…when you’re in the midst of a global pandemic. I just came on here to do a bit of maintenance and realised I’ve not blogged yet THIS YEAR. Which I’m going to consciously change, starting not…
So, I’ve ditched the ‘Happening Now’ bit from the site. It’s a bit like trying to run two blogs about the same thing on the same site, so it makes sense for one of them to go. I’ll just make sure I update this more, and I’ll tag on the last ‘Happening Now’ post at the end of this blog too, for context…
The main thing I’ve been working away on is the Eden Arts project I’m doing with Gordon Dalton. We’ve been trying to reach out to folks who live along the A66, which is an interesting task to set yourself when the entire nation is in lockdown and no-one can go anywhere or meet anyone. But not things are opening up a bit, we’ll be making the drive both ways along the A66 in the week of April 19th. Very much looking forward to it. If you are in that are, please drop me a line as we’d love to say hello (in person, or virtually).
The other thing, I’ve been writing some music for a project I’ve been planning with Dr Tom Cardwell for way to long now - based on ‘The Four Branches of the Mabinogion’ and Black Metal - two surprisingly logical bedfellows. More to follow…
I’ll leave it there for now, but rest assured I’l be posting more often from now on.
(the last ‘Happening Now’ post…
There are a few key things happening at the moment; I’ve just been commissioned by Eden Arts to make a new project with my occasional collaborator, Gordon Dalton; development is well underway on the second stage tender for the St David’s/Ferns public art project with Alan Phelan; and the new permanent work I started this time last year in Middlesbrough should be coming to fruition this spring.
So, the biggest news is the Eden Arts commission. We’re both excited by its potential, partly as it will give us the opportunity to revisit (in some way) our ‘Everyone Knows This is Nowhere’ project from 2007. Essentially, the project will take the form of a road trip along the A66, from East to West - but rather than taking a road trip in to a nostalgic past, as we did in 2007, it’s a road trip in to the unknown future and landscape of a post-Brexit, pandemic Britain. We’ve already commissioned the project logo from Christophe Szpajdel, whose work will from part of the project through an exhibition in Middlesbrough. Watch this space for updates…
There’s nothing major to report on the St David’s/Ferns tender partly as we don’t want to give our ideas away in this competitive process, but it’s been interesting so far; in part, the complexities of being part of a process set across sites in two different countries when no-one is allowed to travel.
Finally, the Middlesbrough project. I can’t recall if I ever posted about it on here, but its basically a new neon drawing/sculpture based on the history of the Middlesbrough Meteorite, which struck the town in 1881. It all got put on hold as the pandemic descended last March but, I believe, it’s all due to start up again this spring.)