http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/440660 Origin Interactive: Crafting Space Thu, 20 Nov 2008 17:20:11 +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/440660 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/440660 Origin Interactive; Crafting Space - Starting points.. This project, which feels like it came from nowhere and has happened very quickly, is a step up in scale for my public, participatory practice as an artist. I am drawing very much on my experience on The Loom Project installation, as well as the R+D I have been doing since, and am enjoying the many roles I am currently occupying through the process of pre-production. Here is part of the brief I was sent from The Crafts Council who are commissioning it;"ORIGIN INTERACTIVE - THE BRIEFTo produce a new large scale piece of work or installation that is created at the event or evolves over the two week time span for Origin.The piece of work should be thought provoking, vibrant and unique. The piece should engage with the public and /or exhibiting makers in some way during Origin, for example, have a participatory or interactive element. Thought should also be given to how the installation might look during times it is not engaged in activity and safety of the piece during these times.THE THEMEThe piece should respond to or comment on the environment of Origin in some way, for example with regard to:The exhibiting makers  / The visitor interaction and what they do / buy at OriginThe objects on display / technique, material or process / Collecting objectsThe selling aspect / value and preciousness of objectsTHE SPACEA key space within the Origin pavilion will be allocated to the installation feature – depending on the nature of the work and medium used, this could be floor space / wall space or, if appropriate, the roof space within the height of the pavilion.”Here is a section of my proposal : “We will create a large scale, strip-woven textile house that is a record of the dialogue around making, selling and buying crafted objects at Origin. The making of this piece will constitute a collective presencing of selected objects and their makers / new keepers in the context of a poetic, participative artwork. It will invite the public to consider the idea of Gift and exchange – What do we receive when we give? And what might certain objects given as gifts signify to the giver and receiver?This will take place within a creative ‘lab’ space that enables the public to contribute to and engage intimately with the work within the wider context of the Fair.The  participatory strip-woven textile ‘house of words and threads’ within the feature space – a dome-like, standing structure, will constitute the empty space in the poetic reference above. The aim of the piece is to articulate a process of reflection and dialogue which participants are drawn into, thus deepening their experience of the Fair. It will provide a lively, daily critical context to the event which not all participants will have had access to without the work being made.” ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/440660 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/440660 AUDIENCE, COLLABORATION AND DEVELOPMENTWhen I did a performance lab with Janine Antoni in 2006, (Lore and Other Convergences) she got us to write a letter to our audience for the piece we were making together. I really like this practice and have used it a few times to get in tune with my work and those I am making it for.  As a precursor to this am thinking about my general intentions for the work and how it lands with the public; My intentions are for this installation to be a social space - a space which is easy to access but which facilitates a degree of reflection on the visitors wider experience of Origin. A space which holds an artwork which intrigues and invites people to participate and return over  the two week period, to want to see how it progresses and feel a certain sense of attachment to it. Am going to write that letter over the coming weeks to help clarify the questions I wish to ask of the public in the making of the work. I had forgotten how many elements there are to consider and decide apon with this kind of piece and also the joy of working with other people who really know their stuff.I am working with Hattie Spice (runs Spicelumb, an event production company in London and I know her from growing up in Tunbridge Wells) on the design, build and install of the stand for the piece. This feels good as she is very creative and experienced in  this kind of project and with that comes dealing with a lot of technical issues (ground plans, risk assessments, electrics etc) which lifts a load from my shoulders. I have in the past been very bogged down with the production and admin of my own work. There is stuff to work  on for this part of the project, but I am planning to have most of my part of the really  techie stuff handed over by the 21st July so I can concentrate on the content and aesthetics of the work. I am also working with Willow Winston, an old friend and extraordinary artist who mentored me and  helped me design the chamber space for The Loom Project in 2005. We have collaborated before that ( her- book art, me-  film). We had a synchronous moment when I called her to outline this project and ask her to work on it ; I mentioned the structure being circular / dome–like and she had the exact image in her head. As if whispered by angels. And already, as with the loom chamber, magical esoteric numbers are coming from her experiments on the structure (she is a master mathematician / geometrist as well as deeply esoteric in her approach to work), which will be made of steel mesh, painted, bound with wire and woven through with ribbons.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/440660 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/440660 MAKING, BUILDING, SHAPING (1) Willow has been working away at the structural design of the central piece, making steel mesh models and trying out the roof. It looks certain to work and am doing a ribbon weave with a piece of mesh to see how a section works. It's a bit tricky to get the ribbon on but it fits perfectly along the mesh, as if made to order which is satisfying. Also, its very easy to read the texts. We calculated we can get just over 4000 ribbons woven into the walls, then the remaining ones (if there are any) can be hung from inside, also very easy to read.  Willow has sent over photos and we have been talking on email and phone - my late night treats arriving at night, when the children are asleep.. It looks like she got the only remaining roll of that paricular steel mesh left in the country..just enough for the build this week...I am looking forward to being in  her studio and working on the structure...been very much on pre-production from my laptop, with bursts of sketchbook activity. Also, it brings home how much I need to return to making again, on a small, daily scale. I have a lot of objects lined up to make, but this project and my R+D have been v concerned with larger scale, one off live works. Still, it all feeds into each other..Today is the first day of my two months of work focused time,as my partner Leo is taking main carer role with the children. I can't quite believe how perfect the timing is. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/440660 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/440660 THE SLOW BUILD OF STEEL..Been working at willows studio in South Bermondsey this week. They know Willow well but I think the roofers in the unit opposite are quite amused at Raphaella (my production manager ) and I , small women, toiling with steel mesh - measuring, cutting, bending... Well, as Willow says, I am a 'soft machine', she a hard one. She is at home with this material and can work for days at it, I struggle , but it's good to feel my hands and sweat have touched the basic structure of the final work (we have been making the wall sections). I think this collaboration between hard and soft- steel and textile, is a powerful one and has its own momentum. Ideas flow, as does the miso soup to give us strength. I spent the night here a couple of times, only the third time I have done that since Moses was born. Have had to do a lot of expressing milk, it reminds me of my other current purpose in life , and the combination of adrenalin and oxytocin is an intoxicating if exhausting one. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/440660 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/440660 Hattie came over to Willows and we had a great session working on the stand design but then when she costed it up realised it is way over what I can afford. So now new idea is to use lighting truss and hang fabric panels from it, which I think wll actually be more in keeping with the piece.Katy Bevan from the Crafts Council came to look at the model on friday. She had some constructive input, we were trying out different types of ribbon and binding through the mesh. Contrary to what i expected the sheer (fake organza) and single satin seem to work the best and are the msit readable - i think it will give it an ethereal look, shot through with strong colour.Was relieved to work with soft materials again, got rather exhausted with all the steel and worrying about the budget,  but its part of the journey and all feels like its moved on a lot this week. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/440660 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/440660 I am in Spain, in sweltering heat and light with my family, trying to do a bit of work in between... Willow has sent me photos of the model she made based on sketches , to see how the frame will look around the structure. I will use this to try out  ideas on the dressing of the space and the colour palette. She also sent me some of the thoughts she has written over the years, one which resonates in particular - 'SIMPLICITY does not mean without detail.  Simplicity means even more attention is paid to how things feel, how they really are, so that a simple gesture can summon up a whole experience'. I wanted to put here an updated description of the project that I wrote the other day:'Crafting Space invites visitors to Origin to engage in the hands-on weaving of a 3.6 m high   x 2.8 m wide circular structure.   Visitors may choose from questions posted within the space which will ask them to consider the meaning and value of making, buying and collecting in a new  and intriguing context . They will then write their response on a length of translucent ribbon and weave this into the structure. The intention is to transform visitors perception of what it means to be engaged in craft. Based on the dimensions of the perfect circle, the project offers a point of reflection and connection, weaving together diverse members of the public and capturing a moment in time in a unique and delicate way. The weaving of one of the 3,000 ribbons required to cover the structure will give individual visitors the opportunity to transform the bare bones of an existing piece of craft into a stunning object of collective creativity. Crafting Space makes use of textiles , architecture and written text –'architexture’ – to offer a social, poetic experience  to visitors that is intended  to unify and inspire.' i like this term 'architexture', it captures the hybrid medium I am working with more and more. It comes from an essay called 'Drawing Threads from Sight to Site' by Victoria Mitchell, published in 'Textile - the Journal of Cloth and Culture' edited by Janis Jefferies and Diana Wood Conroy (published by Berg). Janis is my mentor on my R+D this year and I am slowly discovering her writings with relish.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/440660 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/440660 Cooling down in the english rain and wind, allows clearer thought and physical work to begin again. Although it was a very intense  trip to the Alhambra (due to the heat and vast swathes of tourists, like me), I am glad I went as it confirmed my inutition re the colour palette of the structure and surround- desert colours-  sand, gold,rust, red, black, enclosed in a deep cerulean blue. Also the use of geometry and the stilness and beauty of the spaces as you look up was inspiring.The focus now is on the finishing of the roof. Willow is doing this as we had to focus on sewing it together and ribbon weaves when Raphaella and I went up last week, and it's slow, laborious work which takes longer than any of us realised. But, as the Sufis say 'Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet'.I met with Hattie again and have chosen a bright cerulean blue voile for the surround, which will enclose the space like a transparent sea and allow the public to glimpse and be glimpsed at intervals as they pass the space. We are going to try out a couple of meters of this on a scaffold when we go up to the studio next week to pre-weave the roof. We hadn't planned to pre weave the roof but when we got it up and saw and felt the height, it became obvious that its not practical or possible to do this in public. So I am compliing texts, like poetic fragments, to write on the top section. I will use this to create an intention for how the work will live when it is finally put together for the 7th October.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/440660 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/440660 IRIDESCENT, GLIMMERINGWillow sent me this photo of the finished roof section,it all works and is extremely stable as well as a beautiful shape. The ribbons are iridescent through the sun in the image , and I guess we will make use of the ambient lighting and our own spotlights to recreate this effect at Origin. I have been writing out the roof ribbons as we are going to pre-weave them on Friday at Willow’s studio. Although they may not be readable from below (though am tempted to keep a telescope in the space) , I think what is written must be meaningful in the context of the work- start as you mean other to go on....So I decided to use the following word groups, written 8 times (one for each roof arm) ;  the senses (sight, hearing, taste etc)the elements (fire, earth, air etc)what the elements do  (eg, wood feeds fire, fire creates earth)Craft materials (ceramics, book art, glass etc)Craft forms (vessels, mats, mirrors, neckpieces etc)Textile terms (carding, kilim,selvedge etc) The idea is that the text of the textile describes the very materials of the space and its surrounding, and - hopefully- attracts more of it to be written about. I am still working on the specific instructional text for the public, I don't think it’s a question anymore, but a more general 'call to mind', like I did with the loom. Will write more on this later.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/440660 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/440660 WEAVING WORDS Weaving Words, it’s the essence of my work right now...Raphaella, Willow and I had a long session at Willow's studio pre-weaving the roof last friday. As with every aspect of this structure, we are -literally - crafting it into existence and it is long, labour intensive work that takes you out of your mind and into your hands and has its own time frame.  Having said that, Willow has done most of the physical work and I am in awe of her capacity to work with such hard material (steel) in order to bond with my soft material (ribbon). Needless to say we didn't finish but we got a long way. We have woven four our of five tiers of all eight roof arms. I am leaving the fifth for the team to work on during the first days of the show, to document what we find around us in Origin. Willow also pointed out that we need reference to tools, as well as materials and forms, so that will be woven in too. She says the Holy Trinity of the artwork is the artist, the tools and the viewer, with the artwork hanging somewhere between them.....We also got to try a sample of the blue voile that Hattie sent over to see how the fabric wall will work in the background. It's beautiful, just need to see how the sewing and text printing tests come out now. We realized while weaving it that the edges of the ribbon really need to be glued to the mesh edges in order to preserve the integrity and elegance of the roof’s shape. Willow has worked out a way of doing this that is as painless as possible but it will still be two days work for Raphaella and I to do over the next couple of weeks. But then it will be done!  The next job is to finalise the texts for the banners, design the postcard and focus on the furnishing of the space.  We have already received a few responses to our call on artsjobs for volunteers for the actual show, I am hoping it will attract a diverse range of people to get involved as it does cover so many bases – textile, writing, craft generally, architectural installation, socially engaged practice… I realize that so much of my work lies in communication, invisible material really. Ramadan has begun and I have decided to make a short piece of work every morning before dawn to keep the ‘making’ energy going… I am not fasting as i am still feeding Moses, but it feels like this month, which finishes just before Origin opens, is a kind of preparation, an emptying out of unnecessary inner stuff. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/440660 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/440660 LOOSE ENDSThere is always a point in the lead up to the opening of a project where it feels like my hands are full of loose threads and i am constantly trying to find the ends and clear my palms. I think it is because the bulk of the hard production work and decision making is done but there has still been a long list of small outstanding tasks to do, a lot of which Raphaella and i have got through in the last two days.  I also have to prepare the ribbons for the fifth (and final, lowest) tier of the roof arms. I realised they need to be neatly woven in to keep the beauty of the shape and also begin the colour transition from plain gold/white into what will be a varied palette chosen by the public from pale gold through to deep reds, sienna and dark blues.  Yet the actual fact of the passing of the work to the public is only just over three weeks away so the tone of energy has changed. There is a feeling of a period of intense transition and I am beginning (after a ten days of illness and exhaustion which knocked me sideways) to get very excited. I love the fact that we have created an object that will be a major player in a live  experience that will  impact a large number of people within a short period of time. The potential scale of participation in this project is a new step for me and i am curious as to how it will go and how the structure will look by the 19th of October.  There have been issues with Willow around crediting which we managed to resolve. The creation of the structure , which is the centerpiece of the project, really has been a collaboration. She has designed something based on an idea I had and done most of the hard work to bring it into existence. She has also been an important sounding board for other aspects of the space design and I understood it is important she is publicly credited for this where possible, as the project has some profile and this can make a difference to public access to her extraordinary work as a sculptor and designer.  Raphaella has been getting in emails from people wanting to volunteer who seem really interesting, (textile students, creative writers etc) and i realise that this project is so interdisciplinary that those working in the space will themselves have a diverse set of threads with which to connect with both each other and the public. I am keen for the team on site (myself, Raphaella, Lili and the volunteers) to be engaged in the making/growth of the piece as much as possible, eg writing/weaving experiences of Origin into the structure and consciously holding the space so it is as accessible as possible.    ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/440660 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/440660 Am just back from an inspiring weekend course based on Joanna Macy's 'Work that reconnects' - she is a Buddhist, deep ecologist /activist/ philosopher with an expertise in 'self-organising systems'. There was a strong sense of the power of unity and interconnectedness in relation to our attitude to the earth and also to each otherI realised on the walk home through the autumn sun that this piece, once it makes its transition into the public domain on Oct 7th, will be a self-organising system. Poetically speaking,  if Crafting Space is a living being, then; the steel mesh structure is the skeleton, the ribbons are its skin, the texts are its DNA and the public is its blood, its life force.More on self-organising systems later! The final round of ribbon writing (tools, on the fifth tier of the roof) is the work to be done. Willow and her assistant have been sewing together double wall sections and roof sections to walls with wire, to minimise the work there is to do on the set-up weekend. By the end of wednesday, when we do our final session at Willows, the structure will be complete and poised for a second life. www.joannamacy.net/html/deep.htm ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/440660 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/440660 Seven days to go before set up. I went into the garden and came across no less than ten huge spider's webs, obstructing my path through the space...It is the season to weave.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/440660 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/440660 There are a million things to do this week and I am working through the list day by day. So much writing, calling, email communication and general list making. Everyone is bringing their part to fruition – willow, Hattie, Raphaella, Katy. I could write about these, but I prefer to quote a verse from the Tao Te Ching which is about the only thing that is calming my very over active mind right now..and has some nice echoes with the work we are about to make public. Verse 4. The Tao is like an empty bowlWhich in being used can never be filled upFathomless, it seems to be the origin of all thingsIt blunts all sharp edges,It unties all tangles,It harmonises all lights,It unites the world into one wholeHidden in the deeps,Yet it seems to exist for everI do not know whose child it isIt seems to be the common ancestor of all,the father of all things.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/440660 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/440660 OPENING UP THE EMPTY SPACE..Last night was the Gala opening… I think we all experienced moments of intense vulnerability –an awareness of people hovering on the edge of the space, interested and intrigued but unsure of their place in it and what it is for... Some of the questions I could sense and hear were – What is it? Is it free? What do we have to do, can we just watch? What will happen if I step into the blue space and commit to being inside it? And will I be at ease? Do I have anything worth contributing?  Once people entered and sat down we tried to strike a balance of allowing people their own rhythm but providing information and assistance where and when it felt necessary. A good testing of the water. Since it was bare apart from the roof and one poem I had written in, it was a challenging start as no-one wants to be first at the party….but somehow it began to colour itself it slowly…and there was a constant flow of people around and to the space. The handouts and Sufi poetry books seem to be a useful point of connection and transition into the ‘text’ of the piece and its meaning. The location of the work inside the pavilion works really well. Tt is at the centre /back, in the spine of the pavilion, its backbone – several people described it as an oasis of calm, a counterpoint to busy, intense flow around the stands surrounding it.  Also, the contrast of a piece that is focused on process rather than product, though I am very aware we are creating an artefact that will need to find a home at some point - hopefully a public one. Today, from lunchtime onwards, it started to take off, with a strong buzz of interest and the public seemed at ease with using the space to reflect, write and weave into it. The most commonly asked questions I got were – What inspired this work and what will happen to it afterwards? So, in response, I had further thoughts on how to express this:  It is self-contained piece of craft/artwork, which is being collectively transformed on a moment-by-moment basis by the public and us. It is a weave but also a poem, homage to the beauty and personal value of objects and the role and meaning they bring to our everyday lives  It’s becoming clear through this that you can channel a lot of emotion and lateral thought through coveted objects -ones you choose to be in your lives, for specific reasons. You can also release a lot of emotional energy through the act of weaving, so a woven object can fulfil an individual’s desire to both connect with and articulate emotional memories generated by objects, and unite them within a common framework. It is a bridge between craft, art and the (often unrealised) desire of the audience to make their mark in subtle but public way. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/440660 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/440660 INCREASING PRESENCE..‘There is an unseen presence we honour that gives gifts’ (Rumi) The structure is quite rapidly transforming, generating itself into an iridescent communal poem. The diversity of text is revealing itself – from the simple and banal to the obscure and profound…              People came in waves today  – large groups of arts students in the morning who immediately took to participating and were so at ease talking to us about the piece and what it brought up for them . Men whose wives went off gift shopping while they sat and participated and who found a retreat within the blue voile walls. Makers from surrounding stands taking a break to reflect, chat and read the walls which are writing themselves into existence. Children squealing with delight at the white pens that write like snow on blue ribbon and the see- through nature of the walls through which they can play hide and seek… I experienced a constant charge of social interaction with all kinds of people and realised this is my favourite medium – the energies of the public engaging with the work. I love the unpredictability of how people will react to and engage with it. We have a very tuned-in team of volunteers, individuals who really get what the work is about and intuitively engage with the public as and when needed. They are from textiles, arts, anthropology and writing backgrounds – all areas this piece references. My gift today was a visit from Stevie Bezencenet who was the MA Media Arts Course leader and my supervisor at Westminster 7 years ago. It was a real treat to sit and talk with her and catch up on our lives, and I realised that it was with her help that I let go of working exclusively with digital media and made the transition into installation work. She was the one who pointed me in the direction of the ‘sublime’ and the ‘poetics of space’.  Crafting Space is in fact the first project where I have not used technology at all (apart from this blog!) since 1994. And I am not missing it, because in fact the intensity of the interaction satisfies me as much as any piece of digitally networked art has done. I am enjoying this cross-breed of the handmade, the conceptual and the person-to-person interaction that can only come from having a constant mass of public brought to the work through a Fair like this. And my collaboration with Willow on the structure feels like 'a perfect symbiosis of our two mediums, one could not have existed without the other' (as she expressed it yesterday).... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/440660 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/440660 TEMPLETwo women came into the space yesterday who I immediately sensed were Iranian. In fact one of them was and the other was Armenian, a public art consultant who has worked around these kind of projects a lot and so understood it straightaway. I showed her my press book with photos of previous work, it was a good moment of connection.  They sat down to write ribbons and the Iranian woman seemed to go blank as to what to write and almost gave up. We got onto the conversation of my mother, which always comes up when I meet Iranians as they of course want to know which of my parents is from there.  In explaining the loom project. I felt moved to tell them how she died (Phuket, 2004 in the Tsunami, just after Delia was born) and how her death has influenced my work. The Iranian woman asked my mother’s name – Parvin Azadeh Rieu – wrote her ribbon in Farsi, then offered it to me as  ‘to the memory of your mother, with your name next to hers’. It was all I could do not to collapse weeping in the space, it was a loaded moment of grief and realization that she is absent and would have loved this work. It is nevertheless complete and it also very much references all I got from her - the shape, form and feel of the piece have my mother’s stamp of approval, I am sure.  Weaving in that ribbon was a point of connection with her and also with everything unnameable I have lost through her passing in terms of my connection to her culture.   There has been an issue over how I identify myself in the context of this work. Although I have used textiles as part of my work for 7 years, I feel like I am sailing through a new sector on a crafted vessel and need to navigate very carefully. The ‘C’ word (craftsperson) or the ‘A’ word (for artist, my normal catch-all form of identification) don’t quite seem acceptable or appropriate. Neither am I a maker..So maybe I am an artist-maker? Or possibly a conceptual-artist-designer- maker–who-often-does craft-based installations.  Anyhow, apparently this debate has been raging for centuries and will continue to do so. Thoughts in an email please. To get to the crux of it, Rumi said: 'I go into the Christian Church, the Jewish Synagogue and the Muslim Mosque and I see one altar"  It's appropriate that the closest tube to Somerset House is Temple, as people coming into the space keep referring to it with words like temple, cathedral, shrine etc and seem drawn to it, gazing up at the roof and beyond into what has been mainly blue, sunny autumn sky.  The structure glistens at night and is already almost 25% woven.. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/440660 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/440660 The Weaver's ArmsI stayed over in London at the weekend and was waiting at a bus stop in Stoke Newington, formulating the next blog in my head when i looked up and noticed I was standing opposite a pub called the Weaver's Arms. Started thinking about randomness vs design but then the bus turned up. Looking at the kind of texts people have written this week (i wanted to transcribe some and write them here  but that will have to be tomorow's job as it got so busy at the space over the weekend and i was juggling having my family around too), I realised that enabling the use and power of touch within a work like this helps to move people on the inside in unexpected ways. A lot of people have written about gifts, both material and emotional, and it's almost shocking how much can be expressed in a 40 cm length of ribbon. Less is  more, as Willow often says. I felt so full to the brim with social interaction by sunday night, it was good to have a calm day of remote interaction (emailing) and time with my children pottering. I got an email from someone who had visited at the weekend and taken shots of the tables where people write their ribbons and the pen bleeds through. Lee wrote in the email:"I took a random photograph of the table top and if you look closely you can see the words 'make craft' 'wish' 'creative' and 'gift'. So with expressing my enjoyment of your work, I also send you the picture" (See attached photo). These tables and their random(?) traces have givene us all great pleasure and we are keeping them and treating them as artworks in themselves..There has been a changeover today in the exhibitor's at Origin so tomorow will be like a fresh page. The structure is over 50% woven we think, it's possible we may have calculated the space just right.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/440660 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/440660 We are right in the thick of things, too much to report really in 500 words. Will save my more reflective thoughts about what has come up for tomorrow. Today am sharing some transcriptions of selected ribbons together with a few images of them. ‘The importance of the tactile’I received the gift of being a seeker..when I meet the giver I’ll say thankyou’‘Golden leaves on necklace, beautiful autumn.’‘A tiny token can relight dying embers’‘I was given love and it made me feel’ Is a diamond still a diamond of you can’t see it? (Kelvin Birk jewelllery)I like the bubble in the glass.A handbag like a beautiful fan’A gift from me –I like me more.’The best gift I have ever received is time’Elegant sheeps stomach creation’ ‘A penis necklace made me scream’‘I have been given sperm which made a father of my friend’“Close your eyes and you will see better’‘I love you physically, mentally you have destroyed me’’ ‘Gifts are only gifts without strings’My father gave me the gift of curiousity - to question not to accept’‘Craft is an ancient and noble profession that is not appreciated or valued in the 21st century”“All that is not given is lost” Today’s a gift that’s why it’s called the present”.‘Inspiring art is sweet tea warming my belly’‘I wish I could speak like music’ (4 year old)... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/440660 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/440660 Last night we had a drinks reception for Crafting Space and were brimming over with people for most of the night. The structure is 4/5ths full and there are only spaces left to weave at foot level and round the back. It looks magical at night, it sparkles and has an ethereal quality, especially as you look through and see the outlines of people around it, reading, weaving, and talking. I am already aware of how soon it will all be over and feel a small pang of grief that it will be wrapped up like a mummy and kept in a dark space. However there is already interest in exhibiting it and I am determined to find a permanent home for it, as it is by it's very nature a public artwork which needs the eyes of the public to keep its vital energy alive.Documentation is key to this intention, and it has certainly been well documented so far. Without it, the work will cease to exist in terms of where it can move to. The Crafts council are making a three minute film about it for their website and have had a photographer shooting Origin each week and Crafting Space too. Lili has been doing some filming in the space and has taken photos, a lot of which I have used in this blog. Last Saturday and this Sunday, a photographer David Ramkalawon , who documented the Loom exhibition at Goldsmiths, is on site and we will post up some of his images of the finished piece on the Crafts Council site. And that’s only visual documentation. Aside from noting down reactions to the work and having a comments book, we are going to transcribe the entire body of ribbon texts onto paper and Philip , one of the volunteers who works at the Arvon Foundation (‘a secret river in the world of literature’) is going to create a Caligramme – a transcription of all the texts that makes a visual picture-of the entire piece. Since even permanent markers are lightfast and the texts will eventually fade, it’s an important way of preserving the narrative of this essentially live work. I like the idea of it fading over time, of returning to its original state, but I would like to see this happen in public if possible, and visit it like an old friend. Every other person asks where they can see it next and come up with all kinds of ideas.  Yesterday, my favourite suggestion was the Reading Room at the British Library, to function as a reading/resting/reflecting space – for obvious reasons, but also the neo-classical form of the structure echoes the form of the original Reading Room there. We will see what the universe holds in store for it. I feel a bit like a mother talking about her child today, probably because I have been away for two nights and am about to go and pick up my (almost) one-year-old son, Moses. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/440660 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/440660 I can only describe how I have been feeling since Origin/Crafting Space ended yesterday as elated exhaustion. The weekend was a constant, intense flow of people, right up to the closing minute. The structure seemed to have absorbed so much human energy into its walls that it drew more and more attention as the hours passed. To think for a moment about the human desire to possess, make, give and receive objects and to reflect on the relationships they create seemed to be a potent point of departure.  A lot of our families came at the weekend and I think this is what made it more emotionally intense. I had to keep leaving the space to get fresh air and headspace. I also spent a lot of the time weaving or re-weaving loose ribbons and being in literal touch with the object, like a lover about to leave on a long trip. By the time Sunday, 6pm came around it became obvious that a ritual was needed to say goodbye -at least in the context of Origin. Those of the team who remained in the space – myself, Willow, Raphaella, Philip and Vijak- stood inside, put our hands over each others in the centre and thanked the space, all those who has been part of making it and sent out an intention for it to find its perfect place in the world. Then we sent this up through the open roof and began the fast and furious dismantling process.  I have really enjoyed the ride, the wave that these two weeks has been. The contact with so many people and the drinking in of their facial reactions and written/spoken responses. I realise this is what I am supposed to be doing in the world and have a stronger sense of purpose as a result. As Willow and I stood in the courtyard at Somerset House watching the pavilion being rapidly dismantled, we noticed the neo-classical dome, the central point at the back of the building as you face in from the Strand. The echo of the shape of our structure –which I hadn’t noticed until that moment – made us both smile and this verse, came to mind:  Our revels now are ended. These our actors,As I foretold you, were all spirits, andAre melted into air, into thin air:And, like the baseless fabric of this vision,The cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces,The solemn temples, the great globe itself,Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve,And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuffAs dreams are made on; and our little lifeIs rounded with a sleep.The Tempest, 4. 1 I leave you with an image of the piece, on Day 1 and  Day 14. I will continue to write on the outcomes of this project as and when they arise. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/440660