http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Children of Craig-y-nos Fri, 04 Jul 2008 16:42:29 +0100 a-n rss generator a-n The Artists Information Company and contributors edit@a-n.co.uk technical@a-n.co.uk http://sites.a-n.co.uk/img/logo.gif http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 I have just uploaded my latest video to You Tube titled "Ben A'an" which is also on my web-site  (www.annshaw.co.uk ) based on a walk last Sunday afternoon up Ben A'an in The Trossachs.Is it art? well, some of my videos are because they have been shown in galleries but more and more I find myself making work that covers an area that is neither personal nor public. So far I have had nearly 14,000 "hits" -no way would I have got that number of people to see my work in any gallery.It is as if the tools of new technology  allow one to access an area never before been made visible to the public.I am not alone.  Over 300 videos are uplifted to You Tube every 20 minutes.There is this worldwide unleashing of creativity. Where is it going? nobody knows. .....it's like  "wild west" frontier country only this is into virtual space.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 What do you do when someone is rude about your video on You Tube?  until today all the comments I have received about my videos have been postive but this morning when I clicked on my email there was this nasty message from a guy in Uruguay!....do I reply, ignore it , send a sharp message back or simply press the delete button?  cant decide.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Whoops!...just discovered this web site does not support video clips, and cant figure out how to delete the code. Oh well....this morning I uploaded a video I discovered in my digital studio ( i.e. spare bedroom) which I made 2 years ago as a result of a weeks shared artist residency in  the Changing Room gallery, Stirling.It was called "Work in Progress"and I chose to do  an interactive digital photographic project with members of the public and the end result was this video.Except it has never been seen. So to-day I put it up on You Tube. Its on my web-site:www.annshaw.co.uk... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Sometimes you get fed up sitting in front of the computer, well quite often actually! and you feel in need of seeing some exhibitions. So have been into Edinburgh to see Peter Howson at the City Arts Centre and Douglas Gordon at the Royal Scottish Academy.  Both are ex graduates of Glasgow School of Art and they were a  few years ahead of me- I only graduated in 2001 ( as a very mature student). In fact all the major exhibitions taking place at the moment in Scotland are ex GSA students - Christine Borland ( Turner Prize runner up) has just opened at the Fruitmarket gallery in Edinburgh and David Shrigley at the Centre for Contemporary Arts in Dundee.  Must be something in the Glasgow air....Found Howson's exhibition stimulating and it was great to look at paintings and drawings again. Douglas Gordon? well I am not so sure. Have seen all the work except the elephant piece which is magnificent, before. When you are dealing with digital conceptual work it does raise the question: do you really need a huge gallery to show it? why not show it on the internet?Just discovered lots of Peter Howson's paintings on e-bay!....... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Making web movies is a bit like gardening. Once they are up on the internet you tend them carefully, doing a bit of viral marketing if they are slow to take off, or some good old fashioned physical networking like yesterday when I went to an exhibition in a private house and discovered that the Brigadier of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders had just purchased a number of paintings for Stirling Castle and he was a personal friend of the family.   I happened to mention that I had filmed the Argyll & Sutherlands last historic march through Stirling in August and its proving to be a great hit on the web.  So they suggested I drop off a copy of the dvd for the Brigadier.  It would be great to have it in their official archives.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Attended an evening seminar yesterday in the CCA, Glasgow organised by the Cultural Enterprise Office.(www.info@culturalenterpriseoffice.co.uk) It was excellent! It focused on building confidence and developing skills. Called"Looking back, looking forward - with confidence".Voice coach Hilary Jones, who trains actors at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, gave a highly informative talk on how to use your voice when making presentations/pitches.(including some interactive demonstrations and a spot of Tai'chi  - learning to relax through proper breathing etc).Did you know that a public speaker is judged on 50% appearance, 7% on content and 38% quality of ther voice?Lynne O'Neil took us through goal setting techniques.  Instead of telling us how useful they were she made us do it!    While I have read many books on the subject I had never actually put pen to paper and completed any of the exercises.  She made us take 5 blank pieces of paper and write down :(1) achievements for past year (2) things we want to leave behind (3) Wild dreams(if you could wake up tomorrow morning and your dreams would be fulfilled what would they be?) (4) goals for next year and (5) things you want to bring into your life.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,585-2487919,00.html Hope this link works to Grayson Perry's account of the Turner Prize at the Tate gallery.(links not working today...help webmaster where are you?)... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Following my video "The Singing ghost" about Craig-y-nos Castle in Wales the BBC web-site have asked me to write a piece for them on the book I am researching about the time this was used as a TB sanatorium for children. Hundreds, maybe thousands of children passed through Craig-y-nos, many died, yet there are no records of this in Welsh history. I was there for 4 years as a child. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYBE2saRm7M... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 A 13 year old boy has just signed up to my videos and I have got a message from a 34 year old guy who found the film I made on Dunblane " Best in Show" under Google. He doesnt say if he has any Scottish connections.But I am really miffed that the local paper, Stirling Observer, did not carry a story I sent them of my appeal to find the names of all the folk who took part in my photographic project in the Changing Room gallery some time ago. Its up on You Tube and has had over 100 hits in a couple of days. Clearly there is a lot of local interest but can I get the paper interested? no way.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 I was going to show a video in Cafe Flicker last night at the open cinema run by Glasgow Media Access Centre http://www.g-mac.co.uk but decided instead to write the piece for the BBC Wales online site. Have just sent it off.I cannot speak too highly about Cafe Flicker. It is an excellent community led project whereby anyone, and I mean anyone, can walk in on the night and show a film. Now some are professional ones made by film students and recent graduates from film course, some are properly funded projects , and the rest, like myself are folk who just make short films because we love the medium. It's a very supportive environment. You get to talk about the film and answer questions.. Sometimes this can be a bit intimidating because Glasgow audiences are tough , streetwise and very savvy about modern culture.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://youtube.com/watch?v=MRRzv-APp2U Will this work? some friends went to the Antartica earlier this year and I put their photos together into a musical slideshow and popped it up on You Tube.I'm following Anne Brodie's account of her residency in Antartica with great interest.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Received my first electronic Christmas card of the season - from Glasgow School of Art.  http://www.gsa.ac.uk/ Seems they are cutting back on Christmas cards ( an excellent idea!) and using the money instead to fund  scholarships.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 One of the big attractions of You Tube is that it offers inter-activity. You create a piece of work and others comment on it. Its no longer the perogative of art critics and curators to say what is or isnt art.In the new digital world we are all critics.So I was delighted today to find a Canadian performance artist had found my spoof video on "The Conceptual Artist" hilarious.If links work you should find it at:The Conceptual Artisthttp://youtube.com/watch?v=sNa_GL2SX8U... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 I often wondered what was the attraction of my film on the Bridge of Allan Highland Games this summer. I thought it was nostalgia, all those ex-Scots abroad wanting a taste of their homeland. Now I have just received a comment from a 35 year old man in Israel and the secret of the 2,546 hits is clear: it's the blonde girl wrestling her male opponents!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GncZoKF-v_c... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 BBCMidWales online have posted my story- but we've got problems with the video and copyright music...http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/mid/sites/abercraf/pages/annshaw.shtml... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332  Picasso was once asked:"why do you make work" and he replied:"why do birds sing?" Thursday means IT Guardian. Victor Keegan is writing about the Slingbox.. This is a new gadget that allows you to access your computer and telly from anywhere in the world ...on your mobile phone.He says:"All of the new social networking sites- from You Tube to My Space- are hosted on the internet so can be accessed directly by phone wherever you are.  So why rush back to your computer at home? Mobilise yourself: the revolution is just beginning."(I am writing this in order to avoid getting down to doing work...it's the equivalent to finding odd jobs to do, fiddling with paper clips and anything that puts off the evil moment when you start the day working).Wikia have launched a new site called Open Serving a free server where anyone can launch content and collect advertising revenue.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Footprints Jack Schofield in the Guardian suggests using the free"crap cleaner" if you want to remove tracks such as browser history, cookies, autocomplete entries etc.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Why is it that every time you tell folk you are an artist ( as happened yet again at a party last night) the first question is:"Do you make any money out of it?"... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Got an e-mail saying the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCrKriXvkLo ) regiment stationed in Canterbury have had a private screening of my video. Until now You Tube has been free from spam. Now getting pornographic messages from Brazilian sex sites. Keep blocking them but I gather these spammers have some kind of automatic system so it could take some time before I clear them all out.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Still have not heard from the woman in Los Angeles, who requested a copy of the film I made in New Orleans which contained some footage of a friend hers. Decided to check up with an e-mail to her but the address bounced. Notice the address is “Hurricane Victim@”. Guess she has moved on.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Anish Kapoor said artists have to keep regular studio hours then "something magical happens". It's no good waiting for inspiration to come . You've got to get in the studio everyday and do it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anish_Kapoor... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Have just uploaded my final video for this year- a Christmas one entitled "The Lost Dog" based on a constructed narrative from one snowy afternoon earlier this year with my dog.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Re. my research into 40 years of missing Welsh history at Craig-y-nos Castle things have started to roll in this area following the piece on the BBC Wales site.  Carole Reeves from The Wellcome Trust for Medical History is proving to be a goldmine of information and very supportive.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Just had some feedback from a friend who thought my latest video ("The Lost Dog")"old fashioned....(http://www/youtube.com/watch?v=EauXUpmxtI) like a Lowry painting".Well, I was a bit gobsmacked at first. Old fashioned is not a word I like to hear used about my work. But I could understand the reference to a Lowry painting because I remember thinking that as I was filming the children and adults playing in the snow.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 FractalsSome of the stuff on You Tube is awesome! just take a look at this one on fractals ( OK there's a lot of junk too). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAx4WmMlljY... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Well, I guess I may not have been on the web for the past couple of days but I can see from checking my site that plenty of people have been viewing my videos, including a woman from New Zealand who added a comment which left me nonplussed.( Singing Ghost video). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYBE2saRm7M... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Digital Native or Digital Immigrant?We had a young art student from Shanghai with us over the festive season and I took her to the Scottish Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh.We stopped in front of Douglas Gordon's wall text:"Everyone I have ever met". At first she was intrigued asking what was the context of the work."You mean its just everyone he has ever met?""Yes."She shrugged. "But it's just like an e-mail address book. No different."And she walked on, clearly disappointed.Looked at from the perspective of a 22 year old Chinese artist Gordon's work seemed curiously dated; so 20th century.I realised with a jolt that digital natives automatically collect the names of everyone they have ever met in their e-mail address books as soon as their fingers are able to touch the computer.Digital immigrants like myself are running to catch up. http://www.nationalgallleries.org/... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Immersive art The Guardian says in an article on" The Year in Art 2006" that :" For many, though,the artistic event of the year was not looking at art- but sliding down it in Carsten Holler's huge slides in Tate Modern's Turbine Hall."The slides are a brilliant idea in immersive art...loosing yourself in the moment. ( But how does it differ from a fairground except that it is in a gallery?...)http://www.tate.org.uk/modern... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 AN Editorial  http://www.a-n.co.uk/ It is appropriate to end 2006 with a look at the editorial in the current issue of AN magazine for it signals an awakening in the art world of the great opportunities now available to artists through the internet and digital technologies. The editorial talks of the" seismic shift that's taking place in how information is generated and shared," and they point out that the mass democratisation of the media through the internet offers unheralded opportunities for artists." This web-site is quoted as an example.As a former journalist I am only too aware of the way that old media has been decimated and I view the current change as exciting, challenging and providing a platform for everyone .The music industry has been changed out of all recognition by the internet - think Ipod and ITunes.  Need I say more. Mass media television is quaking in its shoes as it fights for viewers as more and more young people turn away from it and top the internet as the primary source of information, entertainment (and culture?).E-publishing looks like being hot news in 2007 as the Observer carries a story about a machine that electronically stores 2.5 million books that can then be printed and bound in less than seven minutes. It prints in any lanaguage and costs 1p a page. On Demand Books will be launched first in several US libraries.Where does this leave the art world?  In this new world that awaits us how will art be produced, marketed and curated? Who will be the new gatekeepers in the future? Will we still have the current Holy Trinity of curator, dealer and art critic/historian-those people who decide who or who will not succeed as artists?2007 looks like an exciting time...... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Season of "wee feelies" A Happy New Year to one and all!  in Scotland this is known as the "season of wee feelies" when men of all ages are free to kiss and cuddle all women - and believe me they make the most of the opportunity!Now recovering after last night's Hogmanay party so decided to share with you my latest favourite video on You Tube. Enjoy!It's a black and white animation made by a 27 year old guy from the States.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bApGUyo_NAsPS  yesterday's I watched the video on You Tube  of Saddam Hussein being hanged.  And I wish I hadn't. Shocking, sordid and a blot on humanity. The image of his last few moments of life, the abuse thrown at him by hooded figures and his defiant refusal to wear a hood, will remain with me forever.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Digital video sculpture: Alan Rath www.alanrath.org/DVSculptures/index.html Wanted to check something on a painter friend's web-site only to discover she's not kept it up to date! however, did stumble across this fascinating web-site of digital video sculpture by Alan Rath. He's a graduate of MIT - that Holy Grail of all things digital/cutting-edge so its not surprising that his work has an edgy new feel about it.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Eagle chick (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJTCfmwRA4A )Just found another comment about my video on the 8 week old European chick owl. Uploaded 4 months ago it has had 1,412 hits. It never ceases to amaze me about the kind of stuff that folk like to view on YouTube.  It is as if this video sharing site offers an opportunity to view an hitherto unrecognized area of our lives that is neither personal nor public.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://www.artsjournal.com/man/The Walker Arts Centre blog asked Tyler Green to nominate his Top Ten art shows in 20006.Interesting but, you've guessed, all American.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Death on camera www.guardian.co.uk Today's leader in The Guardian "Death on camera" articulates the feelings I have not been able to find words for after seeing Saddam Hussein hanged on YouTube."It is curious, but till that moment I had never realised what it means to destroy a healthy, conscious man," wrote George Orwell after witnessing a hanging.While Dr T Hargey, Chairman of the Muslim Educational Centre of Oxford pointed out the implications of the day they chose:"While the barbaric tyranny of Iraq's former dictator must be condemned, the rushed judicial killing of Saddam Hussein on Eid al-Adha ( the holiest day in the Islamic calendar) is a grave and revolting provocation."... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://www.artsjournal.com/culturegrrl/2007/01/adopt_an_artworkfor_free.html I I love it!...adopt an artwork for free!  Why are all the best ideas soooo..simple! This is the answer to all those pieces of artwork lying around. Well, it's a thought.I love Artsjournal(http://www.artsjournal.com)... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Missing Welsh history Beginning to regret having jumped so eagerly into the project to write about the 40 missing years of Welsh history in Craig-y-nos Castle. It looks like being much more time-consuming that I envisaged. Both the BBCWales online site http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/mid/sites/abercraf/pages/annshaw.shtmland Carole Reeves from the Wellcome Trust for Medicine are proving to be extremely helpful. On the other hand I am going to use as many tools of new technology as possible to speed up the research.Hopefully the end result will be an online collaborative effort. Charles Leadbeater, (www.charlesleadbeater.net)  a leading  writer on innovation and creativity, is already pioneering this approach to writing books. He has just published his latest book online and is asking for contributions before it goes finally into hard copy.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Podcasting WorkshopHave been meaning to get into podcasting for some time so I am delighted to see that the Electron(http://www.electronclub.org)  club based in the CCA(http://www.cca-glasgow.com/) - Centre for Contemporary Arts- Glasgow are organising a free evening on Wednesday January 10th.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Huskies galore! Yet another guy in North America has signed up for my video on huskies.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h46JzGrSD7MThis is another example of what Chris Anderson author of 'The Long Tail' ( and editor of Wired magazine) calls the niche market. www.thelongtail.comThis little video - very old footage shot over 10 years ago in analogue during a stopover in Alaska en route to Japan was put up on the net 5 months ago. Its had 670 "hits", which is modest but the interesting thing is that it continues every week to attract new viewers. Its the "long tail" effect and it applies to everything digital.And that's what makes it so exciting for the future .All things digital have a different mode of culture and commerce, no longer dominated by mass media,cultural gatekeepers, Box-office hits and top-seller lists.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 So Apple are launching the iPhone! great news..it's not due on the European market until the end of the year but it will combine a mobile phone, internet access, IPod music and video playback features. In 10 days time I am going to Wales to do some research for my online book and the thought of being without my computer for the best part of the week is making me nervous. Yes I could take my laptop but the places I am going to are remote with no internet access.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Podcasting OK this is reckoned to ultra cool , the most zeitgsty stuff around, and I was very nervous about moving into it. I have still got too many memories of struggling with html and web design to view another "learning experience" as yet another battle with new technology .But last night at the Electron  club in Glasgow's CCA it was a possible experience and I am sold on podcasting. This is story-telling brought into the 21st century and yes I am going to take my laptop with me to Wales and start collecting some oral history there.The whole evening kicked off to a good start, something I took as a very good omen,when I walked in and found people seated around a huge round table with Apple laptops ( mostly) .  I was in Apple country: intuitive, safe, arty,graphic , music.At the end of the evening we had all made our first podcast and uploaded it to the net. No small achievement!...thanks to John Harris, Michelle Kasprzak and Simon Yuill.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 You Tube Phone call 9a.m. yesterday. "Can we send a photographer around?" It's the local newspaper. They want to do a piece on my videos on You Tube -http://www.a-nunedited.co.uk/projects/youtube.com Frantic panic to tidy the place up. The young photographer uses Audacity so we get to talking about podcasting. Some weeks ago I contacted them for help with tracing all the folk I filmed in The Changing Room gallery. The video piece is now several years old but the participants never got to see the finished result- until now thanks to You Tube. It would be good if I could put names to all the hands. ( My tutors at Glasgow School of Art used to nag me  for not "finishing off" work properly and I guess this is another example, well I am trying.....)... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 IPhone Aren't we all longing to get our mitts on one?...y'know what I mean...and we have to wait until the end of the year! I'm talking about the most hyped gadget around: IPhone. Come to think of it I am going to New York in March...maybe I can buy one then.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Moral dilemma in video-making Using your family and friends as raw material in making videos is tricky. You walk a thin line between exploiting them or turning them into an "art video".Bill Viola -http://www.billviola.com - never had any qualms in this area: he regarded his family as grist for his artistic mill and filmed his wife giving birth and his mother dying. Well, the reason I bring this up is that my project is far less emotionally fraught but it crosses over cultural boundaries between East and West.  Over Christmas I had two students staying (Shanghai and Hong Kong) and between us we made a short film - well 18 minutes. They have agreed I can put it up on YouTube. (After I cut it back to three mins max.) In fact they are quite looking forwrd to seeing it on YouTube...but I feel a bit squeamish turning what was an informal family occasion into a film for the world-wide web.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 The Hidden LandscapeHave just uploaded my first video of 2007 and discovered that there is a whole sub-culture of videos on YouTube devoted to mushrooms! View it on You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYQ2ac5KXD4or my videoblog:http://www.annshaw.co.uk... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Have had a request from someone who wants to buy a copy of my video of the Argyll & Sutherland Highland Regiment marching through Stirling. Have also had a  request for  a copy of Adelina Patti singing "Home Sweet Home" in my "Singing Ghost" movie.These raise all kinds of issues: how much do I charge? do I offer a "Directors cut" version- lots of unedited footage, and what about copyright issues in the "Singing Ghost"?Had a publisher on the phone this morning  before 9 o'clock wanting to commission a book. We discussed it for a while and it was agreed I would get back to him after I return from Wales.Two local papers in Wales are carrying  today my appeal for my project "The Lost Children of Craig-y-nos" and e-mails have started to roll in to-night.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Research appealThe local papers have picked up my request to interview people connected with Craig-y-nos. While it has resulted in a few people e-mailing/phoning me these have all- with one exception- been ex-members of staff.The Wellcome Trust are being very helpful with background material.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Home again! Week researching book in South Wales, a real emotional roller-coaster. People kept saying:"I have never talked about this before..." It was a cathartic experience with some breaking down and crying.Came back to Scotland to find  53 phone calls, emails and letters waiting: all from people wanting to share their memories and photographs. My partner has been acting as my secretary and he says that after each traumatic phone call he needed" to sit down with a stiff drink".  It was with relief that I switched on the computer and moved into the virtual world.  Several more have joined my video site on You Tube.Oh yes, I got a letter from Brigadier Derek Kirk saying that my video of the Argyll's march through Stirling has gone into the Regimental museum in Stirling Castle.Just when I thought I was getting comfy in new media, having cast aside traditional media, I discover this is being replaced by social media.  MediaGuardian are running a one day conference on March 22 which is described as a "multi-stream summit....challenges facing traditional media in the digital age...consider the impact of changing from new media to social media, the effect of IPTV and internet radio and the challenge of democratising content in the user-in-control era."What's IPTV?... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 And still the photographs come rolling in!yet more phone calls, email and a letter from people who were in Craig-y-nos hospital offering photographs and amazing stories.I am trying to keep track of this online at my other weblog: www.craig-y-nos.blogspot.com but I have so much material that only a fraction gets put online.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Studio on the worldwide webLocal paper, Allanwater News, carries a story this week about my online work with videos.I liked the headline: Reaching out to a whole new audienceIt includes the following quote from me:" I work with new media, digital photography, digital video and computers because they are the tools of our age and offer the most appropriate medium to say something new about the world we live in."... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 YouTube.Just read that YouTube are going to start paying folk for their videos...wonder how much?James Provan a young videomaker and songwriter from Scotland has been paid £2,000 by Time-Warner for a clip of one of his videos. His web site is: www.gir2007 His pancake video is enormously popular.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Martin Creed, Turner Prize winner of the "lights on lights off" fame/notoriety, will be speaking on Feb.23 at the Glasgow School of Art Friday event. This is likely to be hugely popular and they have issued a notice saying that while the event is free it is ticketed and these must be got in advance.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Collected tickets today from the Glasgow Film Theatre for Martin Creed 's talk. Tickets are going fast.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 A new Scottish based video sharing site is on the internet. It looks like YouTube. (www.scotvid.com)Michelle Kasprzak, Programme Director of New Media Scotland, www.mediascot.org sent me an e-mail about it.( wish I could make these f....links work on my Apple!)... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 The electronic book.Well, this may or may not change the way we read in future and its just been launched in America. I am of course talking about Sony's PRS-500, an electronic book smaller than a paperback containing 18 books.Victor Keegan of the Guardian reviewed it. He says he found it easy to read and the print size could be increased to 200%.His final comment is:"The key thing is, it makes reading on a screen pleasurable. That is saying something."... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Research Just submerged in research for my book. Had not expected the public response that I got-  81 people -wanting to contribute. Only a few are on email so most of the work is going to have to be done on the telephone with some "live" interviews. I have a weblog up about it (http://www.craig-y-nos.blogspot.com) but because it deals with older people I suspect that not many are accessing it. However, I am trying to put at least one story up on it every day. Some of the stories coming out are Dickensian: child forced to eat cabbage until he vomited; children living out on open balconies and covered in snow; parents allowed to visit once a month; children tied to beds. Yet there are also good times -the camaraderie of children suffering together against adult world.Some have never spoken about their experiences before. Many talk about their "lost childhood" in this remote castle in mid-Wales used as a TB sanatorium.Got an email from The Changing Room gallery in Stirling. They are launching a 24 hour virtual museum and are asking for some info from those of us who have had work there.It seems ages since I have done any video work...... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 And still the photos and emails come rolling in...however this afternoon met up with Caroline - we havent met since we were 10 years of age- and she has offered to help with the book. It's an offer I can't refuse. With nearly 80 people waiting to be interviewed we are seriously wondering if there is some money around to help.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Phew! I had no idea what I had started when I began to research a book on a piece of missing Welsh history. . The stories from the former child patients are rolling in and its a struggle to put all this into some kind of order. Have still got 8 hours of audio to edit. The stories range from the bizarre - midnight feasts on the castle roof- to Dickensian - children forcefed food. For many their experiences, usually running into years, had a profound effect on them for they were isolated physically from the rest of the world ( remote Welsh castle) and from their parents ( visiting allowed once a month).I am keeping a weblog about the research(www.craig-y-nos.blogspot.com)... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Another 26 photos arrived on email this morning , thank goodness for Broadband, but it still took ages to download.Well I had hoped my e-book would be inter-active - and its certainly being that - but had not expected it to be inter-generational. All these photos that are flowing in ( 72 yesterday on CD) are being sent by children and grandchildren who are suddenly discovering the "hidden life" of their elders, a history they never suspected.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Have just heard that The Wellcome Trust want to archive my daily weblog on Craig-y-nos. (www.craig-y-nos.blogspsot.com ) This is good news and makes up for the nasty comments appearing on the BBCMidWales website(www.bbc.co.uk/wales/mid/sites/abercraf/pages/annshaw.shtml... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 VideoI am going to have a little moan. You would never expect a plumber or an electrician to work for nothing yet somehow artists, especially if you work digitally, are asked to work for nothing on the grounds that "it will only take a few minutes...all we want is a 5 /6 minute video."Yes, after much prevarification I agreed to do one for a friend ( who shall remain anonymous) to go with her upcoming exhibition.Because you cant see anything - its all done digitally inside a computer- there is little understanding amongst the non-computer literate of the complexity of the work.The promise that the work would arrive already in a form to put straight into the computer i.e. still images on CD and video cassette ready to be edited proved still-born. so, please spare a thought for us poor video artists before you ask us to "knock up" a quick video to go with your exhibition.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Damien HirstAnyone wanting a lesson in media manipulation should read the following link http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol1389313.eceon how Damien Hirst is "doing Hollywood" with impeccable timing for the Oscars and flying in a 100 members of his staff for the occasion after the New York critics trashed his show in New York.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Where have all these photos of Craig-y-nos Castle come from? I must have had around 300 sent in so far.They are very small, often crumpled but clearly treasured memories of a unique experience which girls, now mature to elderly women, are keen to share.Today the local paper in Wales has had a photo spread ( have yet to see it) and I fear this will result in an avalanche of more photographs. it is quite extraordinary!... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Well, I have just finished the rough edit for my friend's video to go with her exhibition next month in France. And there's at least 3-4 hours work still to be done to complete the video, make the DVD cover, and of course put the whole thing down to DVD.Tomorrow I go to London for the weekend and next Thursday fly out to Duhab. Just checked on the internet and discovered that 30 people were shot in this resort a year ago. No wonder its a bargain basement winter holiday! Meanwhile how do I get internet access? The London hotel promises all rooms are WI.Fi but Egypt? that's another matter.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Visited the Tate Modern while in London, always a stiumulating experience- and there's a good cafe too. And yes I did see the Gilbert and George exhibition though now I wonder why I spent £9 to see one whole floor of the Tate devoted to the work of these two men. Two or three rooms would have been more than sufficient. Seems the public are voting with their feet too . This is not the blockbuster they had expected.Do I really want to spend my Sunday afternoons staring at larger than lifesize images of giant penis' made of shit? and reading walls covered in graffitti?Anyway, I think it was mean of Gilbert and George to insist that the big slide is switched off during their exhibtion; only the smaller ones were in operation.If art reflects the culture of its times then in a strange way the work of Gilbert and George holds a mirror up to our celebrity obsessed, consumer driven age. Yet in a curious way it all seemed to so..er...English and slightly old-fashioned. Oh well, back to Scotland...... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Egypt Off to Duhab tomorrow.  The next week is going to be a real test for me of using the technology.  Will I find internet access in the middle of the desert? will I be able to upload my daily blog on stories and pictures ?  These are already stored on a remote server so in theory providing I can find a computer linked to the web I should still be able to upload text and images. Had thought of taking my "work in progress" along on a memory stick until I learnt that this is a popular way for hackers to get into computers. Going to a country  paranoid about terrorists it is unlikely I would be allowed  to access a computer with a memory stick.Material for my book continues to flow in at a steady rate and I need email access daily. Folk get stroppy if they dont get an email reply within 24 hours. Thanks to a visiting young Dutch boy next door have finally managed to convert all my audio files into MP3 so I can edit interviews. My online book will now have podcasts- oral history in the raw.Hope to do some video in the coming week, the location should be great, and it will be a change from delving into the past.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Dahab, EgyptGot internet access but its about to run out of money. Wish I had brought my laptop, every room is WI.FI . Have updated blog: www.craig-y-nos.blogspoot.com Fantastic light here. Am about to start some photography. Tomorrow there is a lunar eclipse in the desert.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Lunar eclipse in the Sinai dessert  Watched the moon turn red last night while lying under the stars out in the Sinai dessert ( OK there were a few dozen other people there as well so it was hardly a solitary experience).Before we watch the moon eclipse we look at the rings of Saturn through a gigantic telescope. This is extraordinary. It seems "alive", that's the only way I can describe the rings, composed of rock and ice hurtling around the planet.As for the telescopes, they look like huge sci-fi monsters perched in the dessert. There are six of them. As the moon disappears in the cloudless dessert sky it's recorded for posterity with much clicking of cameras, mobile phones and camcorders( and yes, I am one of them).The security guy in the van is a bit of a surprise but we are assured this is essential. 36 folk got killed in Dahab last year in a bombing attack.Fears that there would be no internet access in this part of the world are groundless. Have found four internet cafes in Dahab.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 There's something weird about sitting in an internet cafe in Dahab checking emails from research information pouring in from Wales regarding an institution that existed 50 years ago.There's also something comforting in knowing that the world is all linked together, no matter where you are. And I am on the edge of the Sinai dessert.Will post images as soon as I get back.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Very scary landing at midnight in a snowstorm into Glasgow airport. The plane appeared to "wobble" high over the landing strip - with all 300 passengers fresh from the Sinai dessert on board- then took off again!....A long silence followed. Where was the captain? Eventually his voice came over the inter-com. He said that due to weather conditions he had decided to "make a second landing". Eventually the plane touched down. And the passengers applauded.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 "Kill your little darlings!"Fat chance! I gave the rough edit of the video I had agreed ( reluctantly) to make for a friends exhibition in France a week ago and suggested she reduce it by at least five minutes.No she couldnt bring herself to part with her images, in fact she wanted more added at which point I got all frosty and uptight and said"no way".Yet this is the stage where you have to be ruthless:"kill your little darlings!" was how one tutor at Glasgow School of Art summed it up; painful but necessary.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Dahab - the power of imagesFollowing my visit to Egypt I decided to check out YouTube.  I wish I hadn’t. There were some very disconcerting videos of divers dead at the bottom of the Red Sea: one of a young girl curled up as if asleep in a foteal position, and another of a guy who had videoed his own death.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 The Tramway: Curatorial pseudo-intellectual artspeak!It’s good to see Ian Gale, Scotland’s top art critic , tackling some of the obtuse art writing in exhibition guides.Take this from the current exhibition at the Tramway in Glasgow of Katie Dove and Victoria Morton.:“Of Dove:”experiential reference points allow the viewer access to the work through their own experience of the moment.”Or Morton: “Detailed and continuous composition is intended to punctuate the non-linguistic, undefined limits of our imagination.”He says:” If such worthwhile artists as these are to be introduced to a wider audience they need some sort of coherent interpretation not this half-baked, pseudo-psychological artspeak.”I was thinking of going to see this exhibition, on second thoughts I won’t bother.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 "The  Children of Craig-y-nos” My online book is taking up most of my time. It’s proving to be challenging as well as interactive (over 70 people have contacted me), intergenerational  ( grandparents are getting their grandchildren to help them with the technology) and collaborative ( folk get a print out from the blog and can add/change as they wish) and I have a team of people helping  including  assistance from an historian in The Wellcome Trust, as well as the Sleeping Giant Foundation , charity specialising in oral history in Wales, and of course, friends who are helping with interviews and repairing damaged photos in Photoshop. checkout: http://craig-y-nos.blogspot.comI was encouraged to read in yesterday’s Financial Times that more publishing companies are  putting their physical books into a virtual, digital warehouse.Could an electronic e-book, transform the reading world as the IPod has music?You just download the chapter you want.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Finally got around to uploading a new web movie. It's called "Mirage", result of my week in Dahab only this was made out in the Sinai desert. Hope the link works. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnaq6OiKBNEIf not go to : www.annshaw.co.uk... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Art has many functions and acting as a social catalyst is one of them. Tonight at a function met a fellow country ( Welsh) woman and discovered that we had a mutual acquaintance who went to Antartica knowing that he had terminal cancer. I made him a video based on his photos and this is up on the internet. I sent her a link. Its my memorial to him./youtube.com/watch?v=MRRzv-APp2U... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Astonished to find that my seahorse web movie has got 17 ratings on YouTube, and for the first couple of weeks it hardly moved. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5arlAweuzg  Suddenly its taken off. This is part of what is known as the "long tail" effect of the web.Fascinated to read in the current issue of A-N that there is a virtual residency being advertised in Second Life.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 AvatarsSomewhere in deep cyberspace I have an avatar . Well, actually its lodged in Second Life and I am one of the 5million who have registered since last July. At that time there were only 330,000 there.However, my avatar lies dormant. I am not alone. Most of us who register never get around to being active in Second Life. A more accurate figure of users, says the Technology Guardiantoday is 1 million. Still that's a hefty number of people to be playing in virtual space on a regular basis.So I was interested to see that Ars Virtua is advertising under Opportunities in AN magazine for a resident artist to carry out a performance in a place that has no physical location.You apply via your online avatar....now what was the password?... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 You Tube have introduced a couple of new projects.  One is a special section for mobile videos. Have only had a look at two and they were surprisingly good. Had expected the technical quality to be poor.They have also got a Test Tube an ideas "incubator" which allows you to try out new "recipes and concotions" while still in the development stage.One is an Audio Swap ( an attempt to solve the problem of music copyright) which offers you the chance to replace your aduio with officially licensed music.....mmmmmThe other is Stream..chat with others who are watching the same videos as you.You are invited to "jump in and play around."... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Sometimes it's good to go out into the woods and make site-specific work, especially after hours in front of a computer writing.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 I like to get out before breakfast with my camera at this time of the year and work with objects I have collected and kept in my studio, like this bone from a sheep.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Early walk before breakfast doing some simple photography with found objects before leaving for New York where life will be anything but quiet...... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Just back from New York. Had expected to be able to update my blog on a daily basis through using internet cafes.Not so. In New York everyone is WI-Fi and they carry their own personal gadgets ( cell phone, laptops etc) for accessing the internet.Madison Square Gardens had huge banners advertising that it was Wi-FiMy budget hotel, the very funky Gershwin just off 5th AVenue had 2 computers with internet access and I used that to update my online book (www.craig-y-nos.blogspot.com). This was situated in a corridor and in much demand by other users; it was also unreliable, gobbling up dollar notes as if there was no tomorrow. Found my room was above one containing at least 10 big Afro-American musicians and thought I wa in for a rowdy night...until I smelt the marijuana wafting up then all became peace and quiet. Walked into a transvestite party in the hotel one night and felt ...er...uncool.And the art? mind-blowing. MOMA is worth seeing for the building alone and the Met. well you could spend days there and not see everything.  Too much to see and too much to do.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 For the past couple of months my on-line book has been taking up most of my time but the interesting thing is that my web movies continue to gather "hits". Unlike a gallery show which lasts for only a couple of weeks work once it is online has a steady audience months after it was put up. This is what has been labelled the "long tail "effect.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Passing the Artist Newsletter stand yesterday at the Perthshire Visual Arts Forum reminded me that I had not updated this blog for some time... First congratulations to PVAF for organising a highly successful event though I would have liked to have heard more speakers and open discussions and less networking time. Maybe that's just my opinion.It was held in the Birnam Arts Centre, a purpose built centre in the tiny Highland village of Birnam, near Dunkeld. Amazing place, worth a visit in itself. Many towns and cities throughout the UK would die for a purpose built arts centre like this.The calibre of the speakers give some indication of the quality of the event: David Prior from Devon on creating "sonic spaces". He is working with architect Frances Crow to find ways of integrating sound and architecture. He made the interesting point that in our rush to immortalise our heritage in words and images we forget about the sounds of the past.Environmental artist Kerry Morrison did not have enough time to talk about her fascinating project documenting brownfield sites. Dutch artist, teacher, anthropologist and filmmaker Jan van Boeckel gave an international dimension with his talk on "The Snow Project" in Finland where he worked with other artists to create sculpture inside the snow hotel.Finally Shauna McMullan spoke about her social and sculptural project for the Scottish Parliament. She interviewed 100 women throughout Scotland and took phrases from their conversations and incorporated them into a wall sculpture. It reminded me of the Rossetti Stone.Didn't have time to see Sue Grierson ( chair of PVAF) new audio and video poems at Threhold in Perth but hope to in the near future.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Twittering Spent the last 10 minutes trying to twitter. Yes I know its the latest social networking craze and supposed to be dead easy. Well, not easy enough for me to figure out how to send one. Most of what I have read  so far on Twitter is in Japanese ( or is it Chinese?).(Memo to self: must try harder)... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Dundee Degree ShowIf you are only going to do one Degree show in Scotland then make it Dundee! that's what I tell people and Dundee did not disappoint this year. You know how it is: you walk into a studio and work just hits you smack in the face. It is so astonishing. Well, this happened at Dundee in the first studio I walked into. The next surprise was meeting the artist, Hazel Campbell, She is 74 years old! a former nurse who fulfilled a lifelong ambition by going to art collge. And her Degree show is sold out.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 WrestlingNearly 10,000 people have downloaded my video on wrestling at Bridge of Allan Games. Denise, the young blonde woman wrestler did not know she was being filmed and she has just  found it on YouTube and added this comment:"Hi! I'm the blonde girl. None of my friends understood the sport until now." Click on the link below to viewhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GncZoKF-v_c... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 What is the role of curators in the future?I ask this question in view of the changing way we consume new media and the arts today.At present curators act as gatekeepers, they decide who shall be artists, who will be given exhibitions and who will be recognised in the canons of art as artists.But the world is changing.I have just returned from Wales and tired unsuccessfully to get an exhibition of my archival photographs in two art centres which both claim to represent the community and are heavily funded for this purpose.  The first approach was to the exhibition organiser at the Dylan Thomas Arts Centre in Swansea . He did not reply for 3 weeks to my e-mail . After several phone calls I eventually tracked him down. No, he had not looked at my proposal , anyway they had a 2 year waiting list...As for the exhibition organiser at the Pontadawe Arts centre I was told she was “too busy” ( though I could see her sitting in her office reading) and the message was relayed to me via a foot soldier i.e. man on the reception desk there is a 2 year waiting list.Instead I look for an alternative space and find a genuine community venue. I explain the project and without hesitation I am offered an exhibition space for September.So I am tying this in with an online photographic exhibition thus combining the old ( physical space within the heart of the community ) with the new (web based).As one of my tutors at Glasgow School of Art used to say:”Regard each problem as a challenge. Look for new solutions.”He would approve of my decision.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Podcasts at Hay Book FestivalThinking of the way we consume arts and media brings me to the recent week I have spent at the Hay Book Festival.All the talks were available on a podcast. As the area is Wi-Fi you no longer need to sit in a stuffy tent on a plastic chair when you can sit back in your deckchair in the sunshine and hear it on a podcast.So I did both. Those talks which were impossible to get tickets for I downloaded. But it raises an interesting question: unless there are visuals or something other than two talking heads (the author and the interviewer). do you really need to see them in the flesh? Only one event I attended did I feel that the physical presence of the author was essential and that was with the South African photographer Austin Stevens (“the snake man”).He made his talk interactive: he produced a python and a boa constrictor for people to touch. And yes folk lined up in orderly queues for the pleasure/horror of touching live snakes.Now you cant get that on a podcast!... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Photographic exhibition Have confirmed the dates for a photographic exhibition of archival prints of Craig-y-nos Castle when it was used as a childrens sanatorium. This will take place in September. This is a result of my current research for my book on "The Lost Children of Craig-y-nos" except they are now found! I have been inundated with photographs though not a word has been written or are there any records of this missing piece of 40 years of Welsh history.  The reason I suspect is that TB, the "white plague" was a taboo disease.Meanwhile my videos on You Tube continue on their merry way notching up nearly 50,000 downloads. Suddenly realise I am now part of what is known as the "You Tube" generation.Have they any idea how old I am?... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 The Secret Power of ObjectsWe knew about the power of the photographic image to unlock memories. Less well known is the secret power of things we hold dear.Now Sherry Turkle, Professor of Social Studies of Science and Technology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology has written a book, “Evocative OBjects” , exploring this little known area.In my own research for “The Lost Children of Craig-y-nos” I am struck by the wealth of photographs and memorabilia that I have amassed, all bringing with them stories.These objects, faded, often damaged tiny photographs, autograph albums, locks of hair, postcards and even certificates act as keys to unlocking memories buried for half a century.Turkle’s book is published later this month by MIT Press and I have placed an order with Amazon.  I look forward to reading it.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 “Duet”All too often pieces from Degree shows disappear and are never seen again. Well, I found a new venue for an audio sculpture I did for my Degree show at Glasgow School of Art in 2001. I sited “Duet”, ( birds singing and cat purring) in my garden when it was opened yesterday for charity under Scotland’s Garden Scheme.   One teenager commented that she thought it was the best bit in the garden!...it certainly caused people to pause and think and talk.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Glasgow School of Art Degree Show Visited my old college yesterday. ( I graduated from the Dep of Environmental Art in 2001).The photographer Harry Benson is about to be made Honorary Professor and there was a private party  for him in the Macintosh Room.The Degree show, always worth a visit is outstanding this year. No point in listing individuals. Just go to the college web site.The Painting Department is awash with rumours of the extraordinary sums that students have sold their work for. One is reputed to have made £20,000. I chat to another young man who has sold his double light box to a Dubai millionaire for £1,500. But the students say it puts a lot of pressure on them to commodify their art and one expressed a certain envy at the environmental art students who are not under this same pressure to sell to galleries.I recall six years ago one tutor telling me when I was about to graduate and I expressed a certain concern over my ability  to earn a crust to support my artistic endeavours:”We don't care a toss whether you can earn a living afterwards. That’s not what we are about.”Times have certainly changed at Glasgow School of Art...... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 "The long-tail effect"Still having difficulty getting my head around the "long tail"effect of the net but yet another example reminded me this morning  of its existence.While I am deeply immersed in research for my book - and it now looks as if The  Wellcome Trust may be able to fund its publication  thanks to the historian Carole Reeves with whom I am working- my web videos have a life of their own. Take  sheep-shearing ( over 3,000 downloads so far) there is an on-going net discussion over the breed of sheep I have filmed. ( And no, I dont know the breed either, since you ask).Is it  art? I dunno but I do know its about communication and involving people through social networking sites such as this who would not normally get in touch with each other.I prefer to think of it as another branch of social scculpture.To view go to video blog:www.annshaw.co.uk or use the following linkhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJ_b00WTQ18#GU5U2spHI_4... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Good news!Heard today that the Heritage Lottery Fund has granted an extension to The Sleeping Giant Foundation in Wales to help me finish my project. They are helping to do some of the interviews- over 100 people came forward as a result of my article in the local newspaper.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 More good newsDr Carole Reeves of The Wellcome Medical Trust has agreed to co-author the book with me putting it into a medical history perspective. She's a workaholic so my own work has speeded up as a a result. Now arranging to have an online photographic exhibition to coincide with the "real" one in Wales.Meanwhile I am off to Berlin tomorrow for a few days.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 The “Children of Craig-y-nos” online book has turned into a public project using new media to tap into the collective memories of a whole community dealing with a taboo disease. I am co-authoring a printed version with Outreach Historian Dr Carole Reeves, organising a Patients Reunion next month which ties in with an online photographic exhibition and an exhibition in Wales.It is supported by The Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine, University College London', Heritage Lottery Fund and The Sleeping Giant Foundation (new media oral history charity in Wales). ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 This is the first photograph of Craig-y-nos Castle, built in 1880.( Well, this is where the image should be if only the technology worked...) ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 I am astonished this morning to get a phone call from Wales from a woman congratulating me on the new online photographic exhibition”The Children of Craig-y-nos”. The site does not go “live” until next week and some parts are still under construction.How did she get into it?“My grandson did this morning at 9 o clock.”So he hacked into it!...I didn't dare ask his age. Suspect he’s still in primary school.And that's what constantly amazes me about this project- the way it crosses generations. Yesterday I got an e-mail from the granddaughter of 90 year old Thomas Isaac who was in the Adelina Patti Hospital in 1928. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Web site goes live.Well, at 1am this morning I get an e-mail from my web designer- ex graduate from Glasgow School of Art- to say that he has uploaded my photographic exhibition "The Children of Craig-y-nos" to its new domain name:www.childrenofcraigynos.com We have checked and double-checked all links to make certain they are all working, so here's hoping.... ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 For some reason I can't fathom my Apple Mac wont allow me to put links in so have to put them in on a PC. Anyway, my on-line photographic exhibition is now up and running - complete with short film!- so now its "all hands on deck" to complete mounting the digital prints.www.childrenofcraigynos.comHaving worked on computers so much for the past few months I had forgotten how particular one has to be when it comes to producing a finished product that you can hold in your hands - not that folk are going to hold the photos in their hands but you get my meaning. As I prepare this exhibition I hear the voices of my tutors at Glasgow School of Art muttering their mantra:" less is more, less is more" and find myself doing some ruthless editing of phtographs. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 The exhibition opened yesterday and we are all still reeling from the media coverage. Thanks to the amazing press release sent out by Dr Carole Reeves from The Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine we got two television crews, and at least two newspapers though there could well have been more all covering the opening. We made the 6.30pm BBC Wales News - how many photographic exhibitions make the daily television news?- one slight hitch was where could we watch it on television ? We had returned one of our "stars" Valerie Brent to her home in Mumbles - she had agreed to do interviews both in English and Welsh on television - and we found ourselves in a pub in Mumbles competing with the rugby. We persuaded the girl behind the bar to let us watch the coverage on one screen.The exhibition is arousing tremendous interest in the community because it has opened up a book - a taboo subject that has never been spoken about before - how sick children were removed from the community for years on end and placed in remote isolation in a Welsh castle. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Returned to Scotland to find more phone messages, and another surge of emails all relating to the exhibition.It has opened up a deluge of repressed memories...And still the photos come rolling in.On a more practical note have got to sort out my status as an artist. Am I self-employed or a small company?Have got both The Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine and the Heritage Lottery Fund waiting for invoices. Have booked time with a financial adviser for artists next week in Glasgow. This is a very useful service provided free by the Scottish Cultural Enterprise Office. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Just heard that The Wellcome Trust will not fund a print on demand book because the project is halfway through and I have had money from the Heritage Lottery Fund. So its back to square one looking for funding for a print on demand book. Am tempted to try Lulu.com ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Big parcel arrived this morning with more photos and documentation for the Children of Craig-y-nos project from Dr Carole Reeves, the Outreach Historian who is helping me. Help! am snowed under with work and got to fly to Wales again tomorrow.Still feeling miffed that The Wellcome Trust will not consider me for a "Peoples " grant because the project is half way through. How was I to know that an appeal in a local newspaper would have opened the floodgates to a whole community's repressed memories dealing with a taboo subject? ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Here goes. I am going to try and put in some links to my online photographic exhibition which mirrors the real one in Wales. The site is: http://www.childrenofcraigynos.com/and the links are:http://www.craigynoscastle.com/children_of_craig.htm http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/mid/sites/abercraf/pages/annshawphotos.shtml http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/mid/sites/abercraf/pages/annshaw2.shtml http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/mid/sites/abercraf/pages/annshaw.shtmlThere are also links to the South Wales Evening Post sites too but I think the above sites give a better flavour of the project. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Digital Curator Yesterday I had to sign a form giving the Digital Curator at The Wellcome Library permission to archive my online exhibition "Children of Craig-y-nos".They also want to archive my daily blog but there is something in the way that Blogger.com software is constructed that doesnt allow this.Same thing with You Tube. Had an request from an American production company wanting to look at my videos for an American television programme only they cant download them from You Tube. They want copies on DVD.Well, that's a little technical problem that can wait for a few days cause I am off to Wales today. (DVDs made for the American market have to be constructed differently.) ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Researcher from Radio 4 has e-mailed me. They are interested in doing a programme on the Craigynos Project. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Have just had it pointed out to me in another email that The Wellcome Trust will be able to do a print on demand book, and there is a designer already lined up, but its a question of funding it. We are well and truly into the murky waters of funding... Dr Reeves is optimistic however that this problem can be resiolved. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Craig-y-nos Castle Have had a couple of messages left on my answering machine from Craig-y-nos Castle wanting to discuss a possible future projects, web-site links etc. but I have been in Wales so only now picked them up.Discussed it with Dr Reeves. We think one way forward would be if the Castle would be prepared to allocate an outbuilding for a permanent museum to The Children of Craig-y-nos.Will put this idea to them. Certainly the Castle is not short of space and it would increase tourism in the area. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Radio 4 Had a researcher from Radio 4 on. She is going to put forward a proposal for an hour long programme for the Saturday evening Archives slot. Have to confess have never listened to it but am assured it is a highly prestigious slot. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 The "Children of Craig-y-nos" project started less than a year ago as a blog, an attempt to piece together 40 years of missing Welsh history. I am amazed at how it has all snowballed with the final focus being (a) print-on-demand book (b) multi-media website and (c) permanent exhibition and museum.The current photographic exhibition has already gone into The Wellcome Trust Library archives. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 How the world has speeded up!Decide this Monday morning I would have to "bite the bullet" and approach the Welsh Heritage Lottery Fund for money. So I "googled" the site looking for a phone number to ring up. Instead I click on "pre-application" form" and in less than a minute I have a hard copy in my hand.A couple of years ago this would have taken days. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 21st Century Project Historian Dr Carole Reeves of The Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine pointed out to me that this project - The Children of Craig-y-nos- is very much a "21st century project". Even five years ago it would have been unlikely to work because it's only in the last couple of years that access to Broadband has become widely available.I had just received a phone call from California from an ex-child patient , Marlene Hopkins,who had "googled" Craig-y-nos" and to her astonishment had come up with my blog with two photos of her on it!"That's my bed on blocks that you can see in the background!"said Marlene. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Next exhibitionPhew!...I am only now recovering from the September exhibition of "Children of Craig-y-nos" and I have agreed to another in November. It is in Brecon. Dr Reeves of The Wellcome Trust Centre for the Hisotry of Medicine urged me to take up the offer "too good an opportunity to miss".So. It is all fixed to open on November 23rd with setting up on November 20th.Moreover I don't have to worry about Welsh translations of captions - Poyws County Council have their own Welsh translation service. Just got to make certain I get all the captions to them in time.Also, Dr Reeves will be bringing proper archive boxes with her from London so the exhibition will in future be boxed and catalogued ready to become a touring exhibition. At present it rests in the bottom of someone's wardrobe in Ystradgynlais! ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Have filled in the pre-application form for the Welsh Heritage Lottery Fund. While I got some help from them before to do some of the interviews I now need more money for a print on demand book and a multimedia web site. One of the last lectures we had at Glasgow School of Art warned that we would spend something like 50-70 per cent of our time on admin/fund-raising etc. I never really believed them. I do now.Meanwhile I am busy getting more photographs ready for the exhibition in Brecon next month. All the captions have to be done weeks in advance because they have to be translated into Welsh.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Busy getting work ready for the next exhibition. Decided to have a trawl through Google to see what sites show up relating to my project "Children of Craig-y-nos". Am astonished to find it turning up in a myriad of unexpected places including Forums -an Australian based one, doctor's web-sites, and Wikepeida. I was already convinced of the power of the internet to change the way we view the world and this merely confirms it.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Expect to hear tomorrow whether my pre-application to the Welsh Heritage Lottery Fund has been successful and I can go ahead with a full application.Meanwhile preparations for the Brecon exhibition are well underway and all the Welsh translations of captions have been sent to Dr Reeves in London where she will  prepare them for the next exhibition.She will be bringing archive boxes with her to Brecon so that the exhibition can be properly packaged and ready to tour.Heard today that Swansea museum are interested and have arranged to meet the curator when in Wales. Have started to make video clips for the web of the "Children of Craig-y-nos" project. The aim is to create communities around each video.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Well, those who have successfully negotiated Lottery funding know what a maze it is.Earlier I got some funding from the Lottery Fund through the Sleeping Giant Foundation. That has now dried up.So a new application has to go in and its a case of finding a suitable "umbrella  organisation" to push it through since individuals cannot apply.We are back to The Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Tomorrow I fly south to Cardiff to set up the exhibition in Brecon with Dr Carole Reeves from The Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine.She will be bringing archival boxes with her which will allow the exhibition to be properly boxed. We will also finish cataloguing it so that it becomes a fully fledged touring exhibition.On Thursday Dr Reeves will visit the Powys Archives in Llandrindod Wells to arrange with them for the Craig-y-nos project, which has generated over 1,000 photographs along with other memorabilia to be placed with them.Today I put a story on the blog - one of the first that deals with the "dark stuff" - how women in the 1940's were forced to have abortions . It is one woman ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Phew! the Brecon exhibition is up and running but it has been a roller-coaster of a week. It started with the airline loosing our luggage, followed by several hours late at night spent in Accident and Emergency because my husband's essential medication was in the suitcase. ( Yes , I know one should never put pills in a suitcase still we were only going from Edinburgh to Cardiff).The gallery space in Brecon, part of their new library, turned out to be HUGE!  two whole rooms. That was the good news. The bad news was a misunderstanding between the gallery and myself over what we could hang on the walls. Because all the work - 120 digital prints- were all mounted on fodex boards I expected to be able to put them straight on to the wall using either velcro or white tak.  This was not permitted. Instead there was a rush to re-surface A1 boards from the last exhibition...just as well we had allowed a couple of days for all this.Anyway, the exhibition opened on Friday morning with an introduction by Dr Carole Reeves Outreach Historian with The Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine, University College London .  She said this project is a "world first...because nobody has ever gathered together the collective memories of people who lived inside a TB sanatorium . certainly not children." She added that it could not have been done without the internet where the computer literate children of the children who were in Craig-y-nos Castle have come forward with photographs and stories on email.The Mayor of Brecon, Rosemary Evans, officially opened the exhibition.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Have just set up channel onYou-Tube for ChildrenofCraigynos. youtube.com/childrenofcraigynos Have got four video clips about the project on it. Does this blog support video? will try and embed a clip. If it works fine otherwise go to my daily blog: craig-y-nos.blogspot.com... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Still no reply from the webmaster for this site asking if it supports video.No matter, the internet channel on YouTube -childrenofcraigynos- is developing a small following.  This is what is known as the "long tail" effect.Now working on developing podcasts for the site. Meanwhile Dr Reeves is going to tackle the application to the Welsh Heritage Lottery Fund.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Expect to hear later today whether our application for funding for a print on demand book from the Welsh Heritage Lottery Fund will have to be done in Welsh too.If this is so it will push the budget well above that given under the "Peoples Grants" scheme -  for translation costs run at £100 per 1,000 words.Meanwhile I have uploaded another video to the internet channel I have started for this project:www.youtube.com/childrenofcraigynos... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Have tried and failed to update my introduction since it is no longer accurate about the work I am doing. For the past year I have been working on an heritage project using new media along with Dr Carole Reeves, Outreach Historian with The Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine, University College London. I now have an internet channel documenting the work as it progresses:www.youtube.com/childrenofcraigynos... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Well, I guess Christmas festivities have put this blog on hold. So it is time to catch up before the year ends.Good news on the grapevine regarding the Welsh Lottery Fund grant. I understand that an application for a book and web-site will be looked on "favourably". Also in order to qualify for a grant I do not have to have the book written in two languages: English and Welsh.This stipulation seems only to apply to exhibition material - all captions for both exhibitions had to be printed in both languages.Meanwhile the exhibition in Brecon has been extended into the New Year and continues to attract an audience who would not normally visit a gallery. The reason is that this is a community based project . So far over 1,000 photos have been submitted and I have selected 120 to be shown for the first time dealing with a piece of social history never seen before - life inside a childrens TB sanatorium.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Have just uploaded my first podcast to my main blog (www.craig-y-nos.blogspot.com). Tricky. No sound on the PC but it runs OK on the Apple. So what's up?er..links appear not to be allowed with this new site.heck! that can't be right!... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 A copy of the Lottery application form has just arrived. All I can say is that I am mighty grateful that I did not have to fill it in.  Dr Reeves  has completed  it through the Wellcome Trust educational charity arm.They certainly do not make it easy to apply for funds. Hear on the grapevine though that it is likely to be "acceptable" and the book will be a print- on- demand published through The Wellcome Trust.  So, research is almost complete and am about to start writing up. Meanwhile have flights booked to go to Wales ( £3 Edinburgh/Cardiff) to dismantle the exhibition in Brecon.   ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Used this image of Caroline today along with her story. (htttp://www.craig-y-nos.blogspot.com) .It was taken over 50 years ago and she had never seen it before.  Yet it turned up in another child's photographic album. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 I am going to have a rant..Apple is the computer of choice by artists and designers so I can't be alone in using one, and I must even be in a substantial minority, yet I have so far failed to load images from my Apple or to insert links and have to borrow my partner's PC. Surely this can't be right? Am I the only one who finds the design of this software unfriendly to Apple ?  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Just when I thought all my research for the book was complete an email pops into my mailbox from Canada...and yet another avenue opens up: more childhood memories whizzing across the world wide web.Sandy from Ontario tells me she burnt the dinner the night before so engrossed was she in reading my blog and seeing photographs not only of herself but of childhood friends there. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332 Fly to Cardiff on Thursday to dismantle exhibition in Brecon.  Hopefully this time the airline will not loose our luggage. Some good news...Swansea museum have agreed to take the "Children of Craig-y-nos" exhibition for the months of July and August.  Moreover, they will store it there until needed. So we take it, with the help of volunteers involved in the project to Swansea museum on Sunday morning having put it in to  archival boxes supplied by The Wellcome Trust, courtesy of Dr Carole Reeves. Meanwhile, will take the opportunity while in Wales to do some last minute research. Have just heard of a vast collection of photos belonging to an auxiliary nurse, Auntie Maggie, who was a surrogate mother to all the children.She died, blind, some years ago.    ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100 http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/371332