Author Archives: Michaela

Light Show

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I saw the Light Show at the Hayward Gallery recently and I am happy to say it was one of the most pleasing exhibitions I’ve been to for some time. There was a lovely sense of the pleasure of discovery and strong links to my current research and practice; light, perception, wonder and phenomenal experience.

I certainly wasn’t excited by all of the artworks but the were a few I really loved; Olafur Eliasson’s Model for a timeless garden is animation in real-time, in which clouds of water particles become miniature galaxies and moving fountains are momentarily frozen in mid-air. Brigitte Kowanz’s Light Steps is a beautifully simple visual illusion which creates an imagined spatial dimension, Carlos Cruz-Diez Chromosaturation (pictured above) plays with the perception of colour. By standing still in a deeply saturated red space eventually the red neutralises back to white. Moving into the adjoining green space, the greenness of green is almost overwhelming. Beautiful.

Heading South

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Flights are booked for a six week adventure in the big southern land. Arriving early June and staying until mid-July. I can hardly wait to soak up the space, the air and the sky. You can take a girl out of the country but you certainly can’t take the country out of the girl.

I begin in Sydney, presenting a research paper about maps, time, global cycles and technology at the ISEA 2013 conference with my  friend and PhD supervisor Alison Gazzard.

The rest of my time will be spent catching up with the people I love and miss. Sure, it will be another round of winter, but so worth it…

Happy Christmas

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Christmas festivities began properly today, Richard and I sat down for a mid-afternoon glass of mulled wine and a mince pie, the decorations are up and now there’s just feasting and frolicking for the next few days. I am also hoping to work my way through an ever-growing stack of books about wonder, light, the universe and other related subjects. A perfect way to spend the festive season.

Fairground

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I am currently teaching a motion graphic design course to the 2D animation students at the University of Hertfordshire. They have been given a brief to create a 1 minute documentary film which uses motion graphics as it’s main means of communication. I have decided to follow along and make my own short film. I shot my footage a couple of weeks ago in the Hoddesdon High Street when the fair was in town. It was a beautiful evening and the fairground lights looked exquisite against the darkening sky. The final film will incorporate text, moving graphics and rhythmic visual sequences.

Arduino

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I have made a discovery this week. It wont be a discovery for many people but that’s what Arduino feels like to me. In fact, my friend and PhD supervisor Alison Gazzard told me about it. Open source electronics for developers, artists and anyone else interesting in making interactive objects and installations. My mind is enthusiastically running away with many ideas for projects which could be developed using this system. It could work very nicely for my projects Two Places I Call Home and A Collected History of Light for example. There are discussions afoot about the creation of an Arduino club in which Alison, myself and digital artist David Tree gather together to create interactive machines for art’s sake. I am rather looking forward to it.

Recent Drawings

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I have started drawing again. There has been a year long pause since breaking my shoulder in a cycling mishap a year ago. But most Wednesday evenings now see me putting pencil and charcoal to paper again. Drawing brings a smile to my face and makes me deeply happy. It’s such a simple thing, quite focus, attentive observation and a balance between the two hemispheres of one’s mind. Beautiful.

I had wondered if my drawing would be rusty, but spending many hours a week teaching others to draw continues to improve my observational skills even when there is an enforced break.

A Good Craft Day

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There is nothing like the focus and hard work of a good craft day to improve one’s outlook during a damp grey October week. Friday upholstery class is good for the soul, the ladies (and two men) make very good company and an excellent cup of tea. After two years, a broken shoulder and many many hours, my chair is almost ready for it’s finishing layer. I have placed an order for a beautiful tweed fabric from the Isle of Bute and next week my chair will begin it’s final transformation. I feel proud of my work and excited by my progress.

Ahh the joys of traditional skills…

A Room of One’s Own

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I have just spent the most lovely day in my garden studio. It’s grey and dreary outside but the little pipsqueak stove has valiantly kept the chill at bay. It has been my first day of dedicated PhD research. The starting point for my work is the experience of wonder as a point of intersection between art, science and consciousness and today I’ve been meandering through and mapping some of the possibilities. It is getting very large, very quickly but I am enjoying the sense of expansion it brings.

Thanks to my friend Catherine for this post’s title, stolen from her comment on my previous post about my studio.

9 Things That Happened Last Month

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1. Visited the Leonardo da Vinci Anatomist Exhibition at the Queens Gallery, London.

2. Submitted a PhD Research proposal and have been invited to interview.

3. Vividly imagined Birnam Wood advancing during an outdoor performance of Shakespeare’s Macbeth.

4. Leant against the stones on Solstice morning at Stonehenge.

5. Drank the first cup of tea from the tiny wood stove in my garden studio.

6. Made 11 bottles of elderflower cordial.

7. Saw my friend Yaron’s company Circa perform in Norwich Cathedral at the Norfolk and Norwich Festival.

8. Bought two boulders for the garden.

9. Sent the first blog post from my now networked studio.

 

Picture of the Day

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For a long time in my old studio I used to randomly select an image of the day from my collection of artists books. This served to inspire, delight and remind me of the scope of creative possibility. Today in my new studio in my garden I am very pleased to have re-instated image of the day on my favourite retro industrial mechanical drawing table. Today’s featured artist is German photographer Uta Barth, who uses depth of field and focus to explore visual perception and meaning. She makes beautiful, evocative and slightly lonely images.