in to Kids' Club especially, yet I have no more Childcare Grant left, and I'm going headlong into my overdraft now :-(

The Illustration Show lacked a sense of occasion - it felt like everyone was all there in the same room, but wandering around in their own little bubbles.

Some colleagues and I went up and down Steep Hill to buy thankyou presents for the tutors, (no mean feat!) only one of them didn't turn up to receive his! He has since thanked us for it in an email he sent me, but no word of what happened on the evening of the show! This is a mystery that I have yet to resolve..... does he have a mysterious double life???? I shall find this out!

I will be going to help invigilate the Illustration Degree Show next week, and then I have the Faculty Ball to look forward to :-)

Writing this blog is my way of avoiding working on a proposal for a series of dolls that have attracted the interest of a certain artist friend of mine, and I really should finish it and send it off, because I'm panicking about being a single parent on benefits - aaaargh!!!

I always said that if the worst happens and I have to do that for a while, at least I can make art out of it :-D

But I'd rather not.

Other news, I watched Morten Harket on Loose Women on Tuesday. Whilst I've been having Degree Shows, the band members of A-ha have been performing at the Royal Albert Hall. I have missed them for my art - this is the suffering I have to endure! 

I was invited to the opening of New Acquisitions at The Usher Gallery in Lincoln. I went there, and saw that they were now exhibiting a Salvador Dali work that I'd previously spied in the basement when we went to see the works in storage. They have also purchased two of Grayson Perry's ceramic vases that were exhibited in his "Charms of Lincolnshire" Exhibition in 2006.

Because I'm on their mailing list, I always receive invites for new exhibitions, and I enjoyed seeing the Luttrell Psalter tapestry inspired exhib in The Collection now that I have some time free. It renews my optimisn that although University life is finished, I will still be engaged with the art world outside, and if nothing else will have time to visit any exhibitions that interest me again.

This week the kids have gone back to school, and I finished my proposal and reluctantly posted it yesterday in a deluge of rain. I've since been feeling very, very nervous in anticipation of the outcome.

I've started to keep a visual diary again, and felt inspired until yesterday's deluge of rain, which effectively destroyed my enthusiasm to do anything at all.

I gave up solving the earlier mystery; it remains a mystery, even though I've been in to Uni to invigilate the show and find out information for New Designers. The Illustration Degree Show has now finished, so I will have to take down my work for that, and start preparing stuff for New Designers, so even though I've finished, I'm still going in to do work!! 

Rather bemused that I don't appear to have received a copy of a-n lately.....

Thankyou to Andrew Bryant for your article in this month's a-n. The thoughts about the perceived crisis in art education is interesting, and not a subject that has completely escaped our thoughts, it's just that with all the lectures, dissertations, lack of enough time to actually be in the studio and produce work, I doubt many students have the time to really engage in that debate, and when we have glimpsed it, it exists somewhere in our peripheral vision, something that when you actually try to look at, it disappears.

Now I'm not sure how long this blog will carry on for, as I suspect it may transfer over to the artists_talking section in time....

I'm supposed to be building a website, but I'm battling against a sense of sadness that sometimes overwhelms me  - no one told me that finishing University would be quite so depressing!

 

I have been busy exhibiting my illustration work at New Designers in London, which received positive responses, especially for our University in particular out of the many Illustration graduates that exhibited there.

I have now finished building my website - www.helendblackbird.co.uk

where there are pages for fine art work and Illustration....

I have a new proposal for a new series of dolls that I wish to make. I need to source funding for this project, and if anyone would like to know what it involves, it is on the website@

http://www.helendblackbird.co.uk/Fine_Art.html

Aside from that, I've been looking for any opportunities I can get as an artist and/or illustrator, but it seems that everything involves investing money that I just don't have. I regard myself as a producer, NOT a consumer, and will not pay to join any artist's groups until I get paid / funding for what I do. 

I need to be earning money for my work - I do not have parents to go home to, I have bills to pay and kids to feed..... and it's been over a month since I finished University and so far I've not had any luck :-(