http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 Alex Pearl is not in the Antarctic Wed, 03 Dec 2008 07:02:40 +0000 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://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 Beginnings ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 I have been away, staying in a basement in Bethnal Green. As a consequence the first few entries of this blog have been written offline. This morning I received a letter from Dr John Shears of the British Antarctic Survey's Artist's and Writer's Fellowship. It was a nice letter which said:"Now that the judging panel has met and made it's final selection of the two successful candidates, I thought I would write and thank you for your application to "not go to the Antarctic". The panel were most intrigued by your very unusual proposal and I would like to thank you for sending it in." I wasn't too surprised and only a little disappointed. Just to explain. A few months ago I was working on a residency for BCA Gallery, in some sort of homage to Raymond Roussel's "Impressions of Africa" I was making a film about a trip to the South pole largely made under a table in the studio. While working away I spotted that the Antarctic Survey people were requesting submissions for this years artistic antarctic romp and mischievously decided to put in an application not to go. My proposal was made mainly on the premise that there must be too many artists there already but also in reaction to my own cowardice when it comes to adventure. As part of the application I had hoped to advertise my non-appearance at the pole but also to produce some sort of epistolary diary by writing to an artist or writer who was brave enough to go. I wasn't denigrating the work or ambition of those artists who have made the trip, one of my fondest art experiences was following Simon Faithfull's palm pilot drawings as they were posted online. Personally I felt that my going would not add anything to anyone's understanding of the Antarctic and I would probably get cold and suffer indigestion. Once submitted I found myself getting more and more keen on the idea of success, of gaining approval for my project and was delighted when I heard it had got past the first cut - then things went quiet, ominously quiet and to be honest I forgot all about it. So there I was, rejection in hand, wondering about what I should do next. Flippantly I thought, surely this means I have to go to Antarctica, to stowaway and then suddenly pop my head up and say: "well you told me I couldn't not go". This was probably the better idea, but it was my second one. My first thought was: "well, I can not go to the antarctic without help" My plan is to:1. Track, as best I can, the progress of the two successful artists and if possible set up some sort of communication with them.2. Advertise my none appearance at the pole.3. Write about what I do while not there. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 On the morning of the letter's arrival I was preparing to go on a short holiday. I had decided to spend three nights in a budget hotel in Bethnal Green. I had arrived without hitch despite the fact that a railway bridge had collapsed outside LIverpool street the previous night. The hotel seemed modern and clean and I sat in the lobby waiting to be shown to my room. A woman arrived took the key and beckoned me to follow. We left the hotel by the front door and walked down the road to a dilapidated terraced house. My guide opened the front door with a hefty kick lead me down a dingy corridor, pointed down some stairs into the basement and left (rather hurriedly I thought). There was a large bloodstain on the headboard. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 I am finding it difficult to get back into writing regularly, struggling with the remembering and recording of things that might be interesting. At the moment I'm spending a lot of time staring at the stars and trying to recreate that feeling of losing myself in space. Day two of my London holiday is detailed below. It rained all day.At the Chisenhale Gallery I saw Anthea Hamilton's show Gymnasium which I really enjoyed. It was a light and airy confident arrangement. Later I saw a group show at The Whitecross Gallery, with some lovely and very reasonably priced drawings by Jock Mooney and some chucklesome photographs by Etienne Clément, and a very expensive but undeniably fabulous paper sculpture by Jörg Obergfell, While I was giggling gently I overheard the owners discussing who they were going to offer shows to. I remembered I had sent them some stuff recently and tried to listen in while fighting down a desire to run away - I didn't hear my name (I didn't really expect to) so I went for a pint.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 Barricaded the door to my room last night. I was unable to air the room because the window opened straight onto the road. All night shouting and stamping and cigarette smoke filtered down from above. I left as early as I could the following morning to drink coffee on Bethnal Green road and plan the day ahead. I have a blister on the sole of my foot from yesterday's adventures so I may have to take it easy. I decided on the usual suspects at Tate Modern before Danielle Arnaud and Rokeby.I bought two books before my trip: Heart of Darkness and The Picture of Dorian Gray. As I am obsessed with avoiding the unknown and worried about my advancing age they seemed a good choice. I'm not being erudite rather they were part of the new Penguin Popular Classics series and at £2 looked just the part for the bachelor artist about town.I so enjoyed the show at Rokeby that I wrote a sort of review and published it on  Interface without even thinking about it, probably a bad move but what the hell. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 I am home, up to date and ready to start thinking about exactly what I am going to do. As I am without funding I am going to have to be sensible about my approach, my dreams of hiring billboards across the country might have to be shelved. Even placing adverts in magazines such as AN becomes prohibitively expensive without support. I have decided to produce a postcard. There is no news on the Antarctic Survey site as to who the real artists will be this year so I am satisfying myself at the moment by downloading the "picture of the day" and tracing it.  In other news I am having some of my work screened in Liverpool towards the end of the month on the BBC big screen. Sizemology has been curated by Bren O'Callaghan and includes work by Pippilotti Rist and Hiraki Sawa. On the imaginary poster I am way down the billing, like some music hall performer showing off his two headed chickens. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 I am failing to get organised at the moment. I have made a celestial machine at the studio which, on a sunny day, creates twinkling stars and I want to make a film from it but I have completely failed to get to the studio on a sunny day. Pissing rain? yes, hail? I kid you not, sun? no. Oh well I'm going to try again tomorrow. I'm also planning to meet up with fellow artist Bryony Graham, who wants to talk to me about work. When people say this to me I get a confused look on my face which rapidly spreads to my brain. I know now I will have trouble thinking of anything to say. I also got the Flyer for Sizemology today, its great. Otherwise I have this feeling that things are slowing, a sort of creeping dread which is mostly in my head.  I have also been asked to write something about one of the other blogs on this site. A simple request that has caused a stupid degree of angst. Which should I choose? What are my criteria? anyway I think I've decided.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 Well I made it to the studio, and it was sunny. Unfortunately I had lent my camera to a degree student and although she had promised to drop it off at the studio she hadn't so I was left looking at twinkling but with no means of recording it. I did make some more tracings and had a nice chat with Bryony who is trying to get her work back on track and avoid becoming an "artist in the community" or at least the sort of "artist in the community" who is just required to entertain. I'm sure I wasn't much help but I did get a present of 3 slide viewers which I immediately converted into little stargazing sculptures. Later I went to a private view at Peppermint Shed  which is a small informal gallery just outside Ipswich. Richard Scott was showing his lovely understated paintings. I have been asked to show some video work there next spring and I was scouting out the space. Like many people I'm always having a good moan about the lack of spaces to show in East Anglia (too close to London blah blah blah) so I'm quite looking forward to showing my stuff in a sleepy village. I might find myself alone at the private view drinking all the wine. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 I received a book from The Conversational Library this morning. It came with a letter from the Librarians, Townley & Bradby http://www.axisweb.org/seCVPG.aspx?ARTISTID=12215which explained the terms of the loan and said a little about their feelings about the book.  Its such a lovely letter I've copied it out.Dear AlexHere's that Bedwyr Williams book which we promissed to hand over. We've probably mentioned it to you four or five times over the last few months; in fact, back in March when all 3 of us visited Store Gallery, did I actually restrain your arm as you went to buy a copy? Maybe not. Memory is a shifty beast, as any copper knows.It's interesting that the thought of parting with it make the book more valuable, and makes one read it in a nervous way, dipping into it greedily, trying to retain a few of Bedwyr's bon mots even as they melt away like boiled sweets.I say 'parting with the book' because we're lending it to you under the terms of the newly inaugurated  Conversational Library. The terms are:please keep it for a length of time in some way proportional to your pleasure in receiving or reading it.keep it or dispose of it in any way you choosewe won't ask for it back, but if someone else who's also received an item from the library requests the book, we'll ask you to post it on to them (if you've still got it that is).As the keeper of an item from the Conversational Library, we'll send you regular updates on other items in the collection. We want to share books & written stuff that we've found interesting. And we like the thought that this book might extend the conversation we were having about the apparent flatness and lifelessness of Bedwyr's stuff in the gallery. But the ethos of the Conversational Library is informed as much by self centred practicality as it is by generosity: we've got more books than we can fit on our shelves, so we're hoping to disseminate then across the shelves of our friends as a form of external storage.  We were doing a bit of aforementioned nervous browsing as we wrapped the book up for you. Anna said she liked the book a lot more than the Store solo show. She thought the image+text format presented his work more favourably. For one thing, image and text are given fairly equal weighting, whereas in the gallery, the objects or images always have more presence than the little text panels. For another, his wry humour, the ironic detachment which allows him to to introduce issues (death of the Welsh language, school bullying etc) and then float away from them, come over better in the intimacy of a book.ButwaddaUrekon?Hope to see you soon Anna and Lawrence  I spent the morning avidly reading the book (except for the essay at the end, I'm saving that) and I'll post my response tomorrow.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 Re: Conversational Library loan – Bedwyr Williams, Chydig Bach Yn Too MuchDear Anna and LawrenceMany thanks for the loan of the book. I spent the morning reading and smiling, not just at what Bedwyr had to say for himself but also at having received something free. I will gladly give it shelfspace until it is requested by another. I have been worrying (slightly) about the show at Store for a while. I felt bad for not enjoying it more. I am enjoying the book – lots. In fact I have been savouring it; the colour of each page, the oversized numbers, even the smell. Too much? Anna is right, it is far more balanced than the show and trips lightly along until the essay at the end, which I’ll read later. The storytelling attracts me most, that and the dressing up. I’ve just reread with pleasure the bits about Death and his velour robe and the sculptural revenge of Tyranny of the Meek.I hope this isn’t making you feel sadThanks againAlex ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 Spent the day in the studio fiddling with slide viewers , tracing photographs and filming my celestial machine, actually a bit of wood with some holes drilled in it. I'm supposed to be going to the Whitstable Bienniale tomorrow but I am overcome with lethargy and don't fancy the 5am start. Apart from all the video work I really want to see That's Entertainment at Transition-By-the-Sea mostly because it has work by Cathie Pilkington in it. Many years ago we went to the same college in Northwich, I had a secret crush on her. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 I've been living on the edge of nervous collapse. Three months ago I sent in a letter and a tour schedule to the Arts Council to get the second installment of my development grant. I was honestly beginning to think that I had become a cutback and that I was about to be named and shamed. Anyway, this morning I got an email from Jane Bhoyroo saying: where the sodding hell is your tour schedule, it was due in months ago!! Actually she didn't say that, she was very polite. My letter had gone astray. Needless to say, I had hand filled in a pdf last time so I had no copy of the hundreds of galleries clamoring to have my work. I've just finished re fabricating it and begun to think about the things I said I'd do that have 'gone on the back burner' A limited edition viewmaster, that bloody mentoring, and a trip to the Bahamas. The first I had no idea what images to do (I'm now thinking about some stars); the second I had arranged but run out of cash; and the third is a lie.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 Hurray I am to get more money- this is a huge relief as things were about to get a bit sticky. My solo at the Salt Gallery came down yesterday and I was beginning to wonder how I could afford to go and collect the work. With diesel and accommodation I am looking at a minimum of £180. Stupidly I didn't even think about dismantling costs. I was thinking of suggesting they bin it but three of the tvs were borrowed from Bury St Edmunds Gallery. Anyway it should all be ok now as long as the amateur scaffolders working on the roof don't knock the chimney down and my new bike remains unstolen. I have also become obsessed with a website called statcounter which I use to track visits to my various websites and blogs. Any downturn in visits causes great despondency and mysterious visitors from New York or even Hull ignite false hopes of opportunity. One such visitor (Eric Rosoman) using Leicester City council's server did contact me last night offering me a solo show in August. Persistence of Vision is a series of shows featuring artists working in film & animation, Rachel Cattle & Steve Richards are on at the moment. Four weeks with three screens and a non-compulsory wall to fill with anything I like. I hate making decisions.By the way I met Eric at the private view of RSVP last September, he mentioned a show then but I was very drunk. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 I am going to whine about things quietening down more often. My grant is on its way, I've got a show in Leicester and I got another email today asking me to make a protest film for another show in September. Given that I promised to do a show at our studio at Bentwaters (to kickstart the exhibition space) I am beginning to worry that I might be over committing myself again. At the moment I'm trying to decide what to show in Leicester. I've got at least four options but I think I'd like to show three of the automatic films http://rotagavin.blogspot.com/2005/12/automatic-fi...as I've never shown them as a group before, but I've also been thinking about showing my magic trick films as a group and then there are the new Stargazing films though I'm not sure how they will turn out yet and I was saving them for another show in march next year. Sometime last year I did a talk about career development. I said then that I wanted to start being more selective about what I apply for, but I still just send stuff off to almost every show I think I could get into. I've applied for some other things and I am now hoping for a few rejections (only joking I crave approval as much as the next artist)... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 I'm just back from London. I had to go to the Foundling Museum to retrieve some equipment that I thought had been lost when RSVP was on ( http://sites.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/si... )I dutifully dug out my granny trolley and went to pick up the projector stand, blankets and 2m projector screen that, until a few weeks ago, had remained hidden in a cellar. The train journey there was spent wedged into the non-too salubrious armpit of a rather enthusiastic Maiden fan off to see his heroes play. He was posing for pictures taken by his girlfriend with great enthusiasm. Before going to the museum I popped into the Truman brewery on Brick lane to catch the degree shows. It was a pleasantly "bunged up" mixture of stuff. There were two great large scale line drawings of Lego street scenes and a beautiful video of a cocktail umbrella in the rain. Then I breezed past Rokeby to see Bettina Buck's Flexing Brown which was surprisingly monumental and looked great. Its quite hard to handle a trolley and a two metre projector screen on the underground.Waiting at home were my "not in the antarctic" postcards ready for distribution. I'm torn between posting them to the usual people on my mailing list or just to random addresses across the country, I'm attracted to the latter.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 I've been lazy with my 'pictures of the day' from the antarctic. So much so that I have a backlog of about 12 to trace. Its just a matter of will power and other distractions. I'm still undecided what to show in my impromptu solo in Leicester. I have to come up with three videos and possibly some stuff to go on a wall. At the moment I am swinging wildly between 3 Automatic Films made between 2005 & 2008 and some c-type prints. 3 films from my Bedford residency (although I was kind of saving them for next april) and some record sleeve/porthole collages. 3 stargazer films (although I only have two at the moment) and some c-type prints from the stargazer sculptures. I need to decide quickly and get the prints/film made. Or I could just show the little deaths again as I will be picking them up from Hayle next week at a diesel busting cost of £140. Or three magic tricks, or some Sings/Songs/Operas. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 I continue to download an image everyday from the British Antarctic Survey sit, trace it and upload a copy to my blog www.notantarctic.blogspot.comwhere they remain largely unlooked at. I am really beginning to enjoy the futility of the whole thing. The tracing, however, is beginning to drag. I usually avoid those sorts of projects which improve endless repetitive work, its really not me.I'm finally off to Cornwall on Saturday to retrieve my show, at least I'll be able to use the tvs to have a look at the films for Leicester. Otherwise it seems a bit sad, Truthfully I'd much prefer if it could all just be chucked in a skip and I could start afresh. Not because I didn't like it I just fancy a violent break.Enough of self destructive navel gazing, I got an enquiry from the librarians of The Conversational library the other day asking if the Bedwyr Williams catalogue had reached a final resting place. I sent them a picture and a little message Hi thereBedwyr now resides in a semi permanent  pile on my bookshelf. I have been thinking of organising my arty books but as you can see it has not happened yet. I have looked at it again and was only yesterday talking to a friend who had met him at her private view at the new Ceri Hand gallery in Liverpool where he was performing as a the Welsh Bard. Her husband (also a Williams and therefore related) spent much of the evening talking about ex girlfriends and growing up in Wales.All the bestAlex The "her" in question is Hayley Lock she's batty but in a good way. Aargh just got an email, I've got into the Studio Voltaire members show (I'm not really a member but I thought I'd give it a punt) Happily I think it clashes with the Leicester show. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 The Studio Voltaire show is turning out to be one of those lovely exhibitions where I don't have to worry about anything. Its a group show so I don't have to be the centre of attention. Linder and Michael Bracewell (the selectors) are hanging the show so I only had to post them a dvd. All I have to do (I hope) is take full advantage of the bar at the opening. Leicester though, is still weighing on my mind, I've been going through all the permutations today. Watching dvds and hating them all. So much so I'm re-editing a couple of them as I write.By the way, the drive to Cornwall at the weekend was uneventful apart from the odd motorway maniac but I arrived to find the proprietors of the Salt Gallery in the throes of a slight malaise. Their application to Zoo had been unsuccessful and they were struggling financially. We discussed the credit crunch and the inevitable end of the world before I retired to my B&B for a restless night. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 I spoke to Eric yesterday mentioning my uncertainty about what to show in Leicester. Apparently he's exactly the same with his work, but we decided on the Automatic films (which was what I thought in the first place) So I am relaxed about that now. I seem to be running lots of things in parallel at the moment. Months ago I promised to put on a show in the gallery space at Asylum studios. I put it up today using the space to try out a hang of the work from Bedford. Actually I only put up half a show as there were still remnants of other work in the gallery. It reminded me that I need to think about framing, the best way to present books and that I have too much stuff. I am also finally compiling a list of random addresses to send the " Alex Pearl is not in the Antarctic" postcards to. I'm using the post office's postcode finder It only lets me find 15 a day but I am keen to become a junk mailer so I soldier on. I am still staring at the stars and have just bought some black 16mm film on ebay to put little holes in. Finally, well not really finally but I want to avoid appearing like a nutcase, I've also been making some photos using postcards of interiors and a home-made illuminated viewer. Unlike everything else I haven't a clue why I'm making these things or where they will go.Oh and I'm making a new protest film for a show in Stratford in September.Strangely I'm doing a lot of sitting around playing on the internet. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 I had a day off yesterday and went to visit a couple of friends who are holidaying nearby. We went for short walks, ate and drank well and talked about shows and stuff. They are starting a residency at Wysing Arts early next year and will be taking a new baby and 3 year old with them (and I get stressed when I have two small shows in the same month). When I got home I'd had a very enthusiastic email from some young artists setting up a new online art mag called Refutation. They want to commission me to make some new work for the first issue in response to the statement { The failures of the ‘human condition’ VS the computer/digital } The deadline is mid September and as usual I haven't a clue what to do, or even what the statement means. But despite being wildly cynical, I haven't got where I am today by saying no to anything.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 I've been contemplating failure. My attempts to come up with a great idea for Refutation (the pdf magazine) have been so hopeless that I'm seriously wondering if a blank page would go down well. Now I've said that anything else will seem like a cop out. I did make another Stargazer film by going bonkers stabbing holes in 16mm film and then pointing a camera into the lens of the projector. I suppose that these films do mark a failure of sorts as they fall well short of the view from my back garden. Anyway I have other things to worry about now. It looks like "Trying to cope with things that aren't human (part one)" is to go ahead and I'm going to be shipped to San Francisco in January to make an Automatic film or two. Ian wants me to write something for the publication too. Given my terror of adventure it shouldn't be too difficult to find material.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 This is getting silly I got a call from the Surface gallery in Nottingham. Apparently I submitted work to them for another show in August. It opens on the fourth. I am beginning to feel like an early in vitro subject about to give birth to sextuplets. I've also been reading back through my blog entries. I've realised that I keep repeating myself and the blog has become extremely disjointed. I wasn't reading them for narcissistic reasons rather I was thinking of using some of the entries for the "Coping with things that aren't human" publication (deadline mid November) but now I'm not so sure.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 I had to drive to Bury st Edmunds today to return some tvs to the gallery. When I got out of the car I had sweated so much it looked like I had wet my pants. I had to mince into the gallery carrying said tvs and simultaneously try not to turn my back on anyone. Alison and Craig were setting up the next show The Beguiling which opens tomorrow. There were lots of interesting things some hung, some half unpacked from crates. I left with the image of Alison's arm poking through a hole in the gallery ceiling 25 feet above me.At home I am just sitting around still trying to think of ideas to do with "The failures of the ‘human condition’ VS the computer/digital" - bloody title, I might do something about sweating and preferring my online life to my real one.I am reading Michael Bracewell's St Rachel, its strange how a book picked more or less at random seems so appropriate. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 The "not in the antarctic" cards have continued to go out. I've been getting random addresses from the Post Office website by typing in words associated with the antarctic, penguin, snow etc. The search engine is a bit intuitive so it tends to come up with some totally unrelated addresses, but that's ok. I suppose that most of them will go directly into the recycling but I am keeping an eye on my website stats to see if there are any hits from Blackburn or Pontefract (among  others). Emails have been whizzing back and forth about going to San Francisco next year. Ian and I have discussed: PAL and NTSC (I have no clue); the best way to display my work (I am vague); the joys of panel discussions (fear and ridicule); and whether I will be dragged off to Guantanamo if I try to enter the US with a load of spy cameras, remote controllers/receivers and other electronic devices. In my spare time I'm doing a bit more writing. I'm going through all the technological devices I own and spinning stories off them in the hope that something interesting might turn up. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 I'm traveling back from Leicester where I've just set up a show in the Phoenix Arts Center. I say set up actually it just involved taking Rachel Cattle's dvds out, taking down her drawings and and bunging my stuff up, to be honest Eric did most of it. I decided to show three of the automatic films and one small print of a still. The journey up was characterised by the first break in the weather. Rain clouds were gathering. As usual I managed to seat myself next to the toilet so my thoughts were constantly interrupted by the fumblings of incontinent passengers. At least this was an old fashioned toilet with a mechanical lock. I'm frequently an unwilling audience to the difficulties people have with the electronic versions whose sliding door threatens to sweep open leaving its occupant in flagrante. Seeing the problems this system causes have made me think of becoming a sort of convenience bell-hop (in cap) pressing the "open", "close" and "lock" buttons in the right order. Despite the time these trips allow me to think I am getting bored with the views from trains. I am always seeing the backs of things as if the world is facing the other way. The journey is punctuated by the same experience of  back yards and back gardens which I glimpse unsatisfactorily like a peeping tom in hell. I seem like I'm in a bad mood, I'm  not and my city break has gone well, I have been described as the Mike Leigh of automata film making (a narrow field I admit). We've just gone through Melton Mowbray a place with almost mythic status for me. A few years ago I decided to cycle from my home near Ipswich up to my parent's home near Manchester. I decided to do it in a day and on the hottest day of the year. Melton Mowbray was the place I nearly gave up suffering from dehydration/heat stroke. But after a little rest in the park and several litres of water I made what felt like one of the most important decisions of my life, got back on my bike and carried on. I made it, but did have to soak my shorts off in the bath and had nasty sunburn on my eyelids. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 More adventures in LeicesterOn the platform in Leicester I was sat next to a young woman. We were both watching a wasp about to fly up her skirt. I was seized by a sudden urge to slap at it with my notebook. An act which would surely have lead to a sting and my arrest.Conversation with a toddler before he was told to face forward by his mum:HiyaHiyaHiya...Hiya...Hiya...Hiya... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 I am journeying again tomorrow. I'm going to the private view at Studio Voltaire and on the way I will try to make a protest film in Stratford. Yet again I managed to find a cheap hotel in Clapham and yet again I didn't think to check the reviews until I had booked it online. Every time I check a new complaint has gone up, and I keep going back. It's like the lure of a grisly corpse.  The latest readsStay away, stay away, stay away!!!!!!I got a single room and it was disgusting. I might as well of slept outside on a park bench or in nearby Tesco's car park. The duvet was dirty and had holes in it. The bathroom (I am not sure I would call it a bathroom, and the washbasin (what washbasin?!) were pretty vile. The woodwork was rotten and in desperate need of replacing. The TV did not work as the aerial was broken.  I can't cancel it now but you never know it could be ok and if I drink enough at the pv I  probably won't notice. I also got an email from Joe at Studio Voltaire asking me to burn a new dvd for the opening as the selectors had forgotten to bring it with them. I'm all ready to go now bag packed, map marked, escape planned. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 I need an entourage. There's nothing worse than doing your third solo lap of an exhibition clutching your drink with increasing desperation. Usually looking round a group show its interesting to see how the works vie for attention. In the show at Studio Voltaire all the works were rather quiet, reticent even. I really enjoyed Coleman and Hogarth's rebus like video projection and a spooky portrait by Elisabeth Lecourt. Back in my tiny hotel room I sheltered under the leaning wardrobe and watched the Olympic opening ceremony while reviewing the footage from my morning's filming outside a pub in Stratford.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 I've been visiting artists in their studios. It is really interesting seeing how other people live and work. It's nice to see that they are scatty or uncertain or amusingly neurotic. In both cases we have been discussing putting together some sort of show. Things seem very vague at the moment which I think I shouldn't admit I find a little unnerving. I've always been given the impression that artists are supposed to thrive on organic situations and I do try to pretend that I have appropriate levels of artistic nonchalance. Anyway yesterday I spent some time in a converted shed playing and passing ideas around, it was a slightly awkward situation as we were trying to find new ways of working together while doggedly (too doggedly?) hanging on to what we do. I did manage to find a use for some pictures of aeroplanes that have been kicking around for a while. Today I visited an artist who lives just down the road in an unconverted Victorian school house. She is trying to pull together a show based around personal and local history and I think wants me to be involved somehow. I'm afraid I just listened and didn't spit out lots of ideas, but secretly I thought it was really exciting. Hopefully it will develop into something. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 I've had a break which seems to have involved marathon scrabble playing, I blame the weather. I came back to forty plus emails including many e-alerts, e-bulletins, e-updates and an e-vite or two. I'm not complaining. All these things make me feel like I am at the centre of something without requiring I get off the sofa. However, at the end of last term, at college, we had a staff development day which made me wary of being over e-nthusiastic. A highly paid woman in a suit spent an hour telling us repeatedly that we had to become e-mature. I'm afraid I walked out. One of the emails did contain some bad news (actually more than one, as there were also a couple of rejections). Apparently the Surface Gallery is about to be evicted so there will be no prize winners' show next year. I wasn't expecting to win but it seems a shame for whoever the winners would have been.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 I'm suffering from extreme physical inertia at the moment. I've spent a good proportion of today pricking holes in 16mm film so I think I need to get out. Surface Gallery have invited me to a closing party for the show which is now their last. As I missed the opening due to malaise I might give this one a go. Hayley (www.hayleylock.com), also in the  show, might be going too so I won't have to hire an escort. Both of the readers of this blog will have already noticed, because of my constant moaning, that I am uncomfortable at openings (& closings).  Apart from free drink and company I usually turn up at private views hoping to be struck by lightning. It does happen, but I always feel stupid standing there waiting waving my umbrella in the air. The show at Studio Voltaire got a review in Time Out. Reviews are  something else that I also crave. Something to do with lack of confidence or megalomania or both. Here's an excerpt:  Elisabeth Lecourt’s painting of a greyish, blank-faced female head reverberates, in its inhumanity, with Alex Pearl’s economically unnerving, half-comic DVD of what appears to be a backlit effervescing tablet in water, the holes in it representing malevolent eyes and mouth, disintegrating and ascending. Break such works down and their tension dissipates. In the moment of reception, though, they cast small but effective spells. By Martin HerbertI was pleased to be mentioned alongside Lecourt's painting and that they used a photo of my favourite piece in the article (Reflect, 2008 by Kim Coleman and Jenny Hogarth). Most of all I liked what I take to be mild criticism in the penultimate line. When I dream about eating; as I bite into the apple, donut, whatever, there is always nothing there. I've always wanted to make art like that. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 Alex!! felt so slow in the head today that I forgot to ask if you were still up to Nottingham? If so, then I think I am going for it, stay the night in that hotel you mentioned and head back on the saturday....do you want to come along? and yes I can be your escort.............HxSo hotel and escort booked I headed north on Friday.  Hayley was driving using her newly borrowed satnav. I loved it, or her, a slightly condescending lady of indeterminate age (the sat nav, not Hayley) who kept us almost entertained for the whole journey. She beeped repeatedly if we went too fast and was extremely calm when we appeared to leave the road entirely. I'd sworn blind that I had stayed at the Nottingham Ibis before but I clearly hadn't, it wasn't where I remembered and it looked completely different. Still once we had staggered down the inexplicably swaying corridors and I had prised our twin beds the regulation six inches apart the room seemed very nice indeed.We found the gallery easily and spent the first few minutes eavesdropping conversations about untimely evictions and vol au vents while manoeuvring ourselves in front of the fan. There was drink; lager, cava and wine, much drink, too much drink. The show itself was friendly, it had similarities to the Studio Voltaire show but was not as cool, more humour, variety, colour and frivolity. There was a bizarre sequinned toy tigerskin rug which would have sneaked into a school craft fayre and a rather magnificent injured giant  rabbit slumped on the floor. My favourite things were Bruce Ingram's two fabulous mythological assemblages made out of paint trays and magazine cutouts.After a while we introduced ourselves (well Hayley did) chatted, got directions to a show at the Fame Factory, drank more drink and took Hayley's drawings off the wall before beating a hasty retreat into the night.  Later we finished off a bottle of wine while watching a serial killer film. We never found the Fame Factory, probably because Hayley insisted on calling it the foam factory.I'm not going to write about the next day, as I'd prefer to forget all about it.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 I'm traveling again tomorrow, heading off for a meeting about this new online magazine Refutation. The launch date has been put back a bit which I'm not too upset about as I'd only just begun to cobble together something approaching ok. I'm meeting Mark in a pub in Shoreditch although we haven't decided on how to recognise each other; maybe looking lost and hesitant will be enough. So far I've come up with a sort of rambling text about the technological devices I own which lead up to one of my filmic attempts to recreate the universe. I suppose they deal with connections between: technology and human experience and the world which almost responds to the brief I was given. As usual I feel stupidly nervous about the whole thing. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 I think the meeting went ok although I made the mistake of arriving too early and filling the gap with beer. The appointed location was the Commercial Tavern in Shoreditch. Admittedly I manage to feel out of place in most places but this highly mannered dark rococo hostelry, although very friendly, tested my chameleonic abilities to their limits. I might as well have been wearing a sign sayin "old, ugly, untrendy and awkward." Mark and Lesley arrived before I got too incoherent and we went over the magazine's aims and the stuff I had sent them. I don't think they were too impressed by my writing but they did like the film and my very vague ideas about developing some sort of text based computer game. I shouldn't suggest things when I am drunk, I have no idea how to make a text based computer game. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 Yesterday I went to 'From the Picturesque to the Demolished' an evening of video and performance organised by Jon Purnell and Julika Gittner. On the way down I found myself suffering from ticket anxiety. It often happens on the Lowestoft line. I join it from a one-track abandoned station and often the guard fails to get round the train before he/she inexplicably abandons us at Ipswich. I then sit surrounded by threatening signs until we arrive in London. I know I deserve a ticket and will probably not be forced to pay a huge fine for defrauding National Express but it doesn't stop my fear as I explain myself at the ticket office. I arrived at the Railway Tavern on time after a refreshing meal at Burger King (it was that or Subway) These were the only places to eat at the entrance to the 2012 athletes' village. The event start had been postponed because Arsenal were playing Hull on the big screen. Passions were running high. One vocal drinker had a huge accumulator finishing on Hull beating Arsenal so I sat where I could watch that and a showreel of videos. The art mostly lost out to the colour, noise and spectacle of the football although Victoria Melody's stroppy 'Bastard Bee' stood out. I had intended to introduce myself to Jon but I wasn't sure who he was and by the time I'd worked it out the event was about to start and he was busy, and I had been conspicuously sitting around for so long that I felt a bit of a tit so I went to the bar for another pint.The bar filled with a new clientelle of arty types, a woman fainted and an ambulance called. A young woman I'd met on the internet introduced herself (not as seedy as it sounds although I did manage to blush for the first five minutes) She showed me a new article in AN about The Black Flag Game which looked really good but the evening had started.It was a friendly, pleasantly shambollic event with leaflets, speeches and presentations and a dodgy dvd player.  The feelings for the loss of Angel Cottage were sincerely expressed and the work looked interesting but I missed the second half as my last train left at nine. As I ran out the door Sonya said she'd facebook me to tell me how it all turned out. On the train home a woman sitting opposite me was trying to learn Hebrew and reading psalms. One line read: "My zeal wears me out" ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 I am returned once again from two days of London visits, meetings and strong coffee. On Tuesday  I visited the Free Art Fair at Marble Arch. Hampered, as usual by my Gallery finding skills, it took two laps of the area to find all six of the converted shops hosting some lovely little shows. I must admit I didn't know much about the ethos of the Free Art Fair, although the clue is in the title, on the free catalogues, posters etc. When one of the invigilators asked me if I would be camping on Sunday I became quite flustered thinking it was some sort of urban code. This occurred in the 'Gallery' I enjoyed the most, it hosted a lot of painting and two conjoined plastic cups containing Bob & Roberta Smith's toenail clippings. It was the paintings I liked best especially Alex Gene Morrison's Erupting Head and Geraldine Brigid Swayne's Ancestor from Hell. Both left me with the feeling that I needed an extra name. Later, though I love painting (mostly I think for the reason that I've never made a good one myself) I felt a bit overloaded and guiltily walked straight past Sam Dargan's show at Rokeby. The purpose of my Tuesday jaunt was a meeting with Mark and Lindsay who are the young artists behind Refutation http://www.refutation.net/ I showed them the videos I had made with great trepidation (as usual). They seemed to like Small Stargazer a new film made by pointing the video camera straight into the lens of a 16mm projector. I've used this method once before but this version was sufficiently different to fit their requirements for previously unseen work. Needless to say unlike the rest of my stuff which I tend to bung up online willy nilly this one will remain secret until the grand opening event in November. On the train home an elderly man asked me to make sure he was awake when we arrived at Ipswich, the responsibility kept me tensely alert until he had left the train.Wednesday was more of the same including a visit to The Future Can Wait at the Truman Brewery. The artists there seem fascinated by exoticism, sensuousness and pornography in equal measure - best group show I've seen this year.I went with Hayley who was meeting Larry Achiampong to discuss some collaboration they are cooking up. Hayley is becoming some sort of Facebook arttart at the moment making friends with lots of Bigwigs - I am, of course, highly jealous.I'm reading two books at the moment Susan Stewart's "On Longing" picked mainly for its title and E.E. 'Doc' Smith's "Masters of the Vortex" picked mainly for its cover. Flitting between "Neal Cloud... extrapolating his sigma curve by the sheer power of his mathematical prodigy's mind, sat appalled" and " ...the realization of re-union imagined by the nostalgic is a narrative utopia that works only by virtue of its partiality..." I feel completely lost.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 I've been collecting arctic/antarctic 'souvenirs'. Although strictly they are not and could never really have acted as souvenirs as I am sure they were not made for or sold to real ant/arctic visitors. Anyway this is the first, a delightful glass paperweight containing what I assume are a pair of seals (possibly) ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 I am recovering from a curatorial visit. Lotte Juul Petersen came round to the studio to select work for a show she is curating at Wysing in January. I had had a bit of a tidy up and set up a few video screens which created a pleasing cacophony (to my mind). Upon her arrival I proceeded to bombard her with stuff until she had seen everything I had ever made including photos of my dog, although that last one was an accident. She wanted a range of things old and new, broken objects and films and I found myself mentally balancing all the things I would need to reserve for San Francisco and Bedford and another little show I'm organising in Ipswich, and actually having to say no (rather inneffectually it turns out). I'm still making stuff for my transatlantic jaunt: TRYING TO COPE WITH THINGS THAT AREN'T HUMAN and I've bought a massive suitcase to cram it all into. I'm thinking about American films, making tiny giant alien machine creatures and buying up old matchbox track on ebay so I can race cars through the gallery in a sort of SciFi car chase movie. When I dropped Lotte off at the station for her three hour (sixty mile) train journey we were both a bit hollow eyed. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 Instead of making my usual pilgrimage to London I decided to head north this weekend to see a show by Lucy Harrison at Norwich Outpost. So for a third of the fare for the same distance I washed up in Norwich, literally it was tipping it down. Admittedly as far as getting your money's worth goes there are fewer galleries in Norwich (as far as I know its just Outpost now) but the shows there are invariably good. I was even moved to write a review as I really liked the books on show. Its a bit rambly and oblique but I've never wanted to write properly. Anyway I need the practice as, inexplicably, Josie Faure Walker at Space emailed me asking me to come along to ‘Schematic: New Media Art from Canada’ to write about it. I will probably fail miserably to think of anything to say, or hate it, or get in a mood and not turn up. We shall see. In the studio I managed to make a sort of landscape viewer for the show of starscapes, landscapes and interiors I'm having with Andrew Vass in March. Its only in Sproughton which has to qualify as the middle of nowhere but I'm using it as an opportunity to put together a new body of spectacular work (I think that's the word). Some of the work is up on another bloody blog, www.shedchat.blogspot.com ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046 I got in a mood and failed to go to Space - that's only partly true, I realised I'd been spending too much money going to London and as I'm off to Amsterdam this week I thought I'd better give it a miss. Speaking of cash I've started to think about winding up my Arts Council grant, which is already rather overdue. I've done most of the things I set out to do (with revisions and diversions) but the one thing I haven't done is be mentored. I did tentatively arrange to meet up with Jordan Baseman but upheavals at home interrupted and I feel too embarrassed to get back in touch now. It occurs to me I could put an ad up on the opportunities page: 'mentor wanted must have the key to artistic success'. To get my evaluation started I've been looking through my cv and at my work in general to try and work out if I've moved on, plateaued, or got worse over the last two years. Its not that clear, and I'm not totally convinced its that important. The only measurable change is that there are a couple more solo shows and a higher proportion of the things I'm involved in have come about by invitation. I could say I have been sought out, but to be honest I've become such an internet whore that I think these people probably trip over me and become entangled.  This navel gazing could become redundant soon as tomorrow I am taking 50 students on the ferry, storms are forecast.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/436046