So I have been back in the good old U of K now for a week and it is back to the usual ways. I know I still have some USA updates to do but this week has been seriously manic. I just filled in my feedback form and project evaluation for the Arts Council England* and it always strikes me that when you are in school 2,000 word essays seem like such an uphill battle, but as an adult with an actual experience to write about it seems like barely a sentence.
Anyway, this was just a quick check in, thought I would share with you a picture of one of my day to day experiences, in particular a workshop with my 50+ Lunch Group's craft class. They were the first group I had after getting back and got the full benefit of my new artistic joie de vivre as they painted all the pieces they made in previous sessions. See, you're never too old to pick up clay work!!
So yes, I would like to say I will be back in the swing of things again soon but I am going on holiday next week so I will probably be just as random and erratic with posting as ever... but lets face it... thats half the fun!!
*Again, I would seriously recommend those of an artistic persuasion to check out their site and look at funding for the arts, they are an amazing organisation.
After much procrastination I am back! Truth of the matter is I currently cant find the card reader for my computer so transferring images from my camera to my computer is a lengthy process of doom.
Aaaaaaanyway, I digress.
One of the things I want to cover in this blog is some of the stuff I spot out and about. Luckily I happen to work in Sheffield, which is pretty much one giant outdoor alternative gallery space. I am occasionally allowed to leave the city limits, but this is pretty much as a good place to start as any.
Are we all sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin.
Two of Yorkshire's most famous exports since flat caps and Kes are the artists Kid Acne and EMA. The Stabby Women by Kid Acne are just about everywhere in Sheffield if you look long enough. They are metropolitan amazons who reclaim the areas falling into urban decay, and lets face it, what's good about the urban without a bit of decay? A lot of the time these paste ups of urban warriors are accompanied by something completely different and yet somehow strangely apt, the Drop Men by EMA.
The mythology of the Stabby Women was elaborated on last year with Kid Acne's solo show at the Millennium Gallery last year, and there is definitely a cross over between the two mythos of the artists. The most obvious reasoning behind this is the fact that they are a couple IRL, but they also have a working harmony that seems to create its own universe within the real world. I could go off on a tangent about the actual collaboration work, but lets stick to the paste ups for now.
One of the best things about these is that they actually do exactly what they set out to do, they reclaim spaces. There are many abandoned buildings that have Stabby Women and Drop Men peering out of them defiantly, proudly surveying their new conquests. These are clearly not new works but the element of dilapidation to them adds a new element to them. Rather than being beautifully clean graffiti, they are war torn and battle scarred, showing the struggle to keep control of their crumbling bastions.
I don't actually know much about the Drop Men individually, but that doesn't stop them seeming amazingly apt. There's a mural on a wall on my bus route that I assume is by ANA (but I could be totally wrong) that's eyes keep being repainted different colours. I will post about it eventually but I feel I need to get the pictures to prove I'm not crazy!
For more pictures check out my tumblr posts here and here.
Still getting into the swing of this blogging malarky, so any feedback would be greatly appreciated! I also have a tumblr and a facebook. Twitter still alludes me and my word count, but we shall see...
Thats all for now, I shall keep my eye out for more stuff and things, and try to get more regular with my postings!
