Collage / Objects / Tape Loop

 

A wider view of one corner of the room showing the relationship between a few different elements of the work. The triangular tape loop has had one corner pulled in and hooked over the clear bottle causing the tape to follow the shape of the room rather than cut across it. Recently I have been randomly and spontaneously recording sounds onto the tape regardless of it's position or the relationship to the other sounds causing a purely accidental composition from spontaneous yet deliberate acts.

Objects on The Windowsill

A couple of card record sleeves and a Polaroid photo of the record sleeve cymbal drawings arranged on the windowsill. One of the sleeves has a verse of poetry from The Wasteland by T.S Eliott typed onto it. Part of my practice is about simply arranging or grouping objects instinctively.

Temporary Wall Collage.

During the residency I have arranged and rearranged the different elements of this collage on the floor over several days, making changes instinctively. It has been transferred to the wall and again re-ordered. The collage is made up of found images, images from my work and actual pieces of previous work including smaller collages, drawings and photographs dating from now back to 2007.

Objects On Paper Sleeves

Some objects placed on paper record sleeves. They are kind of like drawings and have a lot on common with my own drawing style though these are temporary and the objects are not stuck down and can be re-arranged. The photograph is a document of a spontaneous idea and is now a new part of the work itself. All the documentation of my work immediately becomes part of the work.

Record Sleeve Cymbal Drawings

Drawings from tracing the edge 3 different sized cymbals with marker pens. The record sleeves with holes in the centre were placed on top of the others making two drawings when separated. One of the drawings is on brown paper bag, for some reason it felt right to break the pattern.

Amplified Cymbals and Objects

Some broken cymbals, hand-made contact mic's, objects and electronic bits for noise making. Been sporadically and casually making sounds with these for few days. Soon I will be recording some more structured approaches and recording a collection of sounds for an online release. Also I will be performing with these at the Open House event on 1st of March.

At last some decent pictures with a proper digital camera rather than a phone. The rest of the photos from the residency will be like this.

Short Cassette Loop

Short phone video. A self contained tape loop inside a cassette with the sound of room noise from the residency suite: a mixture of the heater, room tone and the tape recorder its self. There is a slight glitch where the loop overlaps.

Room Reflected in Window

Phone picture of some of my work in the the residency suite reflected on the window.

Food Cans.

Collected food cans with nails and bottle tops for sound making. They look good as a collection of objects too.

Collage Work in Progress

Some collage work in progress at The Penthouse residency. Found images, drawings, photographs, words and images from my own work are arranged on the floor, adding rearranging the parts and composing sporadically in an improvised way over a few days.

Triangular Tape Loop 10/2/13

A long triangular tape loop across one corner of the room and over some record sleeves laid out for drawing and collage. The reel-to-reel tape recorder has recorded the sound of itself through a hand-made contact mic', parts of the loop still contain some accidental noise from a previous recording. The recorded sound information on the tape is traveling around the room in a continuous cycle and the sound reproduced by the tape recorder is the sound of itself recording itself. The casing for the contact mic' is a bottle top but the connection to the beer bottles holding the tape up was not noticed at the time but is a nice touch. Loops, cycles, patterns, self-referencing and self producing sounds have been an important feature in my work for many years. Sounds coming soon. (And proper non-blurred photos.)

Polaroids and Tapes 10/2/13

First two in a Series of Polaroid photos both of windows in The Penthouse- one of the same window it is sitting on- and a tape recorder to capture the sounds of various actions in the space. The plan is for a series of recordings from the space to use in an improvised performance.

Work starts at The Penthouse.

A few photos from 8/2/13. Arranged some things to start me off on some new work.

Record sleeves ready for collage, drawing etc. Makes a nice piece like this, too.

Quick drawing on a plastic sheet against the window.

Started collage of ideas and research. This wall will be used throughout the residency for photos, drawings, found images, texts.

Photos from The Penthouse

A few phone pictures from some spaces around The Penthouse. There will be plenty of these taken during the residency. A really interesting building.

The Penthouse Residency 7/2/13 - 7/3/13

Just started a residency at The Penthouse- a new not for profit artists' space in Manchester's Northern Quarter. I am taking over a room reserved for residencies by invited artists who's work has methods and values in common to the vision for The Penthouse of it's creators and curators- artists Rosanne Robertson and Debbie Sharp.

From my initial proposal:
"Sounds will be recorded, drawings made, photographs taken, experiments performed, texts written. The residency space will become a working studio: a place to collate and organize research, a place to plan, a place to bring objects, sounds, and images together. The space, the Penthouse, the building and its surroundings will provide a basis to create new works as as response to that environment and context."

More phone pictures of the residency space before work began, taken 6/2/12: