Study No. 3

The series of photographs that follow are Study No. 3. A small statement/explanation on the work will surface in the coming weeks.















Update: A few more photos that didn't quite make the above set:

Rainbows, Study No. 5

The following is Rainbows, Study No. 5, which is intended to be an interactive video/installation. In its physical form, the work consists of six separate DVD discs, with each label coloured, and placed on a sqaure of coloured paper. The content of five of these discs consist of a single shot of a person (very much inspired by Andy Warhol's screen tests, and Sharon Lockhart's Pine Flat) who is backdropped by various colors and set to five very different pieces of music; namely a punk/hardcore song ("World Up My Ass" by Circle Jerks), a jazz piece of music ("John McLaughlin" by Miles Davis), an electronic piece of music ("IO" by Autechre), a classical piece of music (Debussy - Preludes Book 1, "Danseuses De Delphes", performed by Michelangeli) and a rap song ("Night of the Living Baseheads" by Public Enemy). The use of these pieces is an integral part of the work, which is focussed on the notion that music plays an important and powerful role in conveying, suggesting or supporting emotions or ideas relating to its subject matter. Here, the use of different pieces of music suggest different attitudes about, and representations of, the subject, who is meant to be a symbol of youth culture. The sixth disc, in the works physical form, is the credits. A viewer is invited to pick out from the six discs and play them in a random order. Playing any particular DVD first, the viewer builds up inevitable preconceptions and attitudes towards the subject based on the soundtrack. These preconceptions and attitudes are challenged and mutated by playing further DVDs. Adding an additional DVD of credits is an attempt to subvert conventional chronological narrative, through the chance of it being played at any other point other than at the end by the viewer who is randomly selecting the playing order of the DVDs.

I've added six videos below to emulate the way in which the work was originally intended to be experienced, as well as adding a video that consists of all six parts. Over the next couple of weeks, this work will be further developed on an interactive level.

Watch the work as they were originally intended in separate videos.

Part I



Part II



Part III



Part IV



Part V



Credits






Watch the work in one video:

Study No. 4

Here is Rainbows, Study No. 4 (Experiments in Sound), a sound project that I've been working on recently. Listen to it below:



You might be interested to know that Study No. 4 consists of a piano, noise and myself reciting Beckett (Endgame). The parts of the play that I recited are as follows:

CLOV (as before):
I say to myself— sometimes, Clov, you must learn to suffer better than that if you want them to weary of punishing you— one day. I say to myself—sometimes, Clov, you must be better than that if you want them to let you go—one day. But I feel too old, and too far, to form new habits. Good, it'll never end, I'll never go.
(Pause.)
Then one day, suddenly, it ends, it changes, I don't understand, it dies, or it's me, I don't understand that either. I ask the words that remain— sleeping, waking, morning, evening. They have nothing to say.
(Pause.)
I open the door of the cell and go. I am so bowed I only see my feet, if I open my eyes, and between my legs a little trail of black dust. I say to myself that the earth is extinguished, though I never saw it lit.
(Pause.)
It's easy going.
(Pause.)
When I fall I'll weep for happiness.
(Pause. He goes towards door.)

...

HAMM
And now?
(Pause.)
Moments for nothing, now as always, time was never and time is over, reckoning closed and story ended.
(Pause. Narrative tone.)
If he could have his child with him...
(Pause.)
It was the moment I was waiting for.
(Pause.)
You don't want to abandon him? You want him to bloom while you are withering? Be there to solace your last million last moments?
(Pause.)
He doesn't realize, all he knows is hunger, and cold, and death to crown it all. But you! You ought to know what the earth is like, nowadays. Oh I put him before his responsibilities!
(Pause. Normal tone.)
Well, there we are, there I am, that's enough.
(He raises the whistle to his lips, hesitates, drops it. Pause.)
Yes, truly!
(He whistles. Pause. Louder. Pause.)
Good.
(Pause.)
Father!
(Pause. Louder.)
Father!
(Pause.)
Good.
(Pause.)
We're coming.
(Pause.)
And to end up with?
(Pause.)
Discard.
(He throws away the dog. He tears the whistle from his neck.)
With my compliments.
(He throws the whistle towards the auditorium. Pause. He sniffs. Soft.)
Clov!
(Long pause.)
No? Good.
(He takes out the handkerchief.)
Since that's the way we're playing it...
(he unfolds handkerchief)
...let's play it that way...
(he unfolds)
...and speak no more about it...
(he finishes unfolding)
...speak no more.
(He holds handkerchief spread out before him.)
Old stancher!
(Pause.)
You... remain.
(Pause. He covers his face with handkerchief, lowers his arms to armrests, remains motionless.)
(Brief tableau.)

Click here to download Study No. 4 as an mp3 for free.

Study No. 2 and 3 Coming This Weekend... I Promise *Updated*

Unfortunately, I've been a bit sick recently, so I haven't found the energy to go out and install Study No. 2. However, I will get to it -- and I'm planning to get it done this weekend, along with Study No. 3, which I've been working away at all this time.



For the meantime (I love that phrase), you should check out some of Ryan McGinley's work, which I'm greatly admiring at the moment. You also might be interested to know that one of his photos, (Trees) is being used in an upcoming Sigur Ros release, which is nice.

I really admire artists and photographers who capture youth cultures and skateboarding subcultures well, and I think McGinley does it in a way that is playful, positive and fun (which stands in stark contrast to Larry Clark's work).

Anyway, thanks for your patience. More work soon!

*Update*

I've mixed things up a bit -- over the weekend, I used my time to create Study No. 4 and 5, which are up as of now. Study No. 2 will get photographed this week and Study No. 3 will be up no later than this coming Thursday, the 5th of June.

A Brief Discussion on Study No. 1

I've put off this small self-discussion of Study No. 1 for a while, mainly because I've been quite busy with several different things. However, I've got some time to spare tonight before I prepare Study No. 2 for the weekend. So without further adieu, a brief talk on the work:



The idea for Study No. 1 came subconsciously, though my interest to work with paracetamol has been longstanding, and is evident in my two series of White on White photographs. I've always intended them to be aesthetic devices and they had no real "meaning" beyond suggesting themes of urban, drug or skateboarding subcultures. With Study No. 1, I really wanted to take the use of paracetamol to a much bigger level. Here, it represents a sort of pointillism-inspired way of looking at the formal elements of sculpture (especially form, colour and spatial relationships). In this way, I was largely inspired by the De Stijl movement and the thoughts and philosophies behind that. In addition, the site specific work of Richard Serra has always played a large part in influencing the work that I make. In this regard, his use of street/public space has influenced the direction I took with this work, though I have also recently been drawn to the work of Banksy.



I was also re-inspired by Kazimir Malevich, who I referenced in White on White. In that I work, I was largely looking at processes of interpretaon, and the idea of emotional versus intellectual responses. Malevich intended his work to bypass themes and whatnot to purely evoke the emotions and spirituality of responders. I don't think I am so far removed as Malevich intended. It is evident that I am still playing with the connotations of drug and skateboarding subcultures by the mere placement of the sculpture in a skate bowl.



In fact, the working title for this work was The Kids Are Alright -- a tongue-in-cheek reference to the vivid (and some would argue fetishised) representation of such subcultures in Larry Clark's film Kids. Having grown up in a skating subculture, I know personally that the extremity of living such a life consisted of Mario Kart and Doritos.

Short (and probably incomplete) list of key inspirations:

• Tilted Arc by Richard Serra
• Banksy
• Pointillism
• De Stijl Movement (specifically Mondrian)
• Kazimir Malevich
• Larry Clark's Kids
• Nintendo

Study No. 2 Coming this Sunday

Rainbows, Study No. 2 has been completed, and will be installed this Sunday, the 18th of May. For pictures, check back either on Sunday or a day later.

Edit: I've been way to busy to install the work over the weekend, so I'll get to it at my earliest convenience (probably Wednesday).

For the meantime, enjoy these two videos:

Rainbows, Study No. 1 *Updated*

Here are some photos from the first site-specific installation for the Rainbows project. Titled Rainbows, Study No. 1, the work consists of a cardboard box and 1200 paracetamol tablets (100 of which are painted). Installed in a skate bowl at Marourbra Beach A small explanation of the pieces should surface in the next couple of days, with further work like this installed over the next couple of weeks.



Photo credit: Ally Bishop.



Photo credit: Ally Bishop.






Update: I've updated this post with a couple of better photos taken by Ally Bishop. Her two photos of the piece were taken after quite a few handful of pills fell into the water and dissolved.