Time for reflection

How long is a piece of string?

I think that this piece was the most successful out of the three. It was a development from measuring physical objects with string, to measuring time.

How long is a piece of string?How long is a piece of string?LunchtimeMaking a cup of tea

A lot has happened since Sherwood Arts Week which has given me the time to think about how it all went and what’s next. I was very nervous about our first open studio event. I work full time and had an important deadline on the day before the studio was due to open its gates. I hadn’t exhibited for about 5 months and some of my ideas were very new, for example the video piece ‘Five and a half square feet’.

I couldn’t have been happier with the amount of people who came along and the level of engagement was brilliant. I think because it was a weekend, daytime event people had more time to stop and share opinions. Also there was a regular flow of people instead of everyone arriving at the same time which meant that you could give people your time.

Teapot

My friend Tez sent me the link to this teapot by designer Alexander Hulme. His website www.alexhulme.com is amazing! I really like ‘Fuzzy Logic’, ‘Systems and Solutions’ and ‘Lost Objects’. ‘All the things I use in one day’ is a really nice way of documenting the everyday too. Very excited! I love it when people send me links they think I’d like. I’m pretty rubbish at finding them myself at times.

Wonderful weekend

I had a wonderful weekend at our open studio as part of Sherwood Arts Week. We had 200 people through our gates and we met such lovely people. I’d like to thank everyone who came and showed their support. I am looking forward to us hopefully having more events in the future.

As part of the exhibition I had a computer set up with excel open so people could make their own spreadsheet art.

Boy on excel

It was  a very straight forward idea. I just wanted to give people the opportunity to use a piece of office software for a different function than it would usually be associated with. Here is what was created:

Amy's SpreadsheetunknownTheo's SpreadsheetDan, Sam and Andrew spreadsheetBradleigh's Spreadsheetunknown2Haydn Spreadsheet 1Haydn's Spreadsheet 2unknown3

Collaborative Spreadsheet Art

When looking up spreadsheet art I found that the Google docs team had made a collaborative spreadsheet to demonstrate  how you can use Google docs. Brilliant idea!

One article from a site called  suite 101 said ‘Watching the art emerge from a source usually associated with business is entertaining and inspiring.’

Finding time – 1 week to go

There is 1 week to go until ‘Finding Time’  located at White Rabbit studios. There is lots to be getting on with and I am feeling a nervous excitement. We were at the studio till late last night and I realised two things 1) I have never looked in our shed before and 2) The space has lots of potential for future projects. I think I finally feel at home in a studio.

Finding Time invite

Sunshine

I’m off for a walk in the park to think up a timetable for the next week. Have to be really strategic to get everything that I want completed. Also, there’s nothing worse than sitting in a badly lit living room, wrapping string around your hand, when the sunshine is winking at you. I am hoping a brisk walk will remove me of all excess energy and I will want nothing more than a laborious task to fill my evening.

Sky box fellow

I gave my Mom the below framed string piece for her birthday. I measured items she liked or reminded me of her. Recently my parents have had sky installed and the sky box man is ‘a fan of contemporary art’ and he liked it, understood it and took a photograph of it on his mobile phone. I am so flattered that I might make him one. My mom thinks she’d be able to get in touch with him. Shall do this after the show.

Framed string piece

Detail from string piece

All the colours

I have just had my second attempt at spreadsheet art and I have realised that I like the idea of giving myself rules. This came as no surprise! This one I had to use all of the colours and I could only use them in certain orders. I am in the middle of creating one called ‘All borders’ where I have to used only borders to create a pattern. It is harder and less satisfying but I shall persevere.

spreadsheet 2

I have so much to do and make for ‘Finding Time’ which is very ironic. I am currently making a 4 week action plan. It reminds me of how much I used to thrive on making the revision timetable (colour coding and all), always at the expense of the revision. You would have thought I’d learnt.

100 balls of string

100 balls of string were delivered to me this week and now I can really get stuck into the work.

box of string

Getting anxious about the amount of time left but there’s no surprise there. 6 weeks and counting until Sherwood Arts Week. Made a week by week plan tonight which I will no doubt disobey.

I’m wondering how long I can wrap string around my hand for. The bigger the balls of string are, the more intricate they become. I would like to do it for a days work or a nights sleep. It’s a huge investment and stress on my body. May start with a film.

Spreadsheet art

My first attempt at spreadsheet art. I want to make abstract images using excel after realising that within my job role, choosing the colours is my favourite bit of building a spreadsheet.

spreadsheet 1