'This S(c)eptic Isle', Notional Pride 21 [trans_late]

All Images: North East Leicester, October 2022

[Reconfigured Translation]:

There is absolutely no finesse in UK self-parody these days (see the so-called Brexit celebration and criticism of this £120 million dead elephant). The entire audience was horrified by the select culture of visitors who were somehow forced not to enjoy what was being shown. Total, you say? Are you saying that public money is horrible? Are you saying something completely different than what was being promised? Even though you've been programming for years, no one knows what you're really talking about? Do you say that those who came should accuse no one but themselves of their error? Meanwhile... I'm crying, the metaphor is slowly creeping into the British consciousness, taking it by the lapels, shaking it like a doll, and banging its head on its nose, shouting: "I'M A CONSTANT TRANSLATION - OK? MAN."

If you were one of the 67 million UK citizens who missed this summer's event (the officially extinct Brexit Festival), the woolly bird had a reason to celebrate 'Creating in the UK', and it's running everywhere. The country has been dry since the spring with a series of events hilariously revealed this week in a very alarming article in the house magazine. Any association with what we once feared as right was actively avoided by various authorities, and in many cases heroically undermined. The national drive did not succeed.

 

Many successful events seem to have run the gamut from wild and poorly executed, to wild and poorly attended. The Brexiteers met before the resignation began. The highlights are too numerous to be fully covered here, but special mention must be made of the dream (and certainly not the waking) content - which comes from some of the hardest working artists.

There was a trend to pay for what the manager called his 'expanded target' of 66 million visitors. The cost is 238,000. The whole thing came to 120 million of public money, which - surprisingly, the government minister still has. How many nurses can he can pay? In Hollywood, you lose your job if you give the green light to this big drop. To put this in an alternative way, each visitor can be given one of many events in the £100 cash chest, for example, being crushed by children, or dropping an inflatable moon over their head. That is, more than four times the cost of the platinum box was spent.

The 'renewal' of Britain again - this content was predicted to be returned around the corner.

Unboxing 3: Dangerous Goods Manifest

 

Leicester, December 2020

There's probably a limit to how many of these workplace-derived 'Unboxing' posts I can belabour you with - at least without a bit of creative manipulation of the source imagery.  Nevertheless, I remain deeply attracted to the honest simplicity and truth-to-materials of the honest brown cardboard box, and to the emblematic symbology and potentially allusive texts which adhere to them.  These particular examples were especially 'thrilling' as (unusually), they contained a potentially hazardous chemical, and demonstrate the double-boxing, stern, graphic warnings, and 'Dangerous Goods Manifest' attendant on such a deadly cargo.  For the record, the product in question was a single bottle of Isopropanol - hardly plutonium, but at least: no couriers were harmed in the making of this blog post.

As soon as I have unpacked such consignments, the boxes generally get casually stacked in the corner of the classroom - awaiting recycling.  Even at this scale - with only two elements of modest scale, a distinctly totemic quality begins to emerge.  Indeed, I'm reminded that this is exactly how the format of 2018's 'Sentinel' sculptures originated - almost by accident.

'Sentinel' Sculptures, 'Visions of a Free-Floating Island', Surface Gallery, Nottingham,
September 2018

Perhaps there may be some tentative connection between those pieces, and the spate of mysteriously emerging monoliths, at various international locations, a couple of weeks back.  The reporting of those (beginning with what may have been some kind of oblique art-prank in remotest Utah) appears to have dwindled already.  That makes me think the whole thing was little more than an online meme that failed to really catch hold - particularly as the vaguely unworldly examples at a handful of locations, were joined by reports of a puerile, and far-too-representational, phallic example in Germany.  I suspect we'll soon file the memory of 2020's monoliths away with crop circles, and the like (if we remember them at all).  It does emphasise the enduring fascination of totemic, columnar forms, in the human imagination, nonetheless.

Meanwhile, the primordial urge to stack up cardboard boxes; well, that's something altogether more profound - clearly.

Unboxing 2: Remix

 

All Images: October 2020

...And then, this happened.

Unboxing 2

All Images: October 2020

I had to order more...

 

Unboxing 1

 

All Images: October 2020

Cardboard boxes aren't currently as prevalent in my work as they were a couple of years back, but I still recognise a good one when I see it.  This little gem (and its slightly larger companion) passed through my hands, following a recent delivery, as part of my school-based day job.

Admittedly, it may seem terminally anoraky (and perhaps - characteristically Technicianly) to get so enthusiastic about such a quotidian subject.  But honestly, who could deny the beauty of its formal geometry, or the delicious juxtaposition of raw, brown cardboard against bold red & white graphics?  We even get quasi-hazard stripes and warning messages, into the bargain.

   

'Nuff said? - Thought so.

Completed Sculpture: 'This S(c)eptic Isle': 'Childish Things 4 (Mistaken)'

'Childish Things 4 (Mistaken)', Salvaged Trundle Toy, Salvaged Cardboard Boxes,  Spray Enamel,
Acrylics, Paper Collage, Official Notifications, Gas Capsules, Adhesive Tape & French Polish,
90 cm X 81 cm X 57 cm, 2018

Amongst all the stacking of cardboard boxes to create my ‘Sentinel’ sculptures, over summer – I also found time to put together the fourth of my ‘Childish Things’.

‘Childish Things 4 (Mistaken)’ had lagged a bit behind its fellows, largely because of the time it took to prep. and achieve anything like a presentable paint finish on its scuffed plastic bodywork.  Anyway, I got there in the end, and it was indicative of the serendipity characterising this whole phase of work, that - just when I needed it, I found a sturdy box large enough to support that white lump, whilst also balancing it well, visually.  In fact, there were actually two of them – the other providing a plinth for ‘Childish Things 3’.

I don’t buy the idea of a sentient ‘Universe’, but if such a thing were presiding over our affairs, it would seem to have mostly smiled on this first concerted foray into sculpture over recent months.  As a mostly two-dimensional artist (to date), it’s easy to overlook how much of a sculptor’s [1.] time is spent sourcing materials, solving constructional/technical issues, fighting the laws of physics, and just plain laboring.  I think I can regard myself as fortunate that, while making these pieces, most things fell into place fairly easily, without too many practical frustrations.  I actually got some kind of result with each of the sculptures I set out to make this year - which definitely feels like a reason to be cheerful.  I’ll let others decide how artistically successful I’ve been (or if indeed, it was at all worth it).

As before, there are various questions one might ask, in an attempt to interrogate ‘4’ for possible meanings or interpretations.  Of course, they are really for the viewer to ask, but some that occur to me might include…

• As with the other ‘Childish Things’, this vehicle is clearly going nowhere fast.  Does its parlous state indicate that the wheels really are dropping off?

• And, if that is true – might it be the fault of rough terrain and treacherous conditions, or is it down to neglect or faulty manufacture?

• Perhaps even more dispiritingly – could it have been deliberately sabotaged?

• The jolly yellow triangles and plasticised notifications, borne by untaxed vehicles are a common sight in many streets nowadays.  Must we assume this is another?  If so – was it laid-up as a result, or penalised for a SORN infringement?  At what stage in that process was the missing wheel removed?

• What might this say about our nation’s ability and willingness to fund its public services and infrastructure through tax-raising?  Is there a correlation between the rutted, pot-holed tarmac that threatens everyone’s suspension, and the number of untaxed vehicles beside the pavement?

• Are those tax-averse motorists waging some misguided, Clarksonite fight for personal ‘freedom’, on political/philosophical grounds, or just selfishly trying to duck out of paying their communal dues?  Alternatively – are they simply reliant on a vehicle to commute to a job that doesn’t pay enough to cover the running costs?

• If it’s an offence to remove an Untaxed Vehicle notification – is there a penalty for salvaging already-detached ones from the gutter, to apply to a sculpture?

As I post this, ‘Childish Things 4’ (along with its fellows, and accompanying ‘Sentinels’), is already wrapped, in advance of exhibition.  Shaun Morris, Andrew Smith and I will be installing our show, ‘Visions Of A Free-Floating Island’, at Surface Gallery, Nottingham in a week’s time - ready for our Opening Event on Friday 14 September.  We’ll be up for two weeks, including three Saturdays, so, if you’re in the Nottingham area, and want to see what all the fuss is about or yourself – you know what to do… 

[1.]:  Let's face it - 'Sculpture' is a bit grand a descriptor for what I'm doing here, really - isn't it?  I guess, if anything - I'm acting as an assembler ('Assemblist'?) really.  Do any of these distinctions even matter any more?

Completed Sculpture: 'This S(c)eptic Isle': 'Sentinel 5 (Better Products For A Better Future)'

All Images: 'Sentinel 5 (Better Products For A Better Future)', Salvaged Cardboard Boxes & Tube,
MDF, Acrylics, Paper Collage, Adhesive Tape & French Polish, 132 cm X 60 cm X 60 cm, 2018

Here’s the fifth (and as far as I currently know – the last), of my current ‘Sentinel’ sculptures.  This one’s titled, ‘Sentinel 5 (Better Products For A Better Future)’.  Of course, one should never say never.  However, my current feeling is that, if I were to continue down this particular road in coming months – the basic format might need to evolve a bit further, one way or another.  We’ll see.

This has ended up being the second tallest of the current set, and the most irregular in its formal composition.  The asymmetrical footprint was dictated, in part, by the need to add some additional stability to a relatively slender lower section - but quickly came to feel like a pleasing departure from its somewhat simpler colleagues.  The same is essentially true of the tube and narrow box additions running up the faces of that lower box - and I’m pleased to have integrated them more successfully (and less superficially) than was the case with ‘Sentinel 3’.

The main text on this ‘Sentinel’ reads, “I need a home, I need food, I need...”, but perhaps equally allusive, is the original, and more discrete [1.], printed legend, “Better Products For a Better Future”.  There would seem to be some interface between necessity and desire implied by the conjunction of these two found phrases - alongside an obvious contrast in tone.  The latter seems to feed directly into any ambivalent thoughts I may have about consumerism (of goods and/or propaganda), in connection with these ‘Sentinels’.  I’m always fascinated by the potential of such aspirational marketing tags to pretty much satirise themselves – however ambiguously.  Juxtaposing it with the more existential plaintive, "I need..." might also trigger some debate over what our society can (and can’t) actually provide – should you feel so inclined.

[1.]:  A bit too discrete to show up in these photos, in fact.  It is there - trust me.