David Thorpe at THW

‘David Thorpe’s installation comprises new watercolours and meticulously crafted sculptural works, presented for the first time in Europe. Thorpe’s sculptures explore his interest in rehabilitating ancient craftsmanship and labour-intensive artisanal techniques. Drawing on the Arts and Crafts Movement and the work of William Morris and John Ruskin, Thorpe explores new forms of utopianism, where past and present intersect’. (Information from The Hepworth Wakefield website).

‘Endeavours and Private Lives (both 2010) allude to the aesthetics and theories of the Arts and Crafts Movement of the late 19th century [...]. Thorpe’s large pattern-covered objects have been executed with the collaborative assistance of skilled artisans trained in recreating labour-intensive medieval recipes for making paint and ceramic moulds’. (Information from the Saatchi Gallery website).

Come and see these strange, Morris-esque boxes and tiled screens; listen to the monotonous hum, which increases as you approach The Collaborator; marvel at incredible craftsmanship, for example, the innumerable, hand-cut pieces of coloured leather assembled upon the surfaces of large, plaster cubes to form intricate, organic patterns; and be blinded (literally… but only momentarily) by enlightenment, upon peering into the secret, inner cavities of Private Lives and Quiet Lives.*

* Check it out – it’s cool – but please, whatever you do, don’t touch (this includes patting, rubbing, stroking, pushing, massaging, licking, kicking, punching, head-butting and eating) the art (unless you really want to freak out all the gallery attendants).

P.S. Please don’t freak us out. We’re all quite nice really. Thanks.

Granny Annie

Dear Granny Annie – you hated that name –
You were one for a brandy and canny card game,
Sewing and baking: your favourite jobs,
And always surrounded by kids and by dogs.

You taught me to whistle, just like a house martin,
We did all the birds In A Monastery Garden –
A wonderful warble; a chirruping tune –
As we sat on the swing one warm June afternoon.

You dictated the lyrics – I took careful note –
Of Paddy McGinty and his naughty goat,
Delaney’s daft donkey had us in tears,
The lilt of your laugh echoes still in my ears.

I remember the smell of the bread you were baking,
And drips of the icing on cakes you kept making,
I saw your soft smile and green, twinkling eyes,
As I sprawled by the fire to watch the dough rise.

You read Enid Blyton to me as I lay,
In bed at the end of each Granny Friday,
Later, I listened, with anticipation,
To find out the fate of those dog-napped Dalmatians.

You were caravan crazy, so often we’d go,
And play dominoes in a pink, lamp-light glow
We relaxed in the awning with biscuits and tea,
Whilst Granddad went walking with hell-hound Henry.

This Christmas we laughed at the wonky donkey,
When you asked, “Is it lead?!” as it said, ‘L.E.D.’.
Mum bought it to add to your creature collection,
You may have preferred… something else, on reflection.

I will always remember my fabulous Granny,
Who we all knew as Anne, then reverted to Annie,
Her face: crystal clear within my mind’s eye -
She stands at her window and waves us goodbye.

The “Wonky Donkey” (clearly a reindeer).

Click on the link below to view a (possibly inappropriate) tribute – to be played at the Kelly/McGlinchy clan gathering.

Tribute

The Morisons’ Marionettes

Today was the opening day of The Hepworth Wakefield’s Spring exhibition, which features art by David Thorpe, Ben Rivers and Heather & Ivan Morison. At 3.00, the Morisons’ puppet show, Anna, took place in Gallery 10. I was one of the puppeteers, or “manipulators” as marionette operators are known. The show is based on Anna Kavan’s novel, Ice.

The puppets, Anna and The Warden, are pretty creepy I think you’ll agree…

After the show, The Warden and I hung out in the staff room and shared a chocolate finger: a reward for our efforts.

Here are some pics of the Morisons’ exhibition in Gallery 10.

HEATHER & IVAN MORISON Puppet Show at The Hepworth Wakefield

I am very, very excited about tomorrow! I will be attending a training session with Ivan Morison and Owen Glynne Davies to become a puppeteer for the Heather and Ivan Morison puppet show, which will be part of The Hepworth Wakefield’s Spring exhibition (opening this Saturday – 11th February 2012 – and running until 10th June 2012).

Up until now, I’ve only managed to snatch the occasional furtive glimpse of what is going on in galleries 7-10 (the temporary exhibition galleries) through gaps in the door and on the CCTV screen. Yesterday there was a spell of drilling and a cacophony of banging – followed by a nauseating waft of paint fumes and the sudden expulsion of black tissue-paper scraps, which gushed out from under a door and all over the floor of gallery 1.

Puppeteers have been told that the role, ‘may not be quite what you would expect from the title of ‘Puppeteer’’, and have been asked to attend the training session, ‘with an open mind’. So folks, you have as much idea of what we’ll be doing as we do right now!

Heather and Ivan Morison have used puppets before in their art. Mr Clevver (2010-2011) was a ‘traveling sculptural artwork in the form of a puppet theatre’, which toured ‘the less-traveled side roads and small rural settlements in western and north-western Tasmania’. For more information about Mr Clevver, and to see some lovely photos of the puppets, click here.

The Morisons’ new body of work, to be exhibited at THW, will incorporate, ‘a range of structures and objects that allude to science fiction, autobiography and fairy-tales’ (information from the THW Spring 2012 Gallery Guide). The puppet show will be called Anna and will draw on the life and work of 20th century British novelist Anna Kavan.

Guess who’ll be dreaming of puppets tonight. I just hope it doesn’t all go a bit Lady Purple!

Snow In Wakefield

In contrast to yesterday’s post, In Memory of Summer Days, here’s some snowy prettiness. Yes, Wakefield can be attractive.

Can You Feel My Love Buzz?

The entrance of The Hepworth Wakefield is currently graced with a huge, red, neon sign, which poses Kurt Cobain’s question: ‘CAN YOU FEEL MY LOVE BUZZ?’ – from the Nirvana song Love Buzz.

The sign is part of the project, 12 Months of Neon Love. Artists Victoria Lucas and Richard William Wheater have collaborated to create a series of neon signs borrowing lyrics from well-known, love songs.

The project started on Valentine’s Day 2011. Every month since then, a sign has been erected on the roof of the Neon Workshops studio in Wakefield, West Yorkshire. On the 14th of every month, the signs have been auctioned off on eBay. ‘Can You Feel My Love Buzz?’ is the last sign in this sequence and, once the power is switched off and the neon glow fades into darkness, the work will only exist ‘in the photographs captured and the fading memory of the people who experienced it’.

Thumbs up for being ephemeral, poignant, cool and sexy.

In Memory of Summer Days

Today, in Yorkshire, we have a couple of inches of snow. It’s minus 2 outside, but it feels a lot colder. I’m rather fed up of the cold, the grey skies and the darkness. It truly is grim up north.

So, I thought I’d cheer myself (and everyone else) up by posting some nice, summery photos. Let’s think about all the loveliness that we’ve got to look forward to in the British summer. Roll on July.

The Hepworth Wakefield: Mostly Gallery 5

Gallery 5 at The Hepworth Wakefield contains The Hepworth Family Gift, which consists of 44 full-size models – prototypes in plaster and aluminium – that Hepworth made before casting the final pieces in bronze.

The Gift is housed in a purpose-built space, which is dominated by the aluminium prototype for Winged Figure – the 19 foot, 3 inch tall aluminium and steel sculpture commissioned by the John Lewis Partnership for their flagship store in Oxford Street, London.

Digital Doodles

Over the years, when I’ve had a bit of time, I’ve enjoyed sending doodles to friends via the Facebook Graffiti app. Here’s a selection of my scribblings:

Some people have created the most amazing images using this app:

I remember wondering, when I first stumbled upon this app in 2006, whether what I was producing could be classed as art. Now I understand that art can be made using such apps (although my doodles are not good examples!).

My fellow Bradfordian, David Hockney, has picked up on the trend for digital doodling and recently exhibited a selection of his own in Paris:

Click here for more information about Hockney’s exhibition.

P.S. If you watch the clip of Hockney speaking to the BBC, check out his fantastic Bradford accent. I love his voice as he sounds just like the folks in my family.

A Lenticular Cloud Hovering Over Horsforth

Whilst out for a stroll in Horsforth in December, I was admiring the beautiful wintery sky…

… when I caught sight of a strange cloud formation hovering over the village; it looked like some sort of UFO. Luckily I had my camera to hand, so I managed to snap some pictures. I was not in the best position as there was a tangle of telephone wires overhead obscuring the shot.

I forgot all about the cloud when I got home, but, later that day, the weird cloud made an appearance on Look North! Many Yorkshire folk had witnessed the same funny cloud, and reports of UFO sightings had been flooding in; I was really pleased I’d seen it first hand.

This type of cloud is called a ‘lenticular cloud’. Lenticular clouds are stationary, lens-shaped clouds, which form at high altitudes; they are normally aligned at right-angles to the wind direction. In the past, these clouds have been called “flying saucer clouds,” “angelship clouds”, “cloudships”, and “clouds of heaven”.

Brian Middleton got a much better shot of the same cloud from Oxenhope:

Apparently these clouds are pretty rare, so I feel glad to have seen one. I hope I get to see one again some day.