Quick look back at assessments

 These pictures are from my assessment last week where I created a small installation on my desk space looking at family history, genetic inheritance and the after-effects of domestic violence.

I made a series of chess pieces made from moulds I inherited from my grandfather who passed away in 2011. This gave me the opportunity to explore what it is to be made from the same genetic mould as a man who was violent and abusive towards my father's family when my dad was growing up. 

My grandfather was a strange contradiction in that he both made ornaments for his family and threw ornaments at his family. Each pawn I made was altered uniquely to show how the violence has affected each member of my family in different ways, and several of the chess pieces move away from the chess board in an attempt to escape from repeating the same cycle of violence.

I rarely post pictures of my own work these days, but I'm actually really proud of this and I think its some of the best, most genuine stuff I've done so far. I finally feel like I know what direction my degree work is headed.

Meanwhile in other exhibition news... Chapters

Here is some quick shots I managed to steal from the Chapters Exhibition organised by my class at uni. While I've been squirrelling away on my work placement, seven of my colleagues organised a literature-inspired project at St Peters collegiate Church in Wolverhampton. The work was entirely 3D based using traditional skills in ceramics and glass to build expressive pieces of work.

(I appologise to Beth Abberly and Lucy Kerrane for taking such blurry photos of your fabulous work I was trying to make them look smokey and monolithic respectively but my camera was all ...soooo imma just go ahead and blur everything you terrible picture-taker)

A Brief Spell invigilating the Bang! exhibition in Spode

Here's a picture of the camp we set up upstairs at Spode while invigilating the Bang! Art exhibition. Bang! was intended to showcase artwork by people who either lived in or studied at Stoke-On-Trent. Most of the work was paper-based 2D artwork, with photography and painting although there were some exceptions. 

The work was creatively exhibited in the ever-decaying Spode Factory Site, often using the large space available well. As a notoriously decaying city, the location is perhaps meant to inspire a sense of innovation and restoration through creativity.

Publicizing needs improvement, as a lot of people I have spoken to have no idea that there is an exhibition on at all. Posters throughout the city or a wider distribution of the Zines created would have at least encouraged some curiosity as contacting local media such as radio stations and newspapers. I can't even say exactly how long it will be on for or what days, but last I heard, there were plans in the making of opening the exhibition at weekends when people would be available to invigilate it.

However, I think that the project is a positive, inventive and ambitious outreach and an impressive feat to organise something of this size unaided by any larger sponsoring bodies as of yet. Funding for Bang! is crowd-sourced on the internet through Sponsume, which will hopefully continue to have a bright future in the post-industrialised towns throughout England.

Donate your scrap wood for a great cause!

No time for fannying about, I have a massive backlog of photos and writing I wanted to post but have not had the time or energy to go ahead with so I'll start with something simple but important and hopefully be able to catch up on the rest of it over the next few days now all my deadlines are out of sight.

Here is a plant pot my dad made from recycled shipping pallets, that also functions as a wheelbarrow should one desire. My dad often has pallets donated to his workshop in his garage which he then re-fashions into wooden plant pots and furniture and sells on to raise money for the Neuro Muscular Centre at Winsford.

My dad has a rare genetic disease called late-onset FSH Muscular Dystrophy which means that his muscle tissue painfully depletes itself, starting at the top of his body and working its way down so that eventually he won't be able to make these things anymore.

The NMC provides specialist physiotherapy which dramatically improves my dad's quality of life and makes it easier for him to move while reducing the number of spasms that cause muscle depletion. I think it is beautiful how he has managed to creatively re-purpose his life and so I would like to ask if anybody has any scrap wood lying around, please get in touch and send it in this direction.