Some more light reading...

The arrival of a project called dont follow the wind had me momentarily focused on the idea of radiation. The project going on in Japan certainly seemed interesting and i made a note of it. That said the seminar with the artist wasn't massively interesting. we didn't seem to talk about art, just a lecture about the issues with nuclear power. all problems, no solutions, with some uranium based glass ware which glowed green under the right conditions.

 I did however look into a book that was recommended to me. It had some interesting points i must say.
as for my position in terms of my art however, i felt there wasn't much in the way of achievable work. i find nuclear energy fascinating but it is an alien world that i could only work off by using google for images and interviews, something i want to use sparingly.

The Worst Journey In The World.

Following the personal success of last term I have decided to stay with the topic of immigration. It is a topic which has stuck with me and so it makes sense to follow it to its ultimate conclusion, whatever or wherever that may be.

The work from the first term was a major development for me. Not only through my practice and its structure but also the way in which I relate, emote and express my work. Regardless of mark, the last term was a success story. From inception through to production my work captivated myself and from general feedback from others in my studio, it was a genuinely captivating topic and means of expressing myself. Something which I hadn’t really had at any point during first year.

More than that, for the first time during my time at LICA, I properly gave a damn about what I was actually working towards. The work just felt right. The reason behind it and the method of approach all felt natural and fluid. My work had meaning. From this it would seem a shear waste of passion and direction to discard not only what I do but what I feel about this topic and the place it has in my world and that of my art.

I am continuing with the topic of immigration; but rather than mass numbers. It is time to look at the great journey. By which I mean the trek from Aleppo to Dover. The modern day trail of tears that more than one million people have made. Through desert, jungle, forest, towns and cities. All places alien and foreign to them.

The journey is 4070 kilometers long. Passes though 229 towns, major cities and villages through 12 different nations. More than 50 miles worth of desert, rivers and forests lie in wait for those forced to make the trip and between those, the Mediterranean ocean - Europe's most dangerous - offers a land free but deadly alternative to the walk and it has claimed countless lives. When every step to freedom is a step further from a home, it is a joyless and desperate fight for life. 

This impossible journey has captured my attention and I want to discover how I can express and represent this most terrible of journeys.

This, the worst journey in the world. 

And so the great journey begins.

 The progress was slow and frankly at times difficult. It was a strain physically and mentally. which is odd because it is just banging in nails right? But it was tough. It is the most challenging work I've done, period. It is my own journey though. Whether i do well or not in terms of marks is a different issue entirely. i have LEARNT so much this term. This is expression, it has made me happy. As odd as that sounds but it's true. I am happy to be working on this.

The thing is. During my first year i really fought hard to be the same as i had been at sixth form. I painted and i drew and people liked that. I did too. Hyper real stuff or expressive painting was fun and i wanted to stick to that because it worked. I think i properly dug my heals in to stay exactly the same as i had always been.

This year, well this term. I think i have stopped trying to fight the idea of staying inside my little bubble. This is so far from my comfort zone but the more i have worked the more i have had fun. This isn't leaving my comfort zone. This is making my comfort zone bigger.

  The grid was a great idea and i am so glad i stuck with it. It's uniform nature is stunning to look at it. it is a scale that is so vast you don't know where to look. Its inescapable and impressive if i say so myself. 

However i didn't just jump straight to the grid. Several ideas were scrapped or developed in the early stages. Nails brushed under a rug was an idea at one point. The Cliche of a coffin filled with nails (awful i know), even an upturned chair with the nails hammered in underneath it. 

This curious creature is one of those tests. It is possible that this is the next step along this evolutionary tree of mine from nails to nails. This is the latter. Its funny how nails and a glue gun molded base can form such an organic object. I had thought of it as 'the nails deforming the glue'. During my tutor time, another spin was placed on it. That the objects are without form until they are put together. this isn't deformation. It its formation. It is creation. 

It offers up the prospect that there may well be progression for what i have started in first term. I cant wait to get started. 

the sign of progress...